Budget Tanzania Tour - 6 Days

Tour Briefing 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 nearby Arusha National Park, where we will enjoy a walking safari before lunch, then first taking to the water for our canoeing safari and then an afternoon game drive. In the evening, we will return to your Arusha accommodation (see above) for your dinner, and to spend the night.

Journey: (morning) Arusha to Arusha National Park From your Arusha accommodation, the journey to Arusha National Park will take around 1½ hours (40km).

Day’s Highlight Take your pick! Africa under foot, or on the water, or from the comfort of your vehicle!

Walking Safari in Arusha National Park

Accompanied by a park ranger, we will choose from a number of routes, depending on what this small but beautiful park has to offer today and how far you might want to walk. Your park ranger might show you the deep holes dug by aardvarks, or explain how an acacia tree emits a warning scent to other acacias! Be on the lookout for zebra, duiker, giraffe and hippo. The black-and-white colobus monkey is a favourite in this park, while in the skies, egrets and sacred ibis can often be observed. Even the trees have a story to tell. You might meet the aptly named strangler fig, which sucks the life out of other trees. pends years sucking the life out of its victim – perhaps an unsuspecting juniper. You might encounter warthog and buffalo, often seen together, with the former possessing a good sense of sight and hearing, while the buffalo relies on smell to alert to impending danger. A perfect symbiosis.

You might also have the chance to visit one of the park’s picturesque waterfalls, such as Talulusia, as it plummets 30 metres down to a rocky base.

After our walking safari, we will enjoy our well-earned lunch, before our afternoon activities.

Canoeing Safari in Arusha National Park As colourful dragonflies buzz around this small lake, a birdwatcher’s paradise you will take to the water for a different type of adventure. But it’s not insects, but hippos which are the big attraction here. Very territorial, they will let you know with a threatening bellow if your canoe gets too close! In the distance, magnificent Mount Meru might show its summit above the clouds. Perhaps a few flamingos might put on a little air display, taking off, circling seemingly pointlessly and then returning to the water surface. Everywhere, a sense of calm prevails…yet the thought of the giant three-tonne hippos being out there, somewhere, leaves us with a sense of nervousness.

Afternoon Game Drive in Arusha National Park

It may be small, but Arusha National Park can boast numerous highlights, which your morning activities will have demonstrated! But this afternoon, we will relax in our vehicle as your driver-guide shows you the rest of what this little gem has to offer.

And its areas are impressively different, with Mount Meru towering above the Momela Lakes, the montane forest area and the perfectly formed crater of Ngurdoto. In some ways, this is a Tanzania in miniature!

Accommodation After our day’s activities in Arusha National Park, we will return you to your Arusha accommodation (see above) so you can relax, enjoy your dinner and get a good night’s rest.

Meal plan Breakfast is enjoyed at the Arusha Planet Lodge. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the hotel for you to take out on safari. Your dinner will be a full, cooked meal provided by the hotel at the Arusha Planet Lodge.

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.

Accommodation

Publicly operated by the Tanzania National Parks Authority, Tarangire Public Campsite lies inside the park itself. The campsite is unfenced, which means that animal visitors are a possibility here! Toilet facilities and showers are available, though note that there is only cold water at this campsite. Your meals will be prepared for you by our Easy Travel staff.

At night, entertainment will be provided by the sounds of the wildlife as you fall asleep under the star-filled African skies. This is real adventure-time!

Meal plan Breakfast is enjoyed at Arusha Planet Lodge. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the hotel for you to take out on safari. Your dinner will be a full, cooked meal provided by our safari chef at the Tarangire Public Campsite.

Journey: (morning) Tarangire National Park to Lake Manyara (afternoon) After our morning, en-route game-drive as we depart magical Tarangire, we will travel from there to Lake Manyara, where we will take lunch, enjoy an afternoon game drive and spend the night. Our travel time is around 2 ½ hours (139km).

Day’s Highlight Your game drive in wonderful Lake Manyara, with the Rift Valley escarpment and the lake itself as the wonderful, natural backdrops.

Safari (Game Drive) in Lake Manyara National Park After our lunch, we jump in our vehicle to cover the highlights of this park. Set against the rugged Rift Valley escarpment, and characterised by its shimmering lake, Manyara is rich in vegetation and the wildlife that thrives here. Enjoy the tranquillity as majestic pink flamingos wade elegantly, picking out a meal of algae from the shallow, alkaline waters. On land, Manyara’s terrain is compact, yet boasts differing environments such as diverse forests fed by waters seeping from the nearby escarpment. Monkeys are abundant, but look out too for the lions, giraffe, warthog and grumpy Cape buffalo who all call this park ‘home’. Hold your nose when we reach the hippo pool, because these big lumps smell!

Accommodation

Set on the edge of bustling Mto wa Mbu town, the home to a mix of Tanzania’s colourful tribes, Twiga Public Campsite provides organised, spacious camping facilities with a grassy area for the tents. There’s an on-site bar, restaurant, shop and curio shop. Campers here can make use of the pleasant pool.

There are toilet and washing facilities, access to Wi-Fi and even the possibility to enjoy a massage.

Meal plan Breakfast is enjoyed at Tarangire Public Campsite. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by our safari chef for you to take out on safari. Your dinner will be a full, cooked meal provided by our safari chef at the Twiga Public Campsite.

Journey: (morning) Lake Manyara National Park to Ngorongoro (afternoon) After lunch, our afternoon journey will lead us north-west to Ngorongoro, with a journey time of 2 ½ hours (96km), but first we have the excitement of spending time on a walking safari in beautiful Lake Manyara National Park. With its dramatic escarpment, lush forest – and, of course, its lake – this is a place rich in wildlife.

Day’s Highlight Your walking safari in wonderful Lake Manyara National Park, with the Rift Valley escarpment and the shimmering lake itself as the wonderful, natural backdrops.

Lake Manyara Walking Safari

Our morning walking safari gets you very quickly into the safari mood. Accompanied by a park ranger, you will be so close to Mother Nature, discovering wonders too small to see from a 4x 4 vehicle. Perhaps your guide and ranger will explain the importance of the rhino-horned dung beetle, or exchange bird calls with the sulphur-breasted bull shrike. Maybe you’ll taste a desert date, a popular snack for monkeys! And all the time, you’ll feel the tension that only a walking safari can bring: the desire to find large mammals conflicting with the need to stay safe!

In silence, in single file, you’ll make your way through the bush, perhaps stumbling across a giraffe chomping on high branches or a herd of elephants grazing gently. Don’t worry, your ranger is an expert: your safety is his chief concern.

After our walk – and, of course, our lunch – we set off to Ngorongoro where we will spend the night.

Accommodation

Imagine tall trees, clear starry skies, the sounds of animals shuffling nearby at night-time. Welcome to Ngorongoro Simba Campsite, the public campsite based on the crater rim above stunning Ngorongoro Crater. This is a simple place, a great location in the middle of nature and just a short distance from the beating heart of the famous Conservation Area.

Here, you can sit by your tent and marvel at the surroundings or chat to your companions in one of the communal spaces provided at this public campsite. Washing and toilet facilities are basic here and as these are shared facilities, the cleanliness can suffer a bit when the campsite is busy. Guests dine together in a common dining area. Most important of all, don’t forget that the site is located at an altitude of 2300 metres (7546 feet). It can be very cold at night, so warm clothes are absolutely essential here!

Meal plan Breakfast is enjoyed at Twiga Public Campsite. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by our safari chef for you to take out on safari. Your dinner will be a full, cooked meal provided by our safari chef at the Ngorongoro Simba Campsite.