Tanzania

Day 1: Fly UK to Tanzania

Our tour begins with a morning flight from London Heathrow with an onward connection to Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania.  We will then transfer directly to our lodge (approximately a 45-minute drive), where we will stay for two nights.  Two nights at Ngare Sero Lodge

Day 2: Arusha National Park

We will begin the day with some optional birding in the very pleasant grounds of our lodge where a number of special birds such as Giant Kingfisher, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Taveta Golden Weaver and African Black Duck can be found.

After breakfast, we plan to have a full day in nearby Arusha National Park.  Although this small park (just 55 square miles) is close to the town of Arusha, it is remarkably quiet, diverse and peaceful.  It is dominated by rugged Mount Meru (14,979 ft.) and although many of the better-known ‘big game’ animals are present, we will concentrate on the outstanding birdlife and mammal species we are less likely to see elsewhere.

Amongst the possibilities are Black-and-White Colobus Monkey, Blue (or Sykes’) Monkey, duikers and Bushbuck.  There are open grasslands with small lakes holding a variety of waterbirds and specialities such as Singing and Trilling Cisticolas and Pangani Longclaw.

Following tracks into thicker forests of Mahogany, Fig, Cedar and Wild Mango, we will search for raptors such as Crowned Eagle and African Goshawk, colourful forest birds including Bar-tailed Trogon, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, White-headed Barbet, Mountain Wagtail, various greenbuls, chats, warblers and Black-fronted Bush-Shrike.

We may glimpse the snow-clad peak of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, at 19,340 feet as we explore wetland areas include soda lakes.  These potentially offer us our best views of Lesser and Greater Flamingos, whilst small freshwater lakes may produce White-backed Duck, Spur-winged Goose, African Fish Eagle and, if we are fortunate, rarities such as Lesser Jacana and Maccoa Duck.

Day 3: Transfer to Tarangire National Park

There may be time for some final exploring in the grounds of our comfortable lodge before we head off along paved roads for approximately 2 hours before reaching the turn off for Tarangire National Park.

Driving along well-defined tracks, we should arrive close to the entrance gate in time for lunch at a location which overlooks the Tarangire River, before continuing on with a short game drive taking us further into the National Park and on to our next lodge where we stay for two nights.

This will be our first encounter with this National Park’s star attraction, African Elephants, of which there are many!  Two nights at Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Day 4: Tarangire National Park

We will have a full day to explore and depending on the wildlife opportunities available, may either take a picnic lunch and stay out all day or do two shorter game drives and return to our lodge for lunch.

The habitats here reflect a drier region which is subject to seasonal rains and drought and the thornbush is studded with giant Baobab trees.  These are useful stores of moisture for the large Elephant herds when the conditions are drier and we will see scarring on the gargantuan trunks of these amazing trees made by generations of gouging by Elephant tusks.

Running through the centre of this wonderful national park is the Tarangire River with grassy, palm-dotted flood plains.  Here, our main goal will be viewing the large Elephant herds and we plan to stop and watch these serene and inscrutable animals going about their daily lives.

Other mammals we could see include Impala, Giraffe, Zebra and Waterbuck and there is also a chance to find our first Lions or Leopard.

Tarangire is, however, also an exciting birdwatching destination, with an incredible variety of species.  Amongst those we hope to see are the endemic Ashy Starling, bright Yellow-collared Lovebirds, various owls, Red-headed Weaver, Brown and Red-bellied Parrots, Bare-faced and White-bellied Go-away-birds, shrikes, hornbills and Blue-cheeked Bee-eaters.  We should also see good numbers of raptors from Bateleur and Brown Snake Eagles to Pygmy Falcons and Grey Kestrels, as well as enormous Saddle-billed Storks, the unique Hamerkop, Helmeted Guineafowl, francolins, coursers and sandgrouse.  Although less colourful, there will also be a wide variety cisticolas, camaropteras, pytilias, eremomelas, larks and pipits.

Day 5: Tarangire National Park and on towards Ngorongoro

We will spend part of the morning continuing our exploration of Tarangire National Park before heading to Gibb’s Farm on the edge of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where we will enjoy a splendid lunch. This property has lovely flower gardens and offers good birding in the grounds.

