Essence of Tanzania Safari

Take a guided walk around the workings of the coffee plantation to see how the coffee is grown, harvested, dried, and produced into the aromatic coffee that we drink every day, culminating in that all-important coffee tasting!

Tours are an additional cost to accommodation.

The Trader's Walk is a collection of 5 boutique shops and gourmet food places within the ground of Arusha Coffee Lodge showcasing some of the best creativity and ingenuity of Tanzania.

Shanga - A workshop creating gift arts and crafts.
Watch beautiful jewellery, arts and crafts being created out of recycled materials.

Soko - The gift shop
From safari clothing to wonderful keepsakes and gifts.

Jikoni - The authentic African kitchen
An open-to-air restaurant with traditional Swahili food on offer.

The Tanzanite Experience - The jewellery store
Tanzanite Experience specialises in authentic, ethically-mined Tanzanite gemstones and jewellery. Tanzanite, a beautiful blue stone, is said to be a 1000 times rarer than diamonds.

Kahawa - The cafe
A delightful gourmet cafe selling freshly ground coffee and fresh-baked cakes either 'to go' or served on Kahawa's shaded terrace.

Take a picnic lunch and enjoy an excursion to the slopes of Mt Meru where Arusha National Park is located. The park enjoys an abundance of birdlife, and quite a variety of wildlife. The landscape within its relatively small 137km2 is impressively varied and offers some spectacular views.

A day excursion to Arusha National Park is an additional cost to accommodation.

Arusha is a bustling town with one of the fastest growing populations in Africa. Shopping and cultural experiences are on offer, including Masai Markets, the Tanzanite Museum, Museum of Natural History and Arusha Cultural Heritage Centre, plus a variety of boutique gift shops, cafes and restaurants.

City tour of Arusha is at an additional cost to accommodation.

Indulge in a pampering and relaxing treatment at Peaberries. Select from bouquet of treatments, including massages, pedicures, manicures, waxes and facials.

Spa treatments are not included in accommodation price.

Sanctuary Swala is at the heart of Tarangire National Park, where Northern Tanzania’s largest population of elephant makes its home, as does a rare white giraffe. Abandoned termite mounds become the sanctuary of dwarf mongoose. Drives out from Sanctuary Swala reward you with Big Five encounters, while herds of elephant, a crash of hippos and prides of lions all roam within sight and earshot of the camp. The low volume of visitors to the park offers a truly unique and private experience and our customised open safari vehicles offer unobstructed viewing and great photography opportunities.

You may have decided with your guide to take a picnic breakfast or lunch with you but equally lovely in the evening is to enjoy a bush dinner. A secluded clearing is prepared for a traditional East African meal in the middle of the Tarangire bush. With a sundowner in hand watch as the sun swiftly sinks and your setting becomes illuminated by a magnificent log fire. Once you have settled into your surroundings let our chef introduce you to traditional Swahili fare and experience a memorable evening under the African night sky.

Put on your walking shoes and experience beautiful Tarangire National Park from a different perspective with a walking safari at Sanctuary Swala. With our professional walking guide and armed ranger, guests can now explore the grassland around camp in one of the most secluded areas of the park. Our qualified guide has a wealth of knowledge and will explain how to understand animal behaviour while tracking a variety of game. You may encounter zebra, waterbuck, impala, ostrich, elephant as well as a number of birds. Sanctuary Swala is one of only a few camps within Tanzania's Northern Park that is able to offer walking safaris. (Maximum 6 people per walk, please note that our Walking Safari activity is currently unavailable and will restart at the beginning of the next dry season (15th July 2018)).

Experience the wonders of a safari at night in Tarangire. As dusk falls, relax in the comfort of Sanctuary Swala's customised safari vehicle as you venture into the park transformed by night. Search for nocturnal animals rarely seen as this is one of the few places in northern Tanzania where you can enjoy a safari by moonlight. At night, you may encounter an African wild cat, the elusive leopard or feel the round eyes of a bushbaby peering down at you as the moon rises into the sky. With specialised lighting you will be able to look for lion and hyena, as well as smaller creatures such as spotted genet, serval, bat eared foxes, owls and nightjars. (Maximum 5 people)

Experience the beauty of Tanzania from a unique perspective on a canoe safari on Lake Gursi. Just a short walk or drive from Sanctuary Swala, guests will participate in a safety and skills briefing before departing the lake shore in 2-man Canadian canoes for their 2-3 hour water based adventure. Paddling through the water is a magical experience, seeing elephants swimming and game drinking at the shore from your canoe shows the natural world from a totally different angle.

