Our safari TEMBO is the longest of our example itineraries. With the Northern parks of Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, it also includes the two spectacular Southern game reserves, Ruaha National Park and Nyerere National Park (formerly known as the Selous) making them the most beautiful parks that Tanzania has to offer. At the end of the northern circuit, a domestic flight takes you from the Serengeti to Ruaha National Park. After three nights in Ruaha, fly to Nyerere National Park/Selous for another three nights. We recommend this extraordinary and varied tour to everyone who wants to discover and experience a large part of the natural and animal spectrum of Tanzania in 17 days.
All of our safari itineraries can of course be individually adapted or changed to your wishes - you have full flexibility in your travel planning with ITST!
There are several daily flight connections from around the world to Tanzania. Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport. From the airport, your private driver, who is already waiting for you, will take you to Arumeru River Lodge, 45 minutes away. Depending on your arrival time, you still have the option of visiting the nearby rainforest or the village of Usa River.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Arumeru River Lodge
Today is dedicated to acclimatization to the new environment. We can't think of a better place to do this than Arumeru River Lodge, as it's not far from the airport in a lovely garden setting with a pool. Various activities such as a rainforest hike, a visit to Usa River village, a visit to a nearby rose or coffee farm or a visit to the city of Arusha are also offered daily.
Fullboard Arumeru River Lodge
Your driver/guide will be waiting for you at the reception after breakfast and load your luggage, because today you will travel on to the next accommodation and the next national park. Tarangire National Park is known for its large elephants and the bizarre looking baobab trees. As the Tarangire River carries water all year round, it attracts many animals to drink. There is always a chance of seeing a pride of lions here. Today you will eat your picnic lunch on a small hilltop in the park, which the camp has prepared for you. You will spend the whole day on a game drive through Tarangire.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Maramboi Tented Lodge
08:00 On your third safari day drive to Lake Manyara National Park. The small park is a true paradise for bird lovers, as it is home to over 500 different bird species. The lake in the national park is also home to thousands of flamingos, pelicans and herons. Enjoy your lunch box near the lake and continue your game drive until approximately 4:00 p.m. In the afternoon drive towards the Ngorongoro Highlands via the Great Rift Valley.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Kitela Lodge
09:00 After days of game viewing, immerse yourself in the culture and everyday life of Tanzania. You embark on a half-day guided tour of the town of Karatu, during which you will get an insight of farming in the area and the local market. Return to Kitela Lodge for lunch and once again enjoy the view from the beautiful terrace.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Kitela Lodge
08:00 Today's journey takes you into Ngorongoro Crater. The German zoologist Bernhard Grzimek called it the eighth wonder of the world. Convince yourself and immerse yourself in the world's largest amphitheater, in which over 25,000 wild animals have been circling almost cut off from the rest of the world for hundreds of years. In the crater you will also enjoy a picnic lunch prepared by the lodge. In the early evening you drive back up to the rim of the crater, where the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge is enthroned and will be your accommodation for the next two nights.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
08:00 Today you take a break from your safari to go on a full day hike through the spectacular Ngorongoro highlands. The small Maasai village of Nainokanoka serves as the starting point. Your driver/guide will take you there and hand you over to your personal ranger. Here your hike starts at the Olmoti crater. A visit to the Munge River waterfall is particularly recommended, but a hike on the rim of the crater is also possible. A circumnavigation of the crater takes the whole day and is interrupted by a lunch break with a picnic. Your driver/guide will be waiting for you at the agreed meeting point in the afternoon and will take you back to Serena Lodge.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
08:00 Drive to Serengeti. You visit one of the most famous national parks on our planet. Its great variety of animals, the unique endless plains and last but not least more than 2 million wildebeest and zebra make Serengeti National Park the centerpiece of every safari.
Arriving at the national park, enjoy a box lunch prepared by the lodge and continue your full day game drive in the Central Serengeti.
As on the previous days, you finally arrive at your accommodation, the Meliã Serengeti Lodge, around 18:00.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Meliã Serengeti Lodge
06:30 We recommend that you go on an early morning game drive. You experience how the savannah wakes up and you may even witness a "kill", or see how a whole lion family eats the animal that was killed in the night.
