Day 1: Arusha
Arrival in Arusha where your driver-guide will meet you and transfer you to the hotel in Arusha, so you can rest from the flight and start your journey the next day without accumulated fatigue.
Day 2: Lake Manyara National Park
We head to Lake Manyara National Park, one of Tanzania's most unique gems. This small park of only 330 square kilometres, 200 of which are occupied by the lake when its flow is at maximum levels, stretches for 50 kilometres and undergoes dramatic transformations throughout the year. Its physiognomy changes completely from the rainy season to the dry season. Its biodiversity includes large mammals (giraffes, leopards, lions, hippopotamuses) and more than 400 species of birds including a huge population of flamingos in the lake.
During the dry season, from June to December, the lake level drops significantly and the large mammals have to come closer for water. Then it is more common to see the masters of the place: elephants, lions and leopards prowling around the buffalo and giraffe that come to drink from the lake. A good time to go hunting.
Note: The safari in Manyara can be done on the afternoon of day 2 or the morning of day 3.
Day 3: Serengeti National Park
We bid farewell to Lake Manyara after a sunrise safari and continue on our way to the mythical Serengeti NP in Tanzania, a natural extension of the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. There are no borders between the two countries in the reserves so they are ignored by the animals in their search for fresh pastures, crossing each year between July and October about a million and a half wildebeest, 250,000 zebras and half a million gazelles, followed in short order by lions and hyenas pleased with such a concentration of meat. These are the famous Migrations that deliver one of nature's most awe-inspiring spectacles. Our tented staff will heat your water so that it is ready for you in your tent, with private bath and shower, on your return from safari and you can relax before a wonderful starlit dinner, all in true Memories of Africa style.
Day 4: Serengeti National Park
Second day at our Special Tented Camp in the middle of Seronera (Serengeti NP). The best safaris, or at least the best chance of witnessing hunting scenes, take place at dawn, when the savannah wakes up and the nocturnal animals are still active, and at dusk. We will dedicate these moments to meet the "big five": lions, buffaloes, elephants, rhinoceroses and leopards. In addition to these undisputed protagonists, large herds of herbivores are present throughout the year, always on the lookout for a cheetah or a pride of lionesses. We will sleep in the middle of one of the largest wildlife sanctuaries on the planet, we will sleep in the "endless plain". Its landscapes correspond to the mythical image of Africa: wide open spaces, deep blue skies dotted with clouds, cool sunrises and fiery sunsets, and at night, a unique display of stars. Optionally we can take a balloon safari over the Serengeti.
Day 5: Ngorongoro Conservation Area
We will spend the last morning in Serengeti tracking the wildlife that we may have heard close up the night before, and we will be keenly aware of another unique feature, the kopjes, islands of rocks in a sea of grass where lions and leopards love to rest. Shortly before leaving the endless plains behind, we will again meet Maasai shepherds with their herds and colourful "shuka" or Maasai blankets, grazing near the Olduvai Gorge, one of the cradles of humanity, where many fossils and artefacts of the first hominids have been found: we are already in the NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA. We will visit a Maasai Boma or Maasai village to experience first-hand their ancestral traditions and way of life in the Ngorongoro area, our next destination for tonight. Our camp will provide you with spectacular views of the Ngorongoro Crater (we are the only Tented Camp that enjoys these views) and an authentic Maasai experience. To be able to socialise and enjoy a chat and a glass of wine around the campfire with our Maasai who guard the camp is sure to become a memory for the rest of your life.
Day 6: Lake Eyasi
With the first rays of sunshine, we drive in 4x4 vehicles down into the Ngorongoro Caldera for our game drive. No other reserve offers such a grandiose spectacle as the Ngorongoro Crater. A volcanic caldera 600 metres deep and over 20 kilometres in diameter, it contains the largest "permanent" concentration of wildlife in Africa. The Ngorongoro crater, a giant volcano that in its time was perhaps higher than Kilimanjaro itself, is home to thousands of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, gazelles, lions, rhinoceroses... which, unlike in the Serengeti, practically do not migrate, due to the continuous presence of water in the area, which ensures their permanent sustenance. The crater gives its name to the conservation area in which it is located: a spectacular landscape, inhabited by more than 40,000 Maasai pastoralists, dominated by the Rift Valley and the nine volcanoes of Ngorongoro that arose more than 4 million years ago. The only one that is currently active is Ol Doinyo Lengai, the mountain of god for the Maasai.
After our unique and exclusive experience inside the caldera of the so-called "volcano of Eden", we will make our way to the endearing Lake Eyasi. Off the beaten tourist track, we seek out those cultures that have remained largely undisturbed by the passage of time. If there is one place where time seems to have stood still and globalisation has not yet arrived, it is undoubtedly the land of the DATOGA and HADZABE tribes, the latter also known as Bushmen. A remote place where they still live from the little game they have left and from gathering wild fruits and roots.
Day 7:
Very early in the morning, walking on foot between acacias and majestic baobabs, we will be surprised out of nowhere by these tribes dressed in small tanned skins and necklaces made of fruits and seeds, observing us with sincere curiosity. They are the Bushmen who greet us with their clickety-clacking language. Hunting with the HADZABE is a real experience: with a wooden bow and arrows in hand, you will walk with them through the savannah around Lake Eyasi to learn first-hand about the survival and lifestyle of these tribes. Transfer to the airport on the same day for flights departing in the evening (flight must be after 19.00 hours).
Note: If this is not possible, an extra night will have to be added at the end of the programme. For flights after 13.00hrs, clients must arrange day use of the hotel room.
