Tanzania Mobile Safari

You will be met on arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport and transferred to Arumeru River Lodge for your first overnight. You’ll meet your guide and have a safari briefing upon arrival or the following morning.

On day 2, after breakfast, meet your small group and depart for your private tented camp situated along the boundary of Tarangire National Park. The afternoon will be spent on a guided hike of the area, having the opportunity to visit with the “local” tribes and get a feeling for the beauty and culture of Tarangire. Hilltops in the area offer astounding views down into the river, which provides the only permanent water supply in Maasai land. The area supports a great diversity of wildlife, including giraffe, buffalo, lesser kudu, eland, oryx and zebra. Lion, leopard and cheetah are also present in the area. Up to 6,000 elephants inhabit Tarangire late in the dry season (September-October). Lunch, dinner and overnight at your private camp. The following day take a full day game drive with a picnic lunch before returning to your camp for overnight. All meals included.

Today you depart for Lake Eyasi with picnic lunches and drive across the floor of the Great Rift Valley through Mto wa Mbu. After climbing the Rift Valley escarpment you reach the village of Karatu where you take a rough road to Lake Eyasi. Spend the remainder of the day exploring on foot this rugged landscape, which is still inhabited by a small group of Bushmen: The Hadzabe or Watindiga, who still live in bands, hunting with bows and arrows; gathering roots, tubers and wild fruits, just as they did thousands of years ago. We’ll return to Karatu for an overnight at Bougainsvillea Safari Lodge while our camp is being moved to a new location.

After breakfast you proceed to the rim of Ngorongoro for a hike and tour of the area, returning to camp for lunch. The remainder of the day can be spent hiking or relaxing at the camp or you can visit a Maasai village in the area. The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs and dress and residence near the many game parks of East Africa, they are among the most well-known African ethnic groups internationally.

Traditional Maasai lifestyle centers around their cattle which constitutes the primary source of food. The measure of a man’s wealth is in terms of cattle and children. A herd of 50 cattle is respectable, and the more children the better. A man who has plenty of one but not the other is considered to be poor. A Maasai myth relates that God gave them all the cattle on earth, leading to the belief that rustling cattle from other tribes is a matter of taking back what is rightfully theirs, a practice that has become much less common. Many tour companies visit take their guests to museum type villages which have been erected for tourists. Since our guides have many years of experience in the area, they have relationships with local elders and so we will take you to a real village. Return to your private camp for overnight. All meals.

Today you take the full day to explore the Ngorongoro Crater, a World Heritage Site and a truly unique wildlife refuge. The crater is in fact a sunken caldera, 10 by 12 miles in diameter. Animals are found throughout the year due to the permanent availability of grass and water. Ngorongoro is one of the most spectacular game areas in Africa, and contains an impressive variety of wildlife including black mane lion, the highly endangered black rhino; herds of wildebeest, zebra, elephant, and hippo. Enjoy a picnic lunch within the crater, returning to your camp in time for a dinner. All meals included.

After breakfast, you depart for the Serengeti, stopping along to way to visit Olduvai Gorge. This is where the Leakey’s discovered the remains of Homo Erectus, bringing crucial understanding to the study of the evolution of man. Serengeti is perhaps the most famous wildlife sanctuary in the world, and with good reason. During the migration, literally hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra can be seen making their way across this magical plain. In February-March they concentrate at the Ndutu and Salei plains, where the calving season takes place, attracting the attention of predators like lion, cheetah and hyena. Your first night will be in the Serengeti Sopa Lodge while your mobile camp moves to a private campsite whose location is chosen according to the movement of the migrating herds.

Spend the next few days discovering these amazing plains. Serengeti National Park is perhaps the most impressive wildlife sanctuary in the world. These vast, seemingly unending plains are inhabited during the migration by enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra. The herds attract the attention of predators such as lion, cheetah and hyena. Another interesting feature of Serengeti is the massive granite kopjes, islands of rock standing in a sea of grass. The kopjes provide shelter to a great variety of plants and animals, from the elusive leopard to the tiny dik dik. Overnights at our private mobile camp. All meals included.

Sadly, on day 12 it’s time to depart. After an early farewell breakfast, we drive back to Arusha, enjoying a picnic lunch along the way. You’ll be transferred to the airport for your flight home or continuing arrangements. Breakfast and lunch included.