Active Tanzania Family Adventure & Safari: 9 days and 8 nights
AREAS VISITED: Arusha / Lake Manyara National Park / Ngorongoro Crater/ Olduvai Gorge / Serengeti National Park
Activities: Walk, Wildlife Viewing, Cultural, Biking, Canopy Skywalk
Activity Level: Easy/Moderate
Arrive into Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) in Tanzania and then transfered to your hotel in Arusha . No activities planned, you check into your rooms and enjoy a well-earned rest.
Today we drive 1-2 hrs out for our first taste of wildlife safari in the nearby Arusha National Park. This uncrowded park encompasses lush forests and wetlands and is quite attractive any time of year. The park contains Tanzania’s second highest peak, Mount Meru, and the alkaline Momela Lakes are home to many flamingos. We shall enjoy an easy hike to a cascading waterfall and explore the varied mountain scenery. Bird life is abundant here and often seen is the black-and-white colobus monkey bounding through treetops. Giraffe, hippos, buffalo, and several antelope species may also be seen in the park. You return to the lodge in the afternoon to relax and enjoy the pool and other amenities before dinner.
On the third day, we travel from Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park for agame drive and other activities . Lake Manyara National Park has the Great Rift Valley escarpment with a dramatic drop. Two-thirds of the park is covered by alkaline and the park is known for climbing tree lions. Despite being a relative small park it has distinct vegetation zones and remarkable diversity of wildlife. After the game drive and then head to Lake Manyara Serena Lodge over looking Lake Manyara for overnight. Here you will enjoy spectacular views of the lake as you relax by the pool.This incredibly scenic national park is noted for its tree-climbing lions, large troops of baboons and flamingo flocks. Keep an eye out for buffalos, elephants, zebras, wildebeest and giraffe as well as antelopes such as bushbuck. Lake Manyara also hosts an abundance of birds, including numerous waterbirds.
Today is a fun-filled day, kicking off with a bike ride in the morning through the farmlands of Mto wa Mbu disrict, cultural interaction and Canopy skywalk .The biking route includes gravel roads and packed dirt trails that wind through farms and past village shops. Mto wa Mbu town is home to over 120 different tribes,rich in history and culture. After lunch then headout to Ngorongoro Crater one of the world’s largest calderas with an amazing balance of wildlife, wilderness and the culture that has lived here for centuries.
Today you will take a packed lunch and descend with a 4-wheel vehicle to the bottom of the Ngorongoro caldera for an all day game drive. The crater is a self-contained wildlife haven packed with nearly every mammal species to be found in East Africa. We will eat our picnic lunch in the park by a beautiful lake situated in the crater with hippos and many different types of birds. We will ascend from the crater for a hot dinner at the lodge while watching various traditional dances.
Today you will 2 hours to Olduvai Gorge where we will spend the morning exploring the treasures and then continue to Serengeti National Park. The Olduvai Gorge area is believed to be the birthplace of mankind and is where Leakeys have worked for over two decades. It is this site where Mary Leakey found fragments of teeth and skulls, which were part of a male hominid, called Zinjanthropus or Nutcracker Man because of his huge teeth.
Today You shall spend a full day on the plains of Serengeti. The Maasai describe the Serengeti as, “The place where the land moves on forever.There will be two game drives, early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Serenget National Park is one of the Tanzania largest and most famous park. The Park is famous for for its huge lion population and one of the best places in Africa to see the big cats.
Another full day to enjoy the splendor of the Serengeti. For those interested, an early morning balloon safari can be arranged (additional cost).
After breakfast we shall do the last game drive enroute to the airstrip to fly back to Arusha/Kilimanjaro airport and then fly back back home in the late evening.