Tanzania Wildlife and Beaches Safari

A safari offering all the Tanzania Highlights including the Serengeti, Crater, and Matemwe Beach relaxation - From £3,610 per person sharing

Day 1
On your arrival into Kilimanjaro International Airport you will be met by your driver/guide who will transfer you to the Tarangire National Park, enjoying a game drive en-route. A packed lunch will be provided. When you reach the park you can stop for a picnic lunch and then go for a game drive and wildlife spotting before heading out to the delightful Maramboi Camp. This is permanent tented camp with endless vistas of rolling golden grasslands and palm lined desert between Tarangire and Lake Manyara.
Overnight: Maramboi Camp – 10 tents spacious tents on generous, ample wooden decks. They all have en suite facilities and private veranda (L/D)

Day 2
You have a full day to enjoy the Tarangire National Park, famed for its elephants, birds and a host of other wildlife that congregate along the Tarangire River. Tarangire is not as famous as the Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater but it still offers a huge amount to the African enthusiast forming an integral part of your safari in Tanzania. Tarangire comes into its own during the months of July to November when it is the dry season and the various grazing herds are attracted to the waters of the Tarangire River, one can expect to see up to 500 along the river banks in the dry season! Covered in more vegetation than the Serengeti, wildlife is slightly harder to see here although it is still just as diverse. As Maramboi is outside the park other activities on offer include: guided walking safaris, bird watching on the shores of the not too distant Lake Manyara and cultural interaction with Datoga and Maasai, whose bomas populate the adjacent land.
Overnight: Maramboi Tented Camp (B/L/D)

Day 3
Enroute to the Ngorongoro Crater you set off westwards to Mto-Wameu. Here, you will enjoy a guided village/cultural walk. Here, you will learn about how the villagers grow sugarcane, millet, rice, banana (7 species, of which the leaves can also be used for roofing), beans, oranges, spinage, etc. You will visit the village carving business where they make souvenirs out of ebony (grown in the Masaailands in the mountains & transported by donkey), mahogany and rosewood. You may get the opportunity to visit a local pub to try out the fermented local brew made from banana plantain.

You will then enjoy a wonderful lunch made by one of the local families in the village. This is a great way to learn about some of the local foods as well as having an opportunity to visit their house. You will enjoy a true jungle experience as you dine amongst the banana plantations, and banana leaves. By late afternoon you will experience the impressive rise of the Western stretches of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment before heading to your lodge for the next couple of nights very close to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate.
Overnight: Ngorongoro Farmhouse – is a small and exclusive lodge facing the Oldeani Volcano. There are 50 huge cottages with ample space inside, built in the style of an old colonial farm and rustically decorated with local materials and crafts giving a feel for life of the days gone (B/L/D)

Day 4
We suggest that an early morning start is definitely the order of the day, as you head towards the Ngorongoro Crater and onto the Crater floor to experience this wildlife spectacular, with the world’s densest population if lions and spotted hyena. The crater is one of the few places in Tanzania where you can reliably see black rhino and many old tuskers, who come to spend their retirement peacefully feeding in the Gorigor swamp. Enjoy a picnic lunch at Ngoitokitok Springs; where hippos wallow and Black Kites might nab your lunch! This afternoon you continue your explorations in search of the Big Five that roam the plains of this natural amphitheatre before heading back to the lodge.
Overnight: Ngorongoro Farm House (B/L/D)

Day 5
Today you leave the crater and head to the Serengeti National Park with your driver/guide and stop for a packed lunch at Oldupai Gorge, an archaeological excavations in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. From here, you will venture along the winding sandy tracks through open grasslands with acacia trees to the Shifting Sands. The Shifting Sands have religious associations for the Maasai. They are remarkable, moving along in the exact same formation at a rate of approximately 5mtrs per year. It is volcanic ash deposits from Oldonyo Lengai which is too heavy for the winds to blow away. Since 1969, the sand has drifted some 2km’s. You will then continue your journey to the Ndutu area of the Serengeti National Park. From November through to March, the migration is usually in the southern Serengeti and the Ndutu area. The migratory wildebeest and zebra share the land with many large cats, elephant, giraffe, Thomson gazelle and a host of other species. Depending on your time of arrival you may the chance for an afternoon game drive in the southern/central Serengeti.
Overnight: Ndutu Safari Lodge – consists of simple but comfortable stone cottages in one of the best spots in the southern Serengeti, on the edge of Lake Ndutu under flat-topped acacias outside the park boundary. These stone thatched cottages are en-suite with shady verandas and offer far reaching views of the huge Serengeti herds. It is a great place to watch the flocks of Fischer’s lovebirds at sunrise and genets at sunset (B/L/D)

Day 6
Today you will head to the northern part of the Serengeti game driving through the central Serengeti valley. The central Serengeti has one of the highest concentrations of lion prides and leopard and cheetah are often spotted. If you are lucky you may have a chance to spot the rare black rhino in the Moru Kopjes area. Finally you enter northern Serengeti, an area that borders the Maasai Mara in Kenya where the migratory wildebeest and zebra share the land with many large cats, elephant, giraffe, Thomson gazelle and a host of other species.
Overnight: Exclusive Mobile Camps – have four different locations during the year according to the movement of the wildlife allowing you to be located as close as possible to the migration as possible. Each tent has en-suite facilities with a safari bush shower, flush toilet and running water (B/L/D)

Day 7, 8
You have two full days to enjoy morning and afternoon guided game drives in the Serengeti National Park, home to one of the largest mammal migrations on earth. Over two million wildebeest and zebra move between the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya, following the sweet grasses that sprout after the rains.
Overnight: Exclusive Mobile Camps (B/L/D)

Day 9
Time permitting there maybe time for a final morning’s game drive before your transfer to the Grumeti airstrip with packed lunch in hand, to catch an internal flight via Arusha to Zanzibar (11:00 - 14:15). On arrival you will be met and transferred to the luxury retreat of Matemwe Bungalows where you settle into your rooms, on a full-board basis. Here you can relax on the beach, by the pool or at your hotel and reflect upon the adventures of the last few days, or you can take a day or two to explore more of Zanzibar.
Overnight: Matemwe Main Lodge – a lovely lodge with access to some great beaches and providing you with the comfort of a honeymoon retreat (B/L/D)

Days 10, 11, 12
You have three full days at leisure to relax on the beach or to explore Zanzibar. Matemwe is lovely intimate beach lodge, surrounded by some of the best beaches on the island. Fantastic diving and snorkelling can be enjoyed around the Mnemba atoll, right opposite Matemwe. The lodge also offers a host of other activities that include: guided reef & village walks, dhow boat trips, kayaking, cycling as well as a range of excursions such as exploring Jozani Forest or visiting Stone Town and its world famous spice tours, and its narrow streets, shops and markets. Experience the colours, the sounds and the spices of the capital and visit the mosques, palaces, shops, and old historic houses. You can learn about its dark history as one of the slave-trading ports of East Africa.
Overnight: Matemwe Main Lodge (B/L/D)

Day 13
Today you depart the comfort of Matemwe and make your way to the Zanzibar International Airport for your international flight back home (B)