Tanzania Authentic Camping Safari

Tanzania Authentic Camping Safari - From £1,815 per person sharing

Day 1

Your driver will come to greet you and conduct a pre-departure briefing at 08h30 for a 09h00 departure. Your guide can assist you should you wish to exchange money or purchase other beverages or snacks. The rest of the safari crew will have gone ahead to set up your camp. The drive to Tarangire is just over two hours and so you can either enjoy lunch at the campsite or have a picnic lunch en route so that you will be able to spend the rest of the day game viewing. Note: At certain times of the year we recommend Manyara in place of Tarangire (November - April).

Overnight: Tarangire or Manyara, private campsite (B/L/D)

Day 2

It’s an early start this morning in order to allow the support crew to start breaking down camp while you enjoy breakfast. As the camp crew get on their way to set up camp at our next location, you will be able to take our picnic boxes and enjoy a morning game drive inside the park before making your way through the bustling towns of Mto-wa-Mbu, where there is a lively curio market, and Karatu. You then weave our way upwards into the densely forested slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, pausing to admire the splendid view of the crater floor 600m below at Heroes Point, before driving on to your campsite located close to the rim of the Ngorongoro caldera. Arrive late afternoon at your private campsite. If you arrive in good time, you may like to consider an optional early evening/sunset visit to a Maasai Manyatta (homestead) where you can spend some time learning about the culture, traditions and beliefs of this ancient, noble warrior tribe. This is at an additional cost, and should be discussed with the guide, and paid directly to the guide. All meals included.

Overnight: Ngorongoro, private campsite (B/L/D)

Day 3

Today you will descend the steep walls of the crater to admire the microcosm of life within it. You will have a picnic lunch on the floor of the crater at a pleasant lakeside location where you can stretch our legs and soak up the magnificent scenery. The crater rim can be very cold at night and cloaked in mist in the early mornings. You will need a jumper, several layers or a warm jacket here. All meals included. Overnight at private campsite inside Ngorongoro Conservation Area on crater rim.

Overnight: Norongoro, private campsite (B/L/D)

Day 4

Today you break camp and embark on a game drive into the great Serengeti plains for the start of your Serengeti safari. Before crossing from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area into the Serengeti National Park you can take the opportunity to visit the Olduvai Gorge Museum, where you can attend a short talk on the archaeological importance of Olduvai and the work of Mary and Louis Leakey in excavating the area and discovering some of Africa's most important hominid fossils. Game drive on the way to your private campsite in the Serengeti. We will pre-book your campsite in the area where the migration is anticipated but please note that the movement of game can be unpredictable due to abnormal weather patterns disrupting the growth of vegetation and thus the food sources followed by the herds.

Overnight: Serengeti NP, private campsite (B/L/D)

Days 5, 6

Morning and afternoon game drives in the Serengeti National Park. Whilst you are in the Serengeti there is the option to go on an early morning balloon safari over the Serengeti but this will be largely dependent on the position of your pre-booked campsites and the season that you travel. Please note that balloon safaris can only be organised by PRE-ARRANGEMENT and there is an additional cost for this. Please ask for more details.

Overnight: Serengeti NP, private campsite (B/L/D)

Day 7

Today you will depart the Serenegti driving back overland to Arusha. You can also opt to fly back from the Serengeti to Arusha today. It is an exceptionally scenic flight over the highlands of Ngorongoro, across the vast expanse of the Rift Valley escarpments, and through to the green coffee plantations surrounding Arusha airport. On a clear day you will see amazing views of Meru's dark profile rising up above the town, cloaked in wisps of cloud. The flight is an additional cost, please ask for details. If flying back, breakfast only will be included. If you drive back to Arusha, picniv lunch is included and you will arrive in the late afternoon. There may be a little time to shop for curios along the way or just outside the town centre. On arrival in Arusha you will be taken to Arusha Hotel for an overnight stay on a bed and breakfast basis.

Overnight: Arusha Hotel (B)

Day 8

Early morning transfer from your hotel to Kilimanjaro Airport (B)

NOTE: Why not combine this with tracking the mountain gorillas of Rwanda...