Tanzania Safari Adventure
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2012 Tanzania Adventure Info
Dates & Leaders:
- February 12-23, 2012
- OCSC Leader: Richard Jepsen
Trip Land Cost:
- Couples: $8,725 per person
- Singles: $10,825 per person
- OCSC Members & Repeat OCSC Adventurers save 5%!
Reservations:
- Contact Perry Robertson of Blue Odyssey Tours
- 415-332-3811
- robertson@blueodyssey.com
OCSC Tanzania Handout (pdf)
OCSC's African Tanzania Safari Adventure
Travel to Tanzania during the annual birthing season during the wildebeest migration on the Serengeti Plains for a once in a lifetime experience. We will enjoy fabulous wildlife viewing, authentic cultural interactions (including walks with locals Masai), and exciting night game drives. Luxury lodging and camps, excellent cuisine and good company with a grand finale in magical Zanzibar!
Join us for this incredible journey escorted by OCSC’s Richard Jepsen.
2012 Itinerary at a glance:
Arusha, Tanzania
1 night Feb 12 Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
2 nights Feb 13-14 Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
3 nights Feb 15-17 Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
2 nights Feb 18-19 Zanzibar, Tanzania
3 nights Feb 20-22
2012 Tanzania Itinerary
Day 1: Sunday, February 12th, 2012
Accommodation: Arusha Coffee Lodge
- Check in: 12 Feb 2012
- Check out: 13 Feb 2012
Booking conditions: Plantation Houses - Breakfast & dinner
Welcome to Africa! Your flight arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport in Arusha, Tanzania in the evening. Your driver will be waiting for you in the arrivals area holding a sign with your names on it. You will be transferred to the Arusha Coffee Lodge for a late dinner. Arusha Coffee Lodge is a small, newly refurbished hotel located on a working coffee plantation on the outskirts of Arusha in Northern Tanzania, within five minutes drive of Arusha airstrip. Each of the 18 plantation houses are lavishly furnished and have a split level living area and private deck. The lodge has a swimming pool, boutique shop, restaurant and safari bar as well as a patisserie.
Day 2: Monday, February 13th, 2012
Accommodation: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
- Check in: 13 Feb 2012
- Check out: 15 Feb 2012
Booking conditions: Double Room - All meals & safari activities
You will have an early breakfast before transferring to the nearby regional airport for your scheduled flight to Manyara. Your guide will be waiting for you at the airstrip. It is Safari Time! You will spend the day exploring Lake Manyara with picnic lunches.
Continuing to the Crater Highlands, you ascend to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest caldera. Often referred to as 'the 8th wonder of the world' the Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa's best known wildlife arenas. The Crater is a World Heritage Site and contains grasslands, swamps, forests, saltpans and a fresh water lake. Hyena, lion, black rhino, huge bull elephant, hippo and buffalo usually abound and can be easily seen. You will arrive at the lodge by late afternoon.
The Serena Ngorongoro Crater Safari Lodge is perched on the jagged rim of the crater, wreathed in morning mist, camouflaged in river stone and cloaked in indigenous creepers. The Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge is a triumph of ecological and architectural fusion. Each room has its own rock enclosed balcony offering stunning views over the Crater's splendor.
The interior, radiating out from the primeval log fire glowing at the heart of the lodge, blends the concentrated hush of a game viewing hide with the ochre, rust and charcoal images of a prehistoric cavern. Lit by flaming wall lanterns, clad in gigantic volcanic boulders and decorated by the iron spears, bright beaded robes and intricately carved artifacts of the Maasai, the lodge is a unique blend of world class luxury, timeless volcanic splendor and ethnic style. As for the views, from lilac streaked sunrise, to indigo star studded night, the immeasurably ancient Ngorongoro Crater delivers a theater of vistas, most unchanged since the dawn of time.
Guests will spend an entire day at the bottom of the Crater where they can enjoy a picnic lunch and a full day of game drives the next day.
Day 4: Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
Accommodation: Nomad Serengeti Safari Camp
- Check in: 15 Feb 2012
- Check out: 18 Feb 2012
Booking conditions: Double Tents - All meals, drinks, laundry & safari activities
On your journey to the Serengeti National Park, you stop at the Ol Duvai Gorge en route. Olduvai Gorge in the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania was excavated by Louis and Mary Leakey in the mid-1950s. This site marks the discovery of hominid footprints preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years old and represent some of the earliest signs of mankind in the world. This luxury tented camp roams around the vast grass plains of Tanzania. Nomad Safari Guides look at where the concentrations of animals are at that time of year and place the camp in the best available location to access the action. Timing of the migration can vary by as much as three months depending on the year's rains.
You will enjoy luxury mobile camping in the heart of the park. The Serengeti Safari Camp shadows the wildebeest migration so that wherever the great herds are you're as close to them as you're likely to get. The tents are comfortable, light and simple, but equipped with everything you might need. The bathrooms are en suite, with traditional safari style bucket showers, short drop toilets, and hot and cold water on demand. All you have to do is arrive in camp at the end of every exciting day, to hot showers, ice filled gin and tonics, and a roaring campfire.
Game drives and walks in the company of the Masai are at your leisure. The camp is remote, yet comfortable with fabulous cuisine and service. The Serengeti is home to huge wildebeest and zebra herds during the months of December-June. This is the time of the wildebeest calving, as well as the rut, with the herds coming together in the most spectacular displays. The famous migration is a dynamic process of herd animals following the rains and the grasses in a clockwise direction, crossing from the Maasai Mara into the Serengeti. You will take the time to explore this vast park (the size of Rhode Island), going far off road in search of interesting game viewing.
