The Experience
Experience an authentic Tanzanian safari, choosing between Luxury Camp and Under Canvas editions and stopping between game drives to attend a cooking demonstration, privately see Olduvai Gorge and visit a Massai village.
Day 1: Arrive Arusha, Tanzania Arrive in Arusha and transfer to your lodge. Situated on an aromatic, working coffee plantation, these raised, private chalets have log fireplaces and large balconies overlooking Mount Meru and the verdant, evergreen-hued grounds. Arusha Coffee Lodge
Day 2: Tarangire National Park | Wildlife Sightings Travel to Tarangire National Park, where you embark on an afternoon game drive in search of eland, oryx, wildebeests, zebras and a sizable elephant population that call the park’s diverse swamps, open grasslands and acacia-dotted parkland home. The Tarangire River runs through the landscape, quenching wildlife with a year-round supply of water. Sanctuary Swala | Meals: B L D
Day 3: Tarangire National Park | Wildlife Sightings Spend the morning and afternoon on game drives, keeping your eyes trained for hartebeests, impalas and gazelles. Bird-watching is exceptional, too, so look for bateleur and martial eagles. Sanctuary Swala | Meals: B L D
Day 4: Ngorongoro Crater | Amphitheater of Animals As you proceed along the floor of the Great Rift Valley, pause at the colorful market town of Mto Wa Mbu, where stalls brim with a rainbow’s worth of local produce. Take a scenic drive to tranquil, lushly landscaped Gibb’s Farm, where you stop for a fresh lunch made with organic, just-picked ingredients. Later, arrive at the natural amphitheater of Ngorongoro Crater, a 2,000-foot deep caldera resulting from a collapsed volcano cone. A fascinating microcosm of East African wildlife from buffalo to flamingos, lions to leopards resides inside. Climb the crater’s outer wall, passing through dense vegetation until a breathtaking view across the crater floor appears. Arrive at A&K’s exclusive, private mobile camp. Located on the rim of the crater, it features luxury accommodations adorned with mosquito nets, hand-woven rugs, comfortable twin or king-size beds with crisp linens and en suite bathrooms with flush toilets, showers and hot water. Relax on your veranda, where directors, chairs provide perches for viewing the panoramic natural wonderland below. A personal tent attendant brings hot water bottles on chilly nights, as you slumber beneath twinkling skies. Exclusive A&K Mobile Tented Camp | Meals: B L D
Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater | Intimate Crater Barbecue Descend into the Ngorongoro Crater, a vast expanse where animal antics are commonplace. Avoid the crowded, assigned picnic sites during a private hot gourmet lunch, prepared by your A&K staff, as a symphony of bird chirps and animal sounds envelops you. This afternoon, visit with an elder at a Maasai village, where you learn about the tribe’s traditional, nomadic lifestyle and coexistence with wildlife. Later, witness a private dance performance at your tented camp. Exclusive A&K Mobile Tented Camp | Meals: B L D
Day 6: Serengeti National Park | Vast Plains Game Drive to Serengeti National Park, the largest and most fabled in Tanzania, pausing for a privately guided visit of Olduvai Gorge, where you learn about the origins of humankind. Once settled at your accommodations, set out on the boundless Serengeti ecosystem, one of the oldest and least-changed on earth. Situated at the southern part of a vast expanse shared with Kenya, its plains house one of the largest concentrations of wildlife in the world, with stalking lions, hyenas, leopards and cheetahs making appearances. Annually, the Serengeti also hosts the spectacular Great Migration, when a flurry of wildebeests and zebras arrive in search of grass and water. As the sun hangs low, sip sundowner cocktails on a kopje (rocky, island-like outcrop). Sanctuary Kusini | Meals: B L D
Days 7-8: Serengeti National Park | Seeking the Little Five, Spend two days embarking on morning and afternoon game drives in the protected Serengeti refuge, where flowing rivers support a variety of birds, mammals and reptiles. In addition to the Big Five, (lions, elephants, buffalo, leopards and rhinos), you may also encounter the lesser-known Little Five, ant lions, rhino beetles, leopard tortoises, buffalo weavers and elephant shrews. You may spot them peeking out from behind stones or near-hidden amid acacia branches. Keep your camera handy in the event you glimpse cheetahs bolting across the landscape. This evening, join fellow guests in an exchange of safari tales during a memorable farewell dinner. Guests staying at Sanctuary Kusini may contribute snapshots they take; these, in turn, help identify and track spotted predators for the Serengeti Cheetah Project, an effort supported by A&K Philanthropy. Sanctuary Kusini | Meals: B L D
Day 9: Depart Arusha Fly to Arusha. Relax comfortably in a dayroom in anticipation of your homebound flight. Arusha Coffee Lodge (dayroom) | Meals: B