Unless your arrival time yesterday allowed time for your safari briefing, then this will take place after breakfast. We will provide you with all the essential information, before we set off to our first safari destination, the diverse Tarangire National Park, where we will enjoy lunch, take an afternoon game drive and spend the night. Journey: (morning) Arusha to Tarangire National Park Our two-hour (120km) morning journey first takes us westwards from Arusha. Along the route, your eyes will be opened to all the colours and character of Tanzania: perhaps some Maasai herdsmen driving their flocks of goats to new pastures. You’ll get to know your driver-guide, amazed at his depth of knowledge as he effortlessly answers all your questions. Day’s Highlight Your game drive in Tarangire, with its incredible diversity, massive baobab trees and herds of elephants. Safari (Game Drive) in Tarangire National Park Tarangire is huge. As you stand at the park gate and look south, it stretches as far as the eye can see. Known as the ‘Elephant Playground,’ this phenomenal park contains huge herds of these mighty mammals. But Tarangire is also home to buffalo, lion, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle and the park can rival Serengeti for sheer animal densities. What might you see today? Perhaps a solitary male lion stretched out beneath a tree, perhaps a trio of male cheetah enjoying some lazy bonding-time in the sun. Maybe some graceful Grant’s gazelle or zebra bounding away from the road or a couple of giraffe munching happily from the choicest acacia branches. For Tarangire specialities, look out for kudu and oryx. Here as in other parks, it pays not to ignore the small animals. It’s so easy to be mesmerized by the power and majesty of an elephant or the elegance of the giraffe. Ask your guide to find you an agama lizard, especially a male one who changes colour in front of you according to the temperature! Or a hyrax, known as pimpi, an insignificant-looking creature of around 30cm in length…who astonishingly is related to elephant! Not many trees will pass you by without something of avian interest catching your eye. A memorable flash of colour might be a lilac-breasted roller or blue-eared starling. Ostrich are plentiful and it’s hard not to chuckle at the sighting of the well-named, studious-looking secretary bird as it awkwardly pads across the grasslands The park is also famous for its splendid baobab trees, rolling savannah and acacia woodland. It can be dusty – wear a scarf over your mouth – but this is a minor inconvenience for sighting wildlife in such abundance.

• Camps/Lodge: Hotel / Lodge
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Tarangire to Ngorongoro Crater (afternoon) This morning we depart from Tarangire after a relaxing breakfast, with our goal being the remarkable Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Todays’s journey from Tarangire to Ngorongoro takes us to the northwest, a journey of around 4 ½ hours (199km) Day’s Highlight Like nothing else on Earth, the stunning crater of Ngorongoro is a unique home for many, many species of Tanzania’s wildlife. With some luck, you may even see a black rhino here. Safari in Ngorongoro Crater From the rim, we admire the incredible view then descend into the vast crater itself. At one side there’s the Lerai Forest, classic mountain forest landscape with almost tropical characteristics. This is good elephant country, so keep your eyes peeled. By the side of the nearby swampland is what is sometimes called the ‘elephant graveyard’ as the mighty male tuskers at the end of their lives come to chew on the soft, swampland grasses once their teeth have failed them. The crater has a population of around 120 lions, with well-defined territories; 15,000 wildebeest, 9,000 zebra, 400 hyenas, and around 50 black rhino. Many wildebeest and other herd animals are resident, benefiting from the many sources of year-round waters and are boosted by some migrators in season. Buffalo, Thomson’s gazelle and eland are also present in numbers. Hippos can be found in pools and swampland and highland birdlife is colourful and plentiful around the waters. Flamingos can often be seen in Lake Magadi, which occupies part of the crater floor.

• Camps/Lodge: Our Ngorongoro Tortilis Camp is only a 20km drive from the crater itself (around 40 minutes), set beneath an atmospheric acacia ‘umbrella,’ located in dense, sloping woodland and adjacent to a traditional Maasai community. Some will call the set-up here ‘glamping’, and it certainly offers a great level of comfort, considering the wilderness location. The nearby Ol Mote and Makarot mountains give it an added dimension, but it is the warm welcome of the staff which is the highlight for many of the visitors here. You’ll enjoy the team’s singing and dancing, perhaps you will even be tempted to join in. You can relax, have a drink, sit in front of the camp fire, and listen to the sounds of the noisy tree hyrax who live nearby. Then, enjoy dinner – and fall asleep, dreaming of the day’s highlights.
• Meals: BreakFast & Dinner

Lake Eyasi to Kilimanjaro International Airport (afternoon) After breakfast and our morning visits to see the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers and the local blacksmith, we take lunch and then have 4 ½ hours journey, covering the 295km back to Kilimanjaro International Airport. Day’s Highlight Everyone will have their own, favorite cultural experience today. But perhaps your lasting memory will be of the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers. Their lifestyle will make you ponder how uncomplicated – though not easy – life can be. Lake Eyasi and its Tribespeople Lake Eyasi is located in the Great Rift Valley, southwest of the Ngorongoro Crater. Its salt-water levels experience dramatic changes with the seasons: in years with little rainfall, the lake can almost disappear. Near to the shimmering lake, we will first experience a hunting trip with the Hadzabe, the last hunter-gatherers in Tanzania, before visiting a local blacksmith as he practises his craft, fashioning pots and weapons from scrap metal. Meal plan Breakfast is served at Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the Lodge for you to take out on safari and enjoyed after your morning ‘cultural visits’, before we return you to the airport for your flight home. As today is the departure day of your safari, please note that dinner tonight is not included in the tour. Departure Instructions Please note that this Tanzania Culture Safari Experience – 7 Days tour ends at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Your departure can only take place today if you have pre-booked a domestic flight which leaves from Kilimanjaro International Airport, or an international flight which leaves at 21.00 hours or after. Otherwise, you will need to book an extra night’s accommodation (not included in the tour price) and take a flight the following day. Post Tour Extension After your exhilarating time on safari, you may want to extend your Tanzanian holiday with time on Zanzibar’s wonderful beaches. Please contact us for details.

• Camps/Lodge: Hotel / Lodge
• Meals: Dinner