Day 7: Saturday, February 18th, 2012
Accommodation: Nduara Loliondo Camp
- Check in: 18 Feb 2012
- Check out: 20 Feb 2012
Booking conditions:Double Tents - All meals, drinks, laundry & safari activities
Today you depart with picnic lunches and spend the whole day exploring the Serengeti. You will arrive at your next camp in the late afternoon.
Nduara Loliondo was designed to celebrate Nomadic cultures around the world: the Mongolian Gers, and our own Maasai bomas. The outcome of this heady mix of culture, style, comfort and wilderness is the most amazing camp you will ever see - a perfect complement to Serengeti Safari Camp.
Similar in design and concept, it operates within the Maasai concession area on the peripheries of the Serengeti National Park. While the landscape and game is stunning, the emphasis is very much on cultural interaction with the Maasai. One day will be spent visiting a local school and near-by village.
Nduara Loliondo moves its yurts across the Loliondo area, part of the great Serengeti eco-system, bordering the Serengeti National Park proper. Being outside the park boundaries offers great freedom; simple things like walks and night drives mean an altogether more intense and real feeling of safari, and wilderness unlike any other. On foot, this amazing landscape offers a completely different viewpoint.
The tents are comfortable, light and simple, but equipped with everything you might need. The bathrooms are en-suite, with traditional safari style bucket showers, short drop toilets, and hot and cold water on demand. The days end with dinner, stars, and fireside safari bonhomie
Day 9: Monday, February 20th, 2012
Accommodation: Matemwe Bungalows
- Check in: 20 Feb 2012
- Check out: 23 Feb 2012
Booking conditions: Double Room - All meals & safari activities
After your final morning safari, you will say goodbye to your guides and meet your scheduled flight from the Serengeti to Zanzibar (via Arusha). When you arrive, your private driver will be waiting holding a sign with your names on it. You will transfer to Matemwe Bungalows. Matemwe Bungalows is situated on the northeast coast of Zanzibar, about an hour by car from Stonetown. Matemwe is one of the most peaceful and scenic locations where nature is still unspoiled.
All 14 ensuite bungalows are built of local stone, have a Makuti roof, and are perched on the coral reef
overlooking the Indian Ocean. Each has a large veranda where you can laze in your own hammock. The
sun, through the solar system, supplies lighting and hot water. Air conditioning is provided by the sea
breezes.
Each morning you will find a tea/coffee tray on your verandah so that you can sit back, wake up slowly
and enjoy the sunrise before breakfast.
The menu is mainly seafood, the catch of the day. The kitchen has been praised for its high quality and diversity in combining local cuisine with that of other nations. Recreation in this area is one of leisure and tranquility. You are offered sailing with the local Ngalawa (traditional fishing boats with wooden outriggers), and snorkeling or diving at the unique and colorful Mnemba reef. For the lucky ones, whales, dolphins or sea turtles might be spotted. Kayaks and bicycles are available as well.
Day 12: Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
After two glorious weeks in Africa, it's time to shake out all the sand, pack up your swim gear and make ready for the journey home. You have a leisurely day to spend on the beach before you are transferred back to the Zanzibar Airport to meet your international connection.
What’s Included
- Arusha Coffee Lodge - Plantation Houses - Breakfast & dinner
- Ngorongoro Serena Lodge - Double Room - All meals & safari activities
- Nomad Serengeti Safari Camp - Double Tents - All meals, drinks, laundry & safari activities
- Nduara Loliondo Camp - Double Tents - All meals, drinks, laundry & safari activities
- Matemwe Bungalows - Bungalows – All meals
- Flights Arusha - Manyara//Serengeti - Zanzibar
- 7 night/8 day privately guided safari
- $100 per person donation to a local school the group will visit during the tour
- Gratuities for guides & transfers
NB: We have estimated the rates for 2012 but will need to review this and reprice as actual 2012 prices are released. If we have multiple requests for singles we may need to accommodate 1-2 guests in luxury mobile tents in Loliondo Camp. Contact Perry Robertson for details.
What’s Not Included
- International and regional airfare not listed above.
- Travel Insurance (quoted separately) to cover cancellation and curtailment, medical, baggage, money, and emergency evacuation back home.
- Personal expenses such as laundry, baggage handling, excess baggage fees, excess weight fees, communications charges, cost of passport or visa, airport departure taxes and airfares, any sightseeing, beverages or meals not included in the itinerary, optional activities.
Estimated Airfare Package
- Delta/KLM coach class – Estimated at $2,200-2,400 per person
- Delta/KLM business class – Estimated at $7,000–7,500 per person
Sample schedule from San Francisco
- 11 FEB KL#8235 9:10am SFO - 11:26am SEA (Seattle)
- 11 FEB KL#6032 12:45pm SEA - 7:45am AMS (Amsterdam) on 12 FEB
- 12 FEB KL#571 11:05am AMS - 9:30pm JRO (Kilimanjaro)
- 23 FEB KQ#6713 4:30pm ZNZ (Zanzibar) - 6:10pm NBO (Nairobi)
- 23 FEB KL#566 10:55pm NBO - 5:30am AMS on 24 FEB
- 24 FEB KL#605 11:15am AMS - 1:30pm SFO
(People could take the direct SFO-AMS but have a forced overnight in Amsterdam: 10 FEB KL#606 3:50pm SFO - 11:25am AMS on 11 FEB)
For reservations, please contact
Perry Robertson of Blue Odyssey Tours.
415-332-3811
robertson@blueodyssey.com
OCSC Tanzania Handout (pdf)