Around 09:00 return to your lodge and have breakfast.
This is followed by a full day game drive where your driver/guide will take you to where the most interesting animals can be seen.
Picnic lunch in the park
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Meliã Serengeti Lodge
Depending on the season, the great migration passes different areas of the Serengeti. A full-day game drive to see the "Migration" is worthwhile, because it is this spectacle of nature that makes the Serengeti so unique. Witness hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra crossing the Mara or Grumeti rivers and giving birth in the Ndutu area - always living in danger of being hunted by predators. As you will be on the road all day, you will also have a picnic lunch with you today on the way. In the evening, return to Meliã Lodge for your final night in Serengeti.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Meliã Serengeti Lodge
After breakfast transfer to Seronera Airstrip. Say goodbye to your driver/guide and fly from the heart of the Serengeti to Ruaha National Park, three and a half hours away. On the gravel runway in the middle of the bush, a camp vehicle with driver awaits you and takes you on to the first game drive in Ruaha. On the way enjoy a lunch box and explore the new park, which is much more original and untouched by civilization than the Northern National Parks. In the evening you move into your lodge for the next three nights, situated on a dry river bed with a great view of the hustle and bustle of elephants and antelopes.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Jongomero Camp
Today a full day game drive through Ruaha National Park awaits you. In this park you will travel in the camp's own, open off-road vehicles, possibly together with other guests of the lodge. The name "Ruaha" comes from the Hehe word "Ruvaha" which means "river". With more than 20,000 square kilometers, Ruaha National Park is the largest park in Tanzania and East Africa and therefore holds many spots ready for you to explore every day. On the way you will stop for lunch and eat a lunch box prepared by the camp. In the late afternoon you return to the camp.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Jongomero Camp
On the last day of safari in Ruaha you will once again experience the great variety of plants and animals including elephant, buffalo, antelope and some rare and endangered species such as wild dogs. The park serves as a water reservoir for both wildlife and humans. It is also economically significant because it promotes agriculture downstream and contributes to the country's hydroelectric power supply through dams. Picnic lunch in the park
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Jongomero Camp
In the morning you will have a last game drive en route to Ruaha Airstrip, from where you fly into Nyerere National Park formerly Selous Game Reserve. You are met at Siwandu Airstrip and go straight on your first game drive in the National Park. This UNESCO World Natural Heritage extends over an area larger than Switzerland (50,000 square kilometers). Along with the Ruaha National Park, this area is one of the most authentic untouched by humans in Tanzania and is only visited by very few travelers. Here you can still experience the original Africa, untouched by human hands - it can happen to you that you won't find another vehicle during the whole day. On the way you will stop to have your picnic lunch. Finally return to your accommodation in the early evening.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Siwandu Selous
What is special about Nyerere National Park are the game viewing options: either a jeep safari, a walking safari or a boat safari. Today you spend the morning with a guide and armed ranger on foot in the middle of the Selous wilderness. The hike has all sorts of surprises in store for you: from different plants to bones and animal tracks to wild animals, pretty much anything can come your way during a walking safari. Return to camp for lunch. The wonderful terrace offers a great view of the lake, which you can explore by boat in the afternoon. Here you get much closer to the crocodiles and hippos than from land and get a completely different impression of the mighty lake.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Siwandu Selous
The plan for your last day is a full-day game drive, which is offered in the camp's own open vehicles, as is already the case in Ruaha National Park. In addition to a large elephant population, the national park is also home to the most significant concentration of hippos, African wild dogs (about a third of the world's population), buffalo, giraffe, Nile crocodile and various antelope species. With luck, lions, leopards and cheetahs can also be seen. At noon, you will be provided with a lunch box again, which you will eat at a beautiful view point.
Dinner Bed/Breakfast Siwandu Selous
In the morning, go for another game drive before being transferred to Siwandu Airstrip after lunch. From there you fly to Dar es Salaam and spend the night in the capital.
Bed/Breakfast Dar Es Salaam Serena Hotel
Today you fly back home. With full camera memory cards and countless memories of your safari, leave Tanzania from Dar es Salaam Airport, where a private driver will drop you.
Feel free to contact us now for your first travel proposition and individual safari itinerary. We look forward to your message!
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