Your 16 Days Tanzania Safari and Zanzibar Beaches begin with a flight into Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), followed by an incredible wildlife safari and beach leisure. This itinerary combines a traditional Tanzania wildlife safari with a beach and cultural vacation on the Zanzibar archipelago. Following a dusty and exhilarating time in the deep environment and wilderness, a visit to the famed Spice Island in the Indian Ocean with its historic Muslim history is a welcome contrast and a great way to end the vacation.

You will visit Arusha National Park, which is well-known for its diverse bird and primate populations. You will then travel to Tarangire National Park between old baobab trees in quest of enormous herds of elephants and to Lake Manyara National Park to see tree-climbing lions. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area’s crater has a good chance of spotting the extremely rare black rhino, and the legendary Serengeti has large herds of wildebeest in the seemingly endless savannah. You will fly from Arusha to Unguja, the major island of the Zanzibar archipelago, at the end of your wildlife safari.

Focus East Africa Tours will pay close attention and take great care of your dream safari as well as your daily activities in accordance with this schedule, as well as your interests, expectations, and our best-recommended advice. Making certain that you get the best safari experiences of a lifetime that you will remember and love for the rest of your life.

 A DETAILED ITINERARY: 16 DAYS TANZANIA SAFARI AND ZANZIBAR BEACHES

DAY 01 – ARRIVAL- ARUSHA

After you arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be met by your private Focus East Africa Tour guide and transferred by road to the nearby town of Arusha, which is just over an hour away, where you will spend the night. When you get at the lodge, you will freshen up, eat dinner, and then relax for the rest of the evening before retiring to your en suite room and sleeping.

DAY 02: ARUSHA–ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK

Today is the first day of your 16 days Tanzania Safari and Zanzibar Tour, and you will go on your first actual game drive. After a leisurely breakfast, you will go with your guide in a specialist 4×4 safari vehicle for Arusha National Park! Arusha Park is well-known for its large number of tropical birds. You may readily spot over 400 different species in this relatively small park as you drive through the lush rainforest! The park’s lakes are frequently teeming with tens of thousands of flamingos, including the endangered Greater Flamingo. There are also several lovely craters, waterfalls, mountains, and grassy regions in the park. The park is well-known for being the home of the Colobus monkey, which is distinguished by its long tail. The name Colobus is derived from the Greek word colobos, which meaning stump. Because it is a rare monkey, it is one of the reasons to visit the park.

A ranger will join you on your optional walking safari through this woodland park the whole time.” The ranger is a National Park Authority official who carries a weapon over his shoulder in case you come across a buffalo, leopard, or elephant. Of course, the ranger does not shoot immediately, but only when there is a genuine threat. It is a truly amazing feeling to be able to observe wildlife up close without the protection of the safari vehicle. Giraffes on stilts pass past you, elephants trumpet, and a group of baboons can be seen in a clearing. The hike takes you through lush alpine rainforest on the east side of the Meru volcano massif. You will have a picnic in between. You hike a few kilometers up the mountain, which takes approximately two to three hours and passes first through a verdant meadow and then through light acacia woodlands. The hilly area follows a particular height, traveling through lush, shaded mountain rainforest.

 The landscape is dominated by mosses, orchids, ferns, and epiphytes. This terrain is favored by buffaloes, bushbucks, elephants, and Harvey ducks. At a shoulder height of about half a meter, the duiker is the smallest antelope species. These animals have mahogany-brown coats and relatively short horns. The Dutch name for the Duiker antelope is “Duiker,” which means “diver,” and fits their flight behavior: the head is immediately submerged deep down in the dense foliage at the slightest disturbance. Wild flowers, particularly the exceptionally stunning fireball lilies, offer a visual feast in between. After your hiking or deer-talking excursion, you’ll return to your lodging for a well-deserved meal.

 DAY 03: ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK – TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK

After breakfast, you depart Arusha and drive 80 kilometers to Tarangire National Park. You’ll pass through bustling Maasai settlements and the vast grasslands that make East Africa famous. Tarangire National Park covers an area of 2600 square kilometers. There are wide, gently undulating plains here, including two enormous pans in the south that, depending on the season, convert into swamps. Tarangire is Tanzania’s fifth largest park, behind the Nyerere, Serengeti, Ruaha, and Mikumi. It is named after the Tarangire River, which flows through the park’s southern mountains. This river flows virtually to the northernmost tip of the game reserve from the extreme south, across several rocky mountainous landscapes ranging in elevation from 1000 to 1675 meters. It then swerves westward and runs into Lake Burungi, which has no outlet and is located in the park’s northeast. The river has water all year, which is critical for the surrounding flora and fauna.

