“If you have not been to Tanzania you have not been on safari, and if you have not experienced an ecological adventure safari you have not experienced the best way to travel.”

Tour Itinerary:

Day 1: Arriving Arusha.
Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International airport, you will be met by an Ecological adventure representative after customs and immigration formalities. Thereafter, drive to Arusha the nerve centre of East Africa, and gateway to several national parks in the north of the country.

Nestled between Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro, Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge is located within a lush coffee plantation, 140 acres, with natural streams flowing through the property, from Mount Meru.
The lush vegetation and the magnificent views of the snow capped Mount Kilimanjaro and the looming Mount Meru, right in front of the lodge, is an absolutely awesome sight. This lodge is ideally located between Arusha town and Kilimanjaro International Airport, 27 km either way. Meals and overnight at Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge.

Day 2: Ngurdoto - Ndarakwai.
Depart Ngurdoto for Ndarakwai Ranch. On arrival at Ndarakwai camp, you will be met by your walking guide. Ndarakwai Ranch is a private 10,200 acre reserve, home to a variety of game. Depending on your arrival time at the camp enjoy a walk in the late afternoon. A night game drive on the ranch is available at an additional cost.

With views of both Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, the camp is nestled in a lush forest of towering fig, podo and yellow backed acacias that line Ngare Nairobi River. Facilities include eight spacious canvas huts with thatched roofs, en suite bath rooms, and a large separate dining area. Guests gather around a campfire at dusk for snacks and sundowners. Welcome the African night, with elephants that ghost through the camp and the cries of bush babies in the trees. Dinner and overnight at Ndarakwai Tented Lodge.

Day 3: Ndarakwai Ranch.
Up before sunrise – the very best time to see Kilimanjaro, today's walk takes you through games area and Masai villages with the opportunity to observe traditional life and purchase local handicrafts. Your guides are Masai and will be able to provide a unique insight into the life of the local communities. A shady spot will be chosen for your picnic. Rest during the hottest part of the day and later return to you camp.

The Masai have very much maintained their traditional ways as cattle herders. They believe that all cattle in the world belong to them, even though some may have temporarily found themselves in the possession of others. Thus, the Masai are always justified in raiding their non-Masai neighbours in order to "return" the cattle to the rightful owners.

The Masai have very elaborate "coming of age" traditions. Boys are circumcised in their early teens in a ceremony attended by the entire village. The boy who flinches during this procedure brands himself as a coward and disgraces his family. Once circumcised, the young man becomes a member of the warrior class – a moran – and must live apart from the village with the other warriors. Eventually, at some point in his late teens or early twenties, a moran is chosen to become a junior elder, earns the right to marry and returns to live in the village.

For centuries the Masai have hunted the lions, both as a test of manhood and to protect their cattle. The lions have learned to recognize the red robes (and spears, no doubt) and instinctively keep their distance. Dinner and overnight at Ndarakwai Camp.

Day 4: Ndarakwai - Tarangire National Park.
After breakfast, drive to Tarangire National Park, the third largest national park in Tanzania. Game viewing in the park, followed by lunch at Tarangire Sopa Lodge. After lunch a short rest in your rooms untill 15:00 when you start afternoon game viewing.

This delightful park, covering an area of 2,600km² was established in 1970, and it is the numerous Baobab trees that will initially catch your eye. The Tarangire National Park derives its name from the Tarangire River that rises in the highlands of central Tanzania and winds its way through the game sanctuary. The river irresistibly lures the herds of plains migrants from the parched surrounding area to its shrunken – but permanent – brackish waters during the dry season.

The animals come by thousands from as far north as the shores of Lake Natron, dramatically swelling the resident population with wildebeest, zebra, eland, elephant, hartebeest, buffalo and fringe-eared Oryx. Tarangire is said to have the highest recorded number of breeding bird species for any habitat in the world. As the rainless days continue the Tarangire pools are clotted with thirsty migrants, and elephants begin to dig for underground streams in the dry riverbed. Dinner and overnight at Tarangire Sopa Lodge.

Day 5: Tarangire National Park.
After breakfast, you will explore Tarangire National Park and the large herds of elephant that reside there. Spend morning and afternoon in the park.

The Tarangire Sopa Lodge is built as a "low profile" structure and nestles into a wooded hill side valley overlooking Tarangire Hill. This property including all en suites truly reflects Sopa's policy of providing "luxury in the bush". Marble floors, fountains, waterfalls and magnificent views through double storey windows are the stunning features of the main areas. The swimming pool is intriguing with its island. It's large rooms have two queen size beds with en suite shower and toilet, a balcony and a lounge with mini bar. The lodge offers alfresco dining on its raised barbecue terrace. Meals and overnight at Tarangire Sopa Lodge.

