Machame, Classic Northern Safari & Zanzibar

*5,400 ft → 9,400 ft · 11 km · 5–7 hrs · rainforest.* The drive from Moshi to the Mount Kilimanjaro National Park Gate takes about 50 minutes, passing through Machame village on the lower slopes. From the gate, trekkers walk through rainforest on a winding trail up a ridge. Lower sections can be muddy and slippery; gaiters and trekking poles are recommended.

Stay Machame Campsite Meals Lunch & Dinner

*9,400 ft → 12,500 ft · 5 km · 4–6 hrs · moorland.* After breakfast, we leave the glades of the rainforest and continue our ascent, crossing a little valley and along a steep rocky ridge, covered with heather, until the ridge ends. The route turns west into a river gorge.

Stay Shira Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

*12,500 ft → 13,000 ft · 10 km · 6–8 hrs · semi-desert.* From the Shira Plateau, we continue to the east up a ridge, passing the junction towards the peak of Kibo. The direction turns south-east toward the lava tower, the Shark's Tooth. After the tower, another junction leads to Arrow Glacier at 16,000 ft. The descent continues to Barranco Hut at 13,000 ft. Although you end the day at the same elevation as when you begun, this day is very important for acclimatization.

Stay Barranco Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

*13,000 ft → 13,100 ft · 5 km · 4–5 hrs · alpine desert.* After breakfast, we leave Barranco and continue on a steep ridge passing the barranco wall, to the Karanga Valley campsite. A deliberately shorter acclimatisation day.

Stay Karanga Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

*13,100 ft → 15,300 ft · 4 km · 4–5 hrs · alpine desert.* After breakfast, we leave Karanga to reach the junction which connects with the Mweka Trail, continuing up to Barafu Hut. At this point, you have completed the South Circuit, which offers views of the summit from many different angles. Mawenzi and Kibo are visible. Rest, dinner and summit-day preparation follow.

Stay Barafu Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

*15,300 ft → 19,345 ft, descending to 10,000 ft · 5 km up / 12 km down · 7–8 hrs up, 4–6 hrs down · arctic.* Very early in the morning (between midnight and 2am), we continue on our way to the summit between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers. A north-westerly ascent proceeds through heavy scree toward Stella Point on the crater rim. This is the most mentally and physically challenging stage of the trek. At Stella Point (18,600 ft), a short rest precedes sunrise views. From Stella Point, you may encounter snow all the way on the one hour ascent to the summit. At Uhuru Peak, trekkers reach the highest point on Mount Kilimanjaro and the continent of Africa. Faster hikers witness sunrise from the summit. The descent continues straight down to Mweka Hut with a lunch stop at Barafu; gaiters and trekking poles assist on loose gravel. Mweka Camp is situated in the upper forest and mist or rain can be expected in the late afternoon.

Stay Mweka Hut Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

*10,000 ft → 5,400 ft · 10 km · 3–4 hrs · rainforest.* After breakfast, we continue the descent down to the Mweka Park Gate to receive your summit certificates. Light clothing suffices, though rain gear remains advisable; lower slopes can be muddy. From the gate, you continue another hour to Mweka Village. A vehicle transfers trekkers to Arusha.

Stay budget Premier Palace Hotel / midrange New Arusha Hotel / luxury Melia Grand Hotel Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After breakfast depart for Lake Manyara via Mto-wa mbu village. A picnic lunch enables a full day game drive in Lake Manyara National Park. The reserve combines diverse ecosystems in a compact area and stays green through the year. The fig forest here is a good place to see monkeys and some of the 350 species of birds that have been recorded here. With luck, you may spot the tree climbing lions for which the park is famous, and the park looks out over the Great Rift Valley.

Stay budget Jambo Campsite / midrange Manyara Serena Hotel / luxury Lake Manyara Tree Top Lodge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After breakfast we head towards the Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park, with its endless plains. Travellers head to the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti's many species. Arrival precedes lunch and an afternoon game drive.

Stay budget Nyani Campsite / midrange Kati Kati Tented Camp / luxury Lemala Tented Lodge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

You have another full day in this wonderful park, rising early to make the most of your time. Guides select optimal viewing locations based on seasonal patterns. Visitors may observe hippo pools watching them laze in the cool water, living alongside crocodiles or a big pride of lions, or be in the middle of the migration, sometimes surrounded by wildebeest and zebra. The journey encompasses wide open plains to the kopjes — lonely, volcanic, rocky hill[s] that shoot out of the savanna grass providing protection and shelter for a wide variety of animals. Game viewing includes elephant, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, lion and, if you are lucky, the elusive leopard and cheetah, plus birdlife from the elegant secretary bird to the flightless ostrich, vultures and eagles.

