Trip Itinerary
Arusha
Today you’ll arrive in Tanzania, where your first day is at Rivertrees Country Inn on the outskirts of Arusha. Once an old coffee farm, the lodge feels like a relaxed homestead with cottage-style accommodations dotted around the estate, some overlooking the riverbank, and stunning gardens full of bougainvillaea and flame trees. You’ll have access to the large outdoor swimming pool and deck overlooking the Usa River, or you can book in for a massage at the spa to relax after your flight. Family-friendly dining includes pizzas from the wood-burning oven and home-style cooking with ingredients picked fresh from the gardens. Time permitting, a guided river walk is included in your rate, or for a supplement, take a mountain bike ride up into the trails of Mount Meru, enjoy a coffee tour, or spend a few hours canoeing on Lake Duluti.
Tarangire National Park
Depart Arusha for Tarangire, where Olkeri Camp delivers a great-value bush camp experience just outside the national park. This location in a private concession makes for a uniquely varied safari, where activities include night game drives, guided walking safaris, and fly-camping in the wild as part of the camp’s Adventure Package. Furthermore, Olkeri is one of the few camps in the area where you’ll have authentic cultural interactions with the Maasai, as the land within the Randilen Wildlife Management Area is community-owned. If you’re interested in learning a bit about Maasai culture, this is a great place to start! You can also spend a full day in Tarangire National Park, with a picnic lunch, for a broader perspective on the area and its wildlife. The camp overlooks a busy waterhole, so you’ll often catch animals passing through, including elephant, buffalo, zebra, giraffe, and perhaps even the odd lion. By night, gather round for sundowners beneath a giant baobab tree, followed by a family bush dinner beneath the stars.
Lake Manyara National Park
Your adventure continues in Lake Manyara National Park, where Wayo Manyara Green Camp provides a fantastic eco-friendly base located near to a waterfall, in a remote section overlooking the Endabash River. There’s a brilliant variety of family-focused activities here, from mountain biking and tuk-tuk tours past banana plantations and local villages to exciting night game drives where you may be lucky enough to spot rarely seen nocturnal creatures. You can also take a guided walk up to the waterfall. Wildlife highlights on morning and afternoon game drives in Lake Manyara National Park include lion, elephant, large buffalo herds, Maasai giraffe, and excellent birdlife. For a different perspective, the treetop canopy walk offers a bird's-eye view of this ancient forest, while a canoe safari on the lake adds a fun, water-based element available to kids aged 8 and above (both at an additional cost). End the day with sundowners and dinner on a dry riverbed, while your tents have cleverly designed retractable roofs for nights of stargazing straight from your beds.
Lake Eyasi
Next up, you’ll head to the edge of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where Entara’s small Kisima Ngeda Camp overlooks the shores of seasonal Lake Eyasi. This is Hadza country, and you’ll have ample opportunity to interact with and learn about their ancient and enduring hunter–gatherer lifestyle, in which women gather honey and edible plants while men still hunt with handmade bows and arrows. For a deeper cultural experience, you can even spend a night at a fly camp in the wilderness areas inhabited by both the Hadza and the Datoga peoples. Consider this a slow safari experience, where the doum palm groves are home to diverse birdlife, including the bright-green-and-orange Fischer’s lovebird. Just after the rains, you might even spot flamingos as they migrate in search of nutrient-rich alkaline waters, though do note that this is unpredictable and entirely dependent on the season. You’ll spend your days on guided forest walks, hiking the scenic Barai Gorge or the Yasaneda Ridge with the Hadza, birding on the lake shore, and exploring the local village, all included in your Adventure Package nightly rate.
The Serengeti
Your last three nights take you straight to the heart of the Serengeti with a stay at low-impact Wayo Serengeti Green Camp. This experience focuses entirely on the bush, with a classic, back-to-nature ethos that reflects the original explorer-style safari. Wayo Serengeti shadows the Great Migration, moving twice each year to ensure you’re always close to the wildlife highlights. In the south, the calving season takes place from December to April, when you’ll catch plenty of predators moving in for the chase. Meanwhile, the height of the action occurs during the river crossings in the north between June and October, when you’ll be perfectly placed to experience the most dramatic Great Migration sightings without the crowds. If you have kids aged 12 and over, guided walking safaris are also an option, when you can book a private vehicle to explore remote corners on foot and make a full day of it! For some truly unforgettable family moments, opt for a sunrise hot-air balloon flight and glide over the Serengeti at dawn (an additional cost applies).
