Dix jours d'arrêt.
Ten Reasons to Fall in Love
avec la Tanzanie.

Pickup from your Arusha hotel at approximately 7:00 AM. Scenic 45-minute drive to Arusha National Park's main gate with your expert local guide. Park entry formalities and briefing on what to expect inside.

A 4x4 game drive through the park's diverse habitats é from montane forest to open grassland to the alkaline Momella Lakes. Watch for giraffe, buffalo, warthog, hippo (in the shallow lakes), waterbuck, and the beautiful black-and-white colobus monkeys hanging from the fig trees. The flamingo colonies at Momella are spectacular on calm mornings.

Lunch in a scenic picnic spot inside the park. After lunch, an optional armed-ranger-guided walking safari takes you into the bush on foot é a completely different sensory experience to the vehicle drive. Spot smaller wildlife, track animals, and feel the raw scale of the African bush.

Drive to the rim of Ngurdoto Crater é a miniature version of Ngorongoro é for panoramic views over the crater floor teeming with buffalo. Return to Arusha in the late afternoon, arriving back at your hotel around 5:00é6:00 PM.

Pickup from your Moshi or Arusha hotel at around 8:00é9:00 AM. Drive south through the Tanzanian savannah countryside é the landscape gradually changes from lush Kilimanjaro foothills to open plains, making the hidden oasis ahead feel even more magical. Approximately 1.5 hours from Moshi.

Arrive at the springs and spend 3é4 hours completely at leisure. Swim in the warm, clear water. Try the rope swing into the deepest pool. Snorkel along the spring bed and watch the fish darting below. Let the small resident fish nibble the dead skin from your feet é the famous natural fish pedicure. Lunch is served at the site or nearby é typically a Tanzanian meal with local dishes.

After a thoroughly relaxed afternoon, your driver returns you to your hotel. Arrive back between 4:00é5:30 PM depending on your departure point. This trip pairs perfectly with the Materuni Waterfalls visit as a combined full-day experience.

Pickup from Moshi around 7:30 AM. Drive approximately 1 hour east along the base of Kilimanjaro toward the Kenyan border. Your guide will share the geological story of the lake é a 100m-deep caldera formed by volcanic activity thousands of years ago.

Walk the 3.5 km trail around the crater rim with your guide. The path winds through dry bush and rocky terrain before opening up to jaw-dropping views of the lake below é colours shifting from turquoise to deep emerald depending on the angle. On clear days, Kilimanjaro rises behind you in full glory. Watch for monitor lizards, olive baboons, and the resident bird population.

Descend to the lake shore for a swim in the extraordinary caldera waters é cold, crystal clear, and stunningly blue. Picnic lunch by the water's edge. Afternoon free to relax, explore, or simply absorb the silence of this remarkable place.

Pickup from Arusha hotel and a short 15-minute drive to the lake. Your guide briefs you on the lake's volcanic origins, the forest ecosystem, and the bird species you're likely to spot. Conservation fee paid at the entrance.

Paddle silently across Lake Duluti's glass-flat surface in a traditional canoe with your guide. This is one of the finest birding experiences in the Arusha area é kingfishers, cormorants, herons, African fish eagles, and dozens of colourful forest species are all regulars. Your guide will also point out monitor lizards basking on the banks and colobus monkeys in the treetops above.

Une promenade guidée à travers le périmètre boisé du lac (environ 3,5 km) avant de retourner à Arusha. Les départs le matin sont recommandés pour la meilleure activité des oiseaux. Ce voyage se marie à merveille avec la visite du parc national d'Arusha pour une journée complète en pleine nature.

Pickup from Arusha at approximately 6:30é7:00 AM for the 2-hour scenic drive along the Great Rift Valley to Lake Manyara. Your guide shares the park's history and the famous tree-climbing lion phenomenon en route.

Enter the park through the impressive groundwater forest é fig trees, palms and dense vegetation hiding elephants and baboons. Emerge onto the open grasslands and lake shore where flamingos and pelicans crowd the shallows. The lion search begins: check the acacia trees carefully é that distinctive silhouette in the branches is unlike anything else in safari.

Lunch at a scenic picnic site or at the park lodge restaurant. Afternoon game drive continues with hippo pool viewing and the stunning drive along the base of the Rift Valley escarpment. Return to Arusha arriving around 6:00é7:00 PM.

