Grab your safari hat, binoculars, and don’t forget your camera because your friends are not going to believe your stories from your African Safari in Tanzania! 

Tanzania is a place that is accessible to any type of traveler and is perfect for the first-time traveler to Africa.

Straight out of the pages of a National Geographic Magazine, Tanzania offers ordinary people the chance to live like an explorer. This story-book journey is a combination of game drives through wildlife parks, and cultural experiences with tribal people who are living the same way their ancestors lived and have lived here for centuries.

The adventure begins in Arusha National Park and follows the Northern Circuit which encompasses the Ngorongo Crater Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park, and Lake Eaysi, and Tarangire National Park. We will explore wooded savannas, grasslands, and highland forest. Lodges are 4-star with delicious food and comfortable accommodations within the parks and protected areas. You may wake to the sounds of roaring lions. – No joke.

The magic of Tanzania, and the stuff of legends, is the Serengeti. As you drive through the vast expanse of grassland in a 4×4 safari jeep, you might find yourself humming tunes from the Disney cartoon, The Lion King.  Massive herds of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles travel a route considered one of the largest migrations in the world. You may even find yourself getting a little teary-eyed at the intangible beauty you are witnessing.

Equally as impressive as the game parks and conservation areas is the interaction you will have with tribal communities like the Maasai, Hadzabes, and Datoga tribes. From pastoral nomads to traditional hunter-gatherers, you will feel like you have stepped in a time machine taking you back centuries as you learn about each tribe and participate in dancing and other cultural activities.

Trip Highlights:

• Experience  Semi-Luxury Safari Tent Camping in the Serengeti National Park and a variety of other unique lodges near national parks and conservation areas.
• Go to sleep and wake to the sounds of the wild Serengeti.
• Be moved as you witness one of largest migrations on Earth of wildebeest, zebras, and gazelles.
• See big cats including prides of lions and elusive leopards, and stealthy cheetahs.
• Enter the Ngorongoro Crater, a 25 km wide dormant-volcano-bowlful-of-30,000-animals.
• Dance with the Maasai, exchange stories with the Datoga women, and learn to shoot bow and arrows with the Hadzabe.
• Explore the Olduvai Gorge, a site which influenced what scientists know about human evolution.
• Opportunities for shopping for indigenous African handcrafts, Tanzanite, and art.

Who should join us?

Anyone ages 18+ can sign up for this safari. The days are long, but the activities are not physically demanding. 

Due December 1, 2019: 

A non-refundable $525 deposit per person is due to reserve your space.  Don't wait until the last minute to sign up. Limited to 10 participants.

Pay the balance in 5 installments from January 5 to May 5, 2020. 

This trip needs 9 participants to run. If we are unable to reach critical mass by January 5th, the trip will be cancelled and your deposit refunded.

 All cancellation requests need to be sent in writing; emails can be sent to contact@greenedventures.com 

All payments are non-refundable. Your deposit is a commitment to signing up for this trip. Subsequent payments are used to help Green Edventures reserve lodging, guides, activities, and other aspects of your trip long in advance of the tour date.

If a registered participant misses 2 or more consecutive installments, this will be considered an automatic withdrawal from the trip, and his/her spot on the trip will be cancelled without refund.

Participants are highly encouraged to purchase travel insurance to cover unforeseen circumstances that may interrupt or cancel the trip. 

Travel insurance is available at:  https://greenedventures.com/travel-insurance/ 

FAQs:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tV46pXfotPkgrnPmkjSf_XFMgmsghEDY0J4MIroRVKk/edit 

Packing List:

 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18Eqk4Fu5Ttqq-Xgd9Z6EFS19LI24agUTjT4S1RPd4Xg/edit#gid=1553938756 

 Please note: The activities, lodging, guides, and schedule may change without notice as practical considerations arise during program development or onsite.  

Participants will be greeted by our team at the airport and transferred to Lake Duluti Lodge in Arusha.  Decompress and rest from your long journey. Enjoy bird watching and small mammals like Vervet Monkeys. 

Dinner not included.

