Experience Overview
Embark on an unforgettable adventure in Tanzania searching for the African “big five” and gaining insights into the culture of the indigenous Maasai. Discover the epic, wildlife-rich Ngorongoro Crater and the rippling golden plains of the Serengeti; tour a Maasai village; and explore the area around the Olduvai Gorge, which has been occupied by humans—and their earliest ancestors—for almost two million years.
Highlights
- Visit the G Adventures-supported Clean Cookstoves Project
- Embark on numerous wildlife safari drives
- Enjoy the African sunset over scenic Lake Eyasi
- Meet the researchers and scientists at the Serengeti Wildlife Centre
Trip Details
Product Code: 2091
Tour Type: Small Group
Accommodation: Moderate
Transport: 7-seat 4x4 safari vehicle, walking.
Guide Language: English
Travel Styles: National Geographic Journey
Tour Operator: G Adventures
Supplier Code: DTTNG
Starts: Arusha, Tanzania
Finishes: Arusha, Tanzania
Duration: 7 days
Departures: Guaranteed
Physical Rating: Light
Includes
Activities
- Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Serengeti Wildlife Research Centre Lecture, Serengeti National Park Your Journeys Highlight Moment: Clean Cookstove Project Talk, Mto wa Mbu Your G for Good Moment: Mto wa Mbu Community Visit and Lunch, Mto wa Mbu Your G for Good Moment: Clean Cookstove Project Visit, Mto wa Mbu Your Welcome Moment: Welcome Moment - Meet Your Expedition Leader and Group
- Arrival transfer
- Wildlife safari drives in Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Serengeti National Park
- Entrance to Olduvai Gorge Museum
- All transport between destinations and to/from included activities
Accommodation
- Hotels – 2 nts, safari lodge – 1 nt, comfortable tented camp – 3 nts.
- 6 breakfasts, 5 lunches, 4 dinners
Transport
- 7-seat 4x4 safari vehicle, walking.
Group Leader
- National Geographic Expedition Leader throughout, certified driver/guide.
Price
Price per person: (Double Occupancy) CAD $4724 ($675 /day)
Itinerary
Day 1: Arusha
Arrive at any time. Arrival transfer is included.
Our trips throughout Kenya and Tanzania have a maximum group size of six travellers in addition to an Expedition Leader and a driver who are both trained safari guides. That means everyone gets a window seat and twice the insight about the astounding wildlife all around you.
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - You will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel to start your adventure.Activity - Your opportunity to meet your National Geographic Expedition Leader and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Opt to join the group for a local meal afterwards. Don't forget to see the notice in the lobby (or ask reception) for the official time and place to meet up with the group.Accommodation - Kibo Palace Hotel
Day 2: Arusha/Lake Manyara National Park
This morning, make your way to Mto wa Mbu, a vibrant settlement of Tanzania's diverse tribal groups. Take a guided walk through the rural town, visiting the local market and meeting artisans in their workshops; then sit down for a traditional lunch with a local family. Continue to the Rift Valley escarpment and settle into our safari camp, located at the edge of Lake Manyara National Park. Set out on our first safari drive to discover East Africa's legendary wildlife, searching for lions, elephants, hippos, giraffes, and more.
This western wall of the Rift Valley escarpment is truly stunning. It provides a backdrop for your search of the park's bird life, tree-climbing lions, elephants, hippos, and baboons. The afternoon is spent viewing wildlife along the main road that winds through a lush, cool forest that's dominated by large ficus trees covered in bromeliads and ferns.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.Activity - This western wall of the Rift Valley escarpment is truly stunning. It provides a backdrop for your search for the park's phenomenal bird life (including raptors), tree-climbing lions, elephants, zebras, hippos, baboons, and buffalos. Look up and see some of the more than 400 species of birds, including pink flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, and storks.
Beyond wildlife, Lake Manyara NP is home to giant fig trees, acacia woodlands, mahogany trees, and grassy flood plains. The contrasts of this area are simply breathtaking; the open plains, huge escarpment, central alkaline lake, dense woodlands, and distant volcanic peaks coming together in an area best described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I have seen in Africa.”
Activity - Take part in a cultural walk to learn about life in this East African town. Mto wa Mbu has attracted some 18,000 residents from 120 different tribes. During the two-hour tour, visit the community's local market, go right to the farmer's fields, see how huts are constructed, and meet artisans in their shops.
