Kilimanjaro & Safari

Every excursion team is equipped with a fully operational safety kit. The kit includes a portable altitude chamber (on crater ascents), first aid kids, pulse oximeters, oxygen with regulator & mask, neck brace, mobile phone, satelite phone (on shira & crater), water filter, stethascope, portable stretcher, guest & crew AMS monitoring sheets.

Excursion guides and crews are specifically trained and instructed to ensure, wherever possible, that our guests can walk off the mountain, unaided, themselves. They are also trained extensively on monitoring systems and also management of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), and more advanced forms of mountain sickness such as HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) and HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema).

In the morning you are picked up at 8am from your hotel and drive to Machame gate to collect your permits. There is then an hour drive to the Umbwe gate where after checking in you set off up through the forest zone. This first day of hiking is not overly difficult but certainly steepens towards the latter end of the day. In the late afternoon you arrive in the first camp for dinner and overnight.

The second day ascends from the forest zone into the heath zone and there are some very steep sections here. Taking it easy is essential to allow your body to acclimatise. A picnic lunch is taken on route and then in the afternoon you arrive into Barranco camp in time to relax for a while before dinner. The views of the Barranco wall and western breach pertain to events some 60,000 years ago when this whole part of the mountain collapsed.

Today is a walk-high sleep-low day. You ascend into alpine desert and for those that are feeling strong you can even head up to Lava Tower before descending to the Barranco Camp. Lunch is taken as a picnic lunch on route. This is long day but pays dividends later on - great acclimatisation day!

Today is another half day ascending to Barafu Camp. Once again lunch is taken in camp allowing plenty of time to relax before the summit bid. Desolate alpine desert and at times strong winds rip over this camp and yet in the evening splendid views of Mawenzi peak are the norm. A relatively early dinner is taken before heading to rest for the evening.

Most people depart just before midnight for the final summit bid. Patience and persistence is the name of game to reach the summit and by dawn as the first rays of light start to appear, most arrive near the rim. Ascending via Stella Point affords a relatively short final section to Uhuru peak, the Roof of Africa! What goes up must come down and your goal today is to reach Mweka Camp before dusk.

After breakfast you descend once again through montane forest and around mid day after saying farewell to your crew, you are picked up and transfer back to your accommodation.

Your guide will drive you from Arusha to the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater. On the way you'll have a game drive in Manyara before continuing on to your lodge near Ngorongoro. Thris drive will take 4-5hrs or more depending on how long you spend on your game drive in Manyara.

Stop in and visit the Manyara region, which is best known for its baboon population. This area also has many herbivores such as hippos, impalas, elephants, wildebeests, buffalo, warthogs and giraffes. Some lucky  visitors have even spotted the rare tree climbing lion here. The giant fig trees and mahogany trees are seen in the groundwater forest immediately around the park gates, which draw nourishment from the underground springs that replenished continuously from crater highlands directly above the Manyara basin. Afterward, continue on to your next destination.

Private transportation and guide in the Ngorongoro national park.

You'll drive approximately 20 minutes from your camp or lodge to the main gates of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are only three roads that connect the crater rim with the crater floor, one for driving down, one for driving up and another that goes both ways. The crater is roughly 20 km/12 mi wide and 600 m/2,000 ft deep, once you've reached the top of the caldera it takes about 45 minutes to descend to the crater floor. The floor is home to a rich and highly concentrated wildlife. Some 20,000 mammals live there, including about 20 black rhinoceros, making the crater the best place in Tanzania to see the rhino. The crater floor also has one of the highest carnivore densities in the world. Lions, cheetahs, hyenas and jackals are commonly seen, while leopards, servals and bat-eared foxes may be seen with some good luck. You'll spend most of the day in the crater.

Your guide will pick you up from the Ngorongoro Conservation area and drive you to the famous plains of the Serengeti. On this drive you have the option of stopping at Olduvlai gorge, the Serengeti welcome centre and lookout point, or stop for lunch at a picnic spot. After entering Serengeti park you will have the chance to enjoy game viewing as you drive through the park to your next accommodation. This drive takes 5 to 6 hours depending on the number of stops you make and how much game viewing you enjoy along the way. Expect longer trip times during the rainy seasons.

The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is commonly referred to as "The Cradle of Mankind." It is a steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley, which stretches along eastern Africa. Olduvai is in the eastern Serengeti Plains in northern Tanzania and is about 30 miles (48 km) long. The gorge is named after the Maasai word for the wild sisal plant Sansevieria ehrenbergii, commonly called Oldupai.

Today head out with your guide to explore the wide expanse of the Serengeti. The park is well known for its healthy stock of resident wildlife, particularly the "Big Five", named for the five most prized trophies taken by hunters: lion, leopard, elephant, black rhinoceros, and African buffalo. Though there are only a few black rhino in the park, you may still spot them. The Serengeti has the largest population of lion and giraffe in all of Africa and the largest concentration of topi and Coke's hartebeest (kongoni). Enjoy the challenge of spotting other game such as cheetah, Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, eland, waterbuck, hyena, baboon, impala, African wild dog and giraffe. The park also boasts about 500 bird species, including ostrich, secretary bird, Kori bustard, crowned crane and marabou stork.

Head out into the park early in the morning as animals are more active in the early morning and afternoon. Tanzania's oldest and most renowned national park, the Serengeti offers the most expansive game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle.

Spend the day taking in the spectacle of the famous wildebeest migration. This annual migration through the Serengeti and Masai Mara is one of the safari highlights of Africa. The wildebeest migration moves in a basic clockwise direction throughout the year in Serengeti eco-system and move north into Masai Mara, Kenya from June/July through to Sep/October. Sightings cannot be guaranteed as the herds move according to availability of food source and migration movements can be erratic. The herds are accompanied by zebra and Thomson's gazelle and are stealthily hunted by local predators such as leopard, lion and hyena.

If time allows, your expert guide will squeeze in one more game drive before dropping you off at the airstrip. It will be your last chance to see the park's diverse range of animals.

Take your flight from Serengeti to Arusha today. The flight will do more than one stop on the way. The flight duration is approximately 2hrs.

Stop for lunch at the Arusha Hotel in this tourism capital of Tanzania. Shop the local souvenir market.

Includes opportunity to visit local handicrafts market to stock up on souvenirs.

Airport transfer between your Arusha hotel and Kilimanjaro International airport with private vehicle and english speaking driver.