12 Days Hiking & Safari

Upon your arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, our representative will meet you and transfer you to your hotel in Moshi. You'll have time to rest and prepare for the upcoming adventure.

The ascent begins at Machame Gate (1830m), where we pass through Mount Kilimanjaro's verdant lower slopes. You will reach the first Machame camp, which is located at 3000m above sea level, as you gradually gain height and take in the varied wildlife of the rain forest.

A shorter day climbing up a steep ridge to reach a small semicircular cliff known as a picnic site, and continue up a gentler ascent through the lower alpine moorland, which is known for beautiful wild alpine flowers. The most spectacular views of the Kibo peak can be seen from Shira Camp.

We have a gradual rise today as well as expansive vistas. After a delicious lunch at the bottom of the Lava Tower (4,600 m), we continue down the southwest side of Kilimanjaro to the Great Barranco valley (3,900 m). We also pass below the Lava Tower and the last portion of the Western Breach.

After a long climb up the eastern slope, we arrive to the region just below the Heim Glacier, where we may be given to breath-taking views of Kilimanjaro. After a quick break for a delicious lunch, we begin a difficult ascent out of Karanga before continuing on to Barafu Camp over a smooth road on compacted scree with panoramic views of the surrounding dry, desolate landscape. One can see Kibo and Mawenzi's two summits from Barafu Camp.

Summit day! Begin the ascent in the early morning hours, typically around midnight. Reach Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa, and descend to Mweka Camp.

Successful climbers will collect their summit certificates at Mweka gate after a leisurely stroll through the woods. We take a trip back to Arusha after lunch.

Starting early for Ngorongoro, we will drive around the crater rim after registration at the entrance before descending 2000 feet (nearly 600 meters) to the Ngorongoro Crater floor for your crater tour. You may explore the elephant- and monkey-inhabited woodland sections as well as the lake region, where flamingos are sometimes spotted. We'll also go to the lions' hunting grounds in the wide savannah. Lunch will be provided in the crater as a picnic. We travel to the Serengeti in the afternoon.

After breakfast, we go on a game drive into the Serengeti, where we stop for a picnic lunch before continuing our game watching for the remainder of the day amid the huge plains, which are only occasionally punctuated by kopjes and clumps of acacia trees. Large herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle will often meet the migration in December, January, and February. Numerous resident creatures, like giraffes, buffalo, and elephants, as well as numerous powerful predators, including lions.

We have another full day in this wonderful park, rising early to make the most of our time. Our guides will choose the best spotting locations for the time of year; we can spend time at the Hippo pool watching these majestic animals laze about in the cool water happily living alongside the crocodiles, watch a big pride of lions, be in the middle of the migration, sometimes surrounded by wildebeest, sometimes by zebras, which travel with the wildebeest.

We depart from your lodge in Karatu and proceed to Lake Manyara National Park. Although small in size, this park is one of the most diverse reserves in the country. Lake Manyara covers two-thirds of the park. At the backdrop is the wall of the Great Rift Valley, before which lies the groundwater forest, areas of open grassland near the lake foreshore, and the Soda Lake. In the afternoon we drive back to Resort / Hotel.

Depending on your flight schedule and departure point you will be transferred to the airport to connect your flight for further travel.