Tanzania

Highlights:

• Explore some of the best known and most distinguished parks and reserves in East Africa, with expert Naturalist guides accompanying you throughout your safari
• Interact with the Maasai and explore their culture through unique village and school visits
• Visit Ngorongoro Crater, Earth’s largest unbroken caldera
• Opportunities for evening game drives and nature walks.

Days 1-2: Depart U.S.

Connect in Amsterdam with your flight to Kilimanjaro Airport, arriving in the late evening. You will be met upon arrival and transferred to the historic Mount Meru Hotel for a welcome briefing and overnight stay.

Accommodations: Mount Meru Hotel

Days 3-4: Tarangire National Park

Enjoy two full days exploring Tarangire National Park with morning and afternoon game drives. Tarangire is known for its diversity of wildlife amidst its famous baobab trees, including over 260 bird species and large elephant herds of more than 2,500 individuals.
Overnight at Safari Legacy’s Kikoti Safari Camp.

Accommodations: Safari Legacy’s Kikoti Safari Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Tarangire/Lake Manyara National Park/Mto Wa Mbu Cultural Village/Ngorongoro Highlands

Today we drive to Lake Manyara National Park and enjoy a picnic lunch in the park. After a game drive we head to Karatu and Mto Wa Mbu village. There will be time to explore and socialize at the village.
Later, we travel to the Ngorongoro Highlands and the magnificent Ngorongoro Farmhouse, a small and exclusive lodge facing the Oldeani Volcano where we will spend two nights.

Accommodations: Ngorongoro Farmhouse
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast, travel to the Ngorongoro Crater, Earth’s largest unbroken caldera. A veritable “Garden of Eden”, the Crater is reputed to contain the highest density of carnivores, which includes cheetah, leopard and lion. This is the only place in East Africa where you can easily observe a natural population of black rhino. Enjoy a full day spent in the crater with a picnic lunch.

Accommodations: Ngorongoro Farmhouse
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Days 7-8: Olduvai Gorge & Maasai Village/Serengeti National Park-Seronera Valley

Today, navigate around the crater’s rim descending into Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important prehistoric archaeological sites on Earth. It was here, in the 1950’s, that Louis and Mary Leakey first uncovered the fossilized teeth and skull of one of our earliest ancestors. After an interpretive presentation, we continue to Tanzania’s most renowned national park, the Serengeti. Home to the greatest concentration of large mammals on Earth, the migratory herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle roam widely in search of green grass and water.
Spend two nights at the Bilila Kempinski Lodge overlooking the acacia dotted plains of the Serengeti. There will be morning and afternoon drives each day.

Accommodations: Bilila Kempinski Lodge
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Days 9-10: Serengeti National Park/Lake Victoria Fishing Village

Traveling west beyond the Seronera Valley, enter the Western Corridor and Grumeti River region of the park. Famous for its population of Nile crocodiles, the Grumeti is located in a lovely rolling hill and acacia woodland habitat. Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives each day to explore this year round-habitat for many of the Serengeti’s bird and mammal species.

Visit and explore a local fishing village located on the shore of Lake Victoria.

Spend two nights at the beautiful Kirawira Tented Camp with a Farewell bush dinner on our last night.

Accommodations: Kirawira Tented Camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11: Serengeti/Arusha-Cultural Heritage/Depart

After a morning game drive, fly to Arusha. Upon arrival, enjoy lunch and finish your shopping for woodcarvings, art or tanzanite.
Dayrooms will be provided for downtime at the Mount Meru Hotel until your transfer to the airport this evening.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 12: Arrive U.S.

Connect in Amsterdam and arrive in the U.S.