Tanzania Safaris: TANZANIA HIGHLIGHTS

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ITINERARY AT A GLANCE

ITINERARY DETAILS

Day 1 Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, met and assisted by a tour representative. Transfer to Arusha for lunch. Afternoon drive to the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera in the world. Its enduring charm stems from its overwhelming beauty and the abundance of wildlife permanently resident on the crater floor. Afternoon at leisure. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge (LDBB )

Day 2 Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After breakfast, depart for a half day tour of the crater floor. Return to your lodge for lunch. Afternoon at leisure. Meals and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge (L-DBB)

Day 3 Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, drive to the Serengeti National Park, undoubtedly the most famous wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and the greatest concentration of plains game anywhere. En route visit the Olduvai Gorge site of archeological findings, where traces of pre-historic man dating back to 3.5 million years ago have been discovered. Arrive for lunch at your lodge. Afternoon game drive until sunset. Meals and overnight at Serengeti Sopa Lodge ( LDBB )

Day 4 Serengeti National Park
All day spent in the Serengeti with morning and afternoon game drives. Meals and overnight at Serengeti Sopa Lodge (LDBB)

Day 5 Tarangire
Breakfast at your lodge, then drive from to the Tarangire National Park, named after the Tarangire River, which rises in Tanzania's central highland. The river lures thousands of plains game to its banks. Lunch en route at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge. Afternoon game drive en route to the lodge. Dinner and overnight at Tarangire Sopa Lodge (L-DBB)

Day 6 Departure
Early morning game drive then drive to Arusha. Drop off at your hotel or Kilimanjaro Airport for your departure flight back home.

ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION

Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge
Sopa means welcome in the Masai language and is representative of the warm welcome you will receive at the Sopa lodges. Ngorongoro Sopa is spread out along the uppermost rim of the Ngorongoro World Heritage Site, an ancient extinct volcano that contains the largest permanent concentration of game in Africa. Ngorongoro Sopa offers breathtaking views of the crater floor far below. A sparkling swimming pool refreshes those returning from game drives. The rooms are cool and comfortable.

Opened in 1992, the lodge can accommodate 190 guests in 92 suites, each enjoying wall-to-wall carpeting, central heating, a private lounge with a mini bar, a bedroom with two queen size beds and ample room for a third, an en-suite bathroom with shaver sockets and a hair dryer, and a private solarium which offers stunning views of the crater floor below and the sun setting over the western horizon.

The lodge has direct-dial satellite telephone facilities as well as satellite television and wildlife-video-film options. A number of lodge electrical generating systems provide 240 volts, 50 cycles 24 hours a day. The water supply comes from nearby springs but guests are provided a complimentary bottle of mineral water for drinking. Children of all ages are welcome and special meals at convenient times can be arranged together with a non-professional baby-minder. A swimming pool is situated on the very edge of the crater itself and the cool water is bracing, even invigorating, at any time of year. The pool is also a super area to unwind and relax while enjoying the views of the crater floor below or the stunning sunsets.

Serengeti Sopa Lodge
The Serengeti Sopa lodge is located in the Nyarboro Hills in the south west of the Serengeti National Park and is the only tourism development in this section of the Park. Year round water and the acacia woodland in this area create an ideal environment for the wide variety of wildlife seen in the immediate vicinity of the lodge. Looking out over the seemingly endless Serengeti plains, this hill side lodge is a tranquil oasis set in thousands of square kilometers of Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti Plains are host to a dramatic annual migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, zebra and antelope. This is one of the great spectacles of the natural world.

From December to May the migration gathers in the immediate vicinity of the lodge and provides an unforgettable spectacle, as predators hunt close by. The migration can also be viewed in a more spectacular fashion - on optional hot-air balloon ride across the plains of the Serengeti. Take-off is at dawn and the flight lasts for an hour before a sumptuous champagne breakfast wherever you land. This is followed by a game drive back to the lodge, arriving in time for lunch. As the sun sets over the plains, you may enjoy sundowner cocktails by the pool, and in the evening, after a 4-course dinner, traditional dancers entertain the guests.

Opened in 1992, the lodge can accommodate 170 guests in 79 suites, each enjoying wall-to-wall carpeting, a private lounge with a mini bar, a bedroom with two queen size beds and ample room for a third guest, an en-suite bathroom with shaver sockets and a hair dryer, and a private verandah which offers stunning views over the plains. The lodge has direct-dial satellite telephone facilities as well as satellite television and wildlife-video-film options.

The sopa pools are renowned for their size and location and this one in the Serengeti is no exception. The double size pool offers a refreshing interlude between game drives as well as wonderful views over the rolling plains of the Serengeti.

Tarangire Sopa Lodge
Tarangire is now known as the best national park on the northern circuit for elephant and Tarangire Sopa is ideally placed for visitors to this lovely park where beautiful stately baobab trees pepper the landscape and give the park its nickname of "Baobab Forest". Tarangire Sopa welcomes travelers to its vast marble-floored reception area with cold flannels and iced juice. In the pretty gardens a large circular pool with a central island, a pool bar and elegant wooden loungers demonstrates the lodge's commitment to comfort. Delicious barbecue lunches are often served here. A broad verandah wraps itself around the lodge and gives prime viewing for the waterhole below which is filled during the dry season (June-Oct) and becomes a magnet to wildlife.

The rooms at the lodge are comfortable and arranged in groups of four, in African-style buildings, within the grounds. Large sliding doors open to a private balcony. However, the pool, games room, hospitality lounge with complimentary newspapers and, above all, the stunning scenery and wildlife of the Park, will ensure that your days are satisfyingly full.