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Tanzania "Adventure style" Camping Safari 6 days.

Type : Camping Safari Duration: 5 nights 6 days

Locations Visited: Arusha, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti. Lake Manyara, Tarangire

Description:A six-day camping safari into Tanzania?s Northern parks of Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Manyara. The Serengeti is host to the annual wildebeest migration ? a spectacular sight! Using small vehicles (not trucks!), our safari travels into the best areas of this game-packed region, camping amongst the game with the sounds of the African bush all around. Camping is a perfect way to get close to nature, but with our style of trip you don?t miss out on the comforts! And all the tedious daily chores are taken care of by our crew, allowing you maximum time to enjoy the bush. This is an ?experience? of Africa, never to be forgotten.

DAY 1
Your driver will come to greet you at your Arusha hotel at 07h30. depart Arusha around 10h00 and make our way directly to Manyara National Park where we will stop for lunch at a pleasant picnic area inside the park before embarking on an afternoon game-drive. We depart from Manyara at around 16h00 and wind our way upwards into the densely forested slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, pausing to admire the splendid view of the crater floor 600m below at Heroes Point, before driving on to our campsite on the rim of the Ngorongoro caldera where we will overnight after a hearty bush dinner under the stars.

DAY 2
A full day game drive inside the crater with picnic lunch. The 8,300km2 Ngorongoro Conservation Area is named after its central feature the Ngorongoro Crater which is the world largest intact volcanic caldera and within which has evolved an extraordinary natural sanctuary for some of Africa densest populations of large mammals. The crater floor itself is 260km2 and from the viewing points at the rim the vast herds of wildebeest, buffalo and zebra look like mere ant formations winding their way across the grasslands below! The crater is also home to a great diversity of environments and you may encounter all of the large herbivores mentioned above, as well as lions, hyenas, jackals, male elephants (females and family groups tend to stay up on the higher slopes) and, in the forest around the rim, occasional leopard and bushbuck. There is an active black rhino breeding project inside the crater and you may be lucky enough to spot some of these magnificent, shy beasts during your tour, but sightings are limited as breeding areas are strictly protected and usually closed to public access.

DAY 3
Today we break camp and embark on a game drive into the great Serengeti plains. Before crossing from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area into the Serengeti National Park we should take the opportunity to visit the Olduvai Gorge Museum where we may attend a short talk on the archaeological importance of Olduvai and the work of Mary and Louis Leakey in excavating the area and discovering some of Africa most important hominid fossils. An optional extra this morning, on our way to Olduvai, would be the chance to visit a Maasai village boma and spend some time learning about the culture, traditions and beliefs of this ancient, noble warrior tribe. This is at an additional cost, and should be discussed with the guide, and paid directly to the guide.

DAY 4
Morning and afternoon game-drives in the central Seronera zone of Serengeti National Park. Africa's most famous game reserve covers an area of almost 15,000km2 and is world-renowned for its dense predator population and the annual wildebeest migration. The greater part of the park is open grassland, patches of acacia woodland and isolated areas of granite rock outcrops called koppies. Animal migration is linked to the annual rainfall patterns and its effect on their feeding habitats. Huge herds of wildebeest and zebra can be found here along with smaller concentrations of Thomson gazelle, Grant's gazelle, impala, kongoni, Kirk's dik dik, klipspringer and small numbers of roan, oryx, oribi, eland and waterbuck. There are also significant numbers of buffalo, giraffe and warthog. Elephants are relatively scarce on the open plains, more common in the northern areas and the western corridor. The few remaining black rhinos are restricted to an inaccessible part of the park. But the most popular animals to be found here in greater abundance than elsewhere on the northern circuit are the cats. Lions, cheetahs and leopard may all be seen here along with other predators, such as the spotted hyena, golden and black-backed jackals, wild cats and servals.

DAY 5
An early morning game drive in the Serengeti before departing back towards the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Then, late afternoon, we return to the Lake Manyara area near to the bustling little town of Mto wa Mbu (pronounced as one word mtowambu) for our last night of safari. After many hot and dusty days of travel encountering quite basic facilities within the parks, here we find hot showers and cold drinks in abundance for our last night on safari. There may be cultural entertainment such as tribal dancing or acrobats at the campsite or neighbouring establishments should you wish to attend.

DAY 6
After our (optional) morning walk we break camp and head back to Arusha, arriving around lunchtime. Alternatively you may like to take a look around the curio shops and souvenir alleys of Arusha before your guide bids you farewell at your hotel or lodge.

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