15 Days Mountains To Savanna Ride / Tour

Lake Chala is a crater lake in a caldera on the boarder of Tanzania and Kenya, East Africa. Lake Chala is on the eastern edge of Mount Kilimanjaro 8km north of Taveta and 55kms from the town of Moshi. Depending on the time of the year, Lake Chala ranges in color from deep blue to turquoise and green. The Lake is fed by ground water flows, which come from Mount Kilimanjaro, fed and drained underground with a rate of about 10milion m3/year. It is surrounded by 100meters high crater rim. The Lake is home of the endemic Lake Chala Tilapia (Oreochromis hunteri), which is now considered critically endangered on the IUCN red list of threatened species.

The stunning volcanic area is rapidly growing in tourism and it is now possible to stay at Lake Chala. The lake is safe for swimming; however as everywhere in Africa it pays to be careful.

The Elephant Motel is ideally situated along the Moshi – Dar es Salaam road, only half a kilometer from Same Town. The motel offers spectacular views of the South Pare Mountains and because of its location it is the ideal gateway to Mkomazi National Park, the South Pare Mountains and Shengena Forest.

Mambo Village, is on the far northwestern rim of the Usumbara’s, is perched on a cliff overlooking the Masaai plains and Mkomazi National Park. Authentic, easy going and a place to experience rural African life as it comes and goes. Rustic Mambo View Point Eco Lodge is in the middle of things, and is also the home base for some unique community projects. The beautiful cottages, build in an authentic style, are comfortable and with beautiful sunset view from your own terrace.

This full day stay at Mambo View Point will give you an opportunity to rest your muscles, having a Cultural walk tour around the village which It will give you a unique insight view on the daily life in a small Usambara agricultural village. You can experience the daily problems and challenges that the local community has to cope with and talk with local people.

You can also choose an activity / cultural walk which you will be interested in at Mambo Village as per below link:

http://www.mamboviewpoint.org/Downloads/MamboViewPointTourGuide2016.pdf

The Maasai Steppe Conservancy is located between the Tarangire National Park and the Simanjiro Plains, within the Northern Safari Circuit. Safaris in the Maasai Steppe provide a wonderfully varied experience for people wanting a combination of wildlife viewing, walking, and authentic, ‘un-canned’ cultural experiences with the Maasai. The Maasai Steppe is a vibrant and important ecological stronghold for the wildlife and people of northern Tanzania. Nearly 92% of this critical ecosystem is designated Maasai village lands where livestock husbandry represents the primary livelihood. Maintaining healthy rangelands is critical to both the Maasai people and the wildlife dependent on this arid environment.

This is a unique opportunity to experience and explore the Tarangire and Manyara ecosystem. Maramboi Tented Camp offers permanent camp facilities and endless vistas of rolling golden grasslands and palm lined desert between Tarangire and Manyara Lake. A visit to the area is essential for anyone interested in evolution and the origins of Mankind and an explanation of the Rift Valley and Africa’s big picture. It is a complete semi desert experience focusing on game drives.

After breakfast we are going to leave this awesome lodge, riding on the rift valley escarpment towards the Hadza community. The Hadza, who are hunters and gatherers in east and Southern Africa whom we are going to hunt with on their grounds in their traditional way.

On this day, our Local guide who is born and raised in this region, connected to the tribes and fluently speak local language will be leading us. We will visit one of the hadzabe group of families and learning lifestyle ,sharing stories with the bushmen people, join men for hunting small animals around the camp, learning their traditional medicines, making bows and arrows , going gathering with ladies, practice and target by bows and arrow and traditional dance. We will also have a cultural walk to onions farms, local market and interact with the locals. In the evening we will visit lake eyasi (shallow seasonal lake) and enjoy the sunset view.

