NGORONGORO CRATER, LAKE MANYARA, SERENGETI, OLDUVAI GORGE AND TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK EIGHT DAYS SAFARI

PRICES IN UNITED STATES DOLLAR BASED ON 2 PERSONS - USD - $:

(Prices subject to change without notice please inquire here to get the current accurate price)

Day 1     Arrive at JRO. After clearing customs and immigration formalities, you will be met by our representative and transferred to Arusha.  Overnight on Bed & Breakfast at Impala Hotel

Day 2     After breakfast, depart for Tarangire National Park arriving in time for lunch and an afternoon of game viewing. Lesser kudu, eland, lion and gerenuk can be found in this beautiful park, noted for its multitude of baobab trees and its tree-climbing lions. Dinner and overnight at the lodge or tented camp

Day 3     After breakfast, drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Lunch at the lodge. This afternoon, you will descend 2000 feet (over 600 meters) to the floor of the crater for a day crater tour with picnic lunches. Explore the forest areas that are inhabited by monkeys and elephants, the lake area, where you may see the flamingos and the open savannah where the lions hunt for food. Dinner and overnight at the lodge in Ngorongoro

Day 4     Drive to Serengeti National Park via Olduvai Gorge, the site of Louis and Mary Leakey’s renowned archaeological discoveries. Their findings include some of the man’s earliest known ancestral remains. Lunch at the lodge in Serengeti. You will have an afternoon game drive in the endless plains of the Serengeti for a chance to see the great herds of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles or a pride of lions lounging in the shade. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.

D 5+6     Two full days of game viewing in the Serengeti. Meals and overnight at the lodge in the Serengeti National Park

Day 7     Enjoy an early morning game drive, before breakfast. Return to the lodge for late breakfast. Enjoy a mid morning and then depart to Ngorongoro Highlands. Lunch at Gibbs Farm or similar. Afternoon visit to the waterfalls. Dinner and overnight at the lodge in Manyara

NGORONGORO AND TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK GENERAL INFORMATION:

Olduvai Gorge is an archaeological site located in the eastern Serengeti Plains, which is in northern Tanzania. The gorge is a very steep sided ravine roughly 30 miles long and 295 ft. deep. Exposed deposits show rich fossil fauna, many hominid remains and items belonging to the one of the oldest stone tool technologies, called Olduwan. The time span of the objects recovered date from 2,100,000 to 15,000 years ago.

The main Olduvai Beds are in a lake basin about 16 miles in diameter. The rocks under the basin date to 5.3 million years ago. There have been seven major Beds distinguished they are ranked from oldest to youngest; Bed I, Bed II, Bed III, Bed IV, the Masek Beds, the Ndutu Beds, and Baisiusiu Beds.

Bed I dates to 2,100,000 years old and is 197 feet thick. It is mainly formed of lava flows, volcanic-ash deposits and other sediments. The upper part of the bed contains varied fauna and evidence of the Olduwan industry. Skeletal remains of hominids are assigned to the Homo Habilis an Australopithecus Boisei families. Campsites and what is believed to be a butchery site have also been excavated from this bed.

Ngorongoro Crater: A wonder of the world set in the African Wild. Ngorongoro was an active volcano some 8 million years ago whose cone collapsed leaving a sunken caldera of 311sq km, rendering it into one of the largest craters in the world. The magic stems forms its sheer physical beauty and stunning panoply of wildlife that roam its floor. The 2000ft descent into the crater reveals a sight of unequalled glamour. Ngorongoro is quite unique as its physical protection from man natural beauty ranks it among the most pristine wildernesses on earth. It is regarded as a natural wonder of the world and has been declared a World Heritage Site. It is the largest intact crater in the world, being 610 meters deep, 16 kilometers across and covering an area of 540 square kilometers. On the crater floor, grassland blends into swamps, lakes, rivers, woodland and mountains – all a haven for wildlife, including the greatest predator population in Africa. The volcanic crater is jam-packed with wildlife, including all the big game. Its pride and joy, however, is that it remains the last great wild refuge for black rhino.

Tarangire National Park covers 2,600 square kilometers and is on the traditional migration route of several species of the wildlife. At dry times, the concentration of animals in Tarangire rivals that of the much better known Serengeti. Herds of migratory wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and buffalo gather along the marshy shores of Lake Natron. These pools are shared by flocks of birds: green wood hoopoes, fisher lovebirds, tallish herons, white bellied go-away birds and giant kingfishers. Resident lion, giraffe, elephant, and black rhino are common at any season; Tarangire is noted for its baobab trees and splendid vistas of rolling savannah and acacia woodland. The strange-looking, centuries-old baobab trees are believed by the Maasai to be the first tree in creation.

Lake Manyara National Park
Set around the lake, this park lies at the foot of a dramatic escarpment and offers a rich diversity of scenery and wildlife, including the famous tree lions a very high density of elephant population and other big game. Its lake is a haven for birdlife and hippo.

Serengeti National Park
This park contains the most spectacular wildlife sight in the annual migration of the wildebeast from the north to the south. Amongst its 35 species of, it is famous for the black maned lion, of which there are over 2000, and other predators such as cheetah, hyena, and wild dogs.