This 18 Days Tanzania Zanzibar Expedition offers a perfect safari experience in Tanzania. This tour combined wildlife viewing and a beach holiday.
Tanzania Zanzibar Expedition Highlights
- Day 1: Arusha – Arusha National Park
- Day 2: Transfer to Lake Manyara National Park
- Day 3: Lake Manyara National Park – Lake Natron
- Day 4: Explore Lake Natron and its surroundings
- Day 5: Transfer to Serengeti National Park
- Day 6: Game drives in Serengeti National Park
- Day 7: Depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area
- Day 8: Explore the Ngorongoro Crater
- Day 9: Visit Lake Eyasi and the tribes around
- Day 10: Transfer to Tarangire National Park
- Day 11: Depart for Arusha – Zanzibar
- Days 12–15: Zanzibar Beach Holiday
- Days 16 & 17: Spice Tour and Stone Town Tour
- Day 18: Departure
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arusha – Arusha National Park
Your 18 days Tanzania safari begins with a visit to Arusha National Park. After your breakfast, the driver will pick you from your hotel and you hit the road to Arusha National Park. Relatively small but with amazing scenic views, sightings and breathtaking landscapes. Home to the second highest peak in Tanzania, Mt. Meru.
Upon arrival in the park, embark on an afternoon game drive in Arusha NP driving to the different habitats with chances of spotting giraffes, zebras, buffalos, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, elephants, warthogs, duikers, bushbucks, leopards (though rarely seen) and different species of birds. Later in the evening, drive back to your hotel in Arusha for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 2: Transfer to Lake Manyara National Park
Famous for its tree climbing lions, Lake Manyara National Park is an exciting park to visit. After your breakfast, you will depart Arusha for Lake Manyara National Park for thrilling game viewing experiences with chances of spotting the infamous tree climbing lion lazing around on the tree branches.
You will have your packed lunch with you as you embark on an afternoon game drive in this beautiful park with lush vegetation. Animals in Lake Manyara NP include leopards, elephants, buffalos, cheetahs, impalas, giraffes, hippos and thousands of flamingos that flock the lake seasonally and other species of birds like pelicans and hornbills. After the game drive experience, drive out of the park and proceed to your camp / lodge for check in, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 3: Lake Manyara National Park – Lake Natron
After your morning breakfast, you will exit Lake Manyara NP with one more game viewing experience as journey along to Lake Natron, a mineral rich soda lake on a partly bumpy and dusty road via Engaruka Town. En route you will see many Masai villages, termite mounds and different animal and bird species.
Upon arrival, you will go for a guided walk around Lake Natron, the lowest point of the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania and famous for a vast numbers of flamingos due to a high concentrate of sodium carbonate, algae, and zooplankton that the pink birds feed on. They are literally the only wildlife that can survive at this Lake. Dinner and overnight stay at your camp / lodge.
Day 4: Explore Lake Natron and its surroundings
After breakfast, you spend a full day in the surroundings of Lake Natron. The scenery around Lake Natron is what attracts visitors to the region with dramatic landscapes dotted with recognizable landmarks, such as Ol Doinyo Lengai and Gelai volcano.
You will visit a Masai Village and go for a hike up Ngare Sero River which flows into Lake Natron. In contrast to the surrounding dry landscape, here you can find a small paradise. After a strenuous walk up the stream, we reach the source of the river with a lovely sight of the waterfalls. There may be baboons or other wildlife in the gorge. Retreat from the activity and drive back to your camp / lodge for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 5: Transfer to Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, your safari proceeds to Serengeti National Park, one of the most popular parks in Tanzania. You will embark on the journey with a packed lunch, expect some wildlife sightings. You will stop for a lunch break on a kopje (rock outcropping) at Serengeti thereafter, continue into the park with a game drive en-route as you drive to your camp / lodge for check in, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 6: Game drives in Serengeti National Park
You can opt to carry packed picnic lunch that you will have at a designated picnic spot for a full day game drive in the wild or choose to have a lunch break back at your camp / lodge. Drive to different corners of the park at different times of the day for chances to spot the different animal species that inhabit the wilderness of Serengeti. With a little bit of luck, you might be able to witness the great migration happen (depends on the time of year you have visited the park).
