Highlights Game Viewing in Ngorongoro, Serengeti NPs, Lake trips and watersports Lake Victoria and Tanganyika, Chimpanzee Tracking in Gombe NP, Mahale Mtns NP and end off relaxing on Zanzibar Island.
This is a long tour which will take you to explore Ngorongoro and Serengeti parks for 4 nights, 2 nights, north of Tanzania at Lake Victoria - Africa's largest lake. Travelling further to the western zone for 10 nights exploring the world’s deepest Lake Tanganyika.
Chimps trekking in Gombe and Mahale parks. This tour is professionally well planed to give you enough time for rest and relaxation at the coastal beach resort in the spice Island of Zanzibar.
You will enjoy and experience nature, habit and habitat of the fauna and flora on the natural areas.
Trip Plan:
Day 1: Arusha – Ngorongoro In the morning at 0830hrs pick up from your hotel in Arusha and travel to Ngorongoro for lunch. After lunch we take a walking trip for about 3 – 4 km along one side of the Crater rim an armed ranger guide will be with you and enjoy the dramatic scenery of the Ngorongoro highlands. Dinner and overnight in Serena Lodge Sopa lodge Crater lodge Wildlife lodge. FB
Day 2: Crater tour - Breakfast then descend into the Crater floor for both morning and afternoon game drives. All the BIG FIVE Rhino Lion Leopard Buffalo and Elephant live in this wonderful caldera, others are Zebra Hippo Wildebeest Hyena and more…Birds includes flamingos on the Soda lake Geese Storks, Vultures and more…Your lunch will be served in the picnic site at Ngoitoktok swamp - a Hippo pool. After lunch proceed with gameviewing at 1645hrs ascend the Crater for dinner and overnight in Serena lodge, Sopa lodge, Wildlife lodge or Crater lodge. FB
Day 3: Ngorongoro – Serengeti N.P - Breakfast in Ngorongoro then depart for Serengeti National Park with game drives enroute where by you will arrive in the lodge for hot lunch. After lunch it is optional where you will proceed with afternoon game drives in Serengeti on you will relax at leisure in the lodge waiting for dinner and overnight in Serena lodge, Sopa lodge, Wildlife lodge, Kirawira Tented Camp, Ndutu lodge or Migration Camp. FB
Day 4: Full day in Serengeti N.P -After breakfast then continues with both morning and afternoon game drives in Serengeti national Park to have a look for lion, leopard, Elephant, Cheetah, Buffalo, Zebra, Wildebeest, Eland, Wild dog, Gazelles, Crocs and more. Lot of birds includes the Eurasia migrants. You will have all meals and overnight in the same lodge FB.
Day 5: Serengeti – Lake Victoria - Breakfast in your accommodation in Serengeti checkout and travel to Lake Victoria in Mwanza via western corridor of Serengeti Park and Ndabaka gate. You will have picnic lunch on the way. Dinner and overnight in Tilapia hotel FB.
Day 6: Lake Victoria - After breakfast spend full day in Mwanza exploring Lake Victoria the largest in Africa and the second largest fresh water lake in the world (after lake Superior in North America). Addition activities like snorkel, fishing, boat cruise can be arranged. Lunch dinner and overnight in your hotel. FB
Day 7: Mwanza – Kigoma - Leave Mwanza after breakfast and travel thru typicalAfrican village to Kigoma for lunch, dinner and overnight at Hill top hotel FB.
Day 8 : Kigoma – Gombe Stream N.P - Breakfast in Kigoma followed by boat transfer to Gombe Stream National Park on Lake Tanganyika, the deepest lake in Africa. Afternoon rest and relax at leisure in the camp waiting for dinner and overnight FB.
Day 9 - 10: Chimpanzee Tracking in Gombe N.P - Two days in Gombe Steam National Park. Activities will include Chimpanzee tracking, hiking, swimming, snorkeling and also visit the site of Henry Stanley’s famous Dr. Livingston at Ujiji and if time allows visit dhow builder right at work. You will have all meals and nights in your camp. FB
Day 11: Gombe – Kigoma - Breakfast in Gombe Stream National Park then boattransfer back to Kigoma for lunch. Afternoon at leisure and you will have dinner and overnight in the same lodge FB.
