Africa | Tanzania | Serengeti Wilderness Safari

Upon arrival into the Kilimanjaro (JRO) airport you will be met and transferred to the Mt Meru Hotel for a restful night before beginning your safari.

About Mt Meru Hotel

Situated on a rise in the foothills of Mount Meru, the Mount Meru Hotel is an oasis of tranquility on 15 acres of  water gardens and lush landscape overlooking stunning vistas of surrounding peaks. The 100 room property meshes elegant African style with modern design and in-room amenities including complimentary wi-fi. This is an ideal gateway accommodation start or end your Tanzania safari with a pool to relax and three dining options to choose.

Drive to Tarangire National Park, the third largest national park in Tanzania noted for its primeval landscape with majestic baobab trees that dwarf the animals feeding beneath them. The habitat supports a great diversity of wildlife including giraffe, buffalo, lesser kudu, eland, and zebra. Lion, leopard and cheetah are also present.

About Maramboi Camp

Maramboi is a beautiful permanent camp built on a 25,000 acre concession area and wildlife migratory route between Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park. The land is leased from the local Maasai and thus enjoys opportunities for guests to interact with the local community. The rooms are spacious canvas sided tents raised up with wood flooring, thatched roofing and mesh windows. There are 26 standard rooms and 14 suites, 4 of which feature interconnected rooms which are ideal for families or close friends traveling together. Each tent has their own private bathroom and verandah looking on to Lake Manyara and the great rift escarpment. The open air dining room serves family-style meals on a large deck overlooking the savannah under star-studded night skies. Enjoy a dip in the pool following your game drive or a safari walk around the property.

Most notably, up to 6,000 elephants inhabit the park during the dry season from July to November and many frequently migrate through camp which is strategically located just outside the boundary of Tarangire National Park where it’s possible to go on bush walks with native Maasai guides. Each large canvas tent is raised on stilts with hard wood floors, ensuite baths with hot water, and private verandas with stunning views of the Rift Valley Escarpment. Spend the afternoon of Day 2 and all of Day 3 on game drives and bush walks in the Tarangire area.

The Maasai produce elaborate bead work and today you have the chance to try your hand beading under the tutelage of Maasai women from a local beading co-op. Departing Tarangire the next stop is the vibrant market village of Mto Wa Mbu located near the shores of Lake Manyara where a colorful mix of tribal groups co-exists. Walk through the local market where farmers from all over the region gather to sell their produce. Driving further into the bush we reach the territory of the Hadzabe hunter gatherer tribe at a remote permanent tented camp set amidst a palm and acacia forest on the shores of Lake Eyasi where the Alipi escarpment rises dramatically up into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The seven permanent tents are constructed with local materials and feature hand-carved wooden beds, attached bathrooms with flush toilet, hot water showers and spacious verandahs. Cool off in the pool and enjoy sundowners by the lake-side fire pit.

About Kisima Ngeda Tented Camp

Kisima Ngeda Tented Camp is situated amidst a palm-lined oasis on the shore of Lake Eyasi. Across this huge, seasonal soda lake, the Alipi escarpment rises two thousand feet up into the foothills of the Ngorongoro Conservation area providing a stunning view. The seven permanent tents are constructed with local materials and feature hand-carved wooden beds, attached bathrooms with hot water showers, flush toilet, and a spacious verandah with an amazing view of the lake and escarpment. Kisima Ngeda is designed to be low-impact, spacious and comfortable.

Today is extraordinary cross-cultural experience as you join nomadic Bushmen and Datoga tribal pastoralists in their daily life. Join a morning foray into the bush with Hadzabe hunters or stay back to participate in the morning routine of the nomadic settlement. Your guide will interpret as you observe ancient hunting techniques still used by the tribes. The Hadzabe are one of the few remaining hunter-gather groups in Africa who are genetically and linguistically isolated in their home range on the shores of Lake Eyasi. One of the oldest and true aboriginal peoples to inhabit East Africa, they live as their ancestors have for thousands of years, in nomadic family groups hunting with bow and arrow and gathering roots, tubers and wild fruits.

In the afternoon visit the Datoga, a tribe of semi-nomadic pastoralists who migrated into this area looking for grazing land many decades ago. Remaining isolated from influences of neighboring tribes. the women, wear traditional fat treated goatskin gowns and colorful jewelry, adorning themselves with facial tattoos and scarification.

