TANZANIA: TARANGIRE SAFARI + SERENGETI + NGORONGORO in Tanzania

Facilities available

Wheelchair access

Description

10 NIGHTS

(From £5,995.00 per person sharing, flights quoted separately)

This wonderful wheelchair disabled safari to Tanzania offers some of the best wildlife in the world, including the elephants of Tarangire & Big Five game viewing in the Ngorongoro Crater and on the open plains of Serengeti National Park - home to the famous wildebeest migration & an array of big cats and other predators. English speaking guide, all accessible hotels, transfers, & game viewing included.

Highlights

• Wheelchair Disabled Safari, Tanzania
• Tarangire Elephants
• Serengeti Plains
• Accessible Hotels & Transfers
• Mount Kilimanjaro
• Ngorongoro Crater
• Birding & Photography
• Arusha
• Big 5 Game Drives
• Wildebeest Migration

Day 1

You will be met at Kilimanjaro Airport and transferred 1-hour to the coffee-producing town of Arusha in the northern highlands.

Situated in the foothills of the twin peaks of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro, this was formerly an important administrative centre in German East Africa.

Note: Accessible accommodation in Tanzania is still in its developmental stages, so please accept there will be some obstacles, but your guide will be on hand to assist you.

Day 2

This morning we depart from Arusha and drive 2.5-hours to Tarangire National Park.

One of the least visited of Tanzania's northern game parks, this wonderful wildlife reserve is renowned for its huge herds of elephants and giant baobab trees. We spend the day game viewing in this park, with included picnic lunch.

At the end of the day we check into our lodge and enjoy the amazing spectacle of an East African sunset.

Day 3

Today enjoy game drives in the scenic Tarangire National Park, a huge wildlife conservation area of over 1,000 square miles (2,800 sq. km) which is known for its walking safaris.

The dense bush and hilly terrain is dominated by the perennial Tarangire River, which attracts large numbers of migrating animals during the dry months, especially between June and November. This park is home to the largest concentration of elephants in the country as well as large herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland. You can also hope to see giraffe, ostrich, warthog, oryx, kudu, waterbuck, baboons, vervet monkeys, terrapins, hippo (in the south of the park) and much more. Birdlife is also abundant, with over 550 different recorded species including the hoopoe and white-backed vulture.

There is also the option of visiting a Maasai village and lodges located inside the park offer night drives, searching for nocturnal animals by spotlight.

Note: If you are tall and remain in your chair for your game drives, please be aware there will be some restrictions on your viewing due to the height of the windows in the accessible vehicle. There are no restrictions if you transfer into one of the regular seats.

Day 4

Today we leave Tarangire and travel 2-hours across the Great Rift Valley to beautiful Lake Manyara.

On arrival enjoy a picnic lunch and game drive in Lake Manyara National Park, a heavily forested park surrounding a shallow alkaline lake. Bird watching is the main activity as the vegetation is very dense, making spotting general wildlife difficult - but giraffe, elephant, impala, dik dik and the rare tree-climbing lion are found around the lake. Greater (white) and Lesser (pink) flamingos and pods of hippo congregate where rivers run into the lake and there are large populations of olive baboons, vervet and blue monkeys.

At the end of the day we check into our lodge perched on the edge of the Rift Valley, with views over distant Lake Manyara.

Day 5

Today we travel 5-hours from Lake Manyara to your safari lodge in the great Serengeti (meaning 'Endless Plains'), with amazing game viewing along the way.

Serengeti National Park is a World Heritage site that hosts the largest overland wildlife migration in the world. Between January and March over 500,000 young wildebeest are born on the southern Ndutu Plains over a period of a few short weeks - a truly spectacular sight. Depending upon the rains, around April the great migration starts as over two million wildebeest, accompanied by huge herds of zebra and gazelle, travel over 500 miles northwards across the hills of the western Serengeti and across the treacherous crocodile-filled Grumeti and Mara Rivers to the open plains and rich grasslands of the Masai Mara in Kenya. In October these vast herds start moving southwards again, returning once more to the Ndutu Plains to give birth.