Day 12: Kigoma – Mahale Mountains National Park - Wake up at 0550 hrs for early morning breakfast and to take the boat trip across Lake Tanganyika to Mahale Mountains National Park and arrive in time for lunch at the mid afternoon. Relax in the Camp waiting for dinner and overnight FB
Day 13-14: Chimpanzee Tracking in Mahale N.P - You will be tracking the Chimpanzees in these two days in this best park of the western of the country. The principal features of this park gives a sign of life to the visitors as it is so quiet here sounds of apes, birds and other animals like buffalo elephant, bush pig, giraffe, lion can be heard. Other activities will include boat expedition birding snorkeling also rest and relaxation on the soft sand beach of the Lake Tanganyika, Dhow trip and evening barbecue around the fireplace. Meals and overnights in your camp FB
Day 15: Mahale – Kigoma - Breakfast in your camp followed by boat or a flight back to Kigoma for lunch. Afternoon relax at leisure in the hotel waiting for dinner and overnight in Lake Tanganyika beach hotel Kigoma hill-top hotel. FB
Day 16: Kigoma – Dar es Salaam -After breakfast take a scheduled flight to Dar for lunch and there after lunch take a speed ferry from Dar to Zanzibar. On your arrival in Zanzibar meet at Zanzibar Sea Port and transfer to your hotel in Stone Town for your accommodation and meals booked on half board basis HB.
Day 17: Excursion in Zanzibar - Breakfast in your accommodation followed by morning Zanzibar historical Stone Town Tour and afternoon Spice Farm tour. You will have all meals and overnight in your accommodation in Town. HB
Day 18: Stone Town – East Coast Beach - Breakfast, then travel to the East Coast of Zanzibar where you will rest and relax at leisure on the white sand beach of the Coastal Resort booked on half board basis. HB.
Day 19 – 20: R & R - These days have a rest and relax at leisure on the white sand beach of the East Coastal Resort. You will have all meals and overnights in your Resort. HB
Day 21: Zanzibar – Home - Breakfast in your East Coastal Resort then transfer to Zanzibar Sea Port or Airport to connect your return journey back home.
Price Includes: - All Park entrance fees, - Accommodation based on 3 meals a day on Safari, and - Half board in Zanzibar. - 2 Town hotel transfers in Arusha,(if JRO airport $50) - Transport,Safari 4WD L/Cruiser,L/rover or Minibus, - Driver guide,cook(if camping),alowances and salaries - Flight ticket-Mwanza-Kigoma and Kigoma - Zanzibar
Price Excludes: - International Flights - The first night (book with us. - Hot and cold drinks, Cigarettes,Tips and Sleeping bags(if camping) - And all not mentioned on the plan.
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Our driver was friendly and knowledgeable about the animals, plants, and history of the parks we toured. Our camp cook was amazing! He prepared some of the best dishes that I had in Tanzania. Also, he baked my friend and I a special cake to help celebrate the New Year! Finally, Peniel made us certificates that included our date of travel and the names of the parks that we visited.
Peniel even arranged for our (cheap) transfer to the airport after our stay in Arusha. Overall, it was a great experience and I would highly recommend them.
We just arrived home from a amazing 14 day holiday visiting several wildlife parks of Tanzania and in the end spending relaxing days in Zanzibar.
After we made the initial enquiry Peniel got in touch with us and fulfilled all our special wishes. All questions were fully and quickly answered via e-mail, and even when we arrived several hours early in Arusha, he managed to pick us up at the airport together with our driver-guide. We just sent a short message from Daressalam and he organized everything else.
We spent 7 days of wonderful safari on our own with John, our perfect driver and tour guide . The roads are sometimes very rough but with John we felt save all the time. The national parks we visited (Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire) are really fantastic and John presented to us so many more animals than the big five.
All the accomodation at the lodges was wonderful, good food and we particularly enjoyed the Tarangire Roika Tented Lodge.
We have no hesitation in recommending the safari operator to other travellers...
Our Safari turned out to be an experience above our expectations.
The service of the staff was perfect. The cost of the safari was reasonable. In fact we had such a nice safari that we already are planing on going with them again!
I also recomend them to any one I know that have interests in going on a safari.
From picking us up at a different airport to getting our lost baggage up to us after we had already started climbing, the tour operator really saved the day.
The customer service was incredible throughout the trip and we were able to create a very customized itinerary for our limited timeframe.
As someone who only goes on one vacation per year, I can promise that you won't regret choosing them
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on our Safar. We thoroughly enjoyed the complete excursion. Overall rating 8!
Peniel was the friendly and very helpful coordinator and his enthusiasm and quick response to all our questions was exemplary. Overall rating for his contribution: 9! He also helped us to adapt our Safari to our own needs. All his bookings and information was of a very high standard throughout.
All the accommodation was of a high standard, except for the Impala Hotel in Arusha.