Depart Kisima Ngeda headed for the fertile farmlands in the highlands of the Ngorongoro Crater, the region’s breadbasket. Check in to the spacious Ngorongoro Farmhouse accommodation, a 500 acre working farm, only 5 km from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area entrance gate. In the afternoon, relax on the farm or join an easy hike through the forest to the elephant caves, where pachyderms are drawn to mineral-rich mud. During your stay on the farm, enjoy fresh roasted coffee from the 15 acre coffee plantation, and fresh on-site foodstuffs including hand raised pigs, free range chickens, ducks, rabbit, lamb and milk cows. These fresh foods are combined with the fish imported from the coast enabling chefs to serve up abundant, fresh, organic cuisine. Accommodations are in spacious luxury bungalows (80 Sq. meters each) and facilities include a swimming pool and two dining areas.

About Ngorongoro Farmhouse

Nestled on fertile slopes of the Ngorongoro Highlands, this comfortable colonial farmhouse is an ideal location for exploring the nearby Ngorongoro Crater. Each of the 51 spacious chalet rooms are outfitted with twin or double beds each with private baths and verandahs. Meals are prepared with delicious homegrown products from its six-acre organic vegetable garden animal pastures, served in an expansive dining room with vaulted thatch roof and large windows overlooking the Rift Valley. Enjoy a refreshing dip in the swimming pool after a long day on game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater, hiking the slopes of the Oldeani Volcano or visiting the Hadzabe tribe near the shores of Lake Eyasi.

Arise early this morning to begin your exploration of the stunning Ngorongoro Crater where resident animals are found throughout the year due to the permanent availability of grass and water. Ngorongoro is one of the most spectacular game haunts in Africa and has been designated a World Heritage site. A nearly 100 square mile caldera basin, it contains an impressive variety of wildlife including black-maned lions, the highly endangered black rhino, herds of gnu, zebra, elephants, hippo and hyena, the most important predator within the crater. Bird life is also prolific with flocks of flamingoes on the soda lake plus other species of water and plains birds.

This afternoon choose join a hike with your guide in the Empakai Crater, the Olmoti Crater, or the Ngorongoro Highlands, visiting with local Maasai people who graze their cattle in these expansive highlands.

Drive to the Serengeti plains, stopping en route at the Olduvai Gorge where Mary Leakey discovered remains of Australopithecus Homo habilis and Homo erectus. The next three days are dedicated to exploring the vast plains of the Serengeti, one of the most productive habitats and impressive wildlife sanctuaries in the world.

About Kati Kati Tented Camp

This classic tented camp consists of ten large canvas tents set around a large dining tent and campfire. Each tent has either two twin beds or a large king bed, and is complete with an en-suite bathroom flush toilet, and hot shower prepared on call by the camp staff. Enjoy appetizers, snacks, and sundowners under the start night sky around the campfire. Enjoy family-style meals including wine or beer with dinner in a cozy dining tent. The seasonally-mobile camp is well poised to view the great migration and is located either in the Central or Southern regions of the Serengeti National Park depending on the time of year.

Upwards of 1.5 million wildebeest and zebra concentrate in vast herds and migrate through the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. In February-March they concentrate at the Ndutu and Salei plains to the south where the calving season takes place, attracting the attention of predators like lion, cheetah and hyena.

In April-August the herds move northwards, passing through the central Serengeti and heading towards the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Depending on the season and location of the migration, your luxury Kati Kati Tented Camp is located in either the central or southern Serengeti, ideal locations to access the diverse habitats of the national park.

Enjoy your last full day in the Serengeti as you soak up an awesome spectacle of leopards, cheetahs, jackals, hyenas, aardwolves, serval cats, agama lizards, and rock hyraxes on the Serengeti Plain, one of the oldest ecosystems on earth!

Fly from the Serengeti airstrip on a charter flight for your return trip to Arusha. The scenic flight saves up to 8 hours of driving, with a birds eye view over the Ngorongoro Crater and your entire safari route! Upon arrival transfer to the KIA Lodge on a lush hilltop overlooking the villages and savannah near the Kilimanjaro airport where you’ll have a dayroom before your evening departing flight.

Consider extending your trip by trekking to see mountain gorillas in Rwanda (flights available directly from the Serengeti) or relax on a tropical island and SCUBA in the Indian Ocean at Zanzibar, Tanzania.