After lunch, you can opt to either enjoy downtime in the grounds or take a fairly easy hike into the forested Conservation Area to seek out more excellent birds where there is a long list of possibilities including everything from Crowned Eagles and Upland Buzzards to Abyssinian Hill Babblers, Yellow-bellied Waxbills, Stripe-cheeked Greenbuls, Black-throated Wattle-eye, Grey-capped and Brown Woodland Warblers, Bar-throated, Yellow-breasted and Brown-headed Apalises, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove; Klaas, Dideric and African Emerald Cuckoos, White-tailed Blue Flycatcher and much more.

After our walk, we transfer a very short distance to our overnight Lodge in Karatu. Night at Marera Lodge (or similar) Karatu

Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater

After an early breakfast, we will head for the entrance to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, eventually driving around the rim of the crater itself, which is sometimes known as “the eighth wonder of the world”.

We intend spend the full day inside crater and there is a steep one-way road which takes us down to the vast crater floor, where a resident population of Wildebeest, chunky Cape Buffalo, Thomson’s and Grant’s Gazelles, Common Zebra and Eland can be found.  These are ‘on the menu’ for high concentrations of predators, especially Lions and Hyenas, both of which can often be seen lounging about oblivious of our attentions.

Our main goal, however, will be to find and enjoy close views of some of the 15 to 20 Black Rhinoceros that survive here and as much of the crater is open, short-grass savannah, they are usually easy to find.

Birding in the crater is always very rewarding, with soda and fresh lakes and Yellow-bark Acacia forest to explore.  We may see African Fish-Eagle and Black Kites (helping themselves to our picnic if we are not careful!), huge Kori Bustards, migrating White and Abdim’s Storks, elegant Grey Crowned-Cranes, masses of Greater and Lesser Flamingos, brilliant Fan-tailed Widowbirds, Yellow Bishops, Speke’s Weaver and much more.

In the late afternoon, we will reluctantly exit the crater via the one-way ascent road to our nearby lodge where there is a very different habitat of forest cover.  This will be our highest elevation on the tour at around 6,500–7,000 feet above sea level.  Located on the top of the immense caldera of Ngorongoro Crater, here we will have the chance to find some of the special birds of the highland forests such as the gorgeous Bronze, Tacazze and Golden-winged Sunbirds.  Night at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge (or similar)

Day 7: Ndutu in The Serengeti

After what should have been an extremely memorable day, we will leave the Ngorongoro area as we continue our journey westwards to the Ndutu area of the eastern Serengeti, where we plan to arrive in the afternoon.

There is much to see along the way and we will be passing Maasai villages with herds of cattle, goats and sheep, sometimes mixing in with wild herbivores such as Wildebeest, Zebra and antelopes.

Descending onto the flatter plains at the edge of the Serengeti, we will arrive at the archaeological site of Olduvai Gorge where we intend to have our picnic lunch. Here, we can pay homage to our ancestors with a short visit to the field museum overlooking the layered rocks of the gorge where we can ponder the life and times of the early hominids.

We will be in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area throughout the day and driving for many miles across open short grass plains, with the potential to encounter herds of migratory Wildebeest, Thomson’s and Grant’s Gazelles, Common Zebra and their attendant predators, along with great birding.

We may be travelling off road, or along well-maintained gravel tracks that continue beyond all horizons.  As we drive, we will be able to appreciate the huge scale of this ecosystem that we will be travelling through for the next few days, all the more remarkable for being so preserved and almost completely intact.

While enjoying our evening meal at the lodge, we should be entertained by a family of Large-spotted Genets that come into the open lodge buildings after dark.  Two nights at Ndutu Lodge

Day 8: Ndutu in The Serengeti

We plan to spend a full day based in the Ndutu area, probably returning to the lodge for lunch.  As we explore the southern Serengeti ecosystem, we may witness one of the world’s greatest wildlife spectacles in progress with migrating Wildebeest on the move and gathering prior to calving. These perform an annual 500-mile circular migration as they follow the rains and the resultant regeneration of green grasses all the way north to the Mara area of Kenya (in August), before heading back to rest on the short-grass plains of the south-east of Serengeti.

It is on the Serengeti that they calve and rear their young to a stage where they can move on north and west in May or June.