As you arrive at Tarangire Park, your game drive will begin through a high grass savannah terrain dominated by the gigantic baobab trees (Adansonia digitata), which grow abundantly here. They are also referred to as baobab trees. A picnic area overlooking the Tarangire River is a lovely place to stop for lunch. You may also spot elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, and a variety of antelopes as you travel through the park. If you’re lucky, you might even see an endangered animal like the African wild dog. You will drive to your chosen accommodation in the late afternoon or evening.

DAY 04: TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK–MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

Today we travel to Lake Manyara National Park, which is a lovely narrow strip of shore between the western side of the 800-meter-high rift valley steep face and the soda-rich Lake Manyara. Despite its small size, the park contains a wide range of landforms, including the rocky Rift Valley escarpment, groundwater forest, acacia tree savannah, open grass savannah, Lake Beach, several wetlands, and the lake itself.

 Lake Manyara National Park is one of the country’s greenest and most unusual game areas. The park’s animal biomass is massive: the grass savannah is home to wildebeest, zebra, waterbuck, reedbuck, impala, and Thomson’s gazelles. Bushbucks with ivory-colored spiral horns and little dik-diks stalk smoothly across the water-soaked ground in the acacia groves. The enormous and unpredictable buffalos can be found again in the bushland. Around the rivers, the vegetation is often gallery forest, with dump palms and wild date palms growing. The trees provide plenty of shade and food for the wild animals. The tree-climbing lions are a well-known feature of the park; these muscular predators pose for photographs on acacia trees. Lake Manyara’s diverse bird life will appeal to ornithologists.

You can go to the neighboring market town of Mto Wa Mbu if you want. With its agricultural and fresh products, this location is a melting pot of local cultures and a haven for souvenir hunters. The surrounding scenery is lush and green, resembling an oasis. This change in flora is caused by the two rivers, Kirurumu and Simba, which flow underground from the Ngorongoro Highlands and pour their water masses here at Mto wa Mbu into this usually barren rift valley zone. This has been developed into an extremely fertile location. There is plenty of farmed area here, where vegetables and fruits are grown in abundance. There is a vibrant life and hustle and bustle in this market town. There are also a lot of “Dukas” here. These are stores where you can buy everything from ebony sculptures to brightly colored fabrics. The red bananas are a delectable specialty that should not be missed. When you glance at the fruit stalls, you will undoubtedly notice them. They are shorter and thicker than regular bananas, and they taste fruitier. After the excitement and various sensations of the day, you will go to your lodgings for a well-deserved dinner.

 DAY 05: MANYARA NATIONAL PARK—NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA

Following an early morning refreshment, you will drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, also regarded as the world’s eighth wonder. The asphalt road leads you higher and higher to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. On the crater’s outer slopes, the road climbs sharply in serpentines through a markedly cold, fairytale alpine forest. After a few kilometers, you will arrive at the Loduare Park gate, which serves as the entrance to the Conservation Area. Following the completion of the entry formalities, the journey continues uphill through an increasingly deep jungle with bearded lichens and ferns. The suspense increases as they get closer to the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater. Following a short ride, the highest peak and first vista, at a height of 2286 meters, are reached. It is around 650 meters above sea level from the crater’s edge to the crater bottom. Looking down, you may see savannah lands, swamps, rivers, forests, small hills, and the soda lake, which is known here as Lake Magadi. Binoculars can be used to watch herds of buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, and gazelles walking on the crater floor. Following that, you will descend into the crater and begin an exciting game drive on the crater floor.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home to approximately 120 animal species, including the fabled Big Five. Some 20,000 large mammals live in the crater area, including buffalo, zebra, antelope, and elephants. There are more than 100 lions and 400 spotted hyenas. It is one of the world’s most popular safari attraction and one of the few areas where the black rhino can be sighted. The Ngorongoro Crater is not a crater in the traditional sense. Geomorphologically, it is a caldera, which implies that following its last eruption, the crater cone collapsed in the center, forming this massive crater bowl. It is the sixth-largest caldera on the planet’s landmass. Your guide will return you to your lodging in the late afternoon or evening.

