Culture & Wildlife of Tanzania

Today you will check out of Honeyguide Camp and head towards the shores of Lake Eyasi, a seasonal soda lake. Along the way, you will stop off for a visit to a local school which your safari operator proudly helps support. Enjoy some time with the ever-enthusiastic pupils and teachers before driving to Kisima Ngenda Tented Camp for dinner and overnight.

Lake Eyasi

Tucked between the Kidero Mountains in the south and the Eyasi Escarpment in the north, Lake Eyasi is set in a remote, dry, arid landscape located just south of Tanzania’s renowned Serengeti National Park. This seasonal lake features dry salt beds; a variety of birdlife such as flamingos and pelicans; and is surrounded by woodlands, forests and ancient baobabs. Lake Eyasi lies in one of the oldest parts of the Eastern Rift Valley and runs northeast to south-west for a distance of about 50 miles below the impressive 3000 foot escarpment. Natural beauty comes in many forms and here it is noticeable in its bird life. African fish eagles and crowned cranes and resident Verraueaux eagle owls as well as quite a few Hammerkops and their huge nests.

You will check out of Kisima for an experience of one of the oldest tribes in east Africa – the Hadza and the Datoga. Both of these peoples live in remote areas around Lake Eyasi. You’ll learn about their history, daily lives, and the hunter-gatherer lifestyle as well as joining them for a morning hunt/bush walk. An interpreter will be present.

At a time, convenient to you, make your way towards the Plantation Lodge which is conveniently located near the town of Karatu, just a stone’s throw from the entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. On arrival at your lodge, you will be escorted to the reception for check in and shown to your room to refresh and relax as you wait for dinner.

Hadza Bushmen

The Hadza are East Africa’s last remaining true hunter-gatherers. As one of Africa’s oldest tribes, they have lived sustainably on their land near the Rift Valley, birthplace of humanity, for over 50,000 years. Their current number stands at 1,000 (they are on the verge of extinction) and they live in the Lake Eyasi Valley and surrounding hills. Their language is similar to the Southern Africa’s Bushmen who speak the click language. With their strong bows whose string is made out of giraffe tendons and their arrows treated with a poison extracted from the Desert Rose, they hunt both small and larger animals. As the men go on the hunting sessions, women gather fruits and berries. They eat an amazing variety of wild fruits and berries like no other tribe in Tanzania which has proven to be their survival strength. They do not own belongings other than what they need for survival like the bows and arrows and some pots for cooking. Here you will have the privileged opportunity to meet with the Hadza tribe and observe or try your hand at hunting and gathering techniques that have remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. There is also the opportunity to see some game as you head out with the Hadza on a hunt, with the opportunity to see dik-dik, bush buck, reedbuck and vervet monkeys. Learn to hunt with a bow and arrow and start a fire or join the women gathering roots, tubers and wild fruit and preparing food. Exploring a way of life vastly different to our own is an unforgettable experience. At a time convenient to you, return to Bougainvillea Lodge for dinner.

After breakfast, you’ll join your guide for a full day of game viewing in the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater. Enjoy a picnic lunch on the floor of the crater surrounded by wildlife. At the end of the day you will return to the Plantation Lodge for dinner and overnight.

Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania, once a gigantic volcano, is the largest intact caldera in the world. Some maintain that before it erupted, it would have been higher than Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Today, long since having collapsed and eroded, it is an extensive highland area with the famous 2000-foot deep Ngorongoro Crater as its focal point. Nearly three million years old, the ancient caldera shelters one of the most beautiful wildlife havens on earth. The endangered black rhino is protected within its rim, giant tusked elephants wander the forests, black-maned lions stalk the grasslands, and flamingoes crowd the soda lakes. An estimated 25,000 large mammals are resident in this bowl of plenty, including a population of highly endangered black rhino and around a high density of lions and hyenas.