Hopefully, our visit will coincide with large herds passing through and we may see the spectacle of five species of vultures scavenging and cleaning up the leftovers of any kills.

The open grassland and scant acacia scrub also hold brightly coloured and obvious birds including Ostriches, Secretarybirds, Lilac-breasted and European Rollers and Little Bee-eaters, along with raptors such as Long-crested Eagle, Dark and Pale Chanting Goshawks.  We will also look for Crowned and Blacksmith Plovers, Black-faced, Chestnut-bellied and Yellow-throated Sandgrouse.  The endemic Grey-breasted Spurfowl and Fischer’s Lovebird are generally common in this area, along with D’Arnaud’s Barbet, Green Wood Hoopoe, Cardinal and Nubian Woodpeckers, Beautiful and Mariqua Sunbirds and Wire-tailed Swallow.

Another of our goals will be finding Cheetahs and the short grass plains, with their abundance of smaller gazelles, is usually the best and most reliable place to find these elegant cats.  We can expect to also come across more Lions, Jackals and Spotted Hyenas and possibly Leopard, while there is always the possibility of smaller species such as Bat-eared Fox and Serval.

Day 9: Central Serengeti

Depending on what we have seen already and what we hear about on ‘the grapevine’, we can begin the day by either lingering longer in the Ndutu area or heading cross-country further into the Serengeti.  The open grassland and scant acacia scrub seem to go on forever in all directions and we plan to continue westwards for approximately 50 miles out across the seemingly unending Serengeti Plains to the central Seronera region.

Leaving the Ngorongoro Conservation Area behind, we will enter the contiguous Serengeti National Park and will probably take a picnic lunch with us to give maximum flexibility and allow us time to wander and visit any wildlife spectacles or concentrations on the way.

It is impossible to predict what surprises might dictate a temporary change of plan or route, so we will be as flexible as possible but can certainly expect a marvellous variety of birds and mammals including more Lions, Jackals, Spotted Hyenas and maybe further chances of Cheetahs and Leopard.

Our final destination will be a semi-permanent tented camp, usually with just 12 tents set up out on the acacia-studded slopes of the plains below in the very heart of the Serengeti National Park and ecosystem.  Two nights in Luxury Tented Camp

Day 10: Central Serengeti

The Serengeti is a vast preserve of 5,675 square miles, with a further 3,200 sq. miles protected in the surrounding Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the whole ecosystem is about the size of Belgium!

The Seronera River area with its braided small meandering streams has associated riverine or gallery forest of Yellowbark Acacias (“fever” trees) and here we will look for wallowing Hippopotami, secretive Bohor Reedbuck and Nile Crocodiles and a great variety of bird species.  This is also prime ‘Leopard country’ and we will do all we can to ensure we see this impressive animal, as we enjoy large herds of Cape Buffalo and smaller numbers of Topi and Coke’s Hartebeest.

We will spend the whole day in this rich region (taking a well-earned break in the middle of the day) working our way slowly out across the Serengeti Plains to wherever has the best mammal-watching and birding opportunities.  We have time to wander, ponder and take photographs, and visit any wildlife spectacles or concentrations on the way.

At times we will be amongst kopjes (pronounced “copys”), large isolated, weather-smoothed and rounded lumps of granite, some of which are the size of large houses. These interrupt the vast flatness of the plains and provide shelter and shade for all sorts of wildlife.

Day 11: Arusha and depart Tanzania

We may have time to make a short, final game-drive before heading to the local airstrip from where we will fly in a small plane (probably a 15-25 seater) back to the domestic airport in Arusha where we will be met and transferred to the nearby “Cultural Heritage Centre” for lunch.  We will then drive to the KIA Lodge which is a few minutes from the international airport where we will have access to day rooms to repack, wash and brush up, before the late evening flight homewards.

Day 12:  Arrival in UK

Arrival back in the UK, where our birds and mammals tour to Tanzania concludes.

We will be traveling in a specially built 4-wheel drive Landcruiser driven by an expert local driver/guide who will be very knowledgeable about the birds and wildlife of Tanzania.  The seating is configured with 3 rows of 2 seats allowing everyone plenty of space and a window.  There is a pop-up roof allowing participants to stand up and enjoy a full 360° view.