Dreams of Africa - Tanzania October 2021

Your safari begins at Kilimanjaro International Airport with a transfer to Golf Safari House, a 10-bedroom boutique hotel set on a prime location on the Kilimanjaro Golf & Wildlife Estate. Enjoy delicious cuisine and settle in for a good nights rest in this private lodge.

After an early breakfast, it’s time to get your shoes into some African soil with a morning nature walk escorted by an armed ranger. This 2-hour walk takes us to the Tululusia waterfall view point on the beautiful slopes of Mount Meru, a dormant volcano towering almost 15,000 feet. (Please note that the walk is optional.)
Back in the vehicles, we will game drive through Arusha National Park looking for gentle giraffes, boisterous baboons, big buffalo, black and white colobus monkeys, and your best view of colorful flamingos on this safari. Almost 400 species of birds have been recorded in the park.  After dinner, settle into your cozy room or sit by the fire.

Today, we head into Maasailand and, after passing through the outskirts of Arusha, on our way to visit a Maasai community that has one of the 1,000+ living walls created by by African People & Wildlife - these innovative livestock corrals protect cattle and have led to 7 years of sustained increases in key prey species populations!
Then it’s on to Tarangire National Park, home to the dry season oasis wonder: Silale Swamp. As we pass through the massive baobab trees, scan for big cats lounging in the shade or ostrich parading across the plains. But elephants are why we’re here. Keep your fingers crossed for up close encounters! By evening we’ll arrive to our luxury tented camp situated in the remote south of the park which will be our extraordinary home for the next two nights. Gather for drinks by the fire as one of our guides shares his knowledge of Tanzania, its lands and people. Then it’s time for dinner and the evening at leisure.

In addition to our regular game drives, we have arranged two exceptional opportunities not available to everyone who visits Tarangire. The first is exploring the African bush on foot in the company of a local naturalist guide.
As darkness falls, our second bonus is being able to see nocturnal wildlife as we drive out in search of Africa’s creatures of the night.

After a last delightful breakast from the overlook at Oliver’s, it’s off to Lake Manyara National Park to appreciate its variety of habitats. Monkeys leap between the trees while elephants wander the slopes of the escarpment. Fascinating birdlife includes pelicans, storks, herons and cormorants. And hippos wallow in the pools along the shore.
Then it’s time to head up to the Ngorongoro highlands and its famed crater. While our guides check us in, we’ll see the fascinating topography of this site in model form at the welcome center before we head up through the magnificent forest on the outer slopes of this magnificent caldera.
At the rim, we’ll step out onto the overlook for your first breathtaking look at the extraordinary panorama of this World Heritage Site.

Set your alarm early as sunrise over Ngorongoro Crater is seen from your private balcony and is a memory of a lifetime. Afterwards, we’ll meet for breakfast by giant windows looking down into the crater. This volcanic crater is the largest unflooded, unbroken caldera in the world measuring about 12 miles across.
The morning takes us 2000 feet down the descent road to the floor of the crater to look for herds of antelope, hippos, wildebeest, and zebra - as well as cheetah and lion.
We’ll have a lunch to remember as we enjoy a hot cooked meal in one of the forest clearings among the acacia groves. After we ascend the crater wall, sunset brings a delight of colors as you listen for the whoop of hyenas rising from the depths below.
Come down to the bar before dinner as each night brings its own fascinating entertainment from Maasai dancers to truly remarkable acrobats.

After one more morning on the rim, we descend from the highlands to a Maasai village where we will be greeted in song. You may even choose to take part in the experience! We will meet a village elder who will introduce you to the traditional Maasai culture that has been maintained in our ever changing world. As we tour the boma, you will have the opportunity to purchase some of their intricate bead work and other artisan crafts.
Next, we make our way to Oldupai Gorge, famous for some of the world’s most important archaeological finds. The new museum reveals the results of Mary and Louis Leakey’s tireless work when they found the skull of 1.8 million year old Zinjanthropus boisei and Mary found the 3.7 million year old footsteps of Australopithecus afarensis. We have also arranged a private walking tour through the older excavation sites escorted by one of the museum docents.
From the sands of the gorge, we head to Serengeti. We will explore the eastern plains of Serengeti via a special permit required to enter the Gol Kopjes complex. It’s a breathtaking experience as you gaze out over vast plains dotted with these giant granite outcroppings. It’s earned its nickname as the world’s largest Japanese rock garden.
The Gol Kopjes boast the highest concentration of cheetahs in Africa. Game trails bisect this constellation of kopjes and photographic opportunities abound including our best hopes of witnessing the world’s fastest land animal sprinting across the plains in pursuit of the fleet-footed Thomson’s gazelle.
It’s here in the heart of Serengeti where we’ll enjoy a real safari tented camp experience complete with en suite facilities - and the fire is ready every evening to enjoy some “bush tv.” As we sip drinks around that fire in the evening, one of our guides will expand our knowledge of Maasai culture.

After a hot, cooked breakfast, we’re off to explore the less traveled eastern plain of Serengeti. We’ll be weaving through the numerous kopjes in search of the big cats in one of the most extraordinary vistas in Africa. Barafu Gorge dissects the remote eastern plains and rising above it is a series of seven pinkish granite kopjes that straddle the eastern border of the Serengeti. The word Serengeti originates from the Maasai word ‘Siringit’, meaning ‘endless plains’, and this region best exemplifies this with mind-boggling 360-degree panoramas of rolling plains peppered with gazelles.
Today features one of Serengeti’s top highlights - the Sametu Kopjes is a hidden gem on this remote edge of the park and is home to the park’s largest lion pride. The marsh, which lies directly in front of the kopjes, is fed by underground springs and is a magnet for plains game as it holds the only source of water in the area.

This morning we wake up under canvas for the last time on this safari. After breakfast, we game drive through the kopjes on our way to the western edge of Central Serengeti. The Seronera River Valley and region is a transition zone where the plain and the woodlands merge enabling it to support a great diversity wildlife including elephants, giraffes, impala, waterbuck, hippo, topi, reedbuck, buffalo, baboons, and vervet monkeys - and their attendant predators.
By lunchtime, we’ll arrive at the Meliá Serengeti Lodge to enjoy three nights of luxury. Take a bit of time to relax - enjoy a massage this afternoon or take a dip in the infinity pool.

Explore your options these days. Do what you like! Game drive through the Serengeti in the golden light in search of the Big Five: African lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, African leopard, and the elusive rhinoceros, as well as other special wildlife interactions and photographic opportunities. We’ll view the Retima Hippo Pool as well as Maasai and Moru Kopjes.
 

These have been some big days of adventures and we have a delightful finale. The savannah is a magical place at any time of day due to its impressive landscape and unique vegetation, so the team at Meliá have selected a breathtaking site for us to dine right in the bush, as we embrace one last red Serengeti sunset celebrating our safari together.