After breakfast and check out, you will meet your driver at the reception and from here it’s a short drive to the Manyara Airstrip. At this point you will say goodbye to your driver guide and board your scheduled service to the Serengeti. On arrival you will be met by your Camp’s safari vehicle and driver guide. It’s a short game drive to Serian Camp. On arrival you will be escorted to reception, given a short safari briefing, before being shown your room. After lunch head out on your first game drive in the Serengeti.

Spend the next two full days looking for game while enjoying the magic that this reserve has to offer. Early morning game drives are the best to catch the animals at their most active or just relax in the camp. Later, on your afternoon game drive, the chances to spot Africa’s famous Big Five abound, thanks to the park’s density of both predators and prey.

Serengeti Balloon Ride (optional)

This morning you will be transferred early in the morning to the balloon launch site. Take off at 6:30am and float over the famous Serengeti National Park with its enchanting scenery and vistas.

This may be the most beautiful area in the world for a balloon flight. There are no power lines, fences and few roads. Capacity is limited making this experience a special and exclusive one.

Each and every balloon flight is different and therefore an adventure. For many this is one of the high point of a safari and an experience that you will remember always.

Additional cost is $545/person.

Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti together with Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Park form Africa’s most famous wildlife park. The image of acacia trees on an endless grass plain epitomizes Africa for many, and then add a Masai warrior and some cattle to the picture, and the conversation need go no further. The annual wildebeest migration through the Serengeti and the Masai Mara is the largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet – with more than a million animals following the rains. But that is not where the game viewing ends; large prides of lions, elephants and giraffes are found in the grasslands, along with gazelles and eland to mention but a few.

The vast, rolling savannah of the Northern Serengeti, is known as the hub of the great migration. The landscape is characterised by vast stretches of savannah interspersed with acacia trees and riverine woodlands. Wildlife can be seen along the banks of the Mara River and visitors can view the annual spectacle of the half a million migrating wildebeest. Commonly spotted wildlife include: a multitude of plains game such as buffalo, zebra, gazelles, impala, giraffe as well as lion and leopard.

The Central Serengeti is home to the highest concentration of resident game of any area in the park. This is an excellent region to visit year-round - the migration moves in from about April through June each year, but it is not dependent on the migration to provide stellar sightings, with great elephant, hippo, giraffe, lion and leopard. The area around Moru Kopjes provides the best potential to find the highly endangered black rhino. The major game viewing areas of Central, Southern and Western Serengeti are easily accessible, making it a great base from which to explore.

After breakfast and check out, you will be driven the short distance to the Airstrip where you will board your scheduled flight to Arusha. On arrival at Arusha Airstrip, you will be met by a driver and vehicle and from here, travel the short distance to Arusha Coffee Lodge ‘Shanga experience’ for lunch. Then visit the Shanga workshops, located near the lunch venue. Depending on your International flight times, you will then be transferred to Kilimanjaro Airport.

End of Services.

Shanga Workshop

Shanga is a successful social enterprise which employs people with disabilities to create unique, high-quality, handmade jewelry, glassware and home wares incorporating recycled materials. These products are sold in Tanzania and all over the world, with profits being reinvested back into developing opportunities to employ more people with disabilities. Combining an uplifting local community project with unique artistic activities and opportunities to purchase handmade gifts, Shanga has been a favorite Arusha destination since its inception in 2007.

Shanga was founded when local resident, Saskia Rechsteiner, made a handful of fabric necklaces for a Christmas Fair in Arusha, Tanzania. Combining local fabric with some beads and her sons' marbles, she created a unique necklace that sold out within hours. The days after the fair were busy - orders for the necklaces came in from safari companies, gift shops and even people who wanted to export them to Japan and Australia.

Saskia saw an opportunity to generate extra income for a local deaf lady she knew and together they started producing the necklaces to sell from Saskia's backyard. Demand for the necklace grew and soon the first Shanga Workshop was established. The Shanga range of products was expanded, utilizing recycled and sustainable materials where possible, and the project was opened for people to come and meet the inspiring staff and purchase products on site.

Over the years Shanga has grown to employ more than 60 people with a range of disabilities to make creative products including weaving, glass blowing, beading, paper making and metal work, using recycled materials wherever possible.