Day 1: Arusha / Moshi
We'll await you in Arusha (for those who arrive by shuttle or bus) or Moshi (for those who arrive by plane) for a city-exploration. We'll spend the night in a comfortable guesthouse in Arusha.
Overnight: Arusha guesthouse - HB (lunch and dinner)
Day 2: Endallah Village Tour
We'll leave Arusha in the morning and head for Endallah, our home during this trip. On our way to Endallah we'll take a short break in Mto-Wa-Mbu, a very colourful town at the shores of Lake Manyara. Before arriving in Endallah, we'll offer you a wonderful view on Lake Manyara national Park from the top of the Great Rift. In Endallah we'll take our time to install and meet our guest family. After lunch we'll explore the village and visit the dispensary, the school and the stone-bakery. After the home cooked dinner you're free to retreat to your room or stay up and sit around the campfire.
Overnight: Endallah guest family - FB
Day 3: Endallah Forrest Walk and Banana Plantation Tour
Today we'll tie on our walking shoes for a challenging forest walk. Although the itinerary will be adapted to the physical condition of your group, we'll use mainly goat paths and track the Endallah river for a while. During our walk we'll visit a tropical plantation, well covered in the valley and with an abundance of bananas, avocado, sugarcane, oranges, jackfruit etc... From there on we'll follow the irrigation canal and continue through the river and over the rocks. Before climbing out of the valley we'll visit a hyena cave and a 6 m. high waterfall (dried out during the dry season). The time that's left after the walk can be used to rest, stroll around and pack for tomorrow's safari-trip. The day ends with a home cooked meal and a cosy little campfire.
Overnight: Endallah guest family - FB
Day 4: Lake Manyara National Park
Today we head for a whole day of game driving in Lake Manyara National Park. Lake Manyara is maybe the most beautiful and certainly the most tropical park of the Northern circuit. Vegetation is lush as there's always plenty of water sipping down from the surrounding mountains. Here we'll have a good chance to have a really close encounter with elephants and giraffes as well as spotting many colourful birds and a variety of raptors. Blue monkeys, giant monitor lizards, bushbucks and klipspringers are often spotted as well. Lions, hyena's and leopards are present but generally well covered in the bushes. We'll have our picnic at the beautiful 'Endallah picnicsite' and also visit the beautiful hot water springs ('maji moto'), made famous by Ernest Hemingway who had a tented camp nearby. We 'll spend the night in Karatu.
Overnight: Karatu guesthouse - FB
Day 5: Lambo Hills
After breakfast you'll get the chance to visit the local market, have a stroll or check your mail in the local internet place. The rest of the day's programme depends on what you have in mind. You can do the beautiful coffee plantation walk and end up overlooking the valley in a comfortable chair on the terrace of Gibb's farm before driving back to Endallah or you can walk back through the marvellous landscape of Lambo and Shangit hills. Those who are really exhausted can return straight to the village by car to relax or make a short stroll. Dinner will be in Endallah unless otherwise agreed with the guide.
Overnight: Endallah guest family - FB
Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater
After an early rising and breakfast we drive of to Karatu to stock up for the next three days in the bush. We'll continue to the gate of Ngorongoro Conservation Area and get down to the crater floor for a whole day of game spotting. The garden of Eden hosts a surreal variety and quantity of animals and is considered as one of the best places in the world to spot the endangered black rhino in the wild. Buffaloes, elephants, lions, hyena's and many species of antelopes are common and can be sighted at close range. The more elusive leopard is also present but rather difficult to spot. The two picnic sites, inhabited by steeling monkeys and acrobatic black kites, provide a real spectacle. Take care of your belongings! Around 5 p.m. we'll climb the steep crater rim again and head for a fresh shower. We'll spend the night in the guestrooms of the Endulen Mission, a spectacularly located hospital served by the flying doctors and used for the treatment of the local Masai. Ready for a cool but quiet night.
