CONTACT
Call: TOLLFREE USA 1-866 871 3829/ CANADA 1-800 9581509e-mail: enquiries@safariinstyle.com
Interested in a safari?
Click here for us to call you.
Depart at 1900 from London's Heathrow Airport on Kenya Airways flight KQ101 to Nairobi.
Arrive at 0625 and connect with a scheduled flight to Kilimanjaro where you will be met on arrival and taken to Ngurdoto Lodge for a one night stay (full board).
Ngurdoto Lodge is situated in well-tended gardens on the lower slopes of the 14,000ft Mount Meru. On most days it provides wonderful views of the 19,340ft snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro, which can be seen from the guest rooms and from the terrace.
Ngurdoto was designed and built by Dick and Dolores Novak who take great pleasure in welcoming guests to their small and beautiful corner of Africa. The main building is large and bright in wood and glass construction providing views of the gardens and mountains from the dining room and the lounge. Guests are accommodated in six spacious rondavels, each with simple furnishings, comfortable beds and en-suite w.c. and shower.
Dick and Dolores are usually present and are charming hosts. The standard of cuisine is exceptionally good and after a pleasant dinner you can sit outside on the veranda, relaxing with a drink under a huge starlit sky. The lodge is a good place to acclimatise on arrival, and those staying a little longer can visit nearby Arusha National Park, or perhaps climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Over the next twelve days you will be taken on a private safari in a fully equipped four wheel drive vehicle with radio and a highly experienced driver/guide. You will have the flexibility to go where you wish, when you wish, and can vary your activities to include walking where possible as well as unlimited game drives, while visiting some of Tanzania's most famous national parks and conservation areas (fully inclusive of meals and activities).
Today you will be met and taken in a south westerly direction towards the Rift Valley for approximately three hours to Tarangire National Park. Stay for three nights at Olivers Camp.
Oliver's Camp is a long-established high quality tented camp located on private land just inside the Tarangire National Park. It is probably the best located of all the camps in and surrounding Tarangire with easy access to the central part of the National Park, yet also providing guests with an opportunity to enjoy fascinating walks with an armed guide. There are good numbers of animals in that area and these walks will enable you to learn the fundamentals of bushcraft, tracking skills and provide opportunities to encounter animals in places which are not accessible to vehicles.
Oliver's Camp comprises ten very large walk-in tents, comfortably furnished with proper beds and en-suite short drop w.c. and shower. There is a main dining/lounge area serving a good standard of cuisine and Oliver's expert guides know the area intimately and will take you game viewing by open vehicle during the day and at night, as well as on foot when the guide will be armed.
The Tarangire National Park is one of the richest and most diverse in northern Tanzania, covering 2600kms_. There are hills, vast regions of undulating grassland with acacia, tamarind, sausage and mahogany trees, huge areas of wetland and, running north to south through the National Park, is the Tarangire River - a continual source of attraction to the wildlife.
Tarangire is quite strongly seasonal and during the dry season from June to end of October, thousands of animals migrate there from Manyara. Foremost among these are big herds of elephant which can be seen in large numbers throughout the park, while giraffe, lesser kudu and a wide range of other antelope, lion and leopard are also regularly seen.
In the wetland areas you can encounter herds in excess of a thousand huge buffalo and thousands of pelicans and marabou storks, while throughout the National Park the bird life is among the best in east Africa with many eagles, brilliantly coloured kingfishers, secretary birds and bee-eaters.
Another fascinating aspect of Tarangire is the enormous number of baobabs (sometimes called 'upside-down trees' because of their strange shape) - often a favourite resting place for sleepy leopards.
Continue west into the Ngorongoro Highlands where you stay at Plantation Lodge for three nights.
Plantation Lodge is a small and comfortable lodge set at the foot of the Ngorongoro Highland Forest Reserve. It is set within its own farm, first established in 1927 and nowadays producing coffee and flower seeds as well as traditional corn crops. The 16 rooms are individually designed within a variety of different cottages in the beautiful gardens.
Frangipani trees and flowering shrubs of all kinds dominate and fill the evening air with their beautiful fragrance. All rooms have en suite bathrooms with modern plumbing and comfortable Zanzibari beds with mosquito nets and are filled with a wealth of local Tanzanian watercolours and artwork. The food must rate amongst the best in Tanzania and uses vegetable and dairy produce brought fresh from the farm. There is a swimming pool with a good-sized sitting out area that overlooks the surrounding farmland and a tennis court is due to be completed soon.
On day 8 you will be taken on a full day's game drive to Lake Manyara with a picnic lunch and afternoon game drives.
Lake Manyara is the most beautiful of all alkaline lakes with its many birds and hippopotamus. A birdwatcher's paradise, glossy starlings, weaverbirds, eagles and many other species abound especially between October and April, when migrants visit.
The crescent shaped Lake Manyara National Park adjoins the lake and supports an extraordinarily dense and varied population of wildlife.
With its 315 square km, the park is relatively small but the scenery is wonderful. In front of the steep wall of the Rift Valley, open grassland turns into a landscape scattered with mahogany and fig trees to be taken over by acacia forests and the ground water forest with its abundant wildlife, such as elephants, rhinos, wildebeest, impala, Cape buffalo and giraffe, all present in large numbers. Manyara is also the home of the tree-climbing lion, which can sometimes be seen in the candelabra and sausage trees that line the Simba River.
