Arrive in Dar Es Salaam where you will be expected for the transfer to the domestic terminal and flight into the heart of the African bush - Ruaha National Park. Your guide will be expecting you. Your game drive starts as soon as you step off the light aircraft.
After your morning safari and breakfast head out on a scenic game drive will bring you across the plains to the very remote Usangu Expedition Camp - a unique conservation safari camp with research station.
This afternoon, with a drink in hand, you will receive your first research briefing, where you will learn how the wildlife in the Usangu wilderness is monitored by camera traps and how individual predators are identified and recorded. After your briefing, you will venture out with your private guide and set up your camera traps in the research area of interest (which changes over time). The cameras will remain here for the duration of your stay. The images will be collected on your last afternoon and analysed with the researchers in camp. After sundowners in camp, join the guide, chefs and other guests around the campfire to take part in a campfire cooking experience.
This region only opened last year to outsiders and is virtually uncharted territory. Staying here not only provides unscripted adventures but involvement in conservation (see activities). Your stay at this camp funds not only animals research and conservation, including anti-poaching efforts - but also brings jobs to neighboring communities. Usangu's Douglas Bell Eco Research Station provides a base for scientists to study and map the biomass and you will play a significant role in the census.
This morning head out on a game drive to discover the wetlands and other ecozones of Usangu. Your guide will have packed a breakfast for you to enjoy it in the middle of an endless wilderness with no other people in sight. Return to camp for lunch. After lunch, pack your bag for an overnight optional camping experience. Walk with one of the walking specialists and learn about tracking wildlife, seeing some of the smaller critters and plants that are easy to miss when in a safari vehicle. Arrive at the star cubes in the late afternoon, set up in the remote wilderness. Your bag will be brought to camp by car/boat, so no need to carry it with you on the walk. The star cube experience allows you to sleep under the stars, feeling connected with the nature around you.
Note: A star cube can be set up in close proximity to your tent within Usangu Expedition Camp, allowing for the opportunity to experience a night under the stars but with the comforting knowledge that your main tent is within easy reach should you be uncomfrotable in the star cube tent. This introduction serves as a good introduction for the full Trails Camp Experience.
BECOME A GLOBAL RESEARCH CONTRIBUTOR:
Learn how to use the iNaturalist app to log any species (fauna and flora) worldwide. We use this app to record all findings in Usangu for record-keeping and distribution mapping.You will receive training on how to identify and log sightings of species during your stay. At the Douglas Bell Eco Research Station, our research coordinator will show how that data is used to monitor the distribution and sightings of particular species of interest. As Usangu is still relatively unstudied there are still species to be discovered.
Wake up with the sunrise, and the sounds of the morning birds, and have a campfire coffee/tea and breakfast, before packing up and heading on another game walk, drive or boating experience. Arrive back at the main camp to freshen up before lunch. After lunch, take a tour of the Douglas Bell Research Station, where the resident researcher will explain the various research projects underway at Usangu. After your visit to the research centre, venture out with a researcher and use the radio telemetry gear to track one or more of the radio-collared animals in the region. The researcher will be able to elaborate on research initiatives during this trip. You will also collect the camera traps you set out on your first day. Upon your return to camp, you can look through your camera trap images and see if any predator images were captured and, with the assistance of the researcher, log these into the Predator Hub.
Tour Douglas Bell Research Station
Use Telemetry Gear to track wildlife
Review camera trap images and log them
This morning had back to the airstrip for your flight to Zanzibar. Feel the white sand of this exotic island under your feet this evening. Take a swim in the tuquoise Indian Ocean.
Relax on the white sands gazing at the turquoise beach of the Indian Ocean or choose from the optional experiences.
Safari Blue, full day, shared boat
Mena bay, Mangroves and Khwale Island
Leaving from Fumba, you are heading on a traditional wooden dhow towards your first snorkel stop. On the way you will hopefully meet Dolphins, playing around in the shallow Marine Park of Menai Bay. The reefs surrounding the sand bank are your second snorkelling trip; the underwater world will seem very different compared to your first stop. Enjoy the short trip with your boat towards your final stop where you reach the beautiful island Kwale, and our crew will be waiting for you! Depending on the tides you may stop in a very special place, where our boats are taking you into the world of an island full of mangroves for a swim. The tidal lagoon has centuries of history stored in its coral. It’s a different swimming experience with warm waters and a stunning location for photographs
Sunset Cruise on traditional sailing Dhow 4-6.30pm from Stone Town:
Spice and Stone Town Tour full day, small group, includes lunch on spice farm
STONE TOWN – feel the history in the walls
Stown Town and its buildings are full of history and stories of the ancient times when Sultans, Arabs, Europeans and Zanzibaris wrote the history of this beautiful island. You will visit the Anglican Cathedral and the Slave markets, the Palace of the Sultans, Tip Tip’s House, the Old Arabic Fort, Forodhani Park and of course you will see many of the famous Zanzibar Doors while walking in the petite streets. We will show you Henna Art and bring you to the fruit and vegetable market.
Spice Tour -
During your tour on our community supported Spice Farm ZITO you will get an interesting insight in the wealth of Zanzibar’s spices. From Cinnamon Tree with 3 different flavors to lemongrass, cloves or nutmeg tree, our island deserves its name as spice island. You have also the opportunity to learn the Swahili way of cooking, fruit tasting with home grown seasonal fruits and buy spices fresh from the farm.
Crafts of Zanzibar half day,small group,
On this tour we will take you to places in the Southern part of Zanzibar. We’ll take you to Makunduchi where you will see how rope is made out of rotten coconut husks – you will see the whole process; you will see how this rope is used to make boats, beds and chairs. You will then go to the Seaweed Centre in Paje and there you will see how seaweed is planted, grown and manufactured to get oils, soaps, etc. You will see the local mud houses too. We will show you the real and normal life of a typical Zanzibari and what they do with their hands, it is incredible.
Various optional tours or relax on the beach
Transfer to the airport for the flight to Dar Es Salaam airport and onto the international airport.
