Day 1: Moshi
Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). After clearing customs, look for your Zara Adventure driver. He will be waiting for you, holding a sign with your name on it. Your driver will transport you to Springlands Hotel on the outskirts of Moshi.
Day 2: Arusha National Park
This morning, drive to Arusha National Park for game viewing. The park is dominated by Mount Meru, Africa’s fifth highest mountain. There is a good range of animal species represented.
You can expect to see hippos, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, waterbucks, and bushbucks, although more interesting sightings such as reedbucks, leopards, and hyenas are much more occasional. They are also quite alkaline and therefore provide a year-round breeding area for flamingoes.
Day 3: Lake Manyara National Park
This morning, drive to Lake Manyara National Park. Set against the steep escarpment of the Rift Valley, you will find Lake Manyara National Park with its evergreen groundwater forest and variety of ecosystems, including acacia woodland, grassy plains, a swampy fan delta, and of course, the expansive lake.
This diversity attracts a wide variety of mammal, bird, and wildlife species. Manyara is also home to rare tree-climbing lions. The park offers excellent game viewing with buffalo, impala, giraffe, bushbuck, waterbuck, hippos, and lots of elephants roam near the lake. Also, look out for blue monkeys, vervet monkeys, and the very active Olive baboon troops.
Day 4: Karatu
Enjoy the day in the Karatu area, nestled between the Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara. Karatu is a colorful bustling town and a fun place to visit to buy souvenirs. After breakfast, enjoy a hike to the Ngorongoro Forest.
On this two-hour hike through the forested slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, you will discover a magnificent waterfall and incredible “elephant caves” created by elephants digging up the earth to ingest the vitamin-rich soil. You may see buffalo, bushbuck, waterbuck, and baboons, also attracted by the soil.
During the afternoon, visit the Iraqw cultural center. The area surrounding Karatu town is Iraqw homeland, and you can witness their locally developed intensive cultivation techniques. Traditionally in conflict with the Maasai, Iraqw homesteads included underground tunnels or aasimo (in which to hide).
You can see these elaborate structures during a visit. During this excursion, you can learn more about the Iraqw culture by interacting at the local markets and learn how they run their daily lives.
Day 5: Lake Eyasi
Drive to Lake Eyasi, a mildly alkaline lake about 55 kilometers long. If seeing hundreds of species of birds excites you, Lake Eyasi is a perfect destination for you to see flamingos, pelicans, spoonbills, weavers, spurfowls, storks, barbets, egrets, and more. The visit includes meeting the Hadzabe people and spending the day observing their ways.
The Hadzabe is an indigenous tribe known as the hunter gatherer Bushmen. Visit their homesteads and learn more about their life style. Hunting in groups with bows and arrows, this tribe is able to survive with what the environment provides.
The Hadzabe bushmen treat diseases with their own medicines. They speak a very unique click language. Apart from this cultural activity, the area offers superb hiking, bird watching, and beautiful scenery.
Day 6: Serengeti National Park
Head out after breakfast for the drive to Serengeti National Park. The word “Serengeti” is derived from the Maasai language, meaning “endless plain.” En route to the Serengeti, you can opt to visit as Masaai village, a perfect place to explore the Maasai culture and even participate in some tribal activities, or visit Olduvai Gorge, known as the Cradle of Humanity.
The museum is a testament to the long journey that humanity has made from its humble roots in East Africa to its current state as the dominant species on earth. Enjoy a game drive en route to your camp.
Day 7 and 8: Serengeti National Park
Enjoy game drives and relax with two full days in the Serengeti, unequaled for its beauty and home to the Great Wildebeest Migration. The huge herds of plains game, such as wildebeest, zebra, and antelope, dominate the park, while the attendant predators such as lion and cheetah are to be found among the many kopjes scattered across the plain.
Its landscape varies from open grass plains in the south, savanna with scattered acacia trees in the center, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west.
Day 9: Ngorongoro Crater
Enjoy a morning game drive en route to Ngorongoro Crater. Descend into the Ngorongoro Crater floor for game driving and exploration. The crater is 600 meters deep, 16 kilometers across, and 265 square kilometers in area. Enjoy the spectacular scenery and game viewing in what has been described as the eighth wonder of the world.
Many of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhino can be seen grazing on the open grassland of the crater floor, surrounded by some of the 20,000 large animals that occupy the crater, including lion, cheetah, eland, zebra, and gazelle. Flamingo, among other bird species, can often be seen feeding at Makat Soda Lake as well. In the afternoon, drive to your lodge for your overnight stay.
Day 10: Tarangire National Park
This morning, drive to Tarangire National Park. Tarangire is traversed by the Tarangire River, which never dries up. Being the only source of water during the dry season, it draws hundreds of animals to the park, making for a wildlife and bird viewing spectacular. The landscape is varied, with grassy savannah plains, swamps, hills, and spectacular baobabs. Enjoy a full day in the park with game viewing.
Day 11: Departure
Enjoy a morning at leisure before your transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) for your flight home. If your flight departs during the morning, a one-night accommodation must be booked in Arusha. Speak to Zara Tours to arrange this.
