7-day Northern Tanzania Camping Safari

A participatory camping safari into Tanzania's Northern parks of Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Manyara. The Serengeti is host to the annual wildebeest migration - a spectacular sight! Using small vehicles (not trucks!), our safari travels into the best areas of this game-packed region, camping amongst the game with the sounds of the African bush all around. Camping is a perfect way to get close to nature, but with our style of trip you don't miss out on the comforts! And all the tedious daily chores are taken care of by our crew, allowing you maximum time to enjoy the bush. This is an ‘experience' of Africa, never to be forgotten.

Highlights: Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara
Group Size: Minimum 2 people -
Accommodation: dome tents

Adventure Grade - These are run with a crew of a cook/assistant plus guide, and guests will be required to assist with setting up and dismantling the camp. It is a viable option for those keen to camp, stay in more remote places, or on a slightly tighter budget.

2010 Price:  From USD$1795 per person sharing*

Includes: Pick up from Arusha hotel , Services of driver/guide , Park entrance fees All camping equipment including large walk-in dome tents, mattresses, all cooking and eating utensils Services of a cook / camp assistant Nights are spent inside Parks or conservation areas unless specified

Excludes: Visas if required, hotel night in Arusha before/after safari excluded, shuttle bus services ex Nairobi, airport transfers, Personal travel insurance, drinks & tips.

Day 1 - Arrive in Arusha
Overnight in hotel.

Day 2 - Ngorongoro Conseration Area
Your driver will come to greet you at your hotel at 07h30 in order to meet up with the rest of the group in Arusha town for the 08h30 briefing. After the briefing your crew will assist you in purchasing water, other beverages or items of a personal nature and help you, if necessary, to exchange money at a bureau de change. We depart Arusha around 10h00 and passing by Lake Manyara, weave our way upwards into the densely forest slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, pausing to admire the splendid view of the crater floor 600 m below at Heroes Point, before driving on to our campsite on the rim of the Ngorongoro caldera.

If we arrive and set up camp in good time, you may like to consider an early evening/ sunset visit to a Maasai village boma where you can spend some time learning about the culture, traditions and beliefs of this ancient, noble warrior tribe. This visit is at an additional cost, and should be discussed with the guide and paid directly to the guide. We will return to camp for a hearty bush dinner under the stars. Overnight at the campsite on the crater rim.

Day 3 - Serengeti National Park
Today we will descend the steep walls of the crater to admire the microcosms of life within it. We will have a picnic lunch on the floor of the crater at a pleasant lakeside location where we can stretch our legs and soak up the magnificent scenery.

The 8,300km2 Ngorongoro Conservation Area is named after its central feature the Ngorongoro Crater, which is the world largest intact volcanic caldera and within which has evolved an extraordinary natural sanctuary for some of Africa's densest populations of large mammals. The crater floor itself is 260km2 and from the viewing points at the rim the vast herds of wildebeest, buffalo and zebra look like mere ant formations winding their way across the grasslands below! The crater is also home to a great diversity of environments and you may encounter all of the large herbivores mentioned above, as well as lions, hyenas, jackals, male elephants (females and family groups tend to stay up on the higher slopes) and, in the forest around the rim, occasional leopard and bushbuck. There is an active black rhino breeding project inside the crater and you may be lucky enough to spot some of these magnificent, shy beasts during your tour, but sightings are limited as breeding areas are strictly protected and usually closed to public access. The crater rim can be very cold at night and cloaked in mist in the early mornings. It can also be quite bleak and windy (July and August). You will need a heavy jumper, several layers or a warm jacket here. Overnight at the campsite on the crater rim.

Day 4 - Serengeti National Park
Today we break camp and embark on a game drive into the great Serengeti plains. Before crossing from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area into the Serengeti National Park we should take the opportunity to visit the Olduvai Gorge Museum where we may attend a short talk on the archaeological importance of Olduvai and the work of Mary and Louis Leakey in excavating the area and discovering some of Africa's most important hominid fossils. Overnight Serengeti, Seronera (central) zone.

