Tanzania "Call of Africa"

12 Days / 11 Nights

Game viewing at its best.

Travel to the endless plains of Tanzania Africa and explore the rich diversity of fauna, flora and culture that this unique country has to offer. From the spectacular event of millions of wildebeest and zebra calving, the trademark Maasai villages and the origin of mankind at Olduvai Gorge, to an option visit to the roads less travelled in the remote southern regions with huge elephant populations and one of the few remaining wild dog populations in the world.

This safari combines four of Tanzania's spectacular national parks and game reserves:

Southern Tanzania: Selous Game Reserve - one of Africa’s least known yet wildest conservation areas. Fed by the mighty Rufiji River, the largest river in East Africa, this wonderfully diverse, vast and well watered habitat is home to over 1,000,000 large animals, over half of Tanzania’s elephant population and support an extraordinary array of different vegetation types.

Northern Tanzania: Lake Manyara National Park - a birding paradise (with more than 380 species), and the forests are one of the best places to see leopards. Lions hunt on the grassy shores of the lake, and are known for their habit of climbing trees.

The world-famous Ngorongoro Crater: The largest intact, unflooded caldera in the world, Ngorongoro is a haven for one of the largest permanent concentrations of large mammals in Africa. Lion and hyena are plentiful. Maasai pastoralists live in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, tending their herds of cattle, sheep and goats, and living in peaceful co-existence with the wildlife.

Serengeti National Park: Famous for its vast migratory herds of animals. This program includes both the central section as well as the northern section of this spectacular national park. Huge herds of wildebeest, zebra and antelope dominate the park during the Serengeti Migration. This Park is also one of the best parks in Africa to see lion, leopard, cheetah and other predators that follow the plains' game.

You’ll spend time in excellent, luxury, private tented camps - the most exclusive way of getting close to the true essence of safari, as well as one beautiful lodge which offers extreme comfort in the midst of a coffee plantation.

ITINERARY:
DAY 1: DAR ES SALAAM TO THE SELOUS

Arrive in the port city of Dar Es Salaam on the coast of Tanzania to a Welcome Dinner and overnight at the Movenpick Hotel. You’ll rise early to catch your short flight to the Selous Game Reserve.

Named for the British naturalist and conservationist Frederick Selous, who was buried under a tamarind tree here in 1917, the Selous Game Reserve is one of the largest remaining wilderness areas (50,000sqkm) with relatively undisturbed wildlife. Boasting one of the most significant concentrations of elephant, black rhinoceros, giraffe, hoppo and crocodile, the reserve has a higher density and diversity of species than any other of Africa’s woodland areas. It was accepted as a World Heritage site in 1982.

DAY 2-4: SELOUS SAFARI CAMP, SELOUS REGION, TANZANIA

Selous Private Camp offers the ulimate in exclusivity, privacy and isolation. Only six tents (8-12 guests) will give us full exclusive use of the North Camp, including boats, vehicle and walking guides. The North camp has its own kitchen, main/lounge area, jetty as well as a private swimming pool.

Selous Safari Camp offers an exceptionally large array of activities to choose from be it by boat, vehicle or foot, your guides will personally tailor all activities to suit you. All Selous activities generally go out after breakfast, quite different to other places due to the topography of the land and the animals’ dependence on drinking water. The main game movements in Selous occur a little later in the day as most animals make their way down to the lakes to drink only after the sun has come up, before this time most of the animals are far inland where there is little road networks for driving. In this way you can relax and after a nice leisurely breakfast embark on a drive or boat with a full stomach and then can stay out in the reserve all the way until lunch. After some more food and a small siesta, you can then go out again in the late afternoon from about 16h00 when animals generally come back to life again providing more interesting game viewing.

BOAT SAFARIS

The boat safaris are conducted in sturdy metal boats with a powerful outboard motor on the back and a covered canopy. Each boat safari is guided by a boatman who has grown up on the river and knows all the little nooks and crannies where a boat can sneak through, like the back of his hand. They are also well aware of hippo and crocodile behavior having spent so many years safely guiding people between them. The boat safaris provide some of the best water birding in Africa as well as getting up close and personal to hippos and crocs which swarm through the river system, be they wallowing in the water or basking on the banks.

WALKING SAFARIS

Another unique opportunity the Selous has to offer is the possibility of doing a walking safari through the bush. These guided walks leave very early due to the need to avoid the sun and the heat of midday. The pace is not fast and the ground covered is nothing great. It is a gentle stroll through the wilderness with emphasis more on the little things you might miss in a vehicle .Elephant sightings are very common and to walk relatively close and safely with these animals is one of natures greatest thrills. The walking concentrates more on ecology, tracking, dung identification, medicinal uses of trees, birds and generally interpreting the bush giving guests a much greater, broader understanding of nature. Not to be missed!!

