Tanzania with Jenny & Abby

Your East African Wonders 2019 Safari adventure is an 11-day tour in the following locations:

• Arusha, Tanzania
• Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania Ngorongoro Crater National Park, Tanzania
• Ndutu, Tanzania
• 2 Camps in the Serengetti, Tanzania
• Flight from Serengeti National Park to Arusha, Tanzania
• Day room in Arusha
• Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport and be met by host
  
• Two nights stay at the Tulip Inn in Arusha with local sightseeing to local markets, coffee and Tanzanite vendors and two social enterprises making a positive change in Tanzania including Shanga and The Cradle of Love Rescue Centre.
  
• Lake Manyara National Park for 1 night with accommodation at the Acacia Farm Lodge
• Stay at The World Heritage designated Ngorongoro Crater for 1 night including 2 descents into the crater to witness an incredible abundance of wild animals and birds
• Ndutu for 2 nights at Lake Masek Tented Camp with game viewing
• Serengeti for 4 nights with 2 nights at the Baobab Tented Camp
• 2 nights at Kubu Kubu luxury tented camp
• Domestic flight from the Serengeti to Arusha
• Balloon Ride in the Serengeti-Walking Safari in the Serengeti
• Breakfast daily
• Meals where stated
• Accommodation as per the itinerary/ all park fees and transit fees / guided by Abby and Jenny in private safari transport in an open-top 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser
  
  And more!!

Upon arrival at the Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha, you will be met and transferred to the Tulip Hotel in Arusha city. Abby will be meeting you at the Airport.

The African Tulip Hotel

The African Tulip is an elegant and charming luxury boutique hotel located in the heart of Arusha. A warm and friendly welcome awaits guests to their 29 guest rooms.

Whether you're on your way to safari, or just returning, afternoons by the pool or relaxing in the gardens are the perfect way to unwind. The Tulip also has the Zanzibar Bar, Baobab Restaurant, a business center and curio shop. For more information about your hotel, see http://www.theafricantulip.com

We will have a briefing this morning following breakfast. Then it is off to visit Arusha’s bustling main market. This is a highlight for many guests – the colours and interactions with the “market mamas” and experience of our main food and supplies market is a great introduction to Tanzania and its people.

Afterwards, we will take you for a special visit to a local orphanage, the Cradle of Love Baby Home. As you know, poverty and diseases have devastated Africa and left thousands of children orphans. Your visit will provide you with a chance to lend support to the community. I will discuss before your departure date things you can bring from home to help the kids but one thing you will bring them is a food donation from the market. Expect to be touched and emotionally moved by the incredible spirit and hope of children. We are firm believers in sharing your blessings and this will be a unique chance to do just that. See their website for more information. http://cradleoflove.com/

After your wonderful visit with the babies, we will depart for our visit to Shanga. Shanga is the Swahili word for “bead” and was founded as a for-profit company to create a community that supports and empowers those Tanzanians who have been marginalized

by their disabilities. Shanga makes some of the most unique items to bring home and none of their products are available elsewhere. We will tour this remarkable workshop (which is located on a coffee plantation) and interact with some of the 42 disabled Tanzanians employed there.

All income from the Shanga workshop, restaurant and shop sales goes towards employing more disabled people – the waiting list for jobs is endless. In their own words: “At Shanga you learn together – how to make unique, fabulous and high-quality products from recycled materials in a positive environment that respects people of all kinds.” Visit http://shanga.org/Shanga.html for more details of this wonderful place.

After our Shanga visit, we will return to the Hotel. Afterward, enjoy a relaxing evening. Rest and recover – Tomorrow the Adventures Continue!

Breakfast and Dinner at the African Tulip Hotel. Lunch at our own cost.

After breakfast, we depart for Lake Manyara National Park. On the way, we pass by Maasai villages and small towns providing a fascinating perspective. The main roads are newly paved, but the side and national park roads aren’t always the best so prepare for some bumps along the way. We will travel in a 4 X 4 vehicle – this is a private safari, so you’ll only have Abby and Jenny with you. Abby will be with you for the entire safari, teaching you about nature, geography, and culture.

