Wildlife Tours to Northern Tanzania NORTHERN TANZANIA
Photo: Zebras (Malcolm Parker).
*Single room supplement.
(Costs are per person, full board, based on sharing twin-bedded rooms).
Tour Destinations :
- Lake Manyara National Park
- Ngorongoro Crater and Conservation Area
- Serengeti National Park
- Tarangire National Park
Tour Summary
The national parks of Northern Tanzania are amongst the most famous wildlife sites in the world and places like the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are synonymous with the ultimate safari experience. The spring tour has been timed to coincide with the the annual migration of vast herds of Wildebeest and Zebra into the Serengeti area when large herds of animals, many with young, create an incredible spectacle as they progress over the vast plains in search of fresh grasslands. Predators including Lion, Cheetah and Leopard will inevitably be in attendance and the tour provides a good chance of seeing all of these wonderful big cats. The birdwatching through-out the area can also be truely spectacular.
In contrast to the wide open plains of the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater is East Africa compressed into a relatively small area. Most of the main mammals can be found here
including several species of antelope, hyaenas, jackals and some spectacular old bull
Elephants sporting huge tusks as they lumber over the crater floor. Black Rhinoceros is also present as are good numbers of Hippos.
Two other contrasting habitats add to the rich variety of the tour. Lake Manyara and the ground water forest on its western fringes will be our introduction to the country and will give us the first sight of many mammals and birds in the shadow of the dramatic Rift Valley wall towering above the park. Elephant, Masai Giraffe, Zebra, Hippos and Baboons are particularly well represented here. The tour
concludes in the beautiful Tarangire
National Park with riverside habitats dominated by Doum Palms and huge Baobabs. The park is renowned for its large herds of elephants but the change in habitat will bring us yet more bird
species to add to what is sure to be an impressive collection.
Photo: Speke's Weaver (Malcolm Parker).
Itinerary
Day 1 : Depart from UK
You will depart from London in the late evening, arriving in Kilimanjaro via Nairobi on the following morning.
Day 2 : Mountain Village, Arusha
On arrival at Kilimanjaro on Day 2 you will transfer to Mountain Village Lodge for lunch. The afternoon will be free to relax or bird watch in the grounds before dinner and an overnight stay.
Days 3 and 4 : Lake Manyara area
After breakfast we will depart with a packed lunch for our next destination, a lodge on the top of the Rift valley escarpment giving easy access to wildlife areas. On the way we will enjoy an afternoon game drive in Lake Manyara National Park where a combination of ground water, tropical hardwood forest and the river and lake shore are bound to provide some exciting wildlife watching. Day 4 will give us ample opportunity to make a further visit to Lake Manyara.
Days 5 and 6 : Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast we will depart for the short drive to the Ngorongoro Crater which is undoubtedly one of the most famous wildlife areas in the world. This is a microcosm of East Africa. It is one of the biggest calderas in the world with a rim diameter varying from 16–19 kms (10–12 miles) and a depth of 800m (2,500 ft). The approach road skirts the rim of the crater below. All of the ‘big five’ of game are present: Lion, Leopard, Black Rhino, Elephant and Buffalo; but perhaps even more impressive is the very large number of plains game in this fairly concentrated area.
Amongst the birds, Verreaux’s Eagle and Augur Buzzard can be seen soaring on the thermals, whilst Kori Bustards strut across the plains below and many water birds feed on the crater lakes, including the familiar ones such as Avocet and Shoveler.
We will arrive at our lodge on the crater rim in time for lunch and then enjoy an afternoon visit to the crater. On day 6, we will leave our lodge with a packed breakfast for a morning game drive exploring the crater when we will undoubtedly experience unforgettable game viewing.
Days 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 : Serengeti National Park
We will leave our lodge after breakfast with a picnic lunch for our journey through the Ngorongoro Highlands to the Serengeti Plains, calling en route at the Olduvai Gorge, famous for the prehistoric remains of early man which were found by the Leakey family.
During the afternoon we will have a game drive through the Park to reach the first of the two lodges we will use during our visit to the area. Bordered by Kenya’s Masai Mara to the north and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the south, and covering 14,500 km2 (5,600 sq. miles), the Serengeti National Park supports the greatest concentrations of grazing animals in the world. The Park encompasses a wide variety of habitats from bush land to grasslands interspersed with rocky outcrops, to seemingly endless open plains.
The Seronera area is renowned for the diversity of mammals it supports. Large numbers of Gazelles, Topi, Hartebeest, Eland, Buffalo and Masai Giraffe are resident, while Hippos thrive in the pools. Birdlife along these watercourses is also prolific. This area is also one of the very best for both Lion and Leopard sightings.
On Day 10, we travel south to the second of our lodges located on the edge of the Park. During morning and afternoon game drives we will look for Cheetah, which tend to be found in these more open areas and are often seen sitting on top on termite hills on the short grass plains. This area also supports healthy populations of Bat-eared Fox, Serval and the elusive Caracal.
Days 13, 14 and 15 : Tarangire National Park
After breakfast we will head back south, pausing at the crater rim for a final look at Ngorongoro as we journey to Tarangire National Park, arriving in time for lunch at our lodge for the next three nights.
In the afternoon of the day of arrival and on Days 14 and 15, we will explore a small part of this magnificent national park whose principal features are grasslands and floodplains which comprise acacia parkland and woodland, and drainage line woodland along the tributaries of the Tarangire River, characterised by Kigelia, Tamarind and Doum Palm. There is a definite wilderness atmosphere about the Park which will provide a fitting end to the tour.
This large National Park, covering 2,600 sq km (1,000 sq miles) forms a dry season retreat for many plains game and concentrations are often very large. The Tarangire River, which bisects the Park from north to south, provides the only permanent water for vast concentrations of game in the dry season, which lasts from July to October. It rises to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in altitude and the annual 600 mm (24 ins) of rainfall occurs between November and May.
Day 16 : Tarangire to Arusha
We will transfer from Tarangire to Arusha for lunch and to freshen up prior to our evening departure for the UK via Nairobi.
Day 17 :
We will arrive in the UK in the morning.