DAY 06: NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA, SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

This is the day to look forward to the trip’s highlight: a safari in the famed Serengeti National Park. This world-renowned national park has been the setting for many of the most famous nature films and documentaries. Serengeti is derived from the Maasai language and literally means “endless plains.” Around 4,000 lions, 225 cheetahs, thousands of leopards, 3500 hyenas, and hundreds of wild dogs roam these huge plains. Continue down the western crater road after breakfast until the trail descends right into the Serengeti. The “Malanja Depression” lies on your left, where the Maasai lead and graze enormous herds of cattle for watering. The 3107-meter-high extinct volcanic mountain Lemagrut can be seen behind it. After another 20 kilometers, there is a sharp cliff on the left. Massive boulders have slid down the mountain here. You’ve arrived on the Serengeti’s Nirvana, the plateau. The area is flat, with barely a few trees—a sea of grass as far as the eye can see.

You will be driven to your preferred hotel in the South Serengeti for a brief refreshment. You will go on a game drive with your guide in the afternoon. Or, you can spend the rest of the day relaxing and allowing your cook or lodge staff to pamper you.

 DAY 07: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

16 Days Tanzania Safari and Zanzibar Beaches
Serengeti National Park

You will rise before daybreak today to continue your Serengeti Safari with an early morning game drive. You will have the best chance to watch predators in action when the sun begins to brighten the savannah, as they take advantage of the low light and colder temperatures to seek an early meal. It’s a great time to view lions, leopards, and cheetahs in the wild, as well as wildebeest, zebra, and other herbivores. Alternatively, you can plan a sunrise hot air balloon safari followed by a champagne breakfast.

After an incredible morning, return to your lodge for a late breakfast and refreshment before resuming your journey with a picnic. Based on the season and the type of animals you want to see, your driver will plan the optimal itinerary. In this manner, you can make your day of observing the Serengeti’s rich species as delightful as possible. Depending on the season, you may be able to witness the great wildebeest migration. After an exhilarating day in the Serengeti’s wide savannah, you will return to your lodge in the evening.

DAY 08: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK—ARUSHA

After breakfast, you go to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The drive brings you back into the Serengeti on a lovely route, giving you the chance to see some species you may have missed earlier, such as herds of wildebeests and zebras, massive and majestic giraffes, leaping antelopes and gazelles, the mighty African elephant, and stunning predators. After leaving the reserve’s gates, you’ll drive back to Arusha for roughly 2 to 3 hours. On your way home, you’ll have the opportunity to stop at one of the many “Dukas” (little shops) and pick up some souvenirs.

 DAY 09: ARUSHA–ZANZIBAR (UNGUJA)

After completing the mainland portion of your 14-day Tanzania Safari and Zanzibar Tour, you will begin your transfer to the Republic of Zanzibar’s semi-autonomous region (no additional visa is required). Following breakfast, our driver will pick you up and transport you to Arusha (or Kilimanjaro International) airport. After a 60- to 90-minute flight, you will arrive at Zanzibar’s Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (Unguja). A driver will meet you in the arrival hall. You will now be driven to the island’s true capital, which is steeped in history. You’ll soon arrive at your chic hotel in the heart of Stone Town, as the old Arabic city center is known. The Forodhani Garden and the harbor are both nearby. The sun sets into the Indian Ocean on this side of the island. The memories of 1001 Nights’ fairy tales are reawakened here.

 DAY 10: ZANZIBAR STONE TOWN TOUR

After breakfast, your guide will pick you up from your accommodation at your desired hour, and you will begin your Zanzibar Stone Town tour. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stone Town is part of the capital of the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar. On the west coast, it is the cultural core of the main Unguja Island and the ancient section of Zanzibar City. The city was named after the many massive, multi-story stone buildings that dot the landscape of the city’s historic quarter. These structures are composed of mortar and coral rather than stone. Although corals were a good and easily accessible building material, they were quickly damaged. The guide will teach you about the island’s slave past and show you where the unfortunates were auctioned off. The National Museum of Zanzibar, commonly known as the Peace Monument Museum, is the next stop. The museum houses a comprehensive collection of the island’s natural history and artifacts. Then proceed to Forodhani Gardens, where you can witness the historic British Consulate, where explorers such as Dr. Livingston and Stanley stayed before embarking on their famed safaris. Then see the nearby Old Fort and the House of Wonders, Zanzibar’s tallest structure, erected by the Sultan as a ceremonial and administrative structure. We visit the antique houses, most of which are over 150 years old, during a relaxing walk through the small streets. We will conclude our journey by visiting Dr. Livingston House. You will return to your Zanzibar City lodging in the evening.