Day 5 - Serengeti National Park
Morning and afternoon game-drives in the central Seronera zone of Serengeti National Park. Africa's most famous game reserve covers an area of almost 15,000km2 and is world-renowned for its dense predator population and the annual wildebeest migration. The park is part of the much larger Serengeti eco-system, which includes Kenya's Masai Mara Game Reserve, and encompasses more than double this area.

The greater part of the park is open grassland, patches of acacia woodland and isolated areas of granite rock outcrops called koppies. Animal migration is linked to the annual rainfall patterns and its effect on their feeding habitats. Formerly the home of the Maasai tribe who displaced the Datoga pastoralists in the 17th century, the name Serengeti is derived from the Maasai word Serengit, meaning ‘endless plain'. The national park was created by the Tanzanian government in 1951 and became famous through the work of Professor Bernard Grzimek (in particular his book ‘Serengeti Shall Not Die').

Huge herds of wildebeest and zebra can be found here along with smaller concentrations of Thomson's gazelle, Grant's gazelle, impala, kongoni, Kirk's dik dik, klipspringer and small numbers of roan, oryx, oribi, eland and waterbuck. There are also significant numbers of buffalo, giraffe and warthog. Elephants are relatively scarce on the open plains, more common in the northern areas and the western corridor. The few remaining black rhinos are restricted to an inaccessible part of the park. But the most popular animals to be found here in greater abundance than elsewhere on the northern circuit are the cats. Lions, cheetahs and leopard may all be seen here along with other predators, such as the spotted hyena, golden and black-backed jackals, wild cats and servals. Overnight Serengeti, Seronera (central) zone.

Day 6 - Lake Manyara
We enjoy a final early morning game drive in the Serengeti before departing back towards the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We need to get up very early and start breaking camp in order to make good time for the long drive back to the Manyara region.

By late afternoon, we return to the Lake Manyara area and the bustling little town of Mto wa Mbu (pronounced as one word mtowambu) for our last night of safari. After many hot and dusty days of travel encountering quite basic facilities within the parks, here we find hot showers and cold drinks in abundance for our last night on safari. There may be cultural entertainment such as tribal dancing or acrobats at the campsite or neighbouring establishments should you wish to attend.

This village is said to be the only place in Tanzania where representatives of 120 Tanzanian tribes can be found. On arrival this afternoon there may be time for a Cultural Walk around the area. A number of different itineraries are available but some are seasonal or rather lengthy so please check with your guide as to which might be most suitable for your group. Walks include excursions to the Miwaleni waterfalls and on to a papyrus lake where the Rangi tribes-people collect basket and mat-weaving raw materials, and also to the homesteads of the Sandawe hunter-gatherers. Another walk takes you up Balaa Hill with superb views over the village and lake and over the Chagga farms and Maasai bomas of the surrounding areas.Overnight Mto wa Mbu campsite.

Day 8 - Arusha
This morning we depart for an early morning game drive in Lake Manyara National Park, returning to the camp for a light brunch before heading back to Arusha.

Lake Manyara is a shallow, alkaline lake at the base of a sheer stretch of the western Rift Valley escarpment. The north-western area of this lake is protected in a 330km2 national park, which contains a remarkable diversity of terrestrial habitats: the grassy floodplain of the lakeshore, the rocky base of the escarpment, a belt of thick acacia woodland and a lush patch of groundwater forest just inside the northern entrance gate. An interesting bio-diversity of fauna and flora can be observed here and a variety of large mammal species including elephant, buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe and lion. Perhaps, however, the most immediately visible residents are the troupes of olive baboon, sometimes found in the company of the smaller and rather beautiful blue monkey. This is also a wonderful location for viewing groups of elephants and for keen birders Manyara has recorded almost 400 species due to the wide habitat diversity.

We hope to arrive back in Arusha in the early afternoon and you may like to take a look around the souvenir bazaars of Arusha before your guide bids you farewell at your lodge.

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