Your first game drive will be a very exciting experience. We will take our time and bring a lovely picnic lunch to enjoy at a picnic site in the park. Your first meal in the African bush! By late afternoon, we’ll leave the park and proceed to our lodge, Acacia Farm Lodge.

Breakfast at Tulip Hotel. Safari Game Drive Picnic. Dinner and Overnight at the Acacia Farm Lodge

This morning after breakfast we head for the Crater!

We enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descend to the crater floor for our first Game Drive in the crater. The crater has often been referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. The Ngorongoro Crater is the remains of a once massive volcano, nearly three million years old, on the eastern border of the Serengeti National Park. Now collapsed and eroded to leave the world's largest unbroken, unflooded caldera, it forms an extraordinarily fertile ‘bowl’ in the midst of rolling highlands, with permanent water sources and steep sides ensuring that the wildlife that thrives here has little reason to leave. Situated in the midst of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a wildlife preservation area roughly the size of Crete, the crater forms an important aspect of the northern Tanzania safari circuit. We will arrive at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge in the late afternoon after our drive with lunch whilst in the crater and will undoubtedly be happy to wash up, enjoy the spectacular views and have a cocktail at the friendly bar and enjoy a great dinner overlooking the crater. You’ll likely notice the altitude and the cool highlands air. Drink lots of water and grab a fashionable wrap for the evening! Evening entertainment is provided priori to dinner at the bar area.


The 5-star Ngorongoro Serena Lodge itself is an architectural marvel built on the rim of the collapsed volcano that can boast the most magnificent views over the crater floor, home to vast herds of buffalo, wildebeest and zebra, the rare and endangered black rhino, mighty bull elephant, cheetah, leopard, lion and herds of gazelle and hartebeest. Most of the wildlife is found on the crater floor, a short drive from the lodge. High on the crater rim it can be a little chilly in the lodge in the evenings and, during the colder times of the year, log fires blaze gloriously in the restaurant and bar and central heating and hot water bottles in the bedrooms ensure a cozy stay. Within an area which has been inhabited by man and beast for over three million years, Ngorongoro Serena Lodge offers calm and tranquility, allowing its guests to soak up the sensations of viewing the spectacular whilst enjoying the highest levels of service and attention. See http://www.serenahotels.com/se... for more details about your hotel.

Breakfast at the Acacia, Lunch in the crater, Dinner and overnight at the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.

You will depart very early from the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge in order to be first into the crater. (this is very early and will be advised by Abby as to the departure time). Descend to the floor of the crater and have an experience of a lifetime, as you watch the literary thousands of animals that Africa has to offer. The unique eco- system supports the delicate balance of predator and prey in the endless quest for survival. The crater is the spectacular stalking ground of around 20,000 to 30,000 wild animals at any one time, the most densely packed concentration of wildlife in Africa. The crater is known as 'the eighth wonder of the world' and attracts a growing number of visitors each year.

In order to preserve the quality of the experience and the environment, measures have had to be taken to limit the number of people inside the crater at any one time, and safaris are now limited to one per day for each vehicle either as a morning or an afternoon adventure. The game is very active in the morning and this also gave us a chance to have a safari breakfast served by the hippo pool. After Lunch whilst in the crater, we will then head to Ndutu and the Lake Masek Tented Camp.

Hippo Pool Crater Breakfast, Lunch on safari and Dinner and Overnight at the Lake Masek Tented Camp.

Full day at Lake Masek with all meals included and overnight at the camp.

Tanzania's oldest and most popular national park, also a world heritage site and recently proclaimed a 7th world wide wonder, the Serengeti is famed for its annual migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebras and 300,000 Thomson's gazelles join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Yet even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of Eland, Topi, Kongoni, Impala and Grant’s Gazelle.

The spectacle of predator versus prey dominates Tanzania’s greatest park. Golden- maned lion prides feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary leopards haunt the acacia trees, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the southeastern plains. Almost uniquely, all three African jackal species occur here, alongside the spotted hyena and a host of more elusive small predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf to the beautiful serval cat.

