Day 1: Monday - Depart USA

En Route

Depart the USA aboard your KLM flight to Amsterdam.

Day 2: Tuesday - Amsterdam/Arusha

Mountain Village Lodge

Transit the terminal at Schipol International Airport connecting with your onward flight to Arusha, Tanzania. Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport this evening you are met and transferred to your hotel.
 
Nestling in the heart of a coffee estate, with a view of Kilimanjaro, the Mountain Village Lodge is the perfect location before setting out to explore Tanzania. Located on Lake Duluti near Arusha, the magnificent scenes from the terrace and the panoramic views of Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Duluti and Mount Meru are unparalleled. The accommodation, thatched with banana stems, is in rondavels in groups of semi circles around tropical shade trees. Every room has a private bathroom with shower and the suites also have sunken baths and private verandah with a delightful view. All rooms are custom decorated with extensive use of local artifacts and Maponde carvings.

Day 3: Wednesday - Arusha/Tarangire

Tarangire Private Tented Camp

After breakfast, start your Tented Safari. Your destination today is Tarangire, the third biggest national park in Tanzania, where you stay for two nights. An unusually large population inhabits this sanctuary. Majestic baobab trees are a main feature of the park, dwarfing the animals that feed beneath them. During the dry season from June to November, animals concentrate along the Tarangire River, which provides the only permanent water supply in Maasai land. The area supports a great diversity of wildlife, including giraffe, buffalo, lesser kudu, eland, oryx and zebra. Lion, leopard and cheetah are also present. Up to 6,000 elephants inhabit Tarangire in the dry season.
 
Tribe visits & walking: The Atoga Tribe are a pastoralist people who migrated into this area looking for good grazing land. They have so far resisted neighboring tribal cultural infiltration. Women still wear fat treated goatskin gowns and carve their faces and bodies to look more attractive.
 
Your tent is Ngong-style for two persons, with washbasins, cot with 4" foam mattress, bedside table with kerosene lamp and a flashlight. Linens, blankets and towels are provided. Toilets and showers are in the camp.
 
Delicious three-course meals are served daily, cooked in the open air, and served in the spacious dining tent. A selection of salads carefully washed with boiled water, soup, meat, fish, vegetables, pasta or rice; fresh fruits or cakes for desert. Special dietary requests are provided for with advance notice. Please notify us when booking.
 
Your safari vehicles are 4X4 Toyota Land Cruisers or Land Rovers with 3 roof hatches for game viewing, with HF and VHF radios. Mammals, birds and plants guide books are available for your reference. A cool box is provided for water and cold drinks. Sand bags for photography and a first-aid kit are also on hand. Your highly qualified, experienced guides treasure their work, and love to get off the beaten track. (B,L,D)

Day 4: Thursday - Tarangire

Tarangire Private Tented Camp

Enjoy a full day of gameviewing activities. There is a very diverse eco-structure in Tarangire: riverine thickets, bush-filled gullies, grassy acacia woodlands and vistas of ancient baobabs. (B,L,D)

Day 5: Friday - Tarangire/Lake Eyasi

Eyasi Private Tented Camp

After breakfast drive across the floor of the Great Rift Valley to Mto wa Mbu. After climbing the escarpment you reach Karatu and take a rough road to Lake Eyasi, another soda lake in the Rift Valley. Spend these days exploring this dry and rugged landscape on foot, which is still inhabited by a small group of Bushmen -- the Hadzabi or Watindiga, who still live in bands hunting with bows and arrows and gathering roots, tubers and wild fruits, as Mankind lived 10,000 years ago. Another interesting tribe in this area are the Datoga (also called the Barabaig or Mang'ati). In the past, there was some rivalry over grazing land with the Masaai, but currently it is a thing of the past. An aspect of elegance is to be seen in the way they go about their daily chores and their traditional performances. Overnight at our camp at Lake Eyasi. (B,L,D)

Day 6: Saturday - Lake Eyasi

Evasi Private Tented Camp

Full day exploring Lake Eyasi and environs.  (B,L,D)

Days 7-8: Sunday & Monday - Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro Private Tented Camp

Proceed to Ngorongoro Crater for a two-night stay. Accommodations are at a private camp, situated on the Crater rim. During your stay, you descend to the Crater floor. Here, animals are found throughout the year due to the permanent availability of grass and water. Ngorongoro is one of the most spectacular game areas in Africa and has been designated a World Heritage Site. Nearly 12 miles wide, it is home to an impressive variety of wildlife including lions with black manes; the highly endangered black rhino; herds of gnu, zebra, elephants, hippo, and hyena. The birdlife is also prolific, with flocks of flamingos on the soda lake, plus other species of water and plains birds.
 
