The Serengeti & Chimpanzees (Kusini)

Relax in our Wellness area after an exhausting trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro or a bumpy safari trip.
Get away from it all, pamper yourself in this pure haven of peace and quiet. Spoil your body and soul. Choose one of our treatments to boost your energy levels, refresh your mind and get rejuvenated from head to toe.

Machweo Wellness Retreat & Fine Dining offers the finest spa & wellness facilities including steam bath, sauna and additional separate swimming pool. You also have the possibility to book a yoga session. The practice of yoga gives strength, flexibility and balance of the body, mind and spirit, revealing inner radiance and connecting us to the divinity of the universe.

List of massages:

- Swedish Massage
- Hot Stone Massage
- Shiatsu Massage
- Thai Massage
- Sports Massage
- Chocolate Massage
- D-Stress Massage

This trip will take you to a local organic and Fair Trade coffee farm. As you walk through the plantations you will be educated on the entire coffee-processing. You'll enjoy a cup of coffee with the farmers while having a homemade Tanzanian lunch. You will also get the chance to visit the oldest church on Mt. Meru and to visit a local primary school.

Visit the Baraa Primary School project which we are supporting in collaboration with the iThemba Foundation.

The first part of your walk will submerge you in the local way of life, housing, social structure and agriculture of Tanzania. In the school your guide will be joined by a pupil and together they will tell you everything about a Tanzanian primary school and all past and future iThemba projects. You will see the brand new classrooms, sanitary block, kitchen and all the other infrastructure iThemba built for the school and will learn everything about the projects to ensure a greater quality of education and a higher quality of life.
After that you will visit a local crafts shop, a daladala trip to the Banana Beer Factory and then a meal in a local restaurant. Your day ends with an unforgettable visit to the local market.

You will be taken to the slope of Mount Meru for an 8km walk through the Mount Meru forest, an old, thick forest with a magnitude of birds, Colobus monkeys and small antilopes. You will have lunch in a beautiful spot at the top of the waterfall where you have a stunning view over Arusha town.

The Duluti-tour takes you to the caldera lake where you can choose between a lake forest walk or a canoe-trip on the lake. What makes this trip so interesting is that, according to local beliefs, the lake hides many stories and is a popular place for worshipping.

Our local guide will show you the centre of Arusha. You will get a chance to visit the busy local market, see some beautiful African artifacts in the Cultural Heritage Museum or buy some local souvenirs at the Masai market.

Discover the local life in Tanzania through a beautiful walking tour. There are numerous options to get to know every part of the local environment.

- Meru Village Tour:

A local guide will take you to Tengeru where you get the chance of interacting with the villagers and learning about their culture and day-to-day habits.

- Visiting the pottery place:

This program takes you to the heart of a local industry. You'll get the chance of learning about - and participating in - the entire process of making clay pots.

- Flower farm tour:

If you fancy vibrant colors and smells, this tour is just right for you. We'll take you to both a local and an international flower farm where you'll get to know all there is about producing flowers.

- Masai Village tour:

About 30km along the Namanga-road is the village of Oldonyoshambu, a traditional Masai village in the middle of the Rift Valley. This trip promotes people-to-people tourism and encourages multicultural friendship.

Explore the Northern Serengeti with our fabulous and very experienced guides. Game drives allow you to get closer to the big game and cover greater distances so that you can explore further afield in this beautiful part of the Serengeti.

**Game drives are on a shared basis unless a private guide and vehicle have been pre-booked. Max six in a vehicle.

Walking safaris are available at Lamai in certain seasons. At times of year when the grass can be a bit higher walking is sometimes not possible so it is important to bear this in mind (typically between January - March and June).

Walking in the bush is a fantastic experience and one of our favourite safari pastimes. It gives you the chance to really learn about the intricacies of the African bush; to taste, touch, smell and feel Africa. You don't get as up close and personal to the big game, but you do meet the little guys, all equally important in the grand scheme of things.

Nomad share the mountains and the lake with so many animals, but it's the chimps that inspire; it's hard not to compare their daily lives, their movements, feeding, squabbling, foraging and grooming, with our own. Time spent with them is time away from everything else that is ordinary. The Greystoke guides have watched, over the years, as families have grown, alpha males have come and gone, bonds and friendships have been created and then broken, and then created again. They are not so different from us.

After tracking them, for an hour or two, maybe more, only aware of the sounds they are making ahead of you, you find them; suddenly they are everywhere. You sit quietly on the forest floor and take a deep breath, this is what it's all about. For the next hour it's as if you scarcely breathe, so wrapped up are you in watching them go about their daily life. You become aware of the subtleties of different relationships, through gesture, sound and expression. One dictating the pace, another courting favour, yet another perhaps plotting a coup. There is humour too as the young chimps fall about the floor and play remarkably human games.

It's all acted out on this natural chimpanzee stage, and witnessing it is a true privilege.

Hike the forest paths looking for birds and butterflies, as well as the other shy mammals who quietly live there. Swim in ice-cold pools up in the mountain waterfalls, take a kayak out for a dawn paddle towards the middle of the lake; drink your morning coffee there and enjoy the sunrise coming up over the mountains.

Go for sundowners on the old wooden dhow, lazily following the shoreline and stopping to fish along the way, or just relax on the warm sands of the beach with a drink in hand.