Day 1: Arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport
“KARIBU TANZANIA,” which is Swahili for “welcome to Tanzania,” will be one of the first phrases you hear when arriving to the airport. After handling all the necessary paperwork, a tour guide from Broadleaf Adventures will pick you up at the Kilimanjaro International Airport and drive you to a hotel in the city of Arusha where you can relax, take in the city’s breathtaking views, and enjoy a restful night’s sleep while waiting for your safari to start the following day.
Day 2: Arusha to Lake Manyara National park
You’ll leave Arusha with your packed lunchbox for Lake Manyara after a delicious breakfast and a briefing from your tour guide. You will pass through some breathtaking scenery along the way. The lake takes up the largest portion of the park’s entire land area. The complex ecology supports a wide variety of wildlife species, including the Big Five—lions, elephants, leopards, rhinoceroses, and buffalo—as well as other rare and endangered species. Additionally, there are acacia trees, broad grasslands, and groundwater forests around the lake’s shore.
In the early afternoon, you’ll stop for a picnic lunch in a designated area while enjoying the park’s stunning vistas. The park, which is renowned for its mysterious tree-climbing lions that live in the forest between the lake and the Rift Valley, can be explored on a second game drive. During the game, drive and keep an eye out for baboons, blue monkeys, impalas, buffalo, and giraffes.
More than 400 different bird species have been recorded there, making it a bird lover’s heaven. Your tour guide will drive you to a lodge for dinner and an overnight stay after all of the day’s adventures.
Day 3: Lake Manyara National park to Serengeti National Park
Your guide will take you to Serengeti National Park across the picturesque high-lying fields of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area after an excellent breakfast at your lodge. We proceed with our journey into Africa’s heartland, the Serengeti National Park, leaving the highlands behind, where endless plains spread as far as the eye can see. Once you arrive in the Serengeti, a wildlife drive will begin, and it will last until midday before a lunch break.
After eating and taking a short break, you’ll resume your game drive across the plains in pursuit of a more extensive game. Your guide will take you to a lodge in the Serengeti for delicious dinner and a restful night after all of your adventures.
Day 4: Serengeti Central area
Early in the morning, an African breakfast will be provided, followed by a full-day game drive in the renowned Serengeti, where you might observe a variety of species in the boundless plains.
In the early afternoon, you’ll stop for a picnic lunch, then continue with your game viewing while keeping an eye out for exotic animals. Wildebeest, zebra, impala, gazelles, and other herbivores share the Serengeti’s water and short grass. Large predators, including lions, leopards, and cheetahs, are drawn to the presence of a large number of herbivorous species Following the thrilling activities of the day, your guide will take you to a lodge for dinner and a restful night.
Day 5: Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Again, an early start, but we promise it will be worthwhile. After a delectable breakfast, your guide will pick you up and drive you to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Because Olduvai Gorge is home to some of the earliest known human remains, historians and archaeologists may find it of interest.
Our genetic ancestors lived in this region about two million years ago, and we are still learning about our origins. We can also visit the Maasai Boma to observe their way of life and take in authentic African culture. We continue the drive after lunch while snapping photos of the breathtaking panoramas from the crater’s rim. Your guide will take you to the lodge for dinner and the night following your day’s adventures.
Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater to Tarangire
Today will also be a quick start, as you’ll depart after a delicious breakfast for a Crater tour. We’ll stop along the way to see a traditional Maasai hamlet, enjoy some traditional dancing, and get a sense of life on the African plains. Then we descend to the crater’s floor in search of more major games.
On the crater floor, at one of the many options near the Hippo Pool, you will enjoy your picnic lunch in the late afternoon. After we finish the day’s activities, we will leave the crater and your guide will drive you to a lodge in Tarangire National Park for a delicious dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 7: Tarangire National Park to Arusha
After an ample breakfast, we set out on our last game drive through the Tarangire National Park. African elephants, the biggest animals on the planet, are famous and are often encountered in Tarangire. The well-known Baobab trees, which resemble shrubs, are also found throughout the park. Enjoy your picnic lunch in the Tarangire National Park in the early afternoon. After spending a few hours exploring Tarangire, we will start our journey back to Arusha. Enjoy a delicious meal and spend the night at your hotel in Arusha before departing the next day for your adventure to the Zanzibar Islands.
Day 8: Arusha Airport to Zanzibar
Your final day on the mainland of Tanzania, you may choose to take a quick town tour or visit the Maasai market to explore and possibly even buy a few things. You will then take a flight from the Arusha Airport to Zanzibar. One of our guides will meet you when you arrive in Zanzibar and take you to a lodge where you will stay for the night and enjoy a great supper.
Day 9 & 10: Cultural Excursions in Zanzibar
It’s a wonderful day on Spice Islands! After a delicious breakfast, your tour guide will take you to Stone Town in Zanzibar. There are lots of activities available, including visits to the spice and prison islands. On a full-day tour, you will view the Old Town’s most picturesque areas. The usage of coral stone as the primary building material gave birth to the town’s name, which has a long cultural background.
As East Africa’s ancient city, the origins and ramifications of history may be sensed at each stop down the route. Later in the afternoon, you’ll take a moment for lunch for a taste of real Swahili food. Following lunch, you will make your way to the Palace Museum, which was the Sultan’s palace, beginning at the House of Wonders, one of Stone Town’s most well-known attractions.
The Fred Mercury House, the Dr. Livingstone House, the Arab Fort, and the Hamamni Persian Baths are among several other highlights in this wonderful town. Following the completion of all adventures, your guide will take you to the lodge where you will spend the night and have supper.
Day 11: Beach Activities
Would you be interested in swimming or snorkeling with dolphins? You’re headed in the right destination if you end up in Zanzibar Island. Following a superb breakfast, you will head to the Nungwi turtle sanctuary and aquarium, where you will have the chance to swim with and pet the turtles. The memory of it remains with you forever. Following a quick lunch break and some rest in the late afternoon, you’ll proceed with your afternoon program.
You can then take a trip to Matemwe Island to go snorkeling and scuba diving. After that, unwind on the beach for a while before being brought back to the lodge for an exquisite dinner and a night’s stay.
Day 12: Departure
Before being taken to the airport for your return flight home, be sure to pick up any last-minute gifts and wave a heartfelt goodbye to the serene blue waters of Zanzibar and Africa after an awesome breakfast.