You may also see the Maasai herdsmen grazing their cattle around the Crater rim or bringing their animals to drink at the lake in the crater. During your stay here visit Empakaai Crater (weather & roads permitting), an impressive caldera lying at the northern end of the Crater highlands. Empakaai is specially suited to hiking. There are no roads to the floor, but there are many animal trails which can be followed. Empakaai Crater is known for its spectacular scenery. The steep forest-covered walls climb to an elevation of almost 11,000 feet. The eastern half of the caldera floor has an alkaline lake with the shores populated by flamingos. (B,L,D)

Day 9: Tuesday - Ngorongoro/Serengeti

Serengeti Private Tented Camp

Today, drive to the Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge, the famous archaeological site where the Leakeys discovered the remains of Australopithecus, Homo habilis and Homo erectus. Serengeti is the most famous wildlife sanctuary in the world. These seemingly unending plains contain, during the months of the migration, huge herds of herbivores, mainly wildebeest and zebra. In February-March they concentrate at the Ndutu and Salei plains, where the calving season takes place, attracting the attention of predators like lion, cheetah and hyena. Another interesting feature in Serengeti are the "Kopjes", massive islands of granite standing in a sea of grass, which provide shelter to a great variety of plants and animals from the elusive leopard to the tiny dik-dik. You spend four nights of full board accommodation at the private camp, set in wilderness areas, depending on the season and movement of the animals. (B,L,D)

Days 10-12: Wednesday - Friday - Serengeti

Serengeti Private Tented Camp

Depart into the early morning splendor of an African sunrise at the start of your first game drive of the day.
 
Spend time at your private camp, set in the wilderness areas, depending of the season and movement of the animals. Campsites include Baratu, Gol or Moru kipjes, Lobo area, Seronera or the Western Corridor. Negotiating roads and tracks, your guide slowly transports you to a world of primordial savagery combined with unrivaled scenic splendor, revealing sights and sounds of astonishing realism. A lion relaxing, temporarily satiated after it's morning hunt, contented elephant carefully guarding their young as they traverse the bush, a startled warthog running with tail erect, the ungainly and seemingly endless herds of wildebeest quietly munching grass in company with the zebra - these are some the images you will collect and preserve on film.
 
As the day progresses, your guide leads you to locations of outstanding natural beauty where you are able to observe the wildlife quietly and at your leisure. Your drive ends before dusk when you are returned to the familiar surroundings of your camp. Pleasantly tired but brimming with excitement about your experiences during the day, it is luxury to enjoy a hot shower before dinner. Relax with after dinner drinks watching the many species of game grazing in close proximity to the camp. The atmosphere is amazingly peaceful. The night unfolds before you, leaving you with thoughts of this diverse and wonderful country. (B,L,D)

Day 13: Saturday - Serengeti/Arusha/Depart

En Route

Early morning departure from your Serengeti Camp. Picnic lunch en-route to Arusha, where a dayroom has been reserved until you are transferred early this evening to the airport. Depart on your overnight flight to Amsterdam (B,L)

Day 14: Sunday - Amsterdam/USA

En Route

Transit the terminal at Schipol International Airport and connect with your onward flight to the USA. Welcome Home!

• Accommodations as detailed in the itinerary (or similar) including bedcotts, linens, showers & toilets.
• Game ranger for walking.
• Transport in 6-passenger 4x4 Safari vehicle with driver/guide.
• Meals as indicated in the itinerary (B=breakfast, L=lunch, D=dinner) including mineral water & soft drinks.
• All game viewing activities while on safari including park entrance fees, walking in Tarangire, Manyara, Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
• Cultural visit to Hadzabe and Datago tribes and visit to Olduvai Gorge.
• Exclusive services of camp crew whilst in camp.
• Mineral water and soft drinks while on game viewing.
• Meet & greet services at all airports for arrivals and departures.
• Flying doctors
• Comprehensive safari preparation and planning.

SORRY, NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR PROGRAM

•• Cost of visa for Tanzania.
• Items of a personal nature such as laundry, telephone calls, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, incidental expenses (unless otherwise noted).
• Gratuities for, guides, drivers, hotel/lodge staff.
• Any items not listed above.