Stay budget Nyani Campsite / midrange Kati Kati Tented Camp / luxury Lemala Tented Lodge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After breakfast we depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation area, with a stopover at Olduvai Gorge, which boasts a history dating back to the dawn of time, where Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of the 'Nutcracker Man' and 'Handy Man', both very significant links in the chain of human evolution. Arrival at the lodgings precedes an afternoon at leisure.

Stay budget Simba Campsite / midrange Ngorongoro Serena Lodge / luxury Lemala Tented Lodge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After breakfast you descend 600 metres to the crater floor for a full-day game drive. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most densely crowded wildlife areas in the world. It is home to an estimated 30,000 animals including some of Tanzania's last remaining black rhino. Species include Wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, many other antelopes and gazelle, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants, with predators lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard. A picnic lunch on the crater floor. Early afternoon includes a visit to a Kimba Masai Village on the Ngorongoro Crater rim where Visitors meet the village elders, get an insight into the Maasai way of life, visit the bomas, learn about their prized cattle and visit the local school.

Stay budget Simba Campsite / midrange Ngorongoro Serena Lodge / luxury Lemala Tented Lodge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Early in the morning after breakfast, we cross Great Rift Valley and push on to the slopes of Ngorongoro highlands and further on to Lake Eyasi, home to the last remnant of bushman in Tanzania. Much of the time here involves visits to simple makeshift homesteads with a local guide. A picnic lunch on the lake while viewing the landscape.

Stay budget Chem Chem Campsite / midrange Tindiga Tented Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Before dawn you will be woken by your local guide to get ready for a bushman hunting safari. Participants join the hadzabe as they track primates and squirrels etc using their traditional bow and arrow, in the open and sparsley forested bush, not within a national park. Returning to the lodgings enables breakfast and barbecue preparation: You will share the meal with the Hadzabe who inhabit the region. The Hadzabe are among the few communities in the world still living substantially by hunting and gathering. A walk along Lake Eyasi reveals a long list of birds. After lunch, drive to Tarangire.

Stay budget Tarangire Campsite / midrange Burunge Tented Camp / luxury Lemala Mpingo Ridge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

An early breakfast, after which we set off for a full day game drive. Tarangire National park is famous for huge herds of elephants, we might even follow a family of elephants across the savanna plateau and down to the river. A picnic lunch on the view point, high above the Tarangire River, which at that point, teems with animals at all times. An afternoon game drive precedes the departure to Arusha.

Stay budget Premier Palace / midrange Mount Meru Hotel / luxury Arusha Coffee Lodge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After breakfast we transfer you to the Arusha airstrip, ready to catch your flight to Zanzibar. Staff meet arrivals and transfer them to the lodgings; the afternoon is free for exploring town.

Stay midrange Tembo House / luxury Zanzibar Hilton Hotel Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Rest and relax at the beach near your hotel.

Stay midrange Palumbo Reef / luxury Melia Zanzibar Hotel Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

On this day you head out to Kizimbani Village for a spice tour, observing cloves, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, turmeric root and other spices. Tropical fruits, for example jack fruit, custard fruit, apple, rambutan and carambola can also be seen and tasted, alongside henna bush, lipstick tree and lemongrass. The visit includes the Kidichi Persian Baths that were built by Said Said bin Sultan, the first Sultan of Zanzibar, in 1850 and the Maruhubi Palace Ruins built by Sultan Said Baraghash Bin Said, the third Sultan of Zanzibar, in 1880. The palace was built especially for housing 99 of his harem.

Stay midrange Palumbo Reef / luxury Melia Zanzibar Hotel Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Rest and relax at the hotel beach side.

Stay midrange Palumbo Reef / luxury Melia Zanzibar Hotel Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Breakfast and then relax at the beach. After lunch you will go for a dolphin tour to Kizimkazi on the southern part of the Island. This place is a home to bottle-nosed dolphins and humpback dolphins, you may even be able to swim with them.

Stay midrange Palumbo Reef / luxury Melia Zanzibar Hotel Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Rest and relax at the hotel beach side.

Stay midrange Palumbo Reef / luxury Melia Zanzibar Hotel Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner

On your last day you have time for a guided town safari through the narrow streets and passageways of old Stone Town, where history appears to stand still, with stops at the House of Wonders, the Palace Museum (People's Palace), Dr Livingstone's House and the Arab Fort. The tour visits Zanzibar's bustling market, winding alleyways, ornately carved and studded doors, cathedrals and mosques, conveying a sense of stepping out of a time machine, to the slave trading days. A free afternoon permits self-directed exploration or rest. Lunch in town precedes the airport transfer for the flight to Dar es Salaam and onward.

Meals Breakfast & Lunch