Tanzania Wildlife Safari and Cultural Visits

The world-renowned Ngorongoro Crater forms part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) within the Serengeti ecosystem. The Crater itself is home to more than 25,000 large mammals. Once a large volcano that later collapsed, it is now the largest intact caldera in the world. The Crater floor has excellent grazing for resident herbivores, while the Crater walls are covered in lush vegetation, forming excellent protection for the large numbers of game. This is an area of spectacular beauty and superb game viewing, a truly unique safari destination.

Tanzania’s oldest and most popular national park, also a world heritage site and recently proclaimed a 7th world wide wonder. The Serengeti is famed for its annual wildebeest migration, when some 1.2 million wildebeest migrate on the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Yet even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, lions, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle.

The great Serengeti wildebeest migration is the movement of 1.2 million of the Serengeti’s wildebeest, accompanied by large numbers of zebra, and smaller numbers of Grant’s gazelle, Thomson’s gazelle, eland and impala. These move in an annual patterns. They migrate throughout the year, constantly seeking fresh grazing and better quality water. The precise timing of the Serengeti wildebeest migration is dependent upon the rainfall patterns each year so it is impossible to promise what will be seen.

Typically in July and August, the wildebeest migration moves northwards. We’ll head to the northern Serengeti to see if we can catch a glimpse of the wildebeest lining up and traveling north. Sometimes you may see a lion or two hunting these large animals. It is a sight not to be missed!

Late summer and early fall typically sees the herds spread out across the northern Serengeti, where the Mara River provides the migration with its most serious obstacle. This river gushes through the northern Serengeti from Kenya’s adjacent Maasai Mara Game Reserve. Watching the frantic herds of the wildebeest migration crossing the Mara River can be very spectacular; there are often scenes of great panic and confusion. It’s common to see herds cross the Mara River north on one day, and then back south a few days later.

The Maasai people, favored by photographers for their strikingly colorful decor, live a pastoral existence following their herds of cattle to better grazing areas, still adhering to the traditions and ceremonies of their ancestors. You’ll visit a Maasai village where you’ll meet a Maasai family in their manyata (home). This boma (homestead) is a off the beaten track, it is not frequented by outsiders, creating a great opportunity to meet a Maasai family that is as excited to meet you as you are to meet them. The drive is 1.5 hrs to the Ngorongoro highlands. It is a half day experience that is exclusively for our clients.

Lake Eyasi is a soda lake found on the southern border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. You will be introduced to the extraordinary people who belong to an indigenous tribe known as the ‘Hadzabe’ (hunter-gatherer bushmen). The tribe inhabits the shores of Lake Eyasi as do the Nilotic-speaking Datoga tribe. You will have the opportunity to visit them, learn about their way of life, participate in some animal tracking and see how they hunt with bow and arrow. Early morning departure for a local hunting with the Hadzabe. The bushmen rely on these techniques to survive. You’ll encounter wildlife including a wide range of bird species, while walking in the area,