12 Days Tanzania Wildlife Photography Itinerary

Welcome to Tanzania – Your preferred destination for photographic safaris! Upon arrival in Tanzania this evening, you will be met by your safari guide and transferred to The Arusha Hotel.

After breakfast, depart, driving leisurely heading  to Tarangire National Park. This is the 3rd largest national park in Tanzania – an amazing  park, that covers an area of 2,600 sq km. Tarangire is known for its gigantic baobab trees that appear as if they are upside down with roots facing the sky, especially during the dry season.

The park is named after the Tarangire River that rises in the highlands of central Tanzania and winds its way through the game sanctuary. The river irresistibly lures the herds of plains’ migrants from the parched surrounding area to its shrunken – but permanent – brackish waters during the dry season. Dinner and overnight at Kikoti Tented Camp.

Tarangire National Park. After breakfast, you will explore Tarangire National Park and the large herds of elephant that reside there. Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in the park. Dinner and overnight at Kikoti Tented Camp.

After breakfast, leave for lake Manyara. Along the way, you will stop for picnic lunch.

Lake Manyara National Park lies in a depressed valley with brown and red cliffs of the escarpment rising strikingly on one side. Springs rise up from the base of the escarpment, providing a welcome water supply. Game drive en-route to your lodge. Dinner and overnight Lake Manyara Kilimamoja Lodge.

You enjoy a full day of safari activities and photography at Lake Manyara.
This lake has  recorded more than 380 species of birds including the hadada ibis, saddle-bill stork, Hottentot teal, plover and African pied wagtail. As you game view through the ground water forest, look for the playful vervet monkeys searching for food at the top of the trees.  This is a perfect location for wildlife photographers.

Later in the afternoon, visit Mto wa Mbu Village, a trading center that has been active for more than two centuries. It is also the place where the famous American hunter Ernest Hemmingway used to live. In addition to providing a unique cultural experience, Mto wa Mbu Village is one of the only places where you can hear Bantu, Nilotic, Hamitic and Cushitic dialects, all being spoken in the same place. Overnight at Lake Manyara Kilimamoja Lodge.

Today, you depart with packed lunches heading for the Serengeti. There is a stop over at the Olduvai Gorge, the site of Dr. & Mrs. LSB Leakey’s discovery of Zinjanthropus boisei. Here, you will enjoy a short talk from one of the Deputies of Antiquities who will explain to you what has been done and what continues to happen.

The Gorge was discovered accidentally by a German butterfly collector, Professor Kattwinkle, in 1911. However, it was not until 1959 that Dr. Mary Leakey unearthed the Zinj skull believed to be 1.8 million years old. After the gorge, you will proceed to your private mobile tented camp. Settle into your camp before heading out for an afternoon of game viewing. The short grass plains of the Serengeti combined with an abundant source of food in large herds of zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo, make the Serengeti an ideal place to spot cheetah on the hunt. Dinner and overnight Chaka Camp Serengeti.

Enjoy full days in the expansive Serengeti plains, with game drives and other safari activities.   All meals at Chaka Camp, Serengeti.

Your drive this morning takes you to Olduvai Gorge for a brief visit to one of archaeology’s most historic discoveries. After excavating the site for more than 28 years, Mary and Louis Leakey unearthed one of the world’s most dramatic discoveries- the partial skull of ‘Nutcracker Man’- dating back 1.75 million years. Their later discovery of Homo habilis (Handy Man) added to the debate of the origins of the first human. Continue to Ngorongoro Crater for the night. Dinner and overnight Pakulala Camp Ngorongoro.

After breakfast, descend into the Ngorongoro Crater for a full day of tour and photography.

The crater comprises 100 square miles of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and supports more than 25,000 mammals. Grazers like zebras and wildebeest dominate the landscape, but giraffes are notably absent as there is insufficient food to support them. Enjoy a full day of game viewing and photography on the crater’s floor. In the early evening, get out of the Crater and drive to Karatu area.  Dinner and overnight stay is at Gibbs Farm.

Enjoy a full day of activities in the farm. Take part in walking safari, mountain biking etc.  Dinner and overnight at Gibbs Farm.

Tour Price Per Person

Single Room Supplement – US$812 per person

Rates are subject to change with notice.