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17 Day Luxury Tanzania Safari
With household names like the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater as the headline acts, you’d be forgiven in thinking a 17 Day Luxury Safari in Tanzania is all about game-viewing in the savannah. It’s also a country of remote forests, silent lakes and tropical beaches. The wildlife is simply stunning too: a magical blend of Southern, East and Central Africa – big game, primates, amazing birdlife (well over 1000 species) and that’s before you strap on your scuba gear and hit the Indian Ocean reefs.
Accommodation of this tour is Fantastic suites with amazing views, elegant furnishings and gourmet food are all non-negotiable at our 17 Day Luxury Safari in Tanzania – and that’s before you go exploring. Spend the day discovering reef, forest or savannah and just when you thought you couldn’t take any more; be bowled over by the friendliness of the Tanzanians. Take a look at our range of exceptional 17 Day Luxury Safari tours.
How to get there
- This tour starts and ends in Arusha/Moshi
- Africa Joy Tours as an operator can help select your international flights, but you’ll have to book them yourself
- Fly to/from Kilimanjaro Airport near Arusha/Moshi
- A transfer from and back to the airport can be arranged for an extra cost
- Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour can be arranged for an extra cost
Price per person
| 2 PAX | 4 PAX | 6 PAX | 8 PAX | 10 PAX | 12+ PAX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9965$ | 8500$ | 8200$ | 7900$ | 7700$ | 7500 $ |
The climb cost includes
VAT 18% Included
- All concession fees each lodge
- All park entrance fees and administrative fees
- All hotels and tented camps
- All meals while on safari as noted in itinerary
- Transfer to and from Arusha/Kilimanjaro International Airport
- 4WD transportation while on safari
- Staff salaries and guiding fees
- Night game drive outside the Serengeti National Park
- Any special tour leaders for interpretation of the sites
- Coffee and tea at meals, bottled water in rooms and in vehicles
The climb cost excludes:
- International airfares and departure taxes
- All items of a personal nature
- Telephone calls, internet, email etc, (WIFI sometimes available for free)
- Tips and gratuities to hotel, lodges, porters, camp staff and especially driver –guide(s)
- Alcoholic and most non-alcoholic drinks
- Extra bottled water
- Laundry services
- Balloon safari ($550 per person – pay in advance)
- Visit to the Maasai Village ($20 per person – pay on the spot)
- Lake Victoria boat ride/community tour ($35 per person – pay on the spot)
- Lake Duluti Forest Preserve entrance fee ($12 per person – pay on the spot)
- Arusha Snake Park (around $10 per person – pay on the spot)
- Visa for Tanzania
- Travel Insurance
- Flying Doctors Insurance
Day 1: Arrival Day – Welcome to East Africa!
Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport near Moshi in the evening where you will be met by Africa Joy Tours staff and transported to the beautiful Lake Duluti Serena Lodge situated on the lower slopes of Mount Meru in Arusha, Tanzania, a 45 minute drive away. (Note: Lake Duluti Serena Lodge will be our “base camp” – we will be here at the beginning, Day 6, and on the last day, so feel at home and leave luggage here as necessary. Also note: all meals (FB = Full Board) are included beginning with breakfast tomorrow).
Overnight at Lake Duluti Serena Hotel
Day 2: Arusha.
Day 3: Arusha town and visit to the New Life Band School
After a good breakfast we will drive through Arusha town (the safari capital of Tanzania) to the New Life Band School to visit this privately run (funded by donations) coed High School/boarding school. This will be your first opportunity to donate any school items you may have brought with you….after our visit we will drive to the Cultural Heritage Center where you will have a hot lunch. After lunch you will have time to shop for Tanzanite etc. and/or tour the art gallery. We’ll get some tips on bartering and shopping in East Africa. Return to Lake Duluti Serena Lodge for dinner and overnight. Note: the New Life Band has visited the U.S. including Palm Desert a number of times raising funds for the building of this High school.
Day 4: 12th June 2019 –Arusha to Mkomazi National Park
Day 5: Full day of wildlife viewing in Mkomazi National Park
Day 6: Mkomazi to Arusha game drive and travel day
After breakfast, we’ll take the backroad to Dindira Dam to look for wildlife and then stop at Ibaya Camp before exiting the Park around lunchtime. We’ll probably eat our box lunch at the Zange Gate before proceeding back to Arusha and the Lake Duluti Serena Lodge for dinner and overnight. Note: chance to repack and leave luggage at the hotel to pick up at the end of the trip.
Day 7: Arusha National Park and travel to Tarangire National Park
After an early breakfast we will drive to nearby Arusha National Park for a wildlife drive and picnic lunch. Chance to see the beautiful Black and White Colobus Monkey, elephants, hornbills, flamingos, and other mammals/birds of the montane forest, Arusha is a breathtaking park (often bypassed by tourists in a hurry to get to Serengeti) that includes the alkaline Momella Lakes, the Ngurdoto Crater, and 14,000 foot Mt. Meru looming overhead. In the afternoon we will proceed to Tarangire National Park and check in before dinner to our Maasai-run eco-lodge, situated just outside Tarangire National Park. Elephants sometimes roam through camp and rub their behinds on the side of your permanent tent! Overnight at Tarangire Roika Tented Camp (our first swimming pool).
Day 8: Full day in Tarangire National Park.
