THE CLASSIC WILDLIFE TOUR
12 days

Accommodations: Luxury tented camps, luxury mobile camping, occasional top-quality lodges
Season: Year round, but the itinerary could change in different seasons
Fitness Rating: Easy/Moderate
Cost: High

This safari takes you to the famous wildlife venues in Northern Tanzania, with all the comfort, luxury and adventure of traditional East African safaris. You will have the opportunity to see the greatest wildlife spectacles in the world, with a backdrop of stunning scenery. Every attention will be paid to your wishes by the friendly and professional people of Tanzania, your driver/guide and the staff at your accommodations.

Day 1 Arrive in Arusha. We'll pick you up and drive you to your lodge, Oldonyo Orok, bordering on Arusha National Park. Overnight here.
Day 2 Spend today in Arusha National Park, walking with a guard on the lower slopes of Mt. Meru, the fourth highest mountain in Africa, or for your first game drive. A chance to see Kilimanjaro, drive in the forest, round a lesser crater or series of soda lakes. This is a quiet first day with no travelling, after your journey here. Dinner and overnight at Oldonyo Orok.
Day 3 Drive to and through the beautiful rolling countryside of Tarangire National Park. Look out for numerous herds of elephant, as well as many other animals such as lions, zebras, waterbuck, giraffes, etc. In some parts of the park the strange baobab trees predominate. Have a picnic lunch in the park then more game driving before you head on to Oliver's Camp, in the park's eastern section. Enjoy a late afternoon walk, followed by a sundowner. After a hot shower in your private bathroom, drink around the campfire, enjoy a gourmet dinner and spend your first night in the bush under canvas in your room-sized tents.
Day 4 A second day in Tarangire National Park and the Oliver's Camp area. Go for a guided walk, enjoy drives in this little used but very beautiful and prolific part of the park. If conditions are good, you may see a solitary leopard lounging in a tree branch, or a pride of lions eyeing potential prey as they come to drink at Silale Swamp. Return to camp for a delicious lunch, then spend the hot afternoon hours reading from the Camp's extensive wildlife library, relaxing in your tent or more game drives. Dinner, camp fire and overnight at Oliver's Camp.
Day 5 Drive through Tarangire National Park to Lake Manyara National Park for a half day game drive. Bordering the rift valley lake and bordered in turn by the rift escarpment, this small park is famous for its groundwater forest, huge numbers of water birds and dense populations of animals such as baboons as elephant. Take a picnic lunch with you. In the late afternoon you will reach your camp, Maji Moto Camp, which is situated close to the lake. Here you will have dinner and overnight in this luxury camp.
Day 6 After an early breakfast, drive back through Lake Manyara National Park, and take a canoe trip on the lake. This trip takes around four hours and at the end of this trip you will have your picnic lunch, then leave Lake Manyara National Park at leisure. Drive up the rift wall and on into the Ngorongoro highlands. You will stay tonight at a small, intimate lodge on the outer and lower slopes of Ngorongoro, the Plantation Lodge. This lodge is built in the gardens of an old farmhouse, and the atmosphere and all the details are perfect. You can swim here or stretch your legs in a short stroll.
Day 7 After breakfast, drive up the crater rim and into Ngorongoro Crater for a full day's game drive, taking a picnic lunch. Here you see the animals as you had always imagined, with the dramatic backdrop of the crater walls around you. You take a picnic lunch and look for animals you have not yet seen and some exciting wildlife interactions. Perhaps you will even have a chance to see the rare black rhino. At the end of the day ascend the crater and drive to your lodge, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge. Pamper yourself in this luxurious lodge, take a sundowner overlooking the crater, before taking your bath or shower and dinner and overnight here.
Day 8 After a morning spent in Ngorongoro Crater, drive down from the Ngorongoro Highlands towards the Serengeti ecosystem. Stop at Olduvai Gorge where Louis and Mary Leakey did their groundbreaking work on the origins of man. Here you are at the beginning of the short grass plains and depending on the time of year, this area may be green and alive with wildlife or barren and arid. You move on to your personal mobile camp, which is set up where the animals are. Possibly in Ndutu in the far south, perhaps in the far north, perhaps in the center. From your mobile camp site you can explore your area and the many animals as well as go further afield to visit the rest of the Serengeti. This is the high spot of your safari, you will have the luxury of your own camp, with the personal attention from your camp staff. Your camp includes walk-in tents with comfortable beds, linen, shower and toilet facilities, dining tent, bar and plenty of privacy. The food will be excellent.
Days 9-11 Spend your days exploring the Serengeti. Return to your camp when you want. In the evening and night listen to the night sounds of this unique wild place. Perhaps you will hear a lion roar in the distance, a zebra bark.
Day 12 After your last breakfast in the Serengeti, drive to Seronera and fly out to Arusha. We meet you at Arusha and take you for lunch at our house, surrounded by coffee fields, and with your last view of Mt. Meru. You may rest or go shopping in town. After an early supper drive to Kilimanjaro International Airport. If you need to leave Arusha this afternoon by bus there is time for that also.

Prices will be quoted based on specific itineraries. The itineraries above are samples only, and some lodges, hotels and camps will change based on your travel times and needs and availability. We also reserve the right to change any itinerary. We want to maximize your enjoyment of your holiday, but we are not always able to predict the climate or the concentrations of game ahead of time. When changes are necessary, we will let you know as soon as possible. The right is also reserved to decline to accept or retain any person as a member of any tour at any time in which event a reasonable refund will be made.

Bookings will be accepted by our Arusha office or by designated travel agents, and will be confirmed upon receipt of a 30% deposit paid 60 days prior to booking date. Final balance payment will be due to our office or bank account 30 days prior to departure.

For cancellations prior to 60 days, deposits will be returned, less any handling fees incurred. Cancellations with notice of between 60 and 14 days, the deposit of 30% is charged, and between 14 and the day of departure, the deposit, plus 20% of the full price is charged.

The company and its agents act only as agents of the passenger in all matters relating to tours. The appropriate law of the country in which the tour takes place dictates the company's liability to passengers. However, the company accepts no responsibility for any personal illness, injury, delays, loss or damage from any causes whatsoever.

Communications are sometimes difficult within Tanzania. We find e-mail to be the most reliable and easy means of communications.
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