The driver Apollo was friendly, but he must guard at not taking firstly the client ‘s interest at heart. We had to warn him to drive more cautiously on narrow and winding roads. His knowledge of the country, it’s people and fauna and flora in general is of a very high standard. His rating is 6.
The government can really put in a huge effort to improve the quality of the roads, mainly from the point after passing the Crater into the Serengeti area.
We experienced two flat tyres on these roads. The Safari vehicle we used was comfortable, but we expressed our concerns about it’s roadworthiness with quality of tyres, the opening of windows and the general performance of the engine.
Tanzania is indeed a very beautiful country with friendly people and lots to offer, but exploitation of visitors must be guarded against.
Just a note to say how special our safari was. From meeting us at the airport, even with a delay,to the stay at the marvellous Impala hotel, to the safari itself and a final transfer to the airport.
The punctuality by John our guide and Abu our cook plus their attention to detail were admirable. The skills, knowledge and enthusaism was very much appreciated by us both. We saw more animals,with a greater variety, than we could have hoped for. Each day was inspiring and our meals were of local, fresh produce and very tasty.
Finally thanks to Peniel for his tireless efforts to organise this special week and his prompt replies to all our e-mails.
Before our trip we have to admit that we were a little nervous since your operation lesser-known that some of the massive tour operators in the area. However, from the moment we met the team in Arusha, it was clear we had made the right decision and were in for the trip of a lifetime.
Our tour guide, Apollo, was a complete joy to spend time with. He was very knowledgable of the local wildlife and customs and was eager to share his knowledge with us. He was extremely accommodating during the trip - allowing us to stop at any time for any reason and enjoy the trip on our own pace. When three different ATMs in Mtu Wambu happened to be broken, he even lent us cash to hold us over for the next couple days before we could return to a working ATM...incredible.
Our Chef ("Stomach Doctor"), Abu, was equally enjoyable to be around and always had a smile on his face. His food was delicious and provided great comfort after long days on Safari. When we specially requested Banana Pancakes for our final breakfast, Abu happily obliged and made the best Banana Pancakes we'd ever had.
If given the chance to return, we would gladly use this tour operator again and would specifically request the services of Apollo and Abu. We will be recommending your tours to all of our friends. Thank you so much for providing an incredible life changing experience.
8
Client:
Pauline & Michael Stanley, Nancy & Michael Gocke - from Australia
I cannot praise the tour operator enough. After I made the initial enquiry on your site Peniel got in touch with me on a timely basis. Although I did receive answers to my enquiries from the other tour companies they were by far the most efficient and offered the best value for money.
All my questions were answered and Peniel told me things I never thought to ask. At our request they added on a few days in Zanzibar after the safari and that to was excellent.
Peniel was in Arusha to meet us when we arrived at the hotel and he explained everything we needed to know. He came to see us again when we got back from the safari to make sure everything went well and to explain the Zanzibar portion of the trip.
Our guide was also outstanding. During the entire safari his eyes were constantly on the landscaping looking for game for us to view. We saw all of the big five up close. We even saw 4 black rhinos thanks to Anton, and I understand they are hard to see. The safari that they offer is 30% cheaper than other tour companies. I was a little concerned that we may get a cut rate safari but that was not the case. The customer service, accommodation, food and our guide was first rate. All of us have no hesitation in recommending this tour operator.
We had a fabulous time. We had John as our driver guide and Benson as our cook... he is an amazing cook!
We saw Tarangire, Manyara and Serengeti national parks and the Ngorongoro conservation area. It was an amazing safari, John was an excellent guide, the car was an older version landcruiser, but very comfortable and suited to the safari as it had a pop up roof for photographing the animals and comfy seats.
The tent was great and the staff almost always managed to pack up and set up everything before we had a chance to help so we felt lazy but was nice to have it all done for us. We saw all the big 5 plus many other amazing animals and would definately recommend the company to others.
They have an office in Arusha and very competent customer service staff that went beyond duty to help us with going around Arusha to sort our money troubles when our bank had issues sending money from Australia.
Only suggested improvement was a bit more confidence from the guide in terms of engaging us, he had a great knowledge base but seemed shy in divulging the info, we had to ask a lot of questions. all in all a solid 8.5 out of 10! We had a great time with them.
Our safari was wonderful!, The Tangerine and the Ngorongoro parks were beautiful and we saw a lot of animals, although Lake Manyara was not so nice, may be because of the season we went, we couldn't see so many animals there.
John our driver was nice and knowledgeable. We also enjoyed the Octagon Lodge, the service was very good and the installation nice.