Afterwards, sit down with our new friends and enjoy a traditional lunch of meat and plantains.Accommodation - Rift Valley Photographic Lodge
Day 3: Lake Manyara National Park/Serengeti National Park
Travel through the breathtaking Rift Valley en route to our safari camp in Serengeti National Park. Enjoy a stop along the way at the Olduvai Gorge Museum and Visitor's Centre—located near the site where National Geographic archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey discovered early hominid fossils and stone tools in 1960. From here, continue to the world-famous Serengeti National Park and head out on a late afternoon safari drive across the Serengeti Plain, keeping an eye out for grazing giraffes, lounging lions, and herds of antelope in the golden light.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.Activity - The Olduvai Gorge is a steep ravine in the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania. It is one of the world’s most important paleoanthropological sites. Beginning in 1931, excavations by Louis Leakey revealed evidence of early man dating back nearly 2 million years. Visit the Olduvai museum and see bone fossils and fragments of ancient stone tools. This UNESCO World Heritage site provides an intriguing glimpse into the origin and evolution of man in these Serengeti Plains of Africa.Activity - This is the reason you came to Africa. Charge your camera, grab your binoculars, and set out on safari. Your eagle-eyed driver will keep an eye out for wildlife – buffaloes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, and more. Tanzania’s Serengeti tends to be less crowded than some of Kenya’s reserves, so enjoy the scenery, the vast expanse of the grasslands, the play of light and shadow, and the up-close look at wild Africa.Accommodation - Serengeti Tortilis Camps
Day 4: Serengeti National Park
Immerse yourself in the splendor of the Serengeti, one of Africa's most celebrated wildlife reserves. Discover the park's iconic creatures when you set out in a 4x4 on morning and afternoon safaris through the golden grasslands. With luck, spot all of Africa's “big five”—lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo. Later, visit the Serengeti Wildlife Research Centre, and enjoy a talk by one of the visiting researchers.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - This is the reason you came to Africa. Charge your camera, grab your binoculars, and set out on safari. Your eagle-eyed driver will keep an eye out for wildlife – buffaloes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, and more. Tanzania’s Serengeti tends to be less crowded than some of Kenya’s reserves, so enjoy the scenery, the vast expanse of the grasslands, the play of light and shadow, and the up-close look at wild Africa.Transport - Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.Activity - Visit the Serengeti Wildlife Research Centre, where most of the wildlife researchers and scientists are based for projects within Serengeti National Park and surrounding protected areas. Enjoy a lecture by one of the visiting researchers; topics will vary based on the studies being done at the time.Accommodation - Serengeti Tortilis Camps
Day 5: Serengeti National Park/Ngorongoro
Depart from the Serengeti early and travel across the vast savanna to the Ngorongoro Conservation area. Spanning more than 20 kilometres in diameter, the Ngorongoro Crater is the largest non-flooded caldera in the world and is inhabited by some 25,000 animals. Set out on a full-day safari drive into the Ngorongoro Crater and observe the biodiversity and resident wild animals in this incredibly important location to the conservation and protection of global wildlife. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the heart of the world's largest caldera surrounded by Ngorongoro's flora and fauna. Then, travel to our accommodations in Pembeni for dinner and a relaxing overnight stay in a pristine wilderness setting.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch,Dinner
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.Activity - See the wonders of the Ngorongoro Crater on a full-day safari drive down into the crater to some of the best spots to view wildlife. Watch for zebra, gazelles, buffalo, and warthogs. Keep your eyes peeled and camera ready to capture a pride of lions or a lone leopard walking along the savanna. Enjoy lunch down in the crater before driving around for more wildlife viewing opportunities.Accommodation - Pembeni Africa Lodge
Day 6: Ngorongoro/Arusha
Leave Ngorongoro behind this morning and travel from our lodge in Pembeni to a Maasai village. Here, we learn about the G Adventures–supported Clean Cookstoves Project, dedicated to providing clean-burning cookstoves to Maasai communities throughout Tanzania. Enjoy a presentation by a Maasai woman on the impact of the project, and take a guided tour of the village, visiting traditional homes or bomas and helping build a new stove. Continue to Arusha stopping en route for lunch. Spend the remainder of the day in the safari capital city of Tanzania, at your own leisure.