DAY 5-6: PLANTATION LODGE, LAKE MANYARA, NGORONGORO CRATER

After breakfast, you will catch your flight to Lake Manyara for lunch at the Plantation Lodge, your home for the next two days. Tea will be followed by an afternoon game drive to see the flamingos, hippos and vistas of the Lake.

Our second day, we will head into the Ngorongoro Crater in 4x4 safari vehicles. After a full day of game viewing in the crater, we will return to Plantation Lodge for a gourmet meal and celebration of the day’s viewing.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area includes the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest caldera. The property has global importance for biodiversity conservation due to the presence of globally threatened species, the density of wildlife inhabiting the area, and the annual migration of wildebeest, zebra, gazelles and other animals into the northern plains.

Day 7-8: DUNIA CAMP, OLDUVAI GORGE

Today we leave the Plantation Lodge and drive back into history through the Serengeti and to the Olduvai Gorge. Extensive archaeological research by the Leakey family has yielded a long sequence of evidence of human evolution and human-environment dynamics, including early hominid footprints dating back 3.6 million years

We overnight at the famous Dunia Lodge. Tucked in the Moru Kopjes in the southern Serengeti, this secluded camp offers impressive game viewing and dazzling sunrises. Just a short drive from the Naabi Hill gate in the southern Serengeti, Dunia Tented Camp is perfectly placed to explore the southern stretches of the National Park. The Ndutu area, Moru Kopjes, southern plains and Central Serengeti valley are all easily reachable, but the secluded setting of the camp means you escape the high season crowds and discover an area of the park that others rarely touch upon. The location is second to none and boasts bush views that stretch out endlessly from your tent door, to reveal some of the Serengeti’s most breathtaking vistas.

After a day of amazing game viewing - leopards, cheetahs, and perhaps a family of lions asleep under a tree - you approach camp at dusk, weaving along muddy river banks and across a weathered wooden bridge, under which crocodiles bask in shallow waters and you sometimes see hippo. A gourmet dinner will greet you for another wonderful night in the Serengeti.

DAY 9-11: OLAKIRA LUXURY TENTED CAMP, NORTHERN SERENGETI

This morning we catch our flight to the northern point of the Serengeti and our private luxury tented encampment, Olakira. In true nomad fashion, Olakira Camp changes location according to the time of year. And the proximity of Lake Macek and Lake Ndutu, which normally have water all year round, further enhance the likelihood of seeing a huge amount of game. You won’t believe it until you experience the comfort of tented safari life at this unique intimate camp.

DAY 12: DAR ES SALAAM

After our last breakfast in the Serengeti, we head to the airstrip for our flight back to Dar Es Salaam and home

TRIP COST:

Beginning at $9,528 (10 guests)

Contact us for more details

RATE INCLUDES:

• accompanied by Jody Cole throughout
• all accommodations
• all game viewing activities as noted: morning and evening game-drives, walks (shared with other camp guests if applicable)
• sight-seeing as noted
• all meals, as indicated after each itinerary day (B = breakfast, L = lunch, D = dinner)
• soft drinks, tea, coffee, bottled water, local beer & house wine at Dunia Camp and Olakira Camp only
• laundry at Selous Safari Camp, Dunia Camp and Olakira Camp
• all park fees
• all road and airport transfers as noted
• private vehicles with local guides/drivers for days 5-7
• internal flights from Dar to Selous to Manyara and Seronera to Kogatende to Dar

RATE DOES NOT INCLUDE:

• additional/extra activities,
• international flights to Africa
• all drinks in Dar Es Salaam, Selous Safari Company and Plantation Lodge
• meals not specified above & after each itinerary day,
• airport departure taxes
• optional tipping or gratuities,
• additional hotel nights that may be necessitated by airline schedule changes or other factors,
• cost of medical immunizations (if any),
• travel insurance,
• visas: US citizens do require visas for Tanzania at the cost of $100 per person. This can be obtained in advance to save time but is also obtainable upon arrival.
• and other expenses of a personal nature (liquor, etc. not included above).

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR TANZANIA TRAVELLING:

• Passports MUST be valid for at least six months from your return home date. We recommend a validity of nine months to prevent any problems in this regard.
• There must be at least THREE blank VISA pages in the passport (not endorsement pages).
• Health Requirements: a YELLOW FEVER CERTIFICATE is a requirement for entry into Tanzania and must be obtained at least 10 days prior to departure. Health Surveillance Desks have been reinstated at all Tanzania borders, ports and international airports and no passport will be accepted at the immigration desk without a stamp from this health desk. Yellow Fever vaccinations are provided at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) in Arusha at the cost of US$50 per person. Cholera is highly recommended (and required if travelling on to South Africa). MALARIA PROPHYLACTICS ARE ESSENTIAL. Tetanus and Hepatitis A&B are also recommended, but are not compulsory.
• Luggage restrictions: 15kg per person inclusive of hand luggage – must be in soft bags