Whether you’re a couple travelling for your honeymoon, or with your family to have a big holiday together or in a group of friends to celebrate a special occasion, nothing can beat Tanzania one of Africa’s largest and most diverse countries. It is one of the most popular family holiday destinations yet to be well explored in Africa. Because, for children, Africa is exhilarating and profoundly energizing and for parents it is a challenging adventure. Countless numbers of big wild animals roaming unfenced, opportunity of lots of things to do and easy accessibility from one striking place to other has made this country a perfect heaven for a vacation with the family. Lake Manyara in the right place to start with. Renowned for tree-climbing lions and the largest concentration of baboons It is very diverse but here you can easily get to encounter all favourite elements that your family desire. A pleasant moonlight drive of game viewing is always enthralling here for the people of every age. Not to say that Tanzania’s largest park Serengeti would go beyond the dream of every of your family member in providing you the best African taste. You can be fairly certain of encountering most of the major species of mammal. Besides, camping here is a way to encourage your youngest children. The beauty of the large number of lions dozing on lengthy grasses, elephants eating from acacia trees, and the giraffes, gazelles, monkeys, eland, plus the entire variety of African wildlife roaming unfenced on vast Serengeti Savannah would surpass the beauty of any animal your children might have seen in any picture book. Finding the animals , they had seen in the picture book in action would take them to a new world of pleasure. Spending a night under a bush camp would be awe-inspiring for them. Fly Tanzania with your family to explore this majestic land with a very comfortable open 4×4 automobile. Your family would leave with the memory that would resound all through their life.
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Your family would be warmly welcomed to Tanzania by one of the Big Expeditions guide who would meet your family at the airport and transfer you to your accommodation at Arusha Mountain Village Lodge, located in the bustling small town of Arusha. Arusha Mountain village offers interconnecting family rooms and baby sitting services . A prior notice is required to be offered to them in this regard. The lodge offers guided walks, canoeing or mountain biking. Alternatively, you can take the time to enjoy the extensive flower gardens and lawns. For the children, the lodge offers a wide selection of board games and books on Africa. They have professional nature guides on hand who offer nightly talks and video presentations on wildlife.
After breakfast you will be greeted by one of our guides who will brief you before setting out for your safari. The briefing will familiarize you with our vehicles and will cover safety tips which need to be followed whilst visiting in the National Park. After the briefing we will depart for Lake Manyara National Park. En-route we will take the opportunity to stop and explore Mto wa Mbu Village. This village is considered a melting pot of the many different tribes in Tanzania. The children will love to explore the busy and interesting market place. You will arrive at your accommodation, Lake Manyara Serena Lodge in time to settle in and enjoy a hot lunch. In the evening you will enjoy a game drive. Stretching for 50km’s along the base of the 600 metre high Rift Valley Escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting described by Ernest Hemingway as the “loveliest I had seen in Africa”.The compact game-viewing circuit all through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience. From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater where hundred strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside, blue monkeys scamper nimbly between the ancient mahogany trees, dainty bushbuck tread warily through the shadows, and forest hornbills honk high in the jungle canopy. The park is world famous for it’s tree climbing lions which you may be lucky to observe. Highlights include thousands of pink hued flamingos, elephant, giraffe, large buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, baboons and blue monkeys.
On this day you would have the option to enjoy a morning game drive in Lake Manyara National Park, or you may choose to enjoy from many activities offered by the lodge. Breakfast can be arranged by the lodge and enjoyed either on the escarpment or in the park. You may enjoy some time by the pool (which is supervised by a life guard but we do recommend parental supervision at all times). The lodge also offers a combination of mountain biking, boating, canoeing, guided walks, bird spotting and cultural tours. Evening educational talks are given by resident naturalists. You would end up with the dinner and overnight stay at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge.
This morning we will make the short journey to the Ngorongoro Highlands and arrive at your accommodation, Ngorongoro Serena Lodge in time for lunch. Spend the afternoon at your leisure either enjoying the fantastic views from your Lodge, taking a guided walk along the crater rim or take the opportunity to visit a Maasai traditional village where you will have chance to explore rich cultures of the different tribes living in the area of the Great Rift Valley.
