14 Days Tanzania Luxury Safari & Maasai Village Visit

In the morning, we will collect you from your hotel in Arusha and take you to the Arusha National Park. The park has an incredible variety of fauna and flora, which cannot fail to impress. Hollywood also chose this region to film the movie “Hatari” in which Hardy Kruger starred alongside the legendary John Wayne.

At the Momella Gate, an armed ranger will be waiting for you to accompany you on the walking safari which will give you the chance to experience the wildlife up close. Only a few other national parks in Tanzania give you such an opportunity and it is something that should not be missed. Lunch will be taken at a picnic place and in the afternoon, you will continue your tour in the safari vehicle through the Arusha National Park. After plenty of time allocated for you to observe the wildlife, we will take you back to Arusha

• Overnight will be spent at Rivertrees Country Inn
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included

Tour Overview

Olpopongi Maasai Cultural Village & Museum is the first authentic Maasai Boma and Museum with overnight facilities in Tanzania. Olpopongi provides a unique Maasai & wildlife experience in the West-Kilimanjaro Maasailand, Just 74 km from Moshi While at the village you will share the authentic Maasai life & culture. The income obtained from your tour supports local Maasai families with water, food, employment, personal income, medical treatments and education. All Maasai – jewelry on sale is hand-made and produced by the local Maasai women of other nearby villages. All Museum tours & walking safaris are performed by experienced English speaking Maasai guides.

Day Itinerary

You will be picked up at your hotel at 0900hrs and transferred to the Olpopongi Maasai Village. It is roughly a 1 and a half hour drive from Arusha. While at the village you will be given a tour of the village and museum to get a better understanding of Maasai culture and tradition. You will also go on a short walking safari and learn about Maasai hunting techniques and their natural medicines. A traditional lunch will be prepared for you in the afternoon. After your tour of the village you will be transferred back to your hotel in Arusha.

• Overnight at Rivertrees Country Inn
• Meals: Breakfast & Lunch Included

Your driver-guide will meet you at your hotel after breakfast and, together, you will head to Tarangire National Park with packed lunches for the first game viewing of your Tanzanian safari. There is no better place to enjoy a peaceful authentic safari atmosphere than Tarangire, famous for its huge elephant herds and towering baobab trees. The park is teeming with wildlife, and you will have good chances of seeing zebras, lesser kudus, elands, gerenuks, and lions. Late afternoon, after a great day in the wild, you will head to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.

The bustling farming community of Mto Wa Mbu, located between Manyara and Ngorongoro, is home to around 18,000 people. Spend half a day here with a knowledgeable local guide and you’ll discover a side of Tanzania that many visitors miss.

What to expect during your village

A melting pot of cultures, Mto Wa Mbu is thought to be one of the only places in Tanzania where there are representatives from all 120 tribes living happily side by side. Although the name translates as ‘Mosquito River’, due to the permanent water source in the village, we fortunately didn’t see many mosquitoes.

Your guide is very likely to be from the village itself so you will have a unique opportunity to see the community through his eyes. Tours last around 2–3 hours, but are flexible. During your visit you’ll get a good feel for the social side of the village – the farms and the milling machines, the schools, markets and churches. Your guide will happily answer any questions you might have, and will help you to gain an understanding of the inner workings of this typical Tanzanian community.

You’ll likely start in the village banana plantation, where they grow more than 30 different varieties of bananas. As well as finding out how this staple fruit is grown, you’ll hear about the different uses of the plant as a whole, from food to materials for building and art.

Next you might visit a youth art project, and learn about the different painting styles and techniques. The artists are happy for you to ask questions and take photos, and while there are opportunities to purchase their artwork, which makes wonderful souvenirs, we were impressed that there was no hard sell or pressure to buy.