Participants can enjoy hotel amenities and rest off the jetlag from the previous day's travel. Your trip leader will meet the group at dinner. (B,D)

Note: Lunch and optional tours not included

After breakfast, your guide will show you around Arusha Town and then head into the Arusha National Park for your first game drive of the safari.

Arusha National Park is lesser travelled by tourists and has a lot to due to its perfect mix of flora and fauna and diversified landscapes. Passing the “small Serengeti” during a game drive, you are likely to spot peaceful herds of buffaloes, shy bushbucks on the edge of the forest as well as warthogs and zebras. Heading towards the Ngurdoto Crater you will soon find yourself in a lush rainforest – a great place to spot the athletic black and white colobus monkey as well as the elegant mitis monkey. The Ngurdoto Crater is basically a smaller version of the Ngorongoro Crater and has a diameter of about 3 km. With a bit of luck you might even spot buffaloes in the swamps on the crater floor. Halfway through the game drive, our guide will find a place for the group to enjoy a picnic lunch before continuing on into the park. – Transfer to Karatu for dinner and overnight at Marera Valley Lodge or similar. (BLD)

Today we explore one of the most popular parks in Tanzania, and an unforgettable highlight of this adventure. The Ngorongoro crater is an inactive volcanic crater with breathtaking views from both the rim and within the crater itself. As we descend by safari jeep, we pass through all of the conservation area’s various habitats from dense mountain forests and woodlands, to grasslands, lakes and swamps.

The huge crater floor is spotted with large herds of zebras, wildebeests, elands, Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelles. As we get closer to the game, lions can be seen as well as the occasional herd of elephants and the endangered Black Rhino.  Rare species like serval cats, hyenas, jackals, and cheetahs may be spotted, and your guide will help you adjust your eyes to watching game and looking for behaviors that may indicate if predators are around.

Not only do mammals reside in the conservation area, Ostriches, Kori bustards, Crowned Cranes, White Backed Vultures, Black Kites, Cattle Egrets, Tawny Eagles, Augur Buzzards and Lesser Flamingos can be seen at Lake Magadi.

When we have seen all we can see in the Ngorongor Crater, we will transfer to Bougainvillea Safari Lodge for dinner. Overnight at Bougainvillea Safari Lodge or similar. (BLD)

After breakfast we will do an all day game drive into the Serengeti and work our way toward camp. The Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequaled for its natural beauty and scientific value. More than two million wildebeest, half a million Thomson’s Gazelles, and a quarter of a million zebra, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa. The great quantity of wildebeest and zebra form the cast of a spectacular event – the annual Serengeti migration.

The next several days will be exploring the Serengeti National Park in search of the migration, prides of lions, herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, leopards, and cheetahs. – Overnight at Mbugani Camp. (BLD)

At breakfast you will be talking about all the wildlife sounds you heard in the night! Was that a lion? Did I hear a hyena? 

Over the next two days, we will continue to explore the Serengeti and follow the migration from our base camp. This extra time in the Serengeti will allow you to become acclimated to the sights, sounds, and rhythms of safari life. These days are full of adventure as we explore the endless plains and let nature provide the show. 

– Dinner and overnight at Mbugani Camp for 2 nights. (BLD)

After breakfast, we embark on another game drive in Ndutu passing through Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world. This place was made famous by Louis Leaky and has given the scientific community valuable understanding of early human evolution. Our discovery into anthropology will continue with a visit to a Maasai Village.

The Maasai are an indigenous African ethnic group of semi-nomadic people located in Tanzania. Due to their distinctive customs, dress, and residence near the many game parks of East Africa, they are among the most internationally, well-known African ethnic groups. At the Maasai Village cultural experience, a member of the Maasai tribe will share the traditions and culture of the Maasai through dancing, and storytelling, and other experiences. You will visit their home, school, and have an opportunity to buy handcrafts.– Dinner and overnight Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge. (BLD)

Today we step back in time to meet the people of the past, the Hadzabes and Datoga tribes.