The day starts with an early breakfast and then a morning game drive in Tarangire National Park where you will see all kinds of big game including close looks at elephant! We’ll have a hot lunch at the Tarangire Safari Lodge that overlooks a waterhole that can be filled with wildlife. We’ll continue our game drive in the afternoon enjoying the riverine forest along the Tarangire River with Baobab trees, herds of elephant, lions and occasional leopards sleeping in the trees. In the late afternoon we will return to the lodge for dinner. Overnight at Tarangire Roika Tented Camp. Note: Tarangire is another one of those Parks that tourists hurry past on their way to Serengeti. This is a big mistake that we won’t make on this 17 Day Luxury Safari in Tanzania.
Day 9:Tarangire to Lake Manyara National park
After breakfast we’ll take the backroad (through the village!) to Lake Manyara National Park, home to lions that occasionally climb trees! Although small in size, this Park is one of the most diverse in the country. Lake Manyara covers two thirds of the Park. The backdrop is the wall of the Great Rift Valley. Below lies the groundwater forest, areas of open grassland near the lake foreshore, and the Soda Lake itself with a pH of 9.5. We will enjoy a picnic lunch near the hot spring. Lake Manyara National Park is a birding paradise that is home to more than 350 bird species. It is also the site of Ian Douglas-Hamilton’s landmark elephant study. Dinner and overnight at the Lake Manyara Serena Lodge. Note: the lodge is perched on the edge of the Rift Valley escarpment overlooking Lake Manyara. A spectacular setting including an infinity swimming pool!
Day 10: Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro Crater.
After an early breakfast we will leave the lodge and drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area for a day in the crater! We will venture down the steep grade to the crater floor, a fantastic safari experience in this extraordinary ecosystem, viewing high concentrations of zebra, gazelle, impala, wildebeest, hyenas, lion, occasional cheetah and rhino, and many other animals that are all bound by the crater walls. We’ll enjoy a picnic lunch somewhere inside the 11 mile diameter crater (watch out for Yellow-billed Kites that will swoop down after your sandwich). After lunch we will continue with our wildlife drive inside the crater before heading up the ascent road in the late afternoon to the lodge on the rim in time for dinner. Overnight at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge.
Day 11: Visit Maasai Village, Oldupai Gorge, then drive to Ndutu
Day 12:Full day game viewing in Ndutu/Serengeti area
Today you will start very early in the morning for a pre-breakfast game drive (depart 6am) around Ndutu Lake and Lake Masek looking for big cats (lions, cheetahs etc.), wildebeest, zebras, impala, and much more. Return to the lodge for breakfast and packing up. We’ll take a box lunch with us and enjoy this along the way as we cross the Serengeti Plains in search of wildlife all afternoon. Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Simba Tented Camp situated just outside the Park boundary. Performances by the Simba Dance Troupe will add to the experience of spectacular Serengeti sunsets and sunrises from our permanent tents. At night listen to the trumpeting of elephant, the laughing of hyenas, the braying of zebras, and the roars of the camp’s namesake (simba = lion).
Day 13:Serengeti National Park – Seronera
A safari in Tanzania is not complete without a full day (or four full days!) of game viewing in the Serengeti National Park. We may do a sunrise game drive before breakfast or we may eat first then venture out to the Seronera area of the Park where many of the “day tourists” gather. This is the best area to find leopards in the trees and maybe elephant, buffalo, lions and hippos along the way. Going out early has its advantages: at day break one has the chance of sighting the nocturnal species returning and also seeing the diurnal species waking up to a new day. We’ll take a box lunch with us and we’ll have the freedom to explore this wildlife rich area. You’ll see the main Park Visitor Center as well. Later in the afternoon we will drive back to the Serengeti Simba Tented Camp for dinner and overnight. A special night game drive after dinner is included. This is where one may see some very interesting critters like: chameleon, genet, civet, Bat-eared Fox, Steinbok, Spring Hare, and more!
Day 14: Serengeti – travel to the Western Corridor
The Western Corridor in June is where one has the best chance to witness the magnificent natural phenomenon that is the ‘Great Migration’ where more than one and a half million wildebeests accompanied by hundreds of thousands of gazelles and zebras journey toward Kenya to the North. Along the way they must brave the crocodile-infested Grumeti and Mara rivers in search of greener pastures and water. We hope to find lots of wildebeest and other wildlife today as we journey toward our next lodge. We may stop at a hippo pool and have our picnic lunch along the river. Dinner and overnight at Mbalageti Safari Lodge (pool).
Day 15: Serengeti – Ballooning in the Western Corridor and Lake Victoria
Day 16: Serengeti to Neptune
After breakfast and an early start we leave the Serengeti and make our way to Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge, (a fairly long drive) eating our box lunch in a nice spot somewhere along the way. We should arrive in time for afternoon tea. You might have time to take a stroll through the working coffee plantation or the huge organic garden. You can opt to relax on a sundeck lounger by the swimming pool or sample the Mvua African Rain Spa with treatments and massage, to calm the mind and rejuvenate your body after the exertions on your adventures. Dinner and overnight at Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury lodge
Day 17: Nature walk at Gibbs Farm and Return to Arusha
After an English breakfast at Neptune we will have time for a short nature/bird walk at Gibbs Farm before making our way back to Arusha. We will eat our box lunch along the way adjacent to the Snake Park (optional, $10 per person). We should arrive at the Lake Duluti Serena Lodge in the mid-afternoon for packing and organizing before our evening flights out of Kilimanjaro International Airport. Dayrooms/showers will be available for our use. Dinner is on your own tonight (the plane will serve dinner too). If you are flying direct to the USA you should arrive home the next day, Wednesday, June 18th.