TANZANIA The Great Migration with 12 Days/ 10 Nights July 7-18, 2018
Program outline: Day 1: Sat, July 7 Day 2: Sun, July 8 Day 3: Mon, July 9 Day 4: Tue, July 10 Day 5: Wed, July 11 Day 6: Thu, July 12 Day 7: Fri, July 13 Day 8: Sat, July 14 Day 9: Sun, July 15 Day 10: Mon, July 16 Day 11: Tue, July 17 Day 12: Sun, July 15 Leave USA for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Dar es Salaam arrival at night / Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam sightseeing / Dar es Salaam Fly to Mwanza - sightseeing / Mwanza Fishing village - Serengeti / Central Serengeti Game drives / Northern Serengeti Game drives / Northern Serengeti Game drives in Seronera area / Central Serengeti Drive to Ngorongoro Crater / Ngorongoro Game drives in craters / Ngorongoro Lake Manyaza - Arusha / Arusha Arusha sightseeing - departure at night
Tanzania - The Great Migration Highlights: Dar es Salaam Crafts Markets. Boat rides on Lake Victoria. Sukuma cultural performance. Fishing village visit. Lake Manyara with Flamingoes and more. Ngorongoro Crater. Maasai Culture. Serengeti Game Drives Great Migration Big Five - if we are lucky. Serenity of Tented Camps.
INCLUDED SERVICES: 10 nights accommodation at the stated hotels/lodges/camps. Breakfast, lunch, dinner as indicated in the itinerary. One domestic flight in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam - Mwanza.) Sukuma Cultural Performance. Boat ride on Lake Victoria. Canoe ride on Lake Victoria. All game drives by private 4x4 vehicles / driver-guides. National park / game area entry fees. All government taxes, applicable fees. During the game drives, 1 ltr of water per person per day. Local taxes. NOT INCLUDED: International flights given separately below. Visa fees for Tanzania. Drinks with included meals, except tea or coffee for breakfast. Gratuities for guides & drivers. Personal expenditures like phone calls, laundry, medical expenses. Travel insurance (can be provided by Tourcom on request.) SAFARI VEHICLES On our safaris we use special safari vehicles - Toyota LandCruisers or similar. These vehicles come with the following options: Pop up roof top which can be converted to completely open. Reclining seats. Refrigerator. Outlets to charge your cameras. Wireless communication services-hf radio. (for use between guides to spot game.) Capacity to sit 7 comfortably.
Tanzania - The Great Migration LIFE IN TENTED CAMPS Tented Camps that we offer are seasonal camps located in various locations of Serengeti National Park. They work under Park s guidelines and the camps are truly eco-friendly. Their locations are close to pristine areas that offer unparalleled game viewing, Comprising just ten to twelve spacious tents, the focus is on your comfort and enjoyment. There is nothing better than being lulled to sleep at night by the sounds of the bush, safely inside your well-appointed safari bedroom. The tents come with private flushing toilets and a bushshower. A private verandah offers a shady place to relax. A large central dining tent complements the comfortable lounge tent which has a small reference library, maps, some games for children and a charging station for cameras. Our safari chef will prepare sumptuous meals for your enjoyment and evenings offer a campfire around which our guests enjoy sundowners and snacks, and share the day s experiences.
BALLOON SAFARI IN SERENGETI An Extraordinary Adventure Imagine floating in a hot air balloon over the beautiful Serengeti, offering a unique perspective, great viewing and photographic opportunities of the amazing scenery. This may be the most beautiful area in the world for a balloon flight. There are no power lines, fences and few roads. Balloon capacity is limited making this experience a special and exclusive one. Schedule: 5:00 am: We will be picked up from our lodge or camp, and transferred to the launch site. Here we will meet our pilot, receive a briefing and watch the inflation of our balloon. At dawn we take off, rising as the sun rises and float in whichever direction the winds of the morning take us. Our pilot can precisely control the altitude of the balloon: sometimes flying at treetop height, sometimes lower, offering a unique perspective and great photographic opportunities of the wildlife below.
At other times we will ascend to 1000' or more to see the enormity and wonderful panorama of the Serengeti. From time to time the pilot must put more heat into the balloon with the powerful whisper burners. In between these burns, there is silence apart from the natural sounds below. The flight is for about one hour depending on conditions, and eventually we must land. We celebrate in the traditional manner with champagne (well, an excellent sparkling wine) before sitting down to a full English breakfast. 9:30 am Arrive at our camp ready to continue our day's activities. Rate: $550 per person to be paid in cash, in USD upon arrival in Serengeti.
