8 Day Tanzania Family Tour – Arusha to Arusha (Accommodated)

Day 1: Arusha, Tanzania

The adventure begins tonight. Feel free to explore before your welcome meeting, but make sure you’re back in time to meet the group. Check for the meeting time on the welcome note at the hotel. After introductions, your CEO will review the details of your tour. Please note that normal check-in times apply at our start hotels, but you can usually store your luggage for the day if you arrive early.

In addition to our highly skilled safari guides and drivers, the maximum group size is eighteen passengers. This mean that a maximum of three 7-seat 4×4 safari cars will be used, each accommodating six passengers, so every person will have a window seat!

Accommodation: Kibo Palace Hotel (or similar)

Day 2: Arusha – Mto wa Mbu, Tanzania

Explore the verdant farmlands that surround the thriving community of Mto wa Mbu, which has drawn some 18,000 residents from 120 different tribes, as you duck under the enormous leaves of banana trees. Discover the history, economy, and cuisine of the area by going on a guided walk through the hamlet with representatives from various Tanzanian tribes. You will also see how the natives make their houses and visit a local market. After that, have lunch with a local family and sample several rice and banana delicacies that are produced locally. Visit the workshops of the village artisans after lunch, who will talk about the materials and inspirations they used to create the goods they sell in the neighborhood markets. After they demonstrate the methods they use to create artwork from banana leaves, it’s your chance to produce some original banana art! Proceed to the Rift Valley escarpment and make yourself at home at the resort.

Accommodation: Rift Valley Photographic Lodge (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlight: Mto wa Mbu Village Visit and Lunch, Mto wa Mbu Painting and Crafts
Route: Arusha – Mto wa Mbu
Distance: 130 km
Travel Time: 2-3 hours

Day 3: Mto wa Mbu – Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Before we go on safari, let’s take a brief look at the fascinating anthropological history of the Serengeti region. Explore the history of human origins at the Olduvai Gorge Museum and Visitor’s Center, which is situated close to the location where early hominid fossils and stone tools were found by National Geographic archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey. Proceed to the renowned Serengeti National Park and take a safari across the untamed Serengeti Plain following a hearty picnic lunch. Look out for lions relaxing and giraffes charging throughout your trip. After a delectable dinner, return to the camp and get some rest before bed.

Accommodation: Serengeti Tortilis Camps (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlight: Olduvai Gorge Museum, Serengeti National Park Safari
Route: Mto wa Mbu – Serengeti National Park
Distance: 190 km
Travel Time: 8-9 hours

Day 4: Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Discover the amazing animals of the Serengeti today as you go on morning and afternoon wildlife watching excursions. Travel across golden plains in a 4×4 while looking out the pop-up roof for a close-up view of the surrounding wildlife or watching as it passes by! Watering holes also attract a diverse range of wildlife, including small dik-diks, a species of dwarf antelope, and towering giraffes. Hopefully, you will be able to see the “Big 5” safari stars of Africa: the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and Cape buffalo.

Accommodation: Serengeti Tortilis Camps (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlight: Serengeti National Park Safari

Day 5: Serengeti National Park – Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Watch out for chuckling jackals, daring honey badgers, and long-necked ostriches striding through the grass on a dawn safari. Before leaving the Serengeti and traveling to the Ngorongoro Conservation area, savor a picnic breakfast set against the backdrop of the expansive savanna. After checking into the lodge, eat a filling lunch to get you ready for your next activity. Take a stroll around the Ngorongoro Crater rim in the afternoon with your Chief Experience Officer and a park ranger to take in the little plants and animals that contribute to this biodiverse location’s breathtaking beauty. After the walk, you’ll return to the lodge where you’ll meet a local artist who will lead you through a painting session, so keep a look out for inspiration. You will be able to draw on your personal canvas whatever inspired you during your crater rim walk.

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Tortilis Camp (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlight: Serengeti National Park Safari, Ngorongoro Rim Walk & Painting
Route: Serengeti National Park – Ngorongoro Crater
Distance: 160 km
Travel Time: 4 hours

Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania

Enter the Ngorongoro Crater, a huge volcanic caldera where animals of all types congregate for grazing or hunting. Prepare to be enthralled by the spiral horns of the eland and the zebra stripes as you descend into the caldera for a full-day safari excursion. Watch as gazelles, buffalo, wildebeests, and zebras sprint over the grass. In the crater, have a picnic lunch along the route.

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Tortilis Camp (or similar)
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Included Highlights: Ngorongoro Crater Full Day Safari Drive

Day 7: Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha, Tanzania

Visit a nearby coffee plantation to learn about the “seed to cup” production of coffee as the first activity of the day. Following the bean roasting process, you will be able to taste some freshly brewed coffee. After your meal at the farm, stroll around the lovely surroundings. Your next destination is a visit to a Maasai hamlet in the Monduli district, where you will converse with the residents and discover more about the incredible Clean Cookstoves project, which aims to lower air pollution in homes. You’ll get to know one of the female engineers working on the project and assist with the installation of a new stove in a community boma, or customary house. When you get back to Arusha, get together for a farewell dinner and tell each other tales of your thrilling travels.

Accommodation: Kibo Palace Hotel (or similar)
Route: Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha
Included Highlight: Clean Cookstove Project Visit
Distance: 190 km
Travel Time: 3 hours

Day 8: Arusha, Tanzania

Your journey comes to an end today. You may depart at any time or speak to your leader if you want to extend your adventure.

Meals: Breakfast

Onward Travel Plans

Due to circumstances beyond our control while on tour (such as border crossings, traffic, breakdowns and delays, etc), the end time on the last day cannot be guaranteed. Therefore we strongly recommend you stay the night and fly out the next day. Please consult with your booking consultant.