Days 6 To 7

Today is devoted to game viewing in the famous Serengeti National Park and adjacent concessions - one of the greatest wildlife conservation areas in the world.

At over 12,000 square miles (30,000 sq. km), this vast game park is the size of Belgium and 20 times larger than the neighbouring Masai Mara reserve in Kenya, which it adjoins to form an enormous wilderness area through which animals can freely migrate, unrestricted by any fences. Lying between Lake Victoria to the west, Lake Eyasi to the south, the Great Rift Valley to the east and the Masai Mara to the north, the landscape of the Serengeti varies enormously - from the endless open grassy plains of the south, to savanna with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly wooded grasslands to the north and dense woodlands and clay pans to the west. All of this is interspersed with many small rivers, lakes and wetlands.

With more than 70 large mammals and over 500 other animal species, including great herds of wildebeest and zebra and the largest number of lions in Africa, outstanding game viewing is guaranteed on a scale only seen in East Africa. All the Big Five can be found here - elephant, lion, buffalo, rhino and leopard - as well as cheetah, hyena, giraffe, Thomson's gazelle, Grant's gazelle, waterbuck, porcupine, jackal, serval, ostrich, eland, impala, dik-dik, Bohor reedbuck, hartebeest, hyrax, wild dog, hippo, crocodiles, dwarf mongoose and so much more. As predators are most active in the early morning and late afternoon, this is when game viewing is usually the most rewarding.

Bird watching is also outstanding, with over 600 different recorded species. You can hope to see the Kori bustard which is the largest flying bird in Africa, the majestic Secretary bird, Marabou stork, Southern ground hornbill, White-headed vulture, African hoopoe, Fischer's lovebird, Grey-breasted spurfowl, Rufous-tailed weaver, as well as many different bee-eaters, owls, swallows, chats, cuckoos, eagles, kestrels, falcons and other raptors.

Note: If you are tall and remain in your chair for your game drives, please be aware there will be some restrictions on your viewing due to the height of the windows in the accessible vehicle. There are no restrictions if you transfer into one of the regular seats.

Day 8

Today we drive 3-hours to the Ngorongoro Crater, with more amazing game viewing along the way (and picnic lunch included).

Stretching across 8,300 sq km, the high altitude Ngorongoro Conservation Area boasts a dramatic variety of volcanic landscapes, wildlife, people and archaeology. Its grasslands, waterfalls and mountain forests are home to an abundance of animals and also to the Maasai people, and has been declared a World Heritage site. Check into your lodge and enjoy the beauty of this area.

Day 9

This morning enjoy a half day tour into the basin of the Ngorongoro Crater, with game viewing and a picnic lunch on the crater floor.

The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest intact caldera, forming a spectacular bowl of about 265 square kilometres with sides up to 2,000 feet (600m) deep. Although some animals do move in and out of this contained environment, the rich volcanic soil, lush forests and spring lakes on the crater floor attract grazers and predators all year round, with up to 30,000 animals living in the crater - the highest density of big game found anywhere in Africa.

Prides of lions, endangered black rhino, hyena, buffalo, golden jackal, bat-eared jackal, black-backed jackal, wildebeest, Thomson's gazelle, Grant's gazelle, zebra and many other animals can be found on the open savanna whilst elephants, monkeys, leopards and olive baboons live in the forests around the edge of the crater. You may see hippos and flamingos on Lake Masek and the abundant birdlife including the Kori bustard, Grey-crowned crane, Hamerkop, Marabou stork, Ostrich, Splendid starling, Egyptian goose and various lapwings. Cheetah also live on these open plains, but are difficult to spot due to their excellent camouflage. There are no giraffe in the crater, because there are no trees for grazing (only grasslands).

Note: If you are tall and remain in your chair for your game drives, please be aware there will be some restrictions on your viewing due to the height of the windows in the accessible vehicle. There are no restrictions if you transfer into one of the regular seats.

Day 10

Today we travel 4-hours from Ngorongoro to Arusha.

Check into your hotel and relax in this regional capital.

Day 11

Transfer 1-hour to Kilimanjaro Airport for your flight home.

Information last updated: 06/12/2023 15:25:23