A variety of treatments, tailored to suit your needs, are offered within the privacy of your cottage. Based on Maasai healing techniques, the naturally derived treatments draw from over 50 different indigenous plants and offer a complete sensory experience.

Enjoy swims in our 25m lap pool and a session of yoga with a view on the deck.

Through Gibb’s Farm’s artists-in-residence program, East African artists stay at the farm and create commissioned artwork. Meet some of East Africa’s most talented artists, learn about their influences and inspiration and watch them create their artwork, which is available for purchase.

Gibb’s Farm offers many different walks, depending upon your interests and desired activity level. Experience a real working farm as you explore our organic 10-acre fruit and vegetable gardens and 30-acre coffee fields.

Experience a one day wildlife safari, starting early in the morning in closed safari vehicles with pop-up roofs. A magnificent experience is sure to be had! Lunch is served picnic style, surrounded by the natural wonders around you as well as the exceptional wildlife, roaming freely, with which you share these extraordinary paradises.

This leisurely two-hour walk around our neighboring village of Tloma provides a personal look at Tanzanian village life.

Explore the back roads of the village by bicycle, or for the more adventurous, take a mountain bike day trip to Rhotia, an unforgettable way to experience rural Tanzania. 1.5 Hour Village Cycle Tour, 2.5 Hour Mountain Bike Adventure.

Ngorongoro Crater boasts more than 30,000 animals, in and around the crater, including lion, hippo, hyena, wildebeest, zebra, African buffalo and more. You will soon see why Ngorongoro Crater is considered to be among the world’s great wonders!

A delicious gourmet picnic on safari with farm fresh bread and produce tops the experience

Outing to Tloma, a nearby village, where you have the opportunity to meet a local family and learn about Iraqw culture and traditional ways of life. Discover the age-old process of making pots, try your hand at pounding grain and taste the local brew.

Visitors can donate a school desk, engraved with their own special message and personally deliver it to the school whilst staying at Gibb’s Farm. The material is purchased locally and our carpenters expertly build the desks to specifications after which they carefully engrave the guest’s message by hand. Guests are welcome to join our carpenters for an afternoon in the workshop and assist with

the crafting of the desks.

Meet the students and teachers at Tloma Primary School and learn firsthand about the successes and challenges of education in rural Tanzania.

On this two-hour hike through the forested slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, you will discover a magnificent waterfall and incredible “elephant caves” created by elephants digging up the earth to ingest the vitamin-rich soil. You may see buffalo, bushbuck, waterbuck and baboons, also attracted by the soil.

A 40-minute stroll through eight historic gardens with a horticulturist.

Indigenous Maasai healers lead you through the Ngorongoro Forest, where over 20 medicinal plants commonly used in Tanzania to treat health problems are described.

A Gibb’s Farm naturalist is your guide for this tranquil two-hour walk through the farm and into the Ngorongoro Forest. Discover more than 200 species of birds, dozens of native plants and trees, and an incredibly diverse array of wildlife.

After an early Breakfast, experience a guided drive to Lake Eyasi to meet a local Hadzabe tribe. Meet the family and learn about the culture and the traditional ways of living of the Hadzabe people. Hunt together with the warriors and taste the local brew.

Join the team for the early morning bread making ritual. What could be more fun than baking brea, and of course, sampling it hot from the oven?

Join in the laughter and banter as the chefs go about their daily ritual of harvesting fresh organic produce from our vegetable garden, to be enjoyed at lunch or dinner time.

Experience traditional coffee cultivation and roasting, just as it has been done for generations. Enjoy the aroma and taste of a cup of wonderful organic, fresh-roasted Arabica coffee each day at the main lodge.

The evening begins here for many guests, with a glorious sunset accompanied by a refreshing drink. Complementing the relaxed mood, our naturalists and traditional healer share stories about primates, Iragw culture, elephants traditional medicine, Maasai legends and tales of tribal folklore.

The priority from Serengeti Safari Camp is usually to find the Great Migration. You'll set off early morning in a shared vehicle with one of our exceptional Nomad guides in search of the herds, and the plethora of other wildlife that call the Serengeti home. Depending on what everyone in your group fancies doing for the day, you'll either return for lunch in camp, before heading out again in the afternoon. Or, you may all decide to take a picnic lunch with you and spend the whole day exploring the Serengeti.

We always recommend that you consider a private car and guide so there are no limits to your game viewing – as you wont be sharing the vehicle with anyone else, you’ll be able to indulge your own interests…without having to endure other peoples.