Day 1 - Friday, November 20: Evening departure from Toronto
Day 2 - Saturday, November 21: Arrival in Tanzania
Following the connecting flight from , on arrival in Kilimanjaro our guides will meet us at the airport and transfer us to Rivertree Lodge, where we will stay for the next two nights. The friendly staff at the reception desk are happy to answer any questions. A baggage storage service and a safe are available. Wireless internet access (no extra charge) allows guests to surf the internet and catch up on email. The tour desk offers assistance with booking excursions. The hotel has wheelchair-accessible facilities. A fireplace creates a cozy atmosphere. There are a number of shops as well. Guests of the hotel can enjoy various recreational facilities, including the garden, during their stay. Additional amenities include a TV room and a library. Guests arriving by car can park their vehicles in the parking lot for no extra charge. Further services and facilities include a babysitting service, a childcare service, a transfer service, a laundry service and a coin-operated laundry.
Day 3 - Sunday, November 22: Arusha National Park
The day begins with breakfast at the hotel before getting our feet well with the small safari in Arusha National Park, offering spectacular views of Mount Kilimanjaro, (weather permitting). At 5,890 feet, Mt Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa. Arusha National Park also boasts a diverse flora and fauna, including giraffes, zebras, and the rare colobus monkeys. Return to the lodge for dinner.
Day 4 - Monday, November 23: Lake Manyara National Park
Today we embark on an exciting safari at Lake Manyara National Park, home to a diverse array of wildlife. You’ll have the chance to see elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, hippos, leopards, and even tree-climbing lions! The area around Lake Manyara is particularly famous for its thousands of flamingos and over 400 other bird species. Enjoy a delightful picnic lunch within the park, surrounded by nature’s beauty. In the evening, retreat to the 4-star Kilimani Lodge in the Karatu region. This lodge, nestled amidst coffee plantations, offers a perfect blend of comfort and scenic views for your dinner and overnight stay.
Day 5 - Tuesday, November 24: Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After breakfast we will enjoy a visit to a Hadzebes village. Just outside of Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area, close to Lake Eyasi, live the few remaining members of the ancient Hadzabe tribe. These self-sufficient hunter-gatherers still proudly adhere to their traditional unchanged way of life and continue to live in obvious harmony with the earth. Today we visit a village and immerse ourselves in the ways of a group of people who have existed here and survived in the same sustainable way for thousands of years.
Day 6 - Wednesday, November 25: The Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast we explore the Ngorongoro Crater, measuring no less than 20 kilometers in diameter, which is home to an incredible rich variety of fauna, including rhinos as well as lions, leopards, and elephants... A picnic lunch will again be included.
Late afternoon arrival in Olduvai Camp situated at an altitude of 1400 meters in the world famous Olduvai Gorge. Escorted by Maasai warriors, we enjoy a leisurely walk to the top of a nearby Kopje (small hill) in order to admire the great Serengeti Plain at sunset. Dinner and overnight in very comfortable, fully equipped tents!
The Olduvai Gorge, a 50 kilometer long ravine, is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world, and has provided a major contribution to the understanding of early human evolution. Millions of years ago it was inhabited by early species of humans, such at ashomo habilis and homo erectus. Olduvai is therefore known as The Cradle of Mankind”.
Day 7 - Thursday, November 26: Serengeti
After breakfast, departure for Serengeti, an immense National Park, featuring a combination of Savannah and forests, valleys and kopjes, inhabited by the greatest concentration of felines in the world plus countless buffaloes giraffes antelopes crocodiles and hippos. Picnic lunch enroute. Arrive in the Serengeti around noon. In the late afternoon we arrive at Togoro Plains, our home for the next three nights. Dinner and overnight.
Day 8 - Friday, November 27: Serengeti
After breakfast we embark on a full day safari on the Serengeti Plain. Picnic lunches will be packed. Return to the Togoro Plains Camp in the late afternoon for “sun downers” followed by dinner. Opportunity for a hot air balloon ride before breakfast (weather dependent).
Day 9 - Saturday, November 28: Serengeti
After breakfast we embark on a full day safari on the Serengeti Plain. Picnic lunches will be packed. Return to the Togoro Plains Camp in the late afternoon for “sun downers” followed by dinner. Opportunity for a hot air balloon ride before breakfast (weather dependent).
Day 10 - Sunday, November 29: Ngorongoro
Today is a travel day as we leave the Serengeti and return to the Ngorongoro area via the "Road of the Kopjes.” Look out for “big cats” such as lions, leopards and cheetahs! Picnic lunch enroute. Late afternoon arrival in Olduvai Camp. Dinner and overnight.
Day 11 - Monday, November 30: Tarangire National Park
Breakfast at the hotel before heading to Tarangire National Park, the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem, and famous for its rare antelopes, such as the kudu, the oryx and the gerenuk - a smorgasbord for predators! Picnic lunch included. Dinner and overnight at Ormatai Rock Camp, another fabulous camp perched on the top of an imposing granite rock. Dinner and overnight both night.
Day 12 - Tuesday, December 01: Tarangirie National Park
A second full day of sightseeing in Tarangirie National Park. Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided.
Day 13 - Wednesday, December 02: Flight from Arusha to Zanzibar
After breakfast we return to Arusha and we take a short domestic flight from Arusha to Zanzibar. This autonomous part of Tanzania, formerly an independent sultanate a.k.a. “the spice island”, and a British protectorate before becoming independent and merging with Tanzania, is a small island, approximately 90km long and 30km wide, situated in the Indian Ocean just off Tanzania’s “Swahili Coast”. Arrival and transfer to the beautiful Breezes Beach Club & Spa Zanzibar, where we will stay in fully equipped air-conditioned cottages. Balance of the day at leisure, and dinner in the hotel’s restaurant.
Day 14 - Thursday, December 03: Zanzibar
Today is yours to enjoy entirely at leisure. Breakfast and dinner will be served and some optional excursions and activities will be available. For example, a boat trip to Kae, one of the most beautiful beaches of the island including a BBQ lunch as well as a boat tour featuring a chance to snorkel with a colony of Bottlenose Dolphins!
Day 15 - Friday, December 04: Tour of the Island
Departure from the hotel after breakfast. We’re off on a “spice tour” of this “spice island”, one of the few places in the world where saffron an many other Middle Eastern/Asian spices such as cardamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg etc. are grown. Also visit to the Jozani Forest, featuring some very exotic (and large) trees and ferns and other tropical types of vegetation and inhabited by the native species of monkeys, the red Columbus, now nearly extinct. Return to hotel in the afternoon. Dinner at the hotel.
Day 16 - Saturday, December 05: Transfer to Stone Town
Breakfast followed by transfer to Stone Town, capital of Zanzibar with a unique blend of Moorish, Middle Eastern, Indian and African traditions and architectures, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Guided walking tour of the Old Town, the waterfront, and the harbor, with sites such as the Arab fort and the old slave market followed by free time for lunch. In the afternoon transfer to airport for short flight to Dar Es Salaam before connecting on your return flight to Toronto. Arrival in North America will be the following day.
