After breakfast at your hotel you will be picked up by your safari team. Soon you will leave the bustling city of Dar es Salaam and travel westwards on a good tar road to arrive at the small village of Mikumi in the afternoon. While the cook sets up camp and prepares for dinner, your guide will take you on an afternoon game drive in the Mikumi National Park. The park is home to elephants, zebras, warthogs, baboons, wildebeests and buffaloes.You will overnight at a campsite outside the park, close to the village of Mikumi.
Meal:Bed & Breakfast
You will spend the entire day on a game drive in the Mikumi National Park – the fourth largest game reserve in Tanzania. The park is intersected by the Tanzam highway dividing the park in two sections. The northwest is flat with grassy plains while the south is more bushy and undulating. The park is well-known for its big buffalo herds and a large elephant population of approximately 2,000 animals. The park is also home to a unique subspecies of giraffes, often seen grazing amongst acacia trees. You might also see kudus, sable antelopes, bushbucks, reedbucks, hyenas, baboons and lions. Ornithologists will also be kept busy as there are more than 400 bird species in the park. After a full day in the bush, you will return to your campsite in the early evening.
Meal:All meals, water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
After a relaxed breakfast your journey continues in the direction of Iringa, a town built by the German army in 1890. The road passes through the Baobab Valley, formed by the Great Ruaha River. On the way, you will have beautiful views of the river and the Udzungwa Mountains. You will spend the night at a campsite situated on the banks of the Little Ruaha River..
Meal:All meals, water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
Today the safari continues to the Ruaha National Park. On the way you can stop in Iringa to explore a local fresh produce market and shops. After replenishing stocks, the safari continues to the Ruaha National Park where you will arrive in time for an afternoon game drive. The night will be spent at an unfenced and rustic campsite outside the park.
Meal:All meals, water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
Today you will spend another day in the Ruaha National Park. The park with a size of roughly 10,300km² is the most visited national park in the southern part of Tanzania. Due to its size and the fact that the south of Tanzania is less visited than the northern parks, you will hardly see other safari vehicles. The park forms a border between Africa’s eastern and southern eco-system and is famous for its rugged beauty, kudus, over 570 bird species and elephants. You might also see buffaloes, lions, leopards, cheetahs, rare wild dogs, sable antelopes and the huge roan antelope. The Great Ruaha River – the life source of the park – is home to crocodiles and hippos. During the dry season, animals gather around the water sources of the park, while the wet season is better for bird watching and flowers. After a long safari day, you will return to last night’s campsite for your overnight.
Meal:All meals, water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
Today will be a long drive and you will set off early in an easterly direction. The route goes via Iringa, Mikumi and Kilombero towards the Udzungwa Mountains. In the afternoon, you have time to discover this rain forest area and enjoy the tranquillity and silence of this mountain region. Overnight at a campsite next to the forest.
Meal:All meals, water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
Today you will go hiking in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, one of 34 “World Biodiversity Hotspots”. The park can only be explored on foot and the lush green mountains are home to 30 m high trees, reptiles, 400 bird species, butterflies and other animals. Twelve species of primates such as the Udzungwa red colobus or the Sanje mangabey – one of the most endangered primates in Africa – live here. Over the last years the national park administration and the WWF have initiated a project to habituate some groups of the endemic red-headed guereza monkey and your experienced guide should be able to spot them. By lunch time you will reach the Sanje waterfall – the perfect spot for cooling off. During the afternoon, you will return to the campsite where you can relax after your hiking trip.
Meal:All meals, water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
>After breakfast the journey will continue towards the Selous Game Reserve. After Morogoro, you will leave the tar road and drive along the Uluguru Mountains through remote villages towards the Selous Game Reserve. Selous is rugged and remote and far from the crowds. It is the largest wildlife conservation area in Africa and with the neighbouring Mikumi and Udzungwa National Parks forms an area as big as Switzerland. Overnight at a campsite on the western outskirts of the park.
Meal:Breakfast & Lunch water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
Today you will explore the northern part of this large game reserve which is twice the size of the Serengeti National Park. The variety of habitats including Miombo woodlands, grasslands, forests and swamps are home to a diversity of wildlife such as elephants, black rhinos, cheetahs, giraffes, hippos and crocodiles. The swamps and lagoons along the Rufiji River attract animals for bathing and drinking and are perfect for avid bird watchers as there are more than 350 bird species in the reserve. You will spend the night at a campsite on the eastern outskirts of the reserve.
Meal:Breakfast & Lunch water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
>Today an impressive and diverse safari comes to an end. After breakfast you will drive east towards the Indian Ocean and you should arrive in Dar es Salaam at around midday. Your guide can take you to the airport or to a hotel of your choice. Karibu Tena – see you next time in Tanzania!
Meal:Breakfast & Lunch water & soft drinks whilst on game drives
