Private Tanzania Safari

Welcome to Tanzania Whatever your arrival time at Kilimanjaro International Airport, your Kilisherpas driver-guide will be waiting for you with a warm welcoming smile. Kick back and relax in your comfortable vehicle as he takes you to your hotel in Arusha, Tanzania’s self-styled ‘safari capital'. On your one-hour journey to the hotel, you will get a brief impression of this large, bustling, commercial city. Depending on your arrival time, you may have your pre-safari briefing today; if not, it will take place early tomorrow morning.

Tour Briefing Unless your arrival time yesterday allowed time for your safari briefing, then this will take place after breakfast. We will provide you with all the essential information before we set off to our first safari destination, the diverse Tarangire National Park. After our time there, we continue onwards to Lake Manyara, where we will spend the night. Journey: (morning) Arusha to Tarangire National Park; (afternoon) Our two-hour (120 km) morning journey first takes us westwards from Arusha. Along the route, your eyes will be opened to all the colours and character of Tanzania: perhaps some Maasai herdsmen driving their flocks of goats to new pastures. You’ll get to know your driver-guide, amazed at his depth of knowledge as he effortlessly answers all your questions. In the afternoon, we journey from Tarangire to Lake Manyara, with a travel time of around 2 hours (92 km). Day’s Highlight Your game drive in Tarangire, with its incredible diversity, massive baobab trees and herds of elephants. Safari (Game Drive) in Tarangire National Park Tarangire is huge. As you stand at the park gate and look south, it stretches as far as the eye can see. Known as the ‘Elephant Playground', this phenomenal park contains huge herds of these mighty mammals. But Tarangire is also home to buffalo, lion, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle, and the park can rival Serengeti for sheer animal densities. What might you see today? Perhaps a solitary male lion stretched out beneath a tree, perhaps a trio of male cheetahs enjoying some lazy bonding time in the sun. Maybe some graceful Grant’s gazelle or zebra bounding away from the road or a couple of giraffe munching happily from the choicest acacia branches. For Tarangire specialities, look out for kudu and oryx. Here, as in other parks, it pays not to ignore the small animals. It’s so easy to be mesmerised by the power and majesty of an elephant or the elegance of the giraffe. Ask your guide to find you an agama lizard, especially a male one who changes colour in front of you according to the temperature! Or a hyrax, known as pimpi, an insignificant-looking creature of around 30cm in length… who astonishingly is related to elephants! Not many trees will pass you by without something of avian interest catching your eye. A memorable flash of colour might be a lilac-breasted roller or blue-eared starling. Ostriches are plentiful, and it’s hard not to chuckle at the sighting of the well-named, studious-looking secretary bird as it awkwardly pads across the grasslands. The park is also famous for its splendid baobab trees, rolling savannah and acacia woodland. It can be dusty – wear a scarf over your mouth – but this is a minor inconvenience for sighting wildlife in such abundance. After Tarangire, we continue the adventure to Lake Manyara.

Journey: (morning) Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro (afternoon) Our afternoon journey will lead us northwest to Ngorongoro, a journey of around 2 ½ hours (96 km), but first we have the excitement of spending time in beautiful Lake Manyara National Park. With its dramatic escarpment, lush forest – and, of course, its lake – this is a place rich in wildlife. Day’s Highlight Your game drive in wonderful Lake Manyara, with the Rift Valley escarpment and the shimmering lake itself as the wonderful, natural backdrops. Safari (Game Drive) in Lake Manyara National Park After our lunch, we jump in our vehicle to cover the highlights of this park more quickly. Set against the rugged Rift Valley escarpment and characterised by its shimmering lake, Manyara is rich in vegetation and the wildlife that thrives here. Enjoy the tranquillity as majestic pink flamingos wade elegantly, picking out a meal of algae from the shallow, alkaline waters. On land, Manyara’s terrain is compact, yet boasts differing environments such as diverse forests fed by waters seeping from the nearby escarpment. Monkeys are abundant, but look out too for the lions, giraffes, warthogs and grumpy Cape buffalo who all call this park ‘home’. Hold your nose when we reach the hippo pool, because these big lumps smell! After our game drive, we journey on to Ngorongoro.

Journey: (morning) Ngorongoro Crater to Kilimanjaro International Airport (afternoon) After our morning visit to the incomparable crater – see below – and then lunch, we will have a 5-hour journey, covering the 250 km back to Kilimanjaro International Airport. Day’s Highlight Like nothing else on Earth, the stunning crater of Ngorongoro is a unique home for many, many species of Tanzania’s wildlife. With some luck, you may even see a black rhino here. Safari in Ngorongoro Crater From our accommodation, we set off after breakfast, a 6am departure, to reach the rim and then descend into the vast crater itself. At one side there’s the Lerai Forest, a classic mountain forest landscape with almost tropical characteristics. This is good elephant country, so keep your eyes peeled. By the side of the nearby swampland is what is sometimes called the ‘elephant graveyard', as the mighty male tuskers at the end of their lives come to chew on the soft swampland grasses once their teeth have failed them. The crater has a population of around 120 lions, with well-defined territories; 15,000 wildebeest, 9,000 zebra, 400 hyenas, and around 50 black rhino. Many wildebeest and other herd animals are resident, benefiting from the many sources of year-round water, and are boosted by some migrators in season. Buffalo, Thomson’s gazelle and eland are also present in numbers. Hippos can be found in pools and swampland, and highland birdlife is colourful and plentiful around the waters. Flamingos can often be seen in Lake Magadi, which occupies part of the crater floor. Meal plan Breakfast is served at Ngorongoro Tortilis Camp. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the camp for you to take out on safari and enjoy after your morning game drive, before we return you to the airport for your flight home. As today is your departure day, please note that dinner tonight is not included in the tour. Departure Instructions Please note that the Private Tanzania Safari – 4 Days tour ends at Kilimanjaro International Airport at 17.30 hours. Your departure can only take place today if you have pre-booked a domestic flight which leaves from Kilimanjaro International Airport at 19.40 hours or after, or an international flight which leaves at 21.00 hours or after. Otherwise, you will need to book an extra night’s accommodation (not included in the tour price) and take a flight the following day. Post Tour Extension After your exhilarating time on safari, you may want to extend your Tanzanian holiday with time on Zanzibar’s wonderful beaches. Please contact us for details.