The trip will take you East along winding dirt trails away from the lush area surrounding the mountain and out into the savannah scenery of the Maasai plains. You will ride towards the wall of the Great Rift Valley at the base of which stands the mighty volcano Ol Donyo Lengai. The Ol Donyo Lengai is an active volcano which last erupted in the 1970’s. It is revered by the Maasai as the home of ‘Ngai’, their god. Its almost perfect cone looms over an area of astonishing barren beauty. At the foot of the mountain there is an area of rocky desert. Here we find the cones of small extinct volcano, and Lake Natron, a huge soda lake, which stretches up to the Kenyan border. Flamingos come here to breed and in the late afternoon sun the colorful flamingo colonies make a spectacular sight, adding a dash of color against the shimmering water.

After a night under the incomparable star-filled African sky you will wake up refreshed. First enjoy a hearty breakfast, and then we set off to explore the gorge that houses our campsite. A trail leads over boulders, and through narrow chasms. In some places we cross the torrent, and scramble up rocky walls. In some spots we find strange cactuses clinging to the hot rock, in others we see lush ferns and palms in the damp shady gorge bottom. We duck under waterfalls and pass bubbling Jacuzzi-like pools and chutes where the brave can ride the natural water slide. Eventually we arrive at the head of the valley, a huge natural amphitheater cut into the imposing cliff. Here we find the source of the waters where many springs gush from the cliff walls and form pools and streams. We can play in the pools, shower in the waterfalls and enjoy our packed lunch.

We can also have chance to ride to the hot springs, foot prints and around the Lake shores for closer view of the flamingos. We return to camp for an early BBQ and then off to bed.

After breakfast departs for Serengeti National Park arriving at our lodge in time for dinner, we find ourselves deep in the heart of this famous migration corridor. With its wide-open spaces, bright blue skies and creature-filled landscape, over the next two days we will discover why the fabled Serengeti typifies the dream of “Old Africa.” Large prides of lions laze in the long grasses; plentiful families of elephants feed on acacia bark and trumpet to each other across the plains, while giraffes, gazelles, monkeys, eland and the whole range of African wildlife present themselves in awe-inspiring numbers.

Another full day in Serengeti game viewing, after breakfast this morning, enjoy a game drive. The great diversity of Serengeti wildlife is also evident here—look for buffalo, hippopotamus, elephant, giraffe, antelope, Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelle, lions, and in season the spectacular migration of the wildebeest. In late afternoon we venture out for another game drive. Everywhere there are animals, monkeys and, yes, birds…but look closely and you will thrill to the big cats—lion, leopard and cheetah—just watching the world go by. And go by it does. Rhino, gazelle, antelope and massive elephants by the hundreds. Animals in the trees, on the wing, camouflaged in the bush, in rivers and in streams.

A lovely drive takes us to Ngorongoro Crater, where our lodge sits dramatically on the rim of the crater, revealing an awesome panorama of the world’s largest, unflooded and unbroken caldera. Be prepared for some remarkable views down into the crater. The caldera of Ngorongoro marks the ancient walls of a collapsed volcano, which was probably once the size of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Today the completely enclosed circular crater is some twelve miles across, with steep walls of over 2,000 feet. We are at an altitude of approximately 7,500 feet above sea level, the highest point on our trip. After our time on the lower plains, the cooler air here is refreshing. En route you visit Olduvai Gorge and Dr. Leakey’s Museum, or just go onward to stay at the lodge and admire the view. We drive down to the crater floor to explore this natural zoological park, and observe an extraordinary variety of wildlife: elephant, rhinoceros, lion, hyena, zebra, wildebeest, Thomson’s gazelle, reedbuck, and buffalo. The lovely crested crane (similar to a peacock) can be found in great profusion here and maybe you’ll spot a bat-eared fox. The balance of predator and prey in this extraordinary ecosystem is so precise that animals seldom leave. Over 30,000 animals live here: prides of lion, elephant, leopard, cheetah and giraffe, gazelle by the thousands and multitudes of wildebeest. Please note: Only ½ day tours may be allowed while in the crater.

Departure will depend on your flight time vs airport, if in Nairobi you will leave very early with good breakfast at the lodge or with breakfast box. From other airports we will link with the timings. Transfers will be on time to catch your flights.

Departure will depend on your flight time vs airport if in Nairobi you will leave very early with good breakfast at the lodge or with breakfast box. From other airports, we will link with the timings. Transfers will be on time to catch your flights.