7 Day Tanzania Lodge Safari (BS-YKT)

Jambo! Welcome to Kenya.

An arrival transfer is included. If you have confirmed your transfer by providing your flight details (at least 15 days prior) you will be met on arrival at Nairobi Airport and transferred to your hotel.

You can arrive at any time on day 1 as there are no activities planned until the important welcome meeting tonight at 6pm. Your leader will leave a note at reception telling you where this important meeting will take place. Please ask a member of reception for this information. After the group meeting there is the option of joining the group for dinner.

Your leader will collect your local payment and park and permit fees at this meeting. Please bring USD notes/bills printed after 2003 in large denominations.

Nairobi is a bustling city that is constantly alive with a wide array of restaurants, clubs, pubs and discos. If you arrive early, head out to explore the National Museum of Kenya or the Karen Blixen Museum (author of Out of Africa), or Bomas which displays the traditional homesteads of several Kenyan tribes in an outdoor village.

Meals: None

Overnight: The Panafric Hotel

The Panafric is imposingly set in a quiet residential suburb, overlooking Kenyatta Avenue, thus commanding a panoramic view of Nairobi 's skyline. This 152-roomed hotel has a pool and two restaurants.

We depart at 8am on the morning of day 2 in a public shuttle bus bound for Arusha, Tanzania. Upon reaching the Tanzania border at Namanga, we proceed through Immigration and Customs before reboarding the shuttle. On arrival at Arusha, around 1.30pm (approx 5.5 hours drive), we will meet our safari guide and crew, load up your gear, and have lunch. After lunch we head straight off to the Lake Manyara National Park. This is a journey of around 1.5 hours, making our total kms driven today approximately 410Kms.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Overnight: This night is spent at a hotel at Lake Manyara which is dramatically located in the very edge of the vertiginous western escarpment of the Rift Valley, affording all of the hotel's 100 guestrooms have stunning views from there private balconies across the tranquil and beautiful waters of the Lake. The spectacular swimming pool, situated in a panoramic setting, is a great place to relax and take in fantastic views of the Pink Lake. Tastefully decorated in authentic African style, the rooms are fully equipped with ensuite bathrooms, shower attachments and bathtub. All beds are provided with mosquito nets.

This morning is an early start as we set out on a dawn safari to explore Lake Manyara National Park known for its black-maned, tree-climbing lions that are a highlight of any safari. Large herds of buffalo and elephant are often seen as well. The picturesque lake is home to large numbers of birds and you'll most likely see flamingos and pelicans in the water or flocking by the shores.

Leaving Lake Manyara mid morning, we travel on to the world-famous Serengeti National Park, arriving in time for a late afternoon game drive to our lodge. The endless plains of the Serengeti are the essence of Africa, and are home to massive numbers of plains animals and attendant predators, providing some of the best wildlife viewing anywhere in the world. It is 180 Kms from Lake Manyara to our lodge in the Serengeti (roughly 6 hours drive time- the last 1.5 hours are at very slow game drive pace).

Making the most of the wildlife opportunities, we enjoy early morning and afternoon game drives following the natural pattern of the animals, who tend to be more active in the cooler hours. We depart before dawn on the morning of our second day here to watch how the animals of the Serengeti start their day. Depending on the whereabouts of the game, we can either return to the lodge to relax until heading out for our afternoon safari, or packing lunch boxes we may choose to spend the day exploring the Park.

An optional balloon ride over the Serengeti at sunrise is an unforgettable experience. If you have pre-booked this activity (please see Important Notes) you will be picked up and drive to the launch site, receive a safety briefing from your pilot and help inflate the balloon. You then glide through the dawn, sometimes at tree height providing amazing wildlife photography opportunities, sometimes ascending to get an overview of the enormity of the Serengeti and the teeming herds of early morning wild life movements. Upon landing and before being returned to your accommodation you'll be treated to a five star bush breakfast!

Meals: Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners

Overnight: Our Lodge accommodation is constructed round a rocky outcrop from glass and wood elements, perfectly blending into its surrounding. Next to the lodge, several waterholes attract day and night the most amazing animals, providing a unique opportunity for a close encounter. The Seronera's 75 rooms afford stunning views over the Serengeti. Elegantly decorated in authentic traditional African style, the rooms are fully equipped with ensuite bathrooms, shower attachments, bathtub and central heating system. King size beds are provided with mosquito nets over the air vents. There are indoor and outdoor bars to enjoy.

We depart the Serengeti this morning, making our way to the Park boundaries while completing a leisurely game drive. We will have a boxed picnic lunch today. Leaving the Serengeti, we are taken to the Olduvai Gorge, an area famed for the fossilised remains of prehistoric man, before continuing on to our scenic lodge on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, arriving in the late afternoon. It will take us about 3 hours to get to our hotel on the rim of the crater once we exit The Serengeti Park (70Kms).

On the morning of our second day in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, after an early breakfast, we descend to the crater floor 600 m below the rim (2,250 m) in the early morning for a half-day game drive within the crater until the mid afternoon, enjoying a boxed picnic lunch. The Ngorongoro Crater is the remains of an ancient volcano, and within its walls lie 250 sq km of floor space, home to remarkable concentrations of wildlife. Over 30,000 animals live here including endangered black rhinos, lions, leopards, elephants, impalas, zebras and hippos to name just a few. Afterwards, we return to the lodge for a second night.

Meals: Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners

Overnight: We spend these two nights at a Lodge. It is built from natural stone and local wood and timber and it is provided with panoramic windows that encompass superb views of the crater. All the Lodge's 75 rooms have uninterrupted views, and the open air terrace of the Rhino Lounge Bar offers superb panoramic views of the whole crater. The rooms are fully equipped with ensuite bathrooms and central heating system. All the beds are provided with mosquito nets.

Today we start our return journey to Nairobi. Our first stop will be the village of Mto Wa Mbu (drive time from the crater approx. 1.5 hours) where we will visit the local market and have a chance to meet the local people. You may also wish to take the chance to indulge in a spot of shopping with wood carvings and local artwork a speciality of this area.

After a brief stop in Arusha (drive time between Mto Wa Mbu and Arusha is approx. 2 hours) we will head to the border with Kenya. Putting into consideration the border crossing might take close to one hour, the drive from Arusha to Nairobi will take 6 hours (300Kms).

Our tour finishes on arrival at the Panafric hotel at around 6pm. Please do not book your international flight until after 10pm on this day. Accommodation is not included for tonight, but we are able to arrange additional accommodation. Please enquire at time of booking.

For those wishing to avoid the long drive back to Nairobi we can also drop passengers who arrange their departing flights out of Arusha, enroute back to Kenya. Post tour accommodation can also be arranged in Arusha, as well as Nairobi, for those who may require it.

Meals included: Breakfast