FLIGHTS On KLM: July 7 Houston to Amsterdam KL 662 dep: 3:05 pm / arr: 7:20 am on July 8 July 8 KL 567 Amsterdam to Dar es Salaam dep: 10:25 am / arr: 10:00 pm July 18 Arusha to Amsterdam KL 569 dep: 8:55 pm / arr: 7:25 am on July 19 July 19 KL 661 Amsterdam to Houston dep: 9:50 am / arr: 1:05 pm Economy class fare is $1760 including taxes, surcharges and fees as of September 27, 2017. Fares are based on availability. Once issued tickets are non-refundable.
Program Details Day 1: Sat, July 7, 2018 Leave Houston We will leave Houston for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Day 2: Sun, July 8, 2018 Dar es Salaam We will arrive in Dar es Salaam late at night via Amsterdam. Upon arrival, we will be welcomed by our guide and transferred to our hotel. Overnight in Dar es Salaam Meals: - Day 3: Mon, July 9, 2018 Dar es Salaam Our full day in Dar es Salaam, the largest city of Tanzania. Dar es Salaam (House of Peace in Arabic) was founded in 1862 by Sultan Seyyid Majid of Zanzibar on the site of the village of Mzizima. Present day Dar es Salaam's origins have been influenced by a myriad of sultans, the Germans and the British. The city started as a fishing village in the mid 19th century, is
now Tanzania's largest city, and has become one of East Africa s most important ports and trading centers. With its great atmosphere, mix of African, Muslim, and South Asian influences, picturesque harbor, beaches, chaotic markets, and historic buildings, it is one of the interesting locations in Tanzania. Dar es Salaam is Tanzania's financial and political hub despite having lost its status as official capital to Dodoma in 1973. Today we will visit the National Museum, with its exhibits on human origins from Olduvai Gorge, fishmarket and Mwenge Carvers' Market. Here we can watch many of the artists make the crafts that are sold throughout the country. We will also visit the Wonder Workshop. This is a highlight of the city: Wonder Workshop is a project started in 2004 to provide work to Tanzanians with a handicap. Throughout the years the project has grown and nowadays 45 Tanzanians with a handicap make art out of recycled materials (Metal, wood, glass bottles, papers etc.) It is possible to walk around and see the people working in their workshops. There is also a shop in which you can buy all kinds of souvenirs. There is a variety of items and especially the welding section (recycled metal) is known all around the world. Dinner will be on our own. Overnight in Dar es Salaam Meals: B L Day 4: Tue, July 10, 2018 Dar es Salaam Mwanza Very early in the morning we will fly to Mwanza, on the coast of Lake Victoria. With a population of over 800,000, Mwanza is Tanzania's second largest city, after Dar es Salaam. After dropping off our luggage at the hotel, we will visit Sukuma Cultural Center to get information about this ethnical group, which constitutes over 90 percent of the population in this area. The Sukuma are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the southeastern African Great Lakes region. They are the largest ethnic group in Tanzania, with an estimated 8.9 million members or 16 percent of the country's total population. Sukuma means "north" and refers to "people of the north." Our local guide will give us explanations about this culture and we will attend a local dance performance in the village. Early in the evening, we will also have a short boat ride on Lake Victoria.
With a surface area of approximately 26,600 sq miles, Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake and the world's second largest fresh water lake by surface area, after Lake Superior in North America. The lake was named after Queen Victoria by the explorer John Hanning Speke, the first Briton to document it. Speke accomplished this in 1858. Overnight in Mwanza Meals: B L - D Day 5: Wed, July 11, 2018 Mwanza Central Serengeti This morning we will leave Mwanza and drive to Central Serengeti. On the way we will visit a fishing village near Bunda. In this small fishing village, we will get information from our local guide, will have a canoe ride on Lake Victoria and visit the local school. After lunch we will continue our drive to Sereneti. Serengeti: The spectacle of predator versus prey dominates Tanzania s greatest park. Golden-maned lion prides feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary leopards haunt the acacia trees lining the Seronera River, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the southeastern plains. Almost uniquely, all three African jackal species occur here, alongside the spotted hyena and a host of more elusive small predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf to the beautiful serval cat. Upon arrival we will start game drive for the rest of the day. Overnight in Central Serengeti Meals: B - L - D
Day 6: Thu, July 12, 2018 Western Corridor Northern Serengeti We will leave our accommodation today and drive through the famous Western Corridor to Northern Serengeti, Our daily schedule of game viewing and meals will be arranged by our experienced guide, depending on the location of herds. Our drives and direction of excursions will be based on his local knowledge and daily information about animal movement at that particular time. Each year around the same time, the circular great wildebeest migration begins in the Ngorongoro area. This migration is a natural phenomenon determined by the availability of grazing. This phase lasts from approximately January to March, when the calving season begins a time when there is plenty of rain-ripened grass available for the 260,000 zebra that precede 1.7 million wildebeest and the following hundreds of thousands of other plains game, including around 470,000 gazelles. By the end of June and beginning of July, depending on when the rains end, herds have already moved to Grumeti area and they start crossing Grumeti and Mara rivers going up north towards Kenya. About 250,000 wildebeest die during the journey from Tanzania to the Maasai Mara National Reserve in southwestern Kenya, a total of 500 miles. Death is usually from thirst, hunger, exhaustion, or predation. Today and tomorrow, we will be on the migration route to witness Mara river crossing. Overnight in Northern Serengeti Meals: B - L - D