At sunrise, we would start descend 600 metres into the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater for a game drive. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most densely crowded African wildlife areas in the world and is home to an estimated 30,000 animals including some of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhino. Animals that you may find in the crater include wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo and elephant. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park is the dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever elusive leopard, and sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. Tour the Lerai Forest with its yellow-barked acacias and start searching for giant-tusked elephant, rare black rhino and black- maned lion. Bird lovers can view flamingo and other species, which share the shallow waters with big game. You may also see Maasai herdsmen and their cattle — the crater is in their territory, and the Maasai continue to coexist with wildlife for centuries. Stop for a picnic lunch near the hippo pool and watch resident hippos bobbling in the river. Ascend the crater in the early afternoon and return to Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.
Enjoy breakfast, before departing through the rolling hills of the Ngorongoro Highlands as we head toward the Serengeti National Park via the spectacular Malanja Depression, stopping en-route to visit the famous Olduvai Gorge (world-famous hominid fossil site) where you will have your picnic lunch. This world famous archaeological site containing fossils of our early human ancestors, studied to be over 2 million years old. We will continue on our journey and will enter the Serengeti National Park via Naabi Hill gate. Enjoy an afternoon game drive en-route to your lodge, Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge which is located in the Seronera Area of the Serengeti National Park. Tanzania’s oldest and most popular National Park, also a world heritage site and recently proclaimed the 7th world wonder. The Serengeti is famed for its annual migration, which occurs when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti also offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in whole Africa. You will enjoy 3 nights accommodation at Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge.
After breakfast enjoy your last opportunity to witness the morning sun rays as they kiss this pristine and majestic landscape of the Serengeti. This will also be your last opportunity to observe the Serengeti’s diverse range of animal and birdlife. We bid the Serengeti farewell as we head to Seronera Airstrip for your flight back to Arusha where you may rest before your international flight. You may wish to add one of our optional activities as your next destination. A beach break in Zanzibar is a great way to relax and unwind before concluding the holiday of a lifetime.
Tanzania is great to visit any time of year. Most people avoid the rainy months of April, May, and November. Some travelers like to go during the peak migration season of wildebeest, zebras and number of antelopes in Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Highlands and Masai Mara in Kenya. Not only that most people also like to lay on the sunshine of the Zanzibar beach lure water and white sand beaches as well as diving to the coral reefs.
We use 5 or 7 passenger 4-wheel-drive Land Cruisers, Toyota Hiace as well as Land Rovers all with viewing roofs for the safaris. Take a note that a normal minibus or saloon can be used for transfer to and from the airport depending on the size of the group which is visit the country.
They are licensed, trained, friendly, and have years of experience in Tanzania safari! All of them speaks fluent English and others have additional languages of your mother tongue to meet your comfort and informative safari in Tanzania.
You can buy any drinks along your way to the Tanzania safari. There will be mini-markets in town and also you can have some at your hotel or lodge that you will spend an overnight there.
With modernized World most of the lodges and tented camps serve breakfast and dinner, typically buffet-style. European, Asian and African cuisines are served in a high standard. Due to the fact that you will be spending your afternoon doing game drive often you will have to take your lunch box with you.
If by chance the itinerary shows that you will take your hot lunch at the hotel then there is no need of packed lunch. Basically lunch at the lodge follows with a rest before proceeding with late afternoon game drive.
The great extraordinary animal kingdom migration is an annual migration of about 1 million wildebeest, 300000 zebras and 200000 gazelles migrating from Serengeti National Park to Ngorongoro crater and contiguous Masai Mara National Reserve searching for fresh grasses as well as water. This is a honeymoon (easy to hunt) period for the crocodile in Grumeti River and other carnivores such as lion and leopard while the migration is taking place. For more information on how the migration takes place please click here.
The best time to see the migration in Tanzania is January-March and June-August and in Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya it is often best September-October. These are also the most popular times to go, so you will need to book well in advance.
You will see abundance of wildlife all year round. However it should be clear that changing of weather can affect this migration circular and a need for some two to three days in Serengeti National Park give you a wide chance of view migration properly.
Whether you are looking to explore the wildlife of the Serengeti, or begin your expedition up Mount Kilimanjaro, we have something suitable for all of you. Get in touch with us today and our team of specialists will help build your experience of a lifetime to Tanzania
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