Sherpa Walking Holidays: Safari Extentention

Tour code: AMT
Revised: November 2009

map Tanzania is famous for its wildlife before its mountains and beaches. It would be a great shame to come all this way and to not see any of it other than the ants climbing Kilimanjaro! These Safari Extensions are designed just for you: There is your own dedicated vehicle with a driver - guide throughout and within the parameters of the holiday, you will be able to dictate, within reason, what is seen and how long you spend. When you are tired you can move on to the campsite and rest.

The best parks for wildlife viewing reasonably near to Moshi are Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro. Our first experience is driving out of Moshi, then past the busy administrative town of Arusha and out through the Maasai homelands. These are areas of golden Acacia plain and red earth spiked with termite hills. Soon you will arrive at Tarangire National Park, an important dry season game area.

From Tarangire it is a short drive to the one place where you are likely to see the "Big Five" Safari animals (Leopard, Lion, Buffalo, Elephant and Rhino) that lurk around in the huge 265km square Ngorongoro Crater. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is an ecological wonder - an extension of the Serengeti National Park. The animals can move in and out of the crater, rather like the colorful Maasai who send in their animals to graze. However largely because of the terrain, many animals stay where they are and move around within the crater. So here you have an estimated 30,000 animals held captive by the walls of the ancient volcano hunting and foraging on its floor, lounging around in its watering holes, or flying around the crater rim. The show never stops, but when you are ready to, you can be assured of a comfortable night at our campsite. Take in a "Sundowner" and take plenty of photographs!

The tour returns towards Moshi, via Manyara, a beautiful Lakeland park located between the cliffs of the Great Rift Valley and Lake Manyara. There are several types of grassland and forest habitat, and you will see hippos, giraffes, zebras and monkeys, you may see sleeping tree lions lounging in the branches, with their legs and paws dangling in the air and you will certainly see elephants as this park has the highest density of them in Africa at 7 per square km. Then there are all the birds: no less than 380 recorded species, making this one of the most densely radiated avian environments on Earth.

Either before or after your Kilimanjaro or Mt. Meru Mountain trip, you are welcome to take a Safari starting from our hotel at Springlands, near Moshi. We can run these trips for as few as two people whenever you like. The Sherpa brochure advertises a basic 4-day Safari, which includes time transferring between Moshi and the parks and return, but we can organise longer trips for you. This flexibility, the fact that you have the Safari to yourselves, (i.e. you don’t have another 12 people in your vehicle to worry about getting in the way of your zoom lenses!) and the cost of Tanzanian park fees are reflected in the cost of this extension.

If you are flying out on an early morning flight from Kilimanjaro Airport at the end of the tour, we would recommend that you have an extra night in Springlands, just in case there are delays on your return journey from the parks.

In the morning after breakfast at Springlands on the first day, you will be whisked away in your personal safari vehicle with your driver /guide. You will proceed to the first game park, have a packed lunch and do a game drive. You will then arrive at your overnight accommodation, which is always a good quality campsite, where you will settle in and have a fine meal. On most safaris the optimum time for game viewing is early morning and just before dusk, most people decide to have a fairly early night so that they are alert for the morning game drive. At these times the animals are much more active, easier to spot and the warm - unilateral light is generally excellent for photography. After a morning drive and breakfast it will be time to make the most of the inactive period to drive over to the next park and so on. All that is left for you to do is to enjoy yourself and to make the most of the game viewing and photographic opportunities.

A pretty easygoing tour, you may be able to stroll around in some sections of the parks, but otherwise it is time to relax and take things in.

Across the plains and in the game parks it can get quite hot, from the 20s to up in the 30s degree C during the day, it is largely a Savannah and Forest Savannah type of environment. During the evenings the temperature drops to a pleasant “Sit around the terrace with a drink” type temperature, and can even be chilly at times. (Remember to bring long sleeved cotton shirts and trousers and mosquito repellent for the evenings).

This is on a twin share basis with comfortable tents, with evening meal and a packed lunch supplied.