We then visited a wood workshop, where you can watch skilled members of the Makonde tribe carefully carve intricate figurines, masks, and household objects. They’ll show you the different types of wood and finishings, and explain some of the historical and cultural meanings behind the carvings. You can even have a go at doing some carving yourself! Again, there are opportunities to purchase carvings should you wish, but with no hard sell or aggressive haggling, which we found very refreshing.

Moving on, you’ll come to a local ‘bar’ to try mbege, the traditional banana and millet beer that is brewed and drunk mainly by the Chagga tribe. The process of making this brew is quite a labour intensive, and the beer is usually served in one large cup, which is passed around the group, and refilled as needed.

Your tour will finish in the bustling local market, where you can wander around stalls selling fruit and vegetables stalls, spices and meat. Your guide will stop and explain points of interest, and give you the opportunity to try and smell a variety of foods. A real treat for the senses!

• Overnight at Farm hOUSE
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included

Early morning after breakfast, we drive to the nearby Lake Manyara National Park for a game-viewing drive where your first encounter will be sitting with large troupes of baboons. The park derived its name from a plant called Euphorbia tirucalli which is known as ‘Emanyara’ in the local Maasai language. Patches of yellow fever trees are dotted around the grassy lake shores and the rift valley wall is a prominent feature throughout. The entrance of the park is in a very special environment: a groundwater forest offering a beautiful change of scenery from the savannah-dominated parks. The lush green vegetation consisting of tall trees of the groundwater forest, the tree-climbing lions, the soda lake inhabited with thousands of pink-hued flamingos, large water birds, and the troops of baboons, and the rift valley escarpment makes your safari to this area unforgettable. A packed lunch will be served at a picnic site. Late afternoon, you will drive to Ngorongoro Serena for dinner and overnight.

• Overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included

 

After breakfast, you will drive to Serengeti via Oldupai Gorge the world-famous archaeological site of Olduvai Gorge, also known as the Cradle of Mankind. The earliest remains of homo sapiens were discovered here by Mary Leaky and anyone with an interest in mankind’s ancestors will be fascinated by this extraordinary place. Explore the quaint little museum and marvel at the rugged landscape. This paleoanthropological site in the eastern Serengeti Plain is a steep-sided ravine composed of two branches that have a combined length of about 48 km and are 90 meters deep. Deposits exposed in the sides of the gorge cover have yielded a treasure trove of fossil remains.

After finishing the activity you will continue to driving to Serengeti National Par is truly spectacular. It is famous for its vast open grasslands which allow for excellent sightings of wildlife. The Serengeti is Tanzania’s oldest National Park and it is also one of the oldest ecosystems on earth.  Its climate and vegetation have remained largely untouched for millions of years. Whilst the Serengeti boasts abundant wildlife, it is perhaps best known for the annual Great Migration.  Vast numbers of wildebeest; accompanied by large numbers of zebra and antelope move in an annual pattern, constantly seeking fresh grazing.  The precise timing of the Migration is entirely dependent upon the rainfall patterns each year.

After Lunch and an extensive game drive, we head for our Tented luxury partner lodges for dinner and overnight.

• Overnight at Dunia Camp Serengeti
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included

Full day game drive at Serengeti National Park.

• Overnight at Namiri
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included

Full day game drive at Serengeti National Park.

• Overnight at Four Season safari Lodge
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included

You will once more enjoy an early breakfast and set off on our game drive at about 6:30 am. We’ll spend 6-7 hours exploring this incredible park. The Serengeti is the habitat for an abundance of wildlife, such as impala, buffalo, crocodile and hippo. However, it is more well-known for its great migrating herds of zebras (two hundred and fifty thousand), wildebeest (one and a half million), and antelope (half a million). The animals’ trek is determined by the rainfall and varies from year to year. Apart from the migrating herds, we may see predators, such as leopard, cheetah, and lion, plying their rough trade. At roughly 2:00 pm, we’ll head back to Karatu,

• Overnight at Kitela Lodge
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included

After breakfast, depending on your flight time you will drive back to Arusha where it marks the end of your epic adventure!