Luxury Tanzania Suggested Itinerary 10 days / 9 nights Although Kenya often holds the mantle as the most famous safari destination on earth, the wildlife and photographic opportunities of neighbouring Tanzania are surely hard to beat. With some enormous game reserves, varied scenery and spectacular game numbers, Tanzania has much to offer the discerning traveller. ORYX and Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 Greg du Toit have tailor-made this itinerary to visit some of the best and most exclusive photographic gems in Tanzania. Beginning in Arusha, we make our way to Katavi, a little visited and remote national park that boasts huge dry-season game
numbers around its network of rivers and wetlands, and we can be assured of incredible sightings in one of the wildest parks on the planet! Thereafter, the forested mountains of Mahale beckon, and with it the opportunity to track and photograph the incomparable Chimpanzee! Again, the Mahale Mountains is a remote area, bordering the cerulean waters of Lake Tanganyika, and we have three full days to photograph chimps and soak up the atmosphere of this unparalleled destination. Join us on this luxurious adventure to some of the most unspoilt wildlife areas on the African continent! Day 1: September: Arrival in Arusha After arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport east of Arusha, you will be met by an ORYX representative and transferred to your wonderful hotel on the western side of Arusha (roughly 1 hour depending on traffic in Arusha town). Something of a stalwart in the Arusha hotel scene, Arusha Coffee Lodge is in a great location on the outskirts of town and close to the main Arusha domestic airport. Overnight Arusha Coffee Lodge Day 2: Arusha flight to Katavi National Park After an early breakfast, we depart to Arusha Airport, conveniently located five minutes away, for our flight to Katavi National Park (08h00 12h20), in the far west of Tanzania. Here the Chada Katavi staff will meet us and transfer us to the lodge in time for a delicious lunch. We have three nights in this incredible place that is overrun with game, with frequent camp visitors including Cape Buffalo grazing on the floodplain in front of camp, and Elephant feeding on the fruiting trees in camp. Overnight Chada Katavi
Days 3 and 4: Katavi National Park Katavi National Park is somewhere that, even today, few people have been lucky enough to visit. Perhaps because of this, it feels untouched, almost like travelling back in time. The park centers on a series of wide flood plains, blond with waist high grass in the early dry season, and green and flooded like a mini Okavango Delta after the rains. Connecting the main flood plains Ngolema, Katisunga, Katavi and Chada - is a network of fragile seasonal rivers, and it is these rivers that form the focus of the game viewing for which Katavi is renowned during the dry season. Water rapidly becomes a limited resource in Katavi during the dry season so animals of all kinds are drawn to the Katuma, Kavu and Kapapa Rivers. Hippo in their thousands cram the remaining pools, crocodiles retire to caves in the mud walls of the river banks, buffalo and elephant are drawn to the rivers to drink. The lion, hyenas and other predators know this. In the late dry season, there are few places that offer such a raw and wild experience as Katavi. The rains usually come mid-november and go through until early June. Katavi
then undergoes a complete transformation. Our trip is however timed to coincide with the dry season, where animals are concentrated around the remaining water, and hence photographic opportunities created by these herds of thirsty herds of game and attendant predators are at their maximum! Nights Chada Katavi Day 6: Katavi flight to Mahale, transfer via dhow to camp After game drive and breakfast this morning, you will be transferred back to the airstrip, where after you will fly to Mahale (12h40 13h00). Flying in over the northern end of the mountains, we will see nothing for many, many kilometres, and only small villages and local fishermen in dhows dotted along the lake shore. Boarding a dhow, we sail around 1.5 hours to our camp. Greystoke Mahale sits on a pristine, white sandy beach overlooking the turquoise water of Lake Tanganyika in far-flung western Tanzania. The forested slopes of the 8000 ft Mahale Mountains range rise behind and, across the water, one can often see the mountains of the Congo, some 60km away. Lake Tanganyika is a spectacular rift valley lake, and with its crystal clear water it is the longest freshwater lake in the world and the 2nd deepest, containing 17% of the world's fresh water. We will begin our days at the main mess tent, eating breakfast whilst waiting to hear news of the whereabouts of the chimps. Although our primary focus is of course photographing the chimps, there are many choices in addition to this which include fishing, boat trips down the lake, gentle forest walks or simply a lazy afternoon on the beach. Days end with sundowners on the rocks of the headland, where drinks are served around the lamp-
lit bar whilst the mountains, rising behind camp, disappear into the darkness. Overnight Greystoke Mahale Days 7 to 9: Mahale Mountains In the 1,613km 2 of the Mahale Mountains, there are still no roads, and the only access routes through the forest are the game trails, worn into the earth by the passing of generations of forest animals. This, and the fact that the only practical way of reaching camp is by boat, add to the sense of seclusion here. Mahale's mountain ridge is around 50 km in length and runs across the park from the north-west to the south-east. Its tallest peak, Mt Nkungwe at 2462m, is the highest point on Lake Tanganyika's shoreline. Mahale is one of the only places left in the world where one can see chimpanzees in the wild, and spend time with a small group - the M group. Roughly 800 Chimpanzees live in the Mahale Mountains, with some 60 individuals forming the M group, which were habituated to human visitors by Japanese researchers from Kyoto University in the 1960 s. We will trek to, and spend time photographing (and simply enjoying!) these remarkable mammals and both mornings of our full days at Mahale. Nights Greystoke Mahale Day 9: Greystoke Mahala via dhow to airstrip, flight Kilimanjaro This morning we have further time in the marvellous forest, before catching a dhow back to the
airstrip and flying to Kilimanjaro International Airport outside Arusha (13h30 17h00), where your incredible Tanzanian safari unfortunately comes to an end! An ORYX safari is about enchanting all the senses while participating in the expedition, so that you come away a richer, more enlightened being, and with a stunning collection of African wildlife images to boot!