Day 7: Fri, July 13, 2018 Northern Serengeti Today we will continue our game drives in the region. Our expert guides will lead us to perfect spots where we can view hard to find species in their natural habitat. Altitudes in the Serengeti range from 3020 to 6070 ft. with mean temperature varying from 59 to 77 F degrees. We can follow the herds, see them crossing the rivers if we are lucky or witness lions on a hunt if we are luckier. Whichever is the case, the variety of natural life in the Serengeti never ceases to surprise and inspire: Elephants, rhinos, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, antelopes, cheetas, lions, kudus, hyenas, vultures, mongoose, baboons, cranes, hippos, jackals... it is an unending parade. Overnight in Northern Serengeti Meals: B - L D Day 8: Sat, July 14, 2018 Northern Serengeti Central Serengeti Full day game drive moving back to Central Serengeti area. Serengeti spans about 12,000 sqmiles and it hosts the largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world. The Serengeti is also renowned for its large lion population. Approximately
70 larger mammal and 500 bird species are found here due to diverse habitats including riverine forests, swamps, kopjes, grasslands and woodlands. The name Serengeti is derived from the Maasai language word serengit meaning endless plains. Overnight in Central Serengeti Meals: B - L - D Day 9: Sun, July 15, 2018 Seronera Ngorongoro We will leave our camp early in the morning and continuing with game drives, we will leave Serengeti for Ngorongoro. On the way we will visit a Maasai Village. Maasai people inhabit northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. They lead their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, which centers around their cattle, which constitute their primary source of food. Here we will be able to see their settlement, interact with them and may watch them perform their traditional dances. Overnight in Ngorongoro Meals: B L - D Day 10: Mon, July 16, 2018 Ngorongoro Crater Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest, inactive and intact volcanic caldera. The crater, which formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago, is 2,000 feet deep and its floor covers 100 square miles. The elevation of the crater floor is 5,900 feet above sea level.
Very early in the morning (around 6 am), we will leave the hotel to descend into Ngorongoro Crater. We will have a picnic breakfast in the crater and continue with game drive. Approximately 25,000 large animals live in the crater. These include black rhinoceros, Cape buffalo, hippopotamus, wildebeest, Burchell's zebra, common eland and others. Crater also has one of the densest known population of lions. Lake Magadi, a large lake in the southwest of the crater, is often inhabited by thousands of mainly lesser flamingoes. After a late lunch at the hotel, we will have some time to rest. Afternoon at leisure or an optional walking tour of crater rim can be arranged on request. Overnight in Ngorongoro Meals: B - L D Day 11: Tue, July 17, 2018 Ngorongoro Lake Manyara Arusha In the morning we will leave Ngorongoro for Arusha. On the way we will visit Lake Manyara. Stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty-gold 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem. Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania s birdlife. More than 400 species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor to Africa might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these in one day. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large waterbirds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks. After having our picnic lunches near Lake Manyara, we will continue our drive to Arusha. Overnight in Arusha Meals: B L D
Day 12: Wed, July 18, 2018 Arusha Departure After breakfast, we will start our tour in Arusha area. We will drive to the nearby Tengeru Village to visit a coffee plantation to see coffee production on a small scale; we can also visit the local village market if it is a market day. Tengeru is a market-town in the Arusha Region of northern Tanzania, located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley. In 1934, Kenyon Painter, an American investor, established a coffee research station at Tengeru, which today is operated by the Lyamungu Research Institute of the Tanzania Ministry of Agriculture and known as the National Centre for Coffee Research. Beginning in 1942 and continuing after World War II, a camp for displaced persons from eastern Europe was established at Tengeru, just south of Lake Duluti. It primarily housed Poles, who were then resettled in the United States, Australia, northern Europe and other countries. At its height it housed over 4,000 people, but now all that remains of the camp is its large cemetery. Late in the afternoon, we will be transferred to Kilimanjaro International Airport for our departure flight. Meals: B - L