Day 6: Tarangire – Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
After breakfast, you will drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area stopping en route at Gibbs Farm. This is an old colonial farmhouse, built by German settlers in the early 19th century, it is a great place to stop for a home cooked lunch that is fresh from the farm. There are tours of the coffee farm or walks through the forest of the Ngorongoro highlands.

After lunch you continue your journey up the slopes of the Ngorongoro Highlands arriving at the crater rim, with spectacular views across the Ngorongoro Crater. Continue to your camp and enjoy a sundowner overlooking, what is said to be the eighth wonder of the World.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers 8300km², of which the renowned Ngorongoro Crater only makes up about 3% - equal to approximately 260km². The conservation area also encompasses the volcanic area around the Ngorongoro Crater including the still active volcano of Oldonyio Lengai and the famous Olduvai Gorge. Its centerpiece, the Ngorongoro Crater, often referred to as the eighth wonder of the world is the largest unbroken caldera in the world, and the first sight of it is truly breathtaking. The floor of the crater is home to a year round population of varied wildlife, including the almost extinct black rhino. Animal densities are high, and game viewing is excellent, with visitors being able to get up close to the now almost habituated “wild” animals.

The crater supports up to 25,000 large mammals. Grazers dominate: zebra, wildebeest – accounting for almost half the animals – gazelle, buffalo, eland, hartebeest and wart hog. Giraffe, for example, stay away because there is insufficient food at tree level; topi because they compete directly with wildebeest. An odd feature of the crater elephants is that they are almost exclusively bulls. Breeding herds – comprising large numbers of females and young with a few attendant older males – are probably unable to find sufficient quality food in the crater.

Ngorongoro has carnivores in quantity, drawn by the large herds of prey animals. It has the most dense population of large predators, mainly lion – about 100 – and more than 400 spotted hyena, living in eight clans of up to eighty individuals. Both lions and hyenas will scavenge from each other, depending on weight of numbers and of course, hunger. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Serena/Sopa Lodge.

Day 7: Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
After breakfast descend into the crater with a picnic lunch for a full day game viewing of the crater floor. Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most spectacular and certainly the most unique game-viewing destination on Earth. A perfectly-formed sunken caldera, ringed by 2000 foot high walls and inhabited by as wide a cross-section of wildlife as lives on the continent of Africa. We will take today to explore this awe-inspiring natural amphitheater in full, using our 4WD safari-viewing vehicles to full effect in order to investigate every ecosystem and pocket of the finest game-viewing destination on the planet.

We have a very good chance of spotting the Big Five, (Lion Leopard, Buffalo, Rhino and Elephant), in a single day during our game drive including the endangered Black Rhino, and the network of tracks allows us a proximity rarely afforded elsewhere on the safari circuit. A picnic lunch will be served at an exclusive location on the Crater Floor before you continue your game drive until dusk returning to the Lodge for dinner. Dinner and Overnight at Ngorongoro Serena/Sopa Lodge.

Day 8: Serengeti National Park.
After breakfast drive to Serengeti onto the open plains of the vast Serengeti, meaning ‘Endless Plains’ in Maa the language spoken by the indigenous Masai who have inhabited the area for centuries. You will visit the famed Olduvai Gorge where after years of perseverance Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the origins of Australopithecus Bosei, or the ‘Nut Cracker’ dating back millions of years.

Arguably the most famous National Park in the World, the Serengeti perhaps defines the safari experience as surely as the wildlife that inhabits it. Established in 1951, and covering an area of almost 15,000 sq km –an area comparable to the state of Connecticut or Northern Ireland, the Serengeti hosts a fantastically diverse eco-system The famous short and long grass plains of the south slowly unfurl into the Acacia savannah of the central area, the hilly, more densely wooded areas of the north, and the extensive woodland in the western corridor, each with its own resident variations of African wildlife. The Serengeti promises all that the first-time game-viewer or experienced safari-hand could ever hope to witness and it rarely, if ever, disappoints. Dinner at and overnight at Serengeti Serena/Sopa Lodge.

Day 9: Sunrise and relax.
A full day of excitement awaits you as depart from the lodge at sunrise in order to capture the dawn activities, and the early morning light. You will return to the lodge for a late breakfast, and have an opportunity to relax in the lodge – enjoying your natural environment watching a heard of Impala wander not far from the lodge. Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Serena/Sopa Lodge.

Day 10: Serengeti – Arusha.
After breakfast you will be transferred to Seronera airstrip where you will board your scheduled flight to Arusha. On arrival you will be met at the airport by an Ecological adventure representative, drive to a hotel for lunch, after lunch a day room will be provided to freshen-up until evening when you will be transferred to Kilimanjaro International airport where you will board your home bound flight.