The Hadza people, or Hadzabe’e, are an ethnic group in central Tanzania, having lived around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighboring Serengeti Plateau for over 50,000 years. Hadzabe people are among the last of the true hunter-gatherers and are a connection to the transition of a time when humans became farmers. While traditionally considered an East African branch of the Khoisan peoples, primarily because their language has clicks, modern genetic research suggests that they may be more closely related to the Pygmies. The Hadza are not closely related to any other modern people.

Visiting the Datoga tribe will complete your cultural experience at Lake Eyasi. Contrary to the Hadza people, the Datoga are skilled farmers and craftsman. The Datoga themselves blend in with their environment, their dress being the color of the reddish brown soil. Only on closer inspection will they appear colorful with their reddish, patched leather dresses, bead work, and brass bracelets and necklaces. A prominent decoration is tattooing of circular patterns around the eyes.

After an exciting morning interacting with tribes of Lake Eyasi we then return back to the lodge for hot lunch.

Dinner and overnight Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge or similar . (BLD)

 Wake up for breakfast, spend a half day relaxing at the lodge, take our early lunch at the lodge, then after lunch proceed to Lake Burunge Tented Lodge or similar.

Believe it or not, being on safari is tiring. This day will give you reprieve from road travel to enjoy the environment and amenities of the amazing lodge where you'll be staying. Sit by the pool, watch animals pass by your tent, get a massage, read a book, take time to journal.

Morning game drives into The Tarangire National park for a day tour and return for late for lunch, at Maramboi Tented Lodge.

Tarangire National Park, with its baobab crested landscape, is scenically one of the most beautiful parks. Baobab trees tower above the savannah and these age-old trees play a vital role in the ecosystem as they act as homes for bees, birds and bats. In addition, they provide nourishing fruit and supply animals such as elephants with indirect water, especially during the drier months.

Cats are also very much present in the park and lions can be found soaking up the sun on the river banks, whereas leopards are sometimes spotted resting in the baobab trees. Rarer species include Cheetahs and African Wild Dogs.

At Tarangire National Park, keep your binoculars close as the park also boasts 550 different bird species. The most commonly seen birds include Yellow Collared Lovebirds, Red Billed Hornbills, Southern Ground Hornbills, Lilac Breasted rollers, Ostriches, many kinds of raptors as well as several kinds of water birds just to name a few.  (BLD)

After breakfast, we will have one final group meeting and then proceed back to Arusha and on to Kilimanjaro Airport for flights home.  If time allows, we will stop for last minute shopping (BL) 

Baraza Salaho is Tanzanian and a safari guide for over 20 years! He has worked with clients from all over the world and has a lot of knowledge that he loves to share about the parks, animals, culture and birds. -- He speaks more than 5 Tanzanian languages plus english. Baraza is caring and wants to give each of his clients the best safari experience possible. 

 I traveled with Green Edventures to Tanzania in May of 2019 and have been planning a return trip since the day I left!  I started the trip as a solo traveler and ended with many new friends – both trip mates and Tanzanian friends.  

A trip to Africa is like no other – from the thundering herds of animals to meeting the happiest people on earth – I’m not sure which I enjoyed more. One thing I knew for sure…. I had to go back! The trip exceeded my expectations at every turn. I knew we’d see animals, but I never expected the number to be in the thousands nor so many animals to be close enough you could see eyelashes! Our Tanzanian guides (Baraza and Karato) knew exactly when and where to be to see the most wildlife. Their expertise is unparalleled.  They positioned us alongside the mass migration – thousands of wildebeests and zebras running and leaping all around us. To see giraffes, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, ostriches and so much more all in their natural element is indescribable.  On an early morning drive two lionesses crossed in front of us with their five cubs in tow! On another morning, a gorgeous leopard appeared out of the mist and slowly walked right past our vehicle. The sky across the savannah is endless and gorgeous! We spent time with four indigenous tribes – learning about their different cultures, seeing arrowheads made, learning a few dance moves and the pinnacle event….joining the bushmen on a hunt!  I could go on and on! 

Africa – I’m ready to see all of your beauty and splendor again! I hope you will join me? 

Trip Leader:

Lori Anderson

+1-262-366-9930 

imeneone@gmail.com