Meals included: Breakfast,Lunch
Exclusive inclusions: Transport - Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.Activity - Visit a Maasai village in the Monduli District and witness the benefits of the G Adventures-supported Clean Cookstove Project. In Tanzania, 95% of people rely on cooking with wood and coal. Women and girls spend hours walking to collect wood every day (making them vulnerable to assault and unable to use their time to go to school). Indoor smoke from open-fire stoves causes cancer, emphysema, pneumonia, blindness, and burns. Take a guided tour of these villages and meet the women that have been trained as stove engineers, visit bomas (traditional homes), and observe (or get your hands dirty) by helping the Stove Team build a stove in a home. See the beneficial impact of the clean-burning stoves on the health and daily lives of the Maasai villagers, especially the women.Activity - G Adventures has partnered with the Masai Stoves and Solar Project to install more efficient cookstoves across the Serengeti in order to cut down on smoke-related illnesses. Enjoy an exclusive talk with some of the “Masai mamas” and learn how their lives have been impacted and their community empowered.Accommodation - Kibo Palace Hotel
Day 7: Arusha
Depart at any time.
Meals included: Breakfast
Exclusive inclusions: Activity - Not ready to leave? Your Expedition Leader can help with travel arrangements to extend your adventure.
Similar Tours
Tour Operator
G Adventures
G Adventures, founded in 1990 by Bruce Poon Tip, is a global adventure travel company specializing in small-group tours that emphasize authentic, sustainable, and culturally immersive experiences. Originally launched as GAP Adventures (“Great Adventure People”), the company pioneered the concept of community-driven travel by offering affordable trips that connect travelers with local communities while minimizing environmental impact. Today, G Adventures operates in more than 100 countries, offering a wide range of itineraries across themes such as active adventures, wildlife, wellness, family, and National Geographic–partnered tours, while maintaining a strong commitment to responsible tourism and social enterprise through its Planeterra Foundation.
In Business Since 1990
Reviews
Tracey - Traveled, July 2024
This was a trip of a lifetime. The attention to detail was outstanding. Our guides were excellent and very knowledgeable and the lodges were first class.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 07/31/2024
Christine - Traveled, November 2019
Moses as well as out driver Omega were truly wonderful. Friendly outgoing generous with their time. Informative. I can’t say enough. There was a little I’ll will between 2 of the travelors and Moses was exceptionally good at easing the problems and making everyone feel comfortable and happy in spite of them. The accommodations and the staff of the places we stayed were excellent
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 11/12/2019
Kin - Traveled, July 2019
I salute Tanzania for having managing national parks so well. Safari is done in a respectful manner to the environment and the animals. We saw all the animals and their babies. The trip was unforgettable.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 08/16/2019
Theresa - Traveled, July 2019
The guide Zuri, and driver Hamdani were the BEST! They were fun, knowledgeable, professional, helpful, handled all our needs and requests efficiently, and were so enthusiastic about making the trip a great experience for the group. Zuri especially, is a gem - a superb professional and a great asset for the G Adventures company. They should find and hire others like her.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 08/13/2019
DEEPTHA - Traveled, June 2019
Excellent Itinerary with informative guides. Very good accommodations. Good vegetarian options. Feels great that G adventures along with their collaboration with National Geographic contributes to the local community installing chimneys in humble Masai dwellings to prevent lung and breathing related ailments in the local Masai people.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 07/06/2019
Kevin - Traveled, December 2024
Excellent.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 01/02/2025
Eleanor - Traveled, September 2024
My Safari tour was a bucket list wish. Because A Safari tour was in my bucket list. Davis, our tour guide, created such a fun, thrilling, educational experience for us. Seeing the animals and learning about them and their environment was a life time experience. I left the Serengeti and Tanzania with renewed interest and determination to do more to conserve and protect the world we live in.
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 10/13/2024
Kristine - Traveled, August 2024
I loved the tour, the animals and learning about the community. I will truly remember this trip with nothing but happiness. I will definitely be using this in the future. Thank you for an amazing trip!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 09/22/2024
Carol - Traveled, April 2024
Perfect. Worth the 30 hour flight and layover!!!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 05/02/2024
Catherine - Traveled, March 2024
It was a great experience and a lovely group!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 03/24/2024
Carlie - Traveled, January 2024
A trip of a lifetime! I loved every minute of it!
Source: Tour operator Submitted: 01/23/2024
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