Animals in the Serengeti include the wildebeests, lions, leopards, elephants, buffalos, black rhinos (rare sightings), gazelles, giraffes, zebras, elands, hyenas, cheetahs, antelopes and much more plus different species of birds. After the days’ activity, drive back to your camp / lodge for an evening of relaxation, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 7: Depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Early morning game drive before sunrise for a chance to spot the nocturnal and predators returning from their hunt or feasting on their early morning hunt. Watch the park come to life at sunrise and animals prepare to start a new day.
Drive back to your camp / lodge for a delicious breakfast after which you will check out and exit Serengeti plains heading to Ngorongoro Conservation area. Do a game drive around the crater rim upon arrival with a brief lunch break at an allocated picnic sight. Continue with the game viewing as you proceed to your camp / lodge for check in, an evening of relaxation, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 8: Explore the Ngorongoro Crater
The main attraction in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the scenic picturesque Ngorongoro Crater. This natural wonder is home to almost 30,000 animals and hundreds of different bird species.
After your breakfast, with packed lunch, you will drive to the crater rim and descend into this amazing caldera for 6 hours of exploration and game viewing opportunities. After the game drive you will ascend out of the crater and drive back to your camp / lodge for a relaxing evening. Dinner and overnight stay at your camp / lodge.
Day 9: Visit Lake Eyasi and the tribes around
From Ngorongoro you proceed to Lake Eyasi home to the hunter-gathers ethnic group of the Hadzabe Bushmen bearing similar characteristics to those of Bushmen at Southern Africa.
You will take on a walking safari around Lake Eyasi guided by the Bushmen who have a wealth of Fauna and Flora knowledge to share with us, walk along there hunting tracks as you interact and learn more about their indigenous culture as you enjoy the scenic views around Lake Eyasi.
You will also pay a visit to the Datoga tribe, an ethnic group of cattle keepers, famous for their colorful leather clothing. Dinner and overnight stay at your camp / lodge.
Day 10: Transfer to Tarangire National Park
After breakfast, you can take a moment and enjoy the environment at the camp / lodge, take in the views and later on, you will hit the road to the 3rd largest national park in Tanzania, Tarangire National Park home to vast herds of African Elephants and majestic baobab trees are an interesting feature of the park, dwarfing the animals that feed beneath them.
Animals concentrate along the Tarangire River, which provides the only permanent water supply in the area. Embark on an afternoon game drive on reaching the park. Animals to look out for in Tarangire NP include: the big cats (lions, cheetahs and leopards), hyenas, the oryx, gerenuk, zebras, impalas, elands, buffalos and more. Journey on up to your camp / lodge. Dinner and overnight stay at your camp / lodge.
Day 11: Depart for Arusha – Zanzibar
Early morning game drive in Tarangire National Park before you return to Arusha after having your last breakfast in the wild.
Your guide will take you to Arusha Airport for your domestic flight to Zanzibar. Transfer to the beach resort of your choice. Dinner and overnight stay at your hotel / beach resort.
Days 12–15: Zanzibar Beach Holiday
Relax and enjoy the beaches of Zanzibar at leisure. Go swimming, play beach games, take walks on the beach, go windsurfing, diving or snorkeling. Many options to choice from. Just suggestions. Dinner and overnight stay at your hotel / beach resort.
Days 16 & 17: Spice Tour and Stone Town Tour
After breakfast, transfer to Stone Town. Zanzibar is famous for its different Spices. You will have a chance to taste and smell the different spices while on the delicious Spice Tour. You will get to see why Zanzibar is sometimes called the “Spice Island”.
Time to explore the Cultural and Historical basket of Zanzibar, the Stone Town. The driver will pick you from your hotel / resort after breakfast. Then you head out for a tour of Stone Town, a world heritage site. There is a mixture of African, European, Indian and Arabic cultures living comfortably together making it a very lively place with so much to explore and discover. Religious centers, different market places, the Sultan’s palace and the Old Fort are some of the places that you will spot / visit on this guides tour. Lunch break and shopping opportunities.
Drive back to your hotel / resort later in the day for relaxation. You can opt to go for some night life experience in Stone town. Forodhani Gardens is worth a yummy visit especially at night. Dinner and overnight stay.
Day 18: Departure
After a delicious morning breakfast. Check out of your rooms and the driver will drop you at the airport in Zanzibar. Catch your flight back home.
