DAYS 13/ 12NIGHTS.

Day 1: Arrival at airport. Meet and transfer to Impala hotel for dinner and overnight.

A. MT. KILIMANJARO CLIMB

ROUTE: MACHAME

DURATION: 7 DAYS / 6 NIGHTS

Day 2: After breakfast at Impala hotel, we have a two-hour drive to Machame Village where the porters are waiting for our gear. Enter the gates of Kilimanjaro National Park and begin hiking through the lush rainforest. The trail can get quite muddy so bring the gaiters! Ascend through the rainforest to the Machame Hut camp and find your first views of Kilimanjaro as we leave the dense forest. 6 hours hiking - 3000 meters Camp.

Day 3: The porters wake us every morning with hot tea and warm water for washing face and hands. After breakfast in the dining tent, the day trek begins with a steep hike out of camp through a new type of vegetation and volcanic rock. Below is a sea of clouds over the rainforest with impressive Mt. Meru, the second highest peak in Tanzania (4566 meters), rising above the clouds. We climb a beautiful ridge with Kili right in front of us. After ascending some volcanic cliffs, we arrive at the vast moorlands of the Shira Hut camp. Beautiful views of Kili, Mt. Meru, and the Cathedral spires. There are some small springs for washing and collecting water. 3.5 miles from camp is the Shira Plateau, a beautiful side hike for those with the energy! 5 hours hiking - 3800 meters.

Day 4: Acclimatization day! We ascend out of Shira Camp at a nice slow pace as this is the highest we have been yet. Kili is in front of us throughout the hike. After a lunch stop, we detour up a steep scree slope to the impressive Lava Tower, a tall, black volcanic mass of rock. Some choose to scramble to the top, being rewarded with beautiful views. Or, just kick back and relax! On the steep hillside we can see the Western Breach trail which goes directly to the Kibo Glacier. After admiring the Lava Tower, we descend down to a cold glacial stream, refill our water bottles, and continue on and around the mountain. At this point, we are continuing to circumnavigate Kilimanjaro and viewing this beautiful mountain from many different angles. After hiking across a sparse lava field, we descend to the beautiful Barranco Hut camp. There is another cold stream flowing through this scenic valley with the impressive Barranco Wall on the opposite side. 3940 m, 4 hours.

Day 5: Wake up to hot tea and breakfast and immediately make our assault on the steep Barranco Wall, fondly called the Breakfast Climb as it is our first hiking of the day. We see Kili from a new angle and have a nice, fairly short walk thru scree and over a ridge to the Karanga River Valley Camp. We camp beneath the icefalls of the Heim, Kersten and Decken Glaciers. This is a short day of hiking so one may choose to do a day hike up the scree field and then ski back down or just rest in camp with a good book. 4000 meters - 3 hours.

Day 6: After climbing out of the Karanga Valley , the trail ascends a ridge to the Barafu Hut, our highest camp yet, at 4600 m. This is the camp where we will be making our ascent to the top. The camp is located well above tree line and buzzes with the excitement of the summit attempt. We arrive early to obtain plenty of rest before our 11:30 p.m wake-up call. 3 hours walking.

Day 7: Rise and shine at 11:30 p.m! Dressed in our warmest gear and with plenty of water, snacks, and headlamps we meet in the dining tent for some tea and cookies. We begin climbing by starlight, the porters always reminding us to go polee-polee (ìs lowly-slowly). The steepest section arrives just before Stella Point. We ascend to the rim of the Kibo Crater between the Rebmann and Ratzel Glaciers, 4 hours; the last section before the rim can sometimes be snow-covered and a ski pole or stick is useful for balance. From here another hour leads to Uhuru Peak, (Freedom Peak) at 19,340 feet, the highest point on the continent of Africa. After watching the sunrise and snapping plenty of photos, we descend back down to the Barafu Hut for a rest and lunch. Continue down the Mweka trail (for descent only) through the giant heather zone to camp at Mweka Hut camp. This is a festive camp on the edge of the rainforest where you want to have a little extra money because beers and sodas can be purchased here.

Day 8: Four hour hike down the Mweka trail through the rainforest. Arrive in the village of Mweka where there are plenty of wood curios, batiks, T-shirts, and souvenirs for sale. We have a delicious hot lunch in the village then get on the bus for an hour-long drive back to Impala hotel in Arusha.

END OF TREKKING

B. SAFARI

DESTINATION: LAKE MANYARA, SERENGETI & NGORONGORO CRATER.

DURATION: 4 DAYS / 3 NIGHTS

Day 9: Arusha-Lake Manyara

Depart Impala hotel after breakfast, and drive to Lake Manyara National Park for full day game drives. The park boasts tree-climbing lions not found elsewhere in Tanzania and East Africa. Apart from this, there are several different types of forests with a variety of fauna including hippopotamuses, Baboons, buffaloes, leopards, giraffes, elephants, zebra, monkey and large variety of birds, including flamingoes. Dinner and overnight at Lake Manyara Hotel or Kirurumu Tented camp.

Day 10: Lake Manyara– Serengeti.

Early breakfast at the hotel or camp then depart Lake Manyara to Serengeti National Park, the park arguably best known wildlife sanctuary in the world and boasts many species of plain animals from hare to the elephant. Game drive en-route with picnic lunch. Seronera Wildlife lodge or Sopa Lodge.

Day 11: Serengeti-Ngorongoro.

Dawn game drive. After breakfast proceed with game drive tracking the high game concentration zones until lunch time. Hot lunch at the lodge. Depart Serengeti with game drive en-route to Ngorongoro crater for dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Wildlife lodge or Sopa Lodge.

Day 12: Crater tour.

Early breakfast then descend onto Ngorongoro crater tour floor for game drive with picnic lunch.

A few words about Ngorongoro crater:

Often described as one of the wonders of the world, it was declared a WORLD HERITAGE SITE in 1978. The world's largest intact volcanic caldera, it is a natural sanctuary for some of Africa's densest animal populations. Grasslands, swamps, lakes, rivers, mountains and wildlife are all there. The approach road winds up and up through the densely forested outer slopes to Heroes Point where there is a spectacular viewpoint over the 260 square km crater floor lying 600 m below. The Gol Mountains are at the far rim, Lake Magadi in the centre with Seneto springs to the left. Gorigor swamp lies to the right and Lerai Forest in the foreground. Access to the crater is strictly monitored, with only three roads (two of them, one-way,) to the crater floor. The authorities rigidly forbid tourists from entering the crater before 07:00 and they must leave before 18:00. It is estimated that there are up to 25,000 large mammals in the 100 square miles of the crater floor so you always see many animals on a game drive. They are mainly grazers but carnivores include a population of about 100 lions and approx. 400 hyenas. Open grassland covers most of the crater floor and this supports large concentrations of wildebeest and zebra. Buffalo, Thompson's and Grantís gazelle, eland, hartebeest and warthog are also common. There are no giraffe, Topi or impala in the crater. Elephant are mainly found in the swamp and there is a population of about 25 black rhino. Hippos are mainly found at Ngoitokitok Springs. There are many birds including flamingoes on Lake Magadi. You will find many water birds around the other Lakes and springs with ostriches and the Koori Buzzard the most common. Late afternoon ascend and drive back to Arusha for dinner and overnight at Impala Hotel.

Day 13: Departure

Transfer to airport for flight back home.