Pickup from Moshi at approximately 7:30 AM. Drive north along the base of Kilimanjaro to Materuni Village é elevation rising, air growing greener and cooler as you climb into the mountain's foothills. Meet your local Chagga guide who will lead the hike.

A 2é3 hour guided hike through banana plantations and montane forest. The trail is moderate é good walking shoes recommended. Arrive at the Materuni waterfall, which tumbles dramatically into a clear pool surrounded by lush forest. You're welcome to swim in the cold, refreshing water at the base of the falls.

Return to the village for a full coffee farm tour é see the arabica plants, pick ripe cherries, learn the hand-processing methods, and roast and grind your own beans over an open fire. Enjoy the freshest cup of coffee you've ever tasted. Lunch is a traditional Chagga meal é local vegetables, plantain, meat stew é prepared by the village community.

Early pickup from Moshi at 6:00é6:30 AM. Drive approximately 1 hour to the Kilimanjaro National Park gate (Londorossi or Lemosho gate). Park registration, guide introduction and equipment check. Briefing on altitude awareness and the day's route.

Begin ascending through Kilimanjaro's magnificent montane rainforest é moss-draped trees, exotic birds, colobus monkeys, and the sounds of the mountain coming to life. The vegetation gradually changes as you gain altitude, transitioning from dense forest to heath and moorland.

Emerge onto the extraordinary Shira Plateau é a high-altitude volcanic wilderness of giant heather, lobelia, and groundsels. Sweeping views of the Kibo summit cone above and the plains of Tanzania far below. Lunch here, with the summit of Africa visible above you. Descend via the forest, returning to the gate in late afternoon.

Due to the 3-hour drive from Arusha, departure is early é typically 5:30é6:00 AM. This means you arrive at the crater rim as sunrise paints the caldera gold, and descend to the crater floor just as the animals are most active. The pre-dawn drive through the highlands is itself spectacular.

Descend into the crater via a dramatic 4x4 road switchbacking down the inner wall. The full circuit of the crater floor takes 4é5 hours and typically yields lion, elephant, hippo, zebra, wildebeest, hyena, jackal, countless birds é and if you're lucky, the elusive black rhino in the long grass near the Lerai Forest.

Lunch at the designated picnic site beside a hippo pool é watch hippos surfacing just metres away while you eat. The kites overhead will make a bold move on your sandwich if you're not careful. Afternoon game drive continues before the ascent back to the rim and the return drive to Arusha, arriving around 8:00é9:00 PM.

Arrive at Olpopongi Village and be welcomed with a traditional Maasai greeting ceremony é song, blessing, and an introduction to the elders and community leaders who will guide your day. Receive your Maasai name.

Participez aux activités qui définissent la vie des Maasai : apprenez à faire du feu par friction (plus dur qu'il n'y paraît), visitez le boma du bétail et découvrez comment la relation des Maasai avec le bétail façonne tout, rejoignez les guerriers pour la célèbre danse du saut et explorez l'enkaji (maison traditionnelle) construite par les femmes à partir de boue, de fumier et de bâtons.

Sit with the Maasai women and learn the intricate art of beadwork é every pattern and colour carries meaning about status, age, and family. A guided walk through the bush identifies the medicinal plants the Maasai have used for generations. End the day with a shared meal and the chance to browse the community craft market é your purchase directly supports the village.

Pickup from Arusha at approximately 6:30é7:00 AM. Drive south along the Great Rift Valley floor for approximately 2 hours to Tarangire's main gate. The approach drive through the acacia-dotted landscape is already exciting é watch for giraffe and Maasai cattle herders from the vehicle.

Enter the park and drive along the Tarangire River é the dry-season gathering point for elephants, buffalo, lions, zebra and everything else. Watch enormous elephant herds moving through the baobab groves. Lions are frequently found resting in the shade of the iconic trees. The birdlife in the riparian forest along the river is extraordinary é Tarangire has one of Africa's highest bird counts at over 550 species.

Lunch at a scenic bush picnic site or the park's Tarangire Safari Lodge terrace. Afternoon game drive through the swamp zones é particularly good for large herbivore concentrations. Return through the park and drive back to Arusha, arriving around 6:00é7:00 PM.