But there is more to Serengeti than large mammals. Gaudy Agama lizards and rock hyraxes scuffle around the surfaces of the park’s isolated granite koppies. A staggering 100 varieties of dung beetle have been recorded, as have 500-plus bird species, ranging from the outsized ostrich and bizarre secretary birds of the open grassland, to the black eagles that soar effortlessly above the Lobo Hills.

As enduring as the game viewing is, so is the liberating sense of space that characterizes the Serengeti Plains, stretching across sunburnt savannah to a shimmering golden horizon at the end of the earth. Yet, after the rains, this golden expanse of grass is transformed into an endless green carpet flecked with wildflowers. There are also wooded hills and towering termite mounds, rivers lined with fig trees and acacia woodland stained orange by dust.

Enjoy a game drive along the way and arrive at your lodge in time late afternoon, with plenty of time for a rest or a refreshing dip in the pool before dinner. This time may vary depending on what we see along the way.

Breakfast & Lunch on Safari. Dinner and overnight at the Boabab Tented Camp.

Spend our day in the truly incredible Seronera Serengeti area with both morning and afternoon game viewing drives. The morning drive will be in the area surrounding the Camp. The wildlife defines the Serengeti-countless zebra; buffalo, gazelle, wildebeest and other species make it their home.

During the afternoon heat, relax in the lounge, chatting with the staff if you don’t feel like going out in the truck again. There are often animals wandering right in front of the camp so always have your camera with you! One of the days, we will have an “Out of Africa” picnic lunch in the bush. What a wonderful way to remember the short grass plains of the Serengeti.

This will be also where we have our Ranger led walking safari which will definitely be a highlight.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and overnight at the Boabab Tented Camp

Spend two more days in the remarkable Serengeti, with a change of venue for your camp. The new camp is in a unique location at the top of a hill with remarkable vistas overlooking the plains below. The sunsets from your balcony are incredible!

The Kubu Kubu Serengeti Tented Camp is a true African dream. Kubu Kubu is the latest addition to the portfolio of properties of Tanganyika Wilderness Camps. This camp is strategically located to ensure that all areas of the Serengeti are within reach of our guests, including legendary locations like the famous Maasai kopjes, the Museum of Olduvai Gorge, Seronera and the Grumeti River.

It has been designed with a modern African decorative style that creates a fresh and bright atmosphere, but very cozy and with the right amount of luxury. This is an all-inclusive camp with all drinks included. There is also a pool to enjoy after your safari adventures.

See http://twctanzania.com/en/acco... for more details of your camp

Breakfast at Boabab, Lunch, Dinner and overnight at the Kubu Kubu Tented Camp (all beverages, including non-premium alcoholic beverages are included).

The Balloon Ride will be determined by the Balloon Company and is weather / wind dependant. They will advise which day will be the best.

Today, you’ll enjoy the unforgettable hot-air balloon ride over the plains. The balloon ride is always a bucket-list highlight. Traveling silently above the Serengeti National Park with herds of animals below at sunrise makes for a lifetime high experience.

The balloons land in a spectacular spot where a white glove bush luxury breakfast is served. Champagne bottles are un-corked and a decadent feast begins. It’s not uncommon for a giraffe to wander past while dining!

After our celebratory feast, balloon certificates are handed to each guest and we depart for more game driving with the wildebeest herds and the outstanding other species of animals, birds and plants in Africa’s Garden of Eden.

Balloon Champagne Breakfast, Picnic Lunch, Dinner and overnight at the Kubu Kubu Tented Camp (all beverages, including non-premium alcoholic beverages are included).

After breakfast, you will be transferred and dropped off at the local airstrip, for your scheduled safari flight to Arusha. This is a direct flight, giving you a great opportunity to see more of the African landscape from an aerial perspective. The flight itself will be an amazing experience. The flight will depart the Serengeti Seronera Airstrip at 11.00am with arrival into Arusha at 12.20pm.

Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the Tulip Hotel where you will have a room to freshen up in and dinner prior to being transferred to the airport for your onward flight home.