RECS008: 8 Days Cultural & wildlife galore

Cut through Tanzania’s wilderness to selected parks which allow you to interact with various plain game. Cultural visits will be arranged at Mto wa Mbu with its myriad ethnic groups, visit maasai homestead at Longido and then visit the Hadzabe, a tribe closely associated to the bushmen of Southern Africa at Lake Eyasi. Home-stay can be organized at Mto wa Mbu on request. All this with Royal ecotravel, your responsible travel partner in East Africa.

DAY 1: ARUSHA – LONGIDO 85KMS (1.30 HRS)
Leave early and drive to Longido. Longido is a Maasai village situated at the foot of the Longido hill whose rocks the Maasai use to sharpen their knives and spears. Walk beneath these hills with Maasai guides and visit their traditional huts, spot animals on a walking safari in the bush, find out about the medicinal uses of the savanna plants and learn the history and culture of these fascinating people. Overnight at a bush camp

DAY 2: LONGIDO - LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK 205KMS (3.30HRS)
Drive to Mto wa Mbu then afternoon game drive around Lake Manyara. This park is famed for the bird life around the soda lake - flamingos in particular, and is home to unusual tree-climbing lions. It also has a large elephant population. Camp overnight in Mto wa Mbu

DAY 3: MTO WA MBU
Full day cultural experience activities around Mto wa Mbu. Here you take a leisurely walking safari to visit the many different tribes and cultures in the area. Discover their farming, irrigation, fishing and cattle husbandry techniques, visit houses, sample local cuisine, visit income generation projects and generally gain a deeper understanding of the lifestyle of the people who live and work here. Come back for lunch and then visit a local Maasai Market.

DAY 4: MTO WA MBU – SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK 255KMS (4 TO 5 HRS)
Leave early and drive to Serengeti National Park via Olduvai Gorge (site of the Leakey’s archaeological digs where the earliest human tools have been found) to the Serengeti National Park. Camp overnight in bush campsite

DAY 5: SERENGETI
All day game drives in Serengeti. Endless rolling grasslands criss-crossed with forested riverine valleys plays home to millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelles making this one of the world’s most famous wildlife spectacles. Camp overnight in bush campsite

DAY 6: SERENGETI – NGORONGORO CRATER 200KMS (3 TO 4 HRS)
Leave early and drive to Ngorongoro Crater arriving in time for an evening game drive. Ngorongoro is collapsed volcano - an incredible natural amphitheatre teeming with all of the African big game. Overnight at campsite on the Crater Rim

DAY 7: NGORONGORO – LAKE EYASI 85KMS (1.30 TO 2 HRS)
Early morning game drives at Ngorongoro Crater with breakfast box and lunch box. After lunch into crater drive to L. Eyasi. Lake Eyasi, a salt lake lying between the Eyasi Escarpment in the north (an ancient fault line that is part of the rift valley system) and the Kidero mountains in the south. It is a hot dry area around which the Hadzabe (also known as Hadzapi or Tindiga) people who are believed to have lived here for nearly 10,000years. Today, there are only a few hundred left. Their language is characterized by clicks and may be distantly related to that of the San or Twa (Bushmen) of Southern Africa, although it shows only a few connections to Sandawe, the other click language spoken in Tanzania. Camp on the escarpment and visit black smith families which are the pastoralist like the Maasai although they are enemy. This is where they adopt the name Mang’ati which means enemy in Maasai language.

DAY 8: LAKE EYASI - ARUSHA
Leave early and go for hunting with Hadzabe. Come back for lunch then drive to Arusha for overnight.