LODGE BASED WILDLIFE AND ZANZIBAR, PEMBA, MAFIA ISLANDS OR MAINLAND BEACHES OF THE INDIAN OCEAN
12 days
Accommodations: Medium to high quality lodges and tented lodges
Season: Year round, but some changes in the itinerary may be needed
Fitness Rating: Easy/Moderate
Cost: Medium
For people who want to maximise their game viewing, then spend some time relaxing on the white sand beaches of the Indian Ocean, snorkel, dive or game fish, this is the ideal safari. After your wildlife experience, choose between the well-known island of Zanzibar, its sister island of Pemba, explore little known island of Mafia and go to one of the beaches on the mainland. This sample takes you to Zanzibar but we can arrange the other destinations for you as well.
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| Day 1 | Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport. We'll meet you there and transfer you to Moivaro Coffee Plantation and Lodge, for overnight. |
| Day 2 | After a leisurely breakfast, drive to Tarangire National Park, home to some of the most beautiful bush in the country. Drive through the park to your lodge for lunch. You will be staying at Tarangire Safari Lodge, and the views from this lodge are stunning, sit on the terrace or the veranda of your tent and watch the animals come down to drink at the Tarangire river. Later go for a game drive, watch out for impala, giraffes, zebra, warthogs, Coke's hartebeest and of course the many elephants that make this park their home. At the end of the day return to Tarangire Safari Lodge, and after a hot shower in your en suite tent, and drink on the terrace, enjoy dinner, then fall asleep to the sounds of the bush. |
| Day 3 | Explore this beautiful park today, discuss with your guide and decide whether to take a morning game drive followed by a rest and lunch at the lodge and an evening drive, or whether to go out for the whole day with a picnic lunch. Tarangire's wildlife will be active, maybe you may see a solitary leopard lounging in a tree branch, or a pride of lions eyeing potential prey as they come to drink from the park's namesake river or the Silale Swamp. Dinner and overnight at Tarangire Safari Lodge. |
| Day 4 | Wake up early and have breakfast. Leave Tarangire and drive past Lake Manyara and up the Eastern Rift Valley wall to the Ngorongoro Highland. Drive to your lodge, Ngorongoro Serena for lunch, then make your way into Ngorongoro Crater for a half day crater tour. At the end of the day ascend the wall of the crater to Ngorongoro Serena Lodge. Enjoy a hot shower and take in the breathtaking crater view. Dinner and overnight here. |
| Day 5 | After breakfast, descend into the Ngorongoro Crater, a World Heritage Site and home to nearly 25,000 animals. A picturesque spot, the crater is home to Cape buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, jackals, hyena, lions, leopard, and the rare black rhino. Spend the morning watching the wildlife, then enjoy a picnic lunch at Ngoitokitok Springs as hippos jostle for position in the water. See more of the crater in the afternoon, then return to the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge for dinner. Overnight here. |
| Day 6 | Breakfast at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, then make your way to Olduvai Gorge, site of Louis and Mary Leakey's famous discoveries of ancient humans and their cousins. As you continue the Serengeti Plains will unfold before you. If Mother Nature has cooperated, the plains will be full of gazelle, zebra and some of the 1.5 million wildebeest that come here to feed and calve. With these huge numbers of herbivores come the attendant predators and scavengers--lions, hyena, cheetah, jackal and vultures--looking to pick off a young calf for a meal. Make your way to your lodge, depending on the time of year you will drive to either Ndutu Lodge in the south of the Serengeti short grass plains or to Serengeti Serena, in the centre of the Serengeti National Park. Dinner and overnight here. |
| Day 7 | Enjoy a full day in the Serengeti eco-system, exploring the famous Serengeti Plains. Take a picnic lunch and spend the whole day in search of the wildlife, or go back to your lodge for lunch, going out again in the cool of the afternoon. Dinner and overnight at Ndutu Lodge or Serengeti Serena. |
| Day 8 | Today is your last game drive. After breakfast drive to Seronera, game viewing as you go, and fly, at the end of the morning, to Arusha and on to Zanzibar. You will be met by your driver at the airport in Zanzibar, who will take you to Emerson and Greens. Here you will stay the night at this delightful lodge in the heart of the old stone town of Zanzibar. This old house has been completely renovated in traditional swahili style, a lovely experience. After checking into your hotel, spend the rest of the day exploring Stone Town's narrow, winding streets, admiring the intricate, carved doors and enjoying the exotic smells wafting through this ancient labyrinth. We recommend that you have dinner at Emerson and Greens tonight, but you are free to eat elsewhere in Stone Town. |
| Day 9 | After breakfast, take a half day spice tour or drive direct to the north-east coast for some much-deserved rest and relaxation. Arrive at Ras Nungwi Beach Hotel in time to enjoy a lunch of fresh seafood as you look out on the warm, azure Indian Ocean. Here, you can spend your days swimming, snorkeling, diving, or just sunbathing on the beach. Dinner and overnight here. |
| Day 10 | Enjoy a full day on the beach. |
| Day 11 | Enjoy another day on the beach. |
| Day 12 | Have one last breakfast on the ocean, then in the afternoon, drive back to Stonetown. Fly to Dar-es-Salaam or Nairobi for your connection home. |
| 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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