DAY 11: ZANZIBAR SPICE TOUR

Your guide will pick you up from your hotel and drive you into the islands interior. You will first pass by Dr. Livingstone’s house. From there, the well-known African explorer planned his final journey to Central Africa in 1866. The first stop on your journey will be the ruins of Sultan Baghash’s Maruhubi Palace, which are about 3 kilometers outside of town. He had placed his harem here—roughly a hundred ladies who lived in this castle with their eunuchs (who acted as servants and guards).

Now comes the actual spice tour: the driver, who also serves as the guide, will put you in touch with local farmers, who will accompany you to their orchards and spice gardens in a polite and welcoming manner. You can sample the delicacies on display, chew on various spices, and enjoy freshly selected fruit such as lychee, shaggy rambutan, mangosteen (which tastes like strawberry), stinking fruit (dorian), and enormous jackfruit, which grows directly from the jackfruit tree’s trunk. An adolescent climbs a coconut palm and hands you an unripe coconut, known locally as “Dafu.” The top of the nut is sliced off with a bushwhack, and you may take the opened coconut to your mouth like a spherical drinking vessel and enjoy a refreshing, vitamin- and nutrient-rich drink. In the late afternoon, following many more meetings with various spices, your guide will transport you to your chosen beach hotel.

 DAY 12: ZANZIBAR BEACH HOTEL

 Rest and relaxation by the sea, a day at leisure in your preferred accommodation

DAY 13: ZANZIBAR JOZANI FOREST EXCURSION

On the 13th day of your 16 Days Tanzania Safari and Zanzibar Beaches, your guide will drive you to Jozani Forest after breakfast. This is a protected forest region and the last remaining jungle in Zanzibar; supposedly, a few hundred years ago, all of Zanzibar was covered by a massive groundwater forest. Although the forest currently only measures 10 square kilometers, it is home to many different types of animals and plants due to its diverse ecosystems, which include swamp forest, evergreen thickets, mangroves, salt-tolerant grassland, and so on.

 The Jozani Forest is divided into three sections that you will explore today: a mangrove forest, a mahogany groundwater forest, and a forest that is home to the famed red colobus monkeys, a Guereza species that is unique to Zanzibar. When you arrive by car at the Jozani Reserve, you will initially explore the first area of the reserve, which is usually the one with the Colobus monkeys. Following the Colobus woodland region, you will arrive at the mangrove swamp. A saltwater river winds its way through this marsh area, coming from the sea around 3 kilometers away. The government has constructed a wooden footbridge that allows you to explore a portion of this mangrove forest. From this footbridge, you can see tens of thousands of miniature fiddler crabs that have carved living tunnels into the marshy ground, where they may hide in the shade of the mangrove trees if they are threatened. You return to your beach hotel after visiting the reserve’s final section, the spectacular mahogany forest.

 DAY 14-15: ZANZIBAR BEACH HOTEL

You will enjoy another full day at Zanzibar Island, this time relaxing and unwinding at your hotel or on the beaches. You will love the hotel’s activities, such as body massages. You’ll also enjoy beach activities including beach relaxing, beach walks, swimming, and other watersports.

DAY 16: HOLIDAY END: ZANZIBAR

Today is the last day of your 16-day Tanzania and Zanzibar safari excursion. Following breakfast, you will bid farewell to the beach and the magnificent Indian Ocean, and our driver will transport you to Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (Zanzibar International) for your trip home.

 

PRICE INCLUDES:

  • All Park entry fees
  • Crater fee
  • Concession fee
  • Transit fee
  • All safari activities included in itinerary
  • Private 4×4 safari land cruiser
  • Private English-speaking driver guide
  • Meals and accommodation during the safari
  • Drinking water during the safari
  • Government taxes
  • Pick up and drop off
  • All transfers mentioned
  • Zanzibar flight

PRICE EXCLUDES:

  • International Flights
  • Items of a personal nature (laundry, beverages, etc.)
  • Any hotel accommodation before or after the safari
  • Entry visas
  • Travel insurance
  • Tips and gratuities
  • Anything else not included in the itinerary
  • COVID-19-related cost

“Have you considered a Kenya-Tanzania safari? All of our safari programs can be tailored to your own preferences, tastes, and interests. We ensure that every Tanzania safari is an once-in-a-lifetime experience with our one-on-one tailored planning service. Whether you’re planning your first vacation or a return visit, we ensure that every Tanzania safari is an once-in-a-lifetime experience”

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