12 DAYS TANZANIA EXPLORER SAFARI

Day 1 Arusha - Arusha Coffee Lodge
Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport where you are met by our representative who will assist with your transfer to the Arusha Coffee Lodge.

Built around a coffee plantation, Arusha Coffee Lodge offers excellent food and superb coffee. The chalets are spaced throughout the coffee grove to promote privacy. The furnishings are unique and feature many coffee themed artifacts. One of the best features is a wooden deck attached to the chalets overlooking the plantation. The lodge also has a wonderful restaurant, bar and lounge.

Day 2 Sinya Private Concession - Kambi ya Tembo
From Arusha, drive north to Sinya, a private 75,000 acre concession that borders Kenya's Amboseli National Park. The landscapes at Sinya consist of floodplains, hills, acacia woodlands and the breathtaking summit of snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro.

Together these sights make up one of the most beautiful and pristine areas in northern Tanzania. In the evening enjoy the stars of the southern hemisphere and the amazing sight of Mount Kilimanjaro illuminated by moonlight.
Kambi ya Tembo (Elephant Camp) faces Kilimanjaro and offers traditional accommodations in ten tents with en suite facilities. Each tent is shaded by a massive, old Acacia Tortilis tree and combines the luxury and warmth of African hospitality with the best cultural and natural experience possible.

Day 3 Sinya Private Concession - Kambi ya Tembo
Located to the west of the mountain, guests in the Sinya Private Concession enjoy a safari in an environment which is removed from the more congested safari circuits. Game drives through the woodlands provide some of the best opportunities to see enormous elephant bulls, some of which are more than 50 years old. 25 years ago the 100-pound tusks of these great beasts would have been the targets of poachers; today conservation efforts sponsored by groups and individuals all over the globe have almost eliminated poaching in several areas of Africa. Other wildlife in the area includes gerenuk, lesser kudu, Oryx, spotted hyena and the endangered African wild dog.

Days 4 - 6 Tarangire National Park - Tarangire River Camp
Drive south through Arusha to Tarangire National Park. The Tarangire River is the centerpiece of this park which is famous for some of the largest herds of elephants in Africa. In the dry season large numbers of animals congregate along the lifeblood of the river. Here you may see lion, leopard, cheetah, lesser kudu, buffalo, Oryx, eland, giraffe and zebra. In addition to the animal species, the park is famous for its century-old baobab trees and over 300 species of birds.

Tarangire River Camp is situated high on a riverbank and the ten luxury tents sit on raised wooden platforms spaced apart for privacy. All the tents have en suite facilities, comfortable beds and tasteful furnishings. The thatched, open-air main building encircles an ancient baobab tree. Overstuffed couches and chairs in the lounge and bar provide comfort after a day on safari.
Besides game viewing, visits with the Datoga tribe and bush walks with Maasai who live in the area can be arranged.

Day 7 Lake Manyara National Park - Ngorongoro Farm House
After breakfast begin the drive to Karatu, centrally located between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. En route you will pass through Lake Manyara National Park which is located at the foot of the Great Rift Valley's eastern wall. Baobab trees grow throughout the park and during the drive you might see baobab trees hosting parties of monkeys while elephants watch from below in the shade. Hippos wallow in the rainwater pools near the lake and lions lounge in the branches of flat-topped acacia trees.

The final destination today is Ngorongoro Farm House located near Karatu town on the Great Rift Valley's eastern wall. Spacious, open rooms and glorious views of the surrounding farmland make Farm House one of the most peaceful accommodations near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The large bungalows have private verandas facing the Rift Valley and en suite bathrooms. Meals include organic vegetables grown in the property’s garden.

Day 8 Ngorongoro Conservation Area - Ngorongoro Farm House
A brief morning drive brings you to the Ngorongoro Crater. Game drives in the crater, the heart of the 3,200-square mile Ngorongoro Conservation Area, provide an excellent opportunity to view black rhino and black-mane lion.

The enormous crater functions as an ecosystem unto itself. High escarpments, defining the border of the crater, and plentiful water liberate the over 25,000 wildebeest and zebra from the migration that their cousins from the Serengeti endure.
For lunch, enjoy a picnic next to one of the hippo pools on the crater floor.

Afterwards continue with the game drive throughout the various ecosystems of the crater, including woodland filled with zebra and baboon, plains that support scavenging hyena and a lake that is tinted pink with greater and lesser flamingos.

Days 9 - 11 Serengeti National Park - Luxury Mobile Camp
Today, drive towards the wide, grassy plains of the Serengeti. Covering over 5,700 square miles, the park hosts the majority of one of the world’s last great migratory events, the wildebeest migration.

Luxury mobile tented camps offer a safari experience true to the ways of the great explorers of the 19th Century combined with the conveniences of en suite facilities, hot showers, superb meals and comfortable beds. The camp site will be strategically located to maximize the game viewing experience.

After a day of game drives, return to camp and sit around a roaring camp fire where a selection of drinks and appetizers are served by experienced staff members. The dining tent, decorated with African fabrics, candles and kerosene lamps, provides the perfect setting for an evening meal. All the while you will be serenaded by the sounds of the African night: frogs, insects, grunts of wildebeest, and perhaps the roar of a lion.

Day 12 Serengeti National Park / Arusha - Arusha Coffee Lodge, Day Room
Enjoy a final game drive through the Serengeti. After breakfast it is a one-hour flight from the Serengeti to Arusha where you will be transferred to a day room at the Arusha Coffee Lodge. The international flight from Kilimanjaro leaves in the evening.