10 Days 9 Nights Kenya & Tanzania Wildlife Safari

DAY 1: ARRIVE TO NAIROBI

Arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, where you will be met by private car and driver and transferred to your hotel to check in and freshen up. You will later tour Nairobi with activities to include.

– David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust to see the elephant’s midday.

– Nairobi National Park – this remarkable 117km2 national park lies a mere 7km south of the city center where it frequently offers the unique spectacle of lion or rhino below a background of shimmering skyscrapers. Despite its proximity to the capital, it is not artificial or contrived It is fenced on the city side for obvious reasons, but not along its other designated boundaries, allowing for free movement of wildlife between the park and surrounding areas such as the Athi Plains. Almost every species of plains wildlife associated with southern Kenya occurs here, the only notable exception being elephant, and it is one of the best parks in Kenya for seeing lion kills and black rhino. The park is especially worthwhile between July and August, when its permanent pools attract a mini-migration of wildebeest, plains zebra and gazelle from the adjacent Athi Plains. Despite its small size, the park can be highly rewarding to birdwatchers, with more than 400 species recorded, and it’s a good place to look for larger ground birds such as ostrich, secretary bird, southern ground hornbill and various bustards.

DAY 2: NAIROBI TOURING

After breakfast, you will be picked at your hotel by a private car for your Nairobi tour that will include the following: 

– Giraffe Center for a hands-on giraffe encounter and educational experience on giraffe conservation

– Nairobi National Museum is both an educational and relaxing experience as you spend your time exploring the art gallery and varied exhibitions, discovering the richness of Kenya and her people. Collections within the museum include culture, nature and history pillars. Within the ground is the famous Nairobi Snake Park, and will also find displays of marine and freshwater fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and small mammals, as well as invertebrates, such as Mombasa train millipede, freshwater prawn, giant snail, crayfish, baboon spider and many other species.    

DAY 3 & 4: MAASAI MARA NATIONAL RESERVE

After breakfast, drive to the Maasai Mara National Reserve for morning and afternoon game drives for stunning wildlife views.

The world-renowned Masai Mara National Reserve needs little in the way of introduction. Its tawny, wildlife-stuffed savannahs are familiar to anyone who has watched nature documentaries. Reliable rains and plentiful vegetation underpin this extraordinary ecosystem and the millions of herbivores it supports. Wildebeest, zebras, impalas, elephants, Masai giraffes and several species of gazelle all call the Mara home.

This vast concentration of game accounts for high predator numbers, including cheetahs, leopards and the highest lion densities in the world. Relax in the evening by the campfire, overlooking the plains.

DAY 5 & 6: RETURN TO NAIROBI & FLY TO TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK

After breakfast and a final morning game drive, you’ll be dropped at the airstrip for your flight to Nairobi to connect with your flight to Tanzania. Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport where you will be met by our representative and depart for Tarangire National Park for a game drive till late afternoon. 

Spend the next few days with morning and afternoon game drives. Tarangire National Park is a lovely, quiet park in Northern Tanzania, most famous for its elephant migration, birding and authentic safari atmosphere with an exceptional concentration of game from July through to October and a fraction of the visitors found in other northern parks.  Elephants are the main attraction, with up to 3,000 in the park during the peak months, as well as good numbers of wildebeest and zebra as well as giraffe, buffalo, Thompson’s gazelle, greater and lesser kudu, eland, leopard and cheetah.  The real prizes in the park are dwarf mongoose, oryx and generuk – but viewings are very rare. Tarangire is one of Tanzania’s finest birding destinations.

DAY 7: DRIVE TO NGORONGORO VIA MTO WA MBU
Enjoy the last few hours in Tarangire National Park. Then head to the town of Mto Wa Mbu, stopping for lunch at the famous Blue Turaco Pizza point. After lunch, immerse yourself in the Mto wa mbu Cultural Tourism Program. Here is home to some of the different people of Tanzania, notably the Mbugwe, Iraqw, Gorowa, Irangi, Chagga and Maasai. You will see many of the 120 groups of different peoples of Tanzania living alongside to each other.

You may visit a Chagga family who brews banana beer or a farmer from Kigoma who makes palm oil press. Alternatively walk towards the Papyrus Lake where you can meet the Rangi people who collect materials from the lake to make baskets and mats. On the way you may meet rice farming and visit Sandawe families who still make traditional bows and arrows for hunting. The Makonde family of artists will expose you to the skills in carving wood which are passed for generations through a family. Each day is different and you will get an understanding of the daily lives of people living around this area as you walk through the village.                             

DAY 8: FULL DAY GAME DRIVE IN NGORONGORO
After an early breakfast, head into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, heading up to the crater rim. Not only is Ngorongoro Conservation Area a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is considered one of the natural wonders of the world. It is unique in that it allows over 40,000 Maasai pastoralists with their cattle goats and sheep to live alongside the abundant wildlife in a natural setting. The conservation area gives you a rare insight into how people lived in harmony with nature and wildlife in ancient times all over the world. 

 From here, descend into the Ngorogoro Crater for a game drive for up to 6 hours. Ngorongoro Crater is the world largest intact caldera measuring600m (0,4 mi) in depth and covering 250kms2 (155 mi2). It is a spectacular setting and contains an abundance of wildlife with over 20,000 large animals, including Tanzania’s remaining critically endangered black rhino. There are god chances of seeing the Big Five in this natural enclosure. Ascend back onto the crater rim and drive to your camp for dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 9: DRIVE TO ARUSHA
After an early breakfast, drive to a remote and ancient trailhead used by Maasai. Walk along the Ngorongoro Crater rim over 2 hours on a steady incline, accompanied by an experienced armed ranger.  This area is off the tourist trail and you will get to see and enjoy the unique flora and fauna of the Ngorongoro Highlands, notably the variety of birdlife in this ecosystem as well as larger animals such as giraffes, zebras and elephants. This is a great opportunity to learn about the traditional medicinal uses of various plants, as well as spot animal tracks and dung. This walk offers spectacular panoramic views down into the Crater that you can enjoy on your own in peace and calmness.

Exit the Conservation area, and with a picnic lunch on route, drive straight to the city of Arusha, where you will make a refreshments stopover at the Shanga Gift and Workshop housed on the grounds of Elewana’s Arusha Coffee Lodge. After relaxing here for some time, drive towards Kilimanjaro International Airport for overnight bed and breakfast stay at the neighboring Airport Planet Lodge. Here you will bid farewell to your safari guide and spend your last night close to the airport.  

DAY 10: RETURN NAIROBI, FLIGHTS HOME

After breakfast, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Nairobi to connect with your late evening flights home