Overnight: Endulen Mission (Simba campsite if Endulen Mission is fully booked) - FB
Day 7: Serengeti National Park
We wake up early again and depart for an exciting day in Serengeti National Park. If the condition of the road allows, we'll take an idyllic and seldom used shortcut to Lake Ndutu that will offer you the real Out of Africa-feeling: the rising sun, endless plains and no one else around. From Ndutu we continue to Naabi Hill, the gate of Serengeti National Park. From there on we'll follow the routes that give us the best chances of tracking the big cats. These vary from season to season. We'll picnic on route. In the late afternoon, just before dusk, we'll stick to the river where the leopards will slowly wake up after a long day of sleeping. Of all national parks in Africa the Seronera region in Serengeti is the best option to spot a leopard. The night will be spent in a small tent at one of the Seronera campsites. Whooping hyena's, roaring lions and screaming prey will accompany us at night: few hours of sleep but excitement guaranteed! Those who prefer a comfortable and quiet night can overnight in a nearby lodge at own expense.
Overnight: Seronera campsite or Lodge (at own expense) - FB
Day 8: Serengeti National Park - Ngorongoro Conservation Area
We'll leave at sunrise for another day of game driving. The early hours are the best for spotting leopard or lions 'at work'. We'll follow the river and the Kopjes to Naabi Hill where we enter Ngorongoro Conservation Area again. We 'll continue our game drive on the Ndutu plains and make a stop at the mysterious Shifting Sand and Olduvai Gorge for a short visit to the famous archaeological museum. If the group decides to skip Shifting Sand and Olduvai, the alternative is another game drive around Lake Ndutu. Since it's a private safari, the group can decide about the day's program. On or way back to the park exit we'll visit a Masai boma if there's still some time left.
Overnight: Endallah guest family - FB
Day 9: Endallah Hikes
Today's another hiking day'! You can sleep as long as you want and wake up slowly for breakfast. After breakfast we'll leave for another hike that will lead you to the Northern part of Endallah. Another great opportunity to get to know more about daily life in the village and discover some beautiful landscapes. We 'll show you how the local people survive in sometimes harsh conditions and explain some daily processes as grinding corn into flower and cooking ugali. We'll return home for lunch and leave again for a shorter walk after siesta. This time we'll walk up to the boundary between Endallah and Lake Manyara National Park to watch the sun set over the lake from a well placed kopje. Dinner and campfire at home as usual!
Overnight: Endallah guest family - FB
Day 10: Mbulu Haynu Waterfalls
Today we'll leave after breakfast for a scenic drive to the Mbulu highlands. This seldom visited part of Tanzania is inhabited by the Iraqw and the Barabaig. Mbulu, also called Tanzanian Switzerland because of the many green hills surrounding the city, is regarded as the capital of the Iraqw tribe. Mbulu also houses the biggest cathedral in Tanzania, a gift of European missionaries. In the afternoon we'll go for a little hike to the beautiful Haynu waterfalls. We'll spend the night in a guesthouse in Mbulu.
Overnight: Mbulu guesthouse - FB
Day 11: Tarangire National Park
After breakfast we'll take a dramatically beautiful drive down from the escarpment. On the plateau beneath we'll look for the nomadic Barabaig before we continue to Tarangire National Park. The Barabaig still live in a very traditional way and can be compared with the Masai, their enemies. They're easily recognized by their Masai-like boma's and typical way of clothing. The women wear selfmade leather skirts and necklaces and still tattoo their face by carving circles around their eyes. You'll be surprised! We'll arrive in Tarangire in the afternoon, set up our camp on a wonderfully located hill in the park and have a game drive before dinner. Tarangire National Park has a very large concentration of elephants but is also famous for it's tree-hanging pythons and leopards. We hope we'll be lucky enough to see them! Dinner is used around the campfire before we prepare for another entertaining night, full of horrific sounds and uninvited visitors… Again, those who prefer a quiet night in bed can spend the night in a lodge at own expense. Hakuna matata!
Overnight: Tarangire campsite or Lodge (at own expense) - FB
Day 12: Tarangire National Park
We wake up early and break up our camp before leaving on another game drive. Also here the cats are at their best at night and in the early morning. After lunch we'll leave the thousands of giraffes, elephants and dikdiks for what they are and leave the park again. We'll drive straight to Arusha where the souvenir-hunters can find all they ever imagined in the 'Masai Market', a big open market with more than hundred little souvenir shops. In the evening we'll enjoy the open-air barbecue at Njiro Hill. It's here that they serve the best grilled tilapia of Arusha region!.
Overnight: Arusha guesthouse - FB
Day 13: Arusha / Moshi
After breakfast we say goodbye and drop you of at your place of destination in Arusha or at Kilimanjaro Airport. But before we say goodbye we'll pick a new date for next year because you'll certainly want to come back!
Breakfast