This itinerary is intended as a working guide only and may be subject to variation as a result of local conditions and weather.

q Day 1: Drive from Springlands Hotel in Moshi to Tarangire National Park, lunch en-route. Afternoon game drive in Tarangire. This is a beautiful park filled with baobabs and acacias, with a large variety of game such as zebras, elephants, giraffes, and waterbuck. All the animals enjoy the water coming from the Tarangire River. The animals are best viewed during the dry season, including elephant herd, elands, orynx, lesser kudo, rhino, leopard , lions, and cheetahs, The birdlife is varied and plentyful. You can also see the very rare roam antelope in this park.

q Day 2: Short drive to Ngorongoro Crater. Half-day game drive in the crater. This is undoubtedly the best place to see Black Rhino in Tanzania as well as the prides of lion that include the magnificent black maned male variety. There are often lots of colorful flamingoes and the variety of water birds. Other game, such as leopard, cheetah, hyena and members of the antelope family and small mammals of all sorts can also be seen. Dinner and overnight near Karatu or Simba campsites or Twiga campsites.

q Day 3: Option 1 : Morning hike in the Southern Ngorongoro Conservation area to the elephant cave and waterfall. In the afternoon visit of the Iraqw tribe cultural centre in Karatu to learn how the tribe protected their cattle from Maasai incursions using underground setttlements. Dinner and overnight at Simba or Twiga campsites.

Option 2 : Alternatively you can drive to the green village of Mto Wa Mbu to visit plantations and irrigation systems.

q Day 4: Drive to Lake Manyara for a morning game drive in the park. Then in the afternoon drive to the airport to catch a flight back home.

Generally you should bring khaki, mousy-beige or mossy hue type cottons to blend into the environment. Cottons are good because they breathe, and long sleeves and zip on leggings will protect you from the sun, insects etc. A good hat is recommended, you can also, with care, use it as a lens hood for your photography. “Akubra” hats are the best we have come across but they are pricey and don’t fold up. “Tiley” hats are also good and can be squashed; “Panamas” are excellent too! Cool but strong footwear such as “Safari Boots” are recommended. Bring more film or memory cards than you think you will need. Higher speeds: 200-400ASA work better at these times of day for the Safaris and with the longer lenses. Make sure that if you are using digital cameras, videos etc. you have spare fully charged batteries and storage capacity. Bring a monopod or tripod. Don’t forget to take your anti malaria tablets and put mosquito repellent on during game drives.

All road transportation as specified in the itinerary. Full board accommodation on safari, services of driver -guide.

Drinks, bottled water, clothing or hire of any equipment, tips, personal toiletry requirements, insurance and all items of a personal nature, passport, insurance, visas, immunization fees, airport taxes (allow $30 for taxes).

Tipping: Needless to say that the driver- guide will expect a tip. A guide line would be around $25 a day per couple.

You should carry a reasonably comprehensive medical kit with you, including First Aid supplies like basic dressings (including burns dressing), Asprin, Ibuprufin, antihistamine cream or tablets, antiseptic cream, skin closures, Iodine Tincture solution and your Malaria tablets. You do need to have a valid certificate of vaccination for Yellow Fever in Tanzania.

Visas: For Tanzania British citizens need a visa bought before departure from the Tanzanian Embassy for £40. Details in Pre departure information other nationalities should check for their requirements.

There are too many maps, guides and coffee table books to mention…. so we won’t! You will see them being sold at the lodges, hotels and the airport. A great book with historical photographs, which really laments all the hunting that has occurred in east Africa, is: “The End of The Game” by Peter Beard. The book shows what has been lost and concentrates on the Kenyan - Tanzanian border, but is an educational and handsome volume to grace any shelf. There are also the classic hunting bio-epics such as “The Green Hills of Africa” by Hemmingway, a good yarn as he sadly goes around shooting everything that moves in the pre World War II East African bush. If anything it shows a morally thread-bear attitude to wildlife and ecology that still exists today in some quarters. Luckily perhaps (without trying to offend Hemmingway devotees), he got bored with shooting wildlife, went on to fishing, got bored with that and then shot himself!