On day 9 you can spend your day at leisure enjoying the beautiful bird life and extensive grounds.
Continue up into the Ngorongoro Highlands and down into the Ngorongoro Crater to enjoy a full day's game drive with a picnic lunch.
Ngorongoro Crater was originally a volcano larger than Mount Kilimanjaro but approximately three million years ago a huge series of eruptions caused the centre to subside forming a vast volcanic caldera ten miles wide. The floor of the caldera is 1500ft below the rim and on this 80-mile_ area live 20,000 animals of all kinds. There are thousands of wildebeest, zebra, antelope, giraffe and other plains game, lion, leopard, hyena and bat-eared fox and seventeen rhinoceros which have been preserved from the poachers and are now beginning to flourish again. The animals in the crater are used to the presence of mankind, which makes this a good area for wildlife photography, particularly as the crater floor is so diverse with areas of swamp, woodland and dry savannah grassland, all set against the backdrop of the forested crater walls.
In the southern quarter of the crater lies Lake Magadi which is a haven for waterbirds and you can frequently see flocks of thousands of flamingos gathered in one corner making their raucous calls and presenting a mass of pink wings, necks and legs.
To the north east of Ngorongoro lie other craters, such as Empakai and Ol Moti, which provide excellent walking opportunities and if you visit Empakai you can descend into the steep-sided forest crater and admire the beautiful lake that sits in its base. From time to time you meet groups of scarlet-cloaked Maasai herding their cattle and goats, and for those clients staying a little longer in Ngorongoro it would be possible to visit a Maasai boma to see something of their way of life.
After your game drive, drive to Ngorongoro Crater Lodge where you stay for one night.
Perched on top of the breathtaking Ngorongoro Crater and surrounded by some of the most spectacular flora and fauna, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge offers guests accommodation in a truly unique setting.
Inspired by ancient African architecture, the lodge offers modern, comfortable accommodation in keeping with the natural splendour of its surroundings and takes the form of three small villages. Each village commands awe-inspiring views of the crater floor 500 metres below. The cottages and rooms all have a private bathroom, and the open terraces and wide courtyards enhance the lodge's unique panorama.
There are three attractive bars and a charming tree house. Hearty breakfasts, buffet lunches and four course dinners quell appetites sharpened by fresh air and safari excitement.
Today you will be taken across the crater floor and up and over the western slope to Olduvai Gorge, which is a slight and rocky gorge, made famous by the numerous ancient remains, fossils and artefacts discovered there. The gorge takes its name from the wild sisal 'Olduvai' which grows in abundance. Continue on, steering by compass and landmark, across the immense grassy plains of the eastern Serengeti to Migration Camp where you stay for four nights.
Migration Camp is situated within the rocks of a kopje in the picturesque Ndassiata Hills, near Lobo, overlooking the Grumeti River.
Resident game including lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo are always present due to permanent water. The Serengeti migration masses around the site for several months on its way to the southern Plains. Bird life along the river is extremely abundant and varied.
The camp offers its guests secluded luxury and a feeling of space created by the peaceful vantage-points on surrounding hillocks and by the river. All guests facilities, including the sixteen individual sleeping tents with tiled bathroom, w.c., shower, hot and cold water and electricity and balcony, are orientated westward towards the spectacular northern Serengeti sunsets. Elevations, bridges and timbered decks have been used to capture the views from the restaurant, bar and library, which are all under canvas. There is also a swimming pool with a jacuzzi. At sunset the pathways, bar and restaurant are all illuminated with shimmering hurricane lamps and camp fires.
Migration Camp offers game drives through the Serengeti, and is an ideal base to savour the vastness and variety of this area whilst enjoying quality and individual service.
The Serengeti is one of the largest and richest wildlife reserves in the world. The soil is very fertile, light coloured volcanic deposits blown from the huge volcanoes which lie to the east creating continuous undulating plains giving the appearance of great "oceans of grassland".
The Serengeti is full of variety with unbroken grassland in some areas, towering hills, great partially eroded rocky kopjes in the east and south, while to the west woodland and forest lead down to Lake Victoria. A variety of attractive acacia trees are found throughout the Serengeti, and by rivers there are huge fig and rain trees. As you drive across the plains the scenery changes in appearance every three or four miles. It also changes from season to season; covered in brilliant green grasses with beautiful flowers during and after the rainy season with bright beige and yellow grass colours predominating in the dry season.
The Serengeti is home to millions of animals of all kinds including elephant, graceful giraffe and many species of antelope ranging from the tiny dik dik to the larger hartebeest and waterbuck. This is also an excellent area for spotting predators including lion, sleek looking leopard and cheetah. The Serengeti is most famous for the annual migration of 1.5 million wildebeest and 300,000 zebra which traverse the plains in large herds and long lines, spending approximately nine months of the year in the Serengeti and three in the neighbouring Masai Mara.
You will be transferred to Seronera airstrip where you board a scheduled flight to Arusha where you will be met on arrival and taken to Kia Lodge where a day room will be made available to you. In the evening you will be transferred to Kilimanjaro for flight KQ6725 departing at 1940 to Nairobi, arriving at 2030. Depart at 2359 on flight KQ102 to London's Heathrow Airport.
Arrive at 0625 (local time).