17Days Bird safari Southern and Western Tanzania

Meet on your arrival at the Airport and being transfer to check in at The Slipway Hotel, base onbed and breakfast.

Moorish arches and palm trees vie with Victorian street lamps to create a convoluted kasbah-by-the-sea atmosphere at this small hotel-cum-shopping center. As a bit of a tourist enclave, complete with an interesting waterfront location (you can occasionally watch fishermen toiling over their vessels in the old boatyard) and its own boat jetty, the Slipway offers clean, comfortable rooms and access to myriad shops, several restaurants, and enough services to ensure that you never really need to leave the premises. The whole place is designed like an indoor-outdoor bazaar.

After breakfast, meet your driver guide and depart to Saadani National Park. Arrival for lunch, afternoon boat safari along Wami River. Check in at Simply Saadani Camp base on full board  

Located on the Mkwaja coastline, just outside the north-east boundary of the newly gazetted Saadani National Park. Simply Saadani Camp offers a peaceful retreat from which to explore Tanzania's only coastal wildlife reserve. The 10 tented bandas are elegantly perched on stilts individually spaced out along the pristine Indian Ocean beach. All the beachfront bandas offer total privacy, are fully en suite and have large balconies with hammocks overlooking the azure sea. Emphasis is on relaxation and appreciation of the natural environment with a variety of activities offered from the lodge. The spacious restaurant and bar is also elevated on stilts overlooking the sea. Freshly caught seafood is a specialty and combined with an extensive wine list you are assured of a memorable dining experience. Saadani is in the unique position of providing the opportunity to observe Africa's big game and bird life interacting with the sea, during boat safaris, walking safaris and game drives.

Full day game drive in the park with packed lunch. Dinner and overnight at Simply Saadani Camp 

Saadani National Park is one of Tanzania's newest national parks. It covers 1000sq.km and is a unique wilderness - the heady mix of beach, bush and river - found nowhere else on the eastern African coastline. It is the range of different ecosystems that set Saadani apart from all other national parks and reserves in Tanzania, in the Wami River hippo and crocodile are prolific, literally a stone's throw from the open sea. Here also there is exceptional wildlife, particularly in the brackish waters of the river mouth, a favourite spot for pelicans and flamingos. Game is plentiful in the bush, predators jousting with plains animals and elephants have been seen on the beach before. The coastline at Saadani stretches to the horizon in both directions, a line of pure white sandy beach. The rich nutrients in the seawater attract prawns and other seafood that make feasts for the dining table. Areas along the coastline provide nesting grounds for turtles and dolphins are often seen around the sand island off shore.

After breakfast depart to Nyerere National Park (Part of Selous Game Reserve. Check in at Selous Kinga lodge for dinner and overnight. Afternoon boat safari, if they will arrive on time before 3pm

Selous Kinga Lodge is another wonderful reason to visit the magical Southern Tanzania. This paradise-like retreat is strategically and exclusively positioned on the banks of the awesome Rufiji River with the amazing Selous Game Reserve as the next door neighbors. Staying at this 20 beds safari lodge is an excellent and memorable experience filled with adventurous wild nature moments by the day and romantic relaxing ambiance by the night.
Selous Kinga Lodge welcomes you to share its secrets; the staggering and diverse natural beauty found in this part of the country, abundance of wildlife and a very scenic setting the lodge enjoys. The lodge guarantees every guest – top class amenities and facilities, a genuine warm hospitality from the lodge staff and the local people and last but not least, the most amazing variety of fresh and delicious cuisine. Southern Tanzania’s hospitality scene will never be the same again as Selous Kinga Lodge has just redefined bush luxury as we used to know it.

Two full day game drive in the Reserve with lunch boxes. Dinner and overnight in at Selous Kinga Lodge for dinner and overnight

 Few other safaris in Tanzania evoke the romance, mystique and spiritual delight of the African bush as one in the Nyerere National Park (Part of Selous Game Reserve. Embracing 54,000 square km of south-western Tanzania, it is one of the largest protected wilderness reserve on the continent, three times larger than the Serengeti and twice the size of Belgium. Named after the legendary 19th century explorer and hunter Frederick Courtney Selous, the reserve was founded by the German colonial administration in 1905. It was later expanded to include traditional elephant migration routes and accommodate the vast herds of buffalo that roam this remote, untouched corner of Africa.

After breakfast, depart to Mikumi National Park with lunch boxes. Check in at Camp Bastian base on full board (Superior chalets)

Camp Bastian Mikumi is set in unique and natural surroundings. The Camp is located in the buffer zone of Mikumi National Park about 10km from the main gate and A7 Dar es Salaam-Zambia/Malawi Highway. Cottages has private verandah, and is decorates with locally made furniture and fabrics to keep an authentic atmosphere in the rooms, each cottages have private bathroom attached. You will find everything you need during your stay, complimentary bottled water, towels and mosquito netting, hot water and electricity 24hrs.

After breakfast, day trip with packed lunch to Udzungwa Mountain for hiking -8kms with Ranger. Afternoon hiking down, return to Mikumi town. Dinner and overnight at Camp Bastian (Superior chalets

Udzungwa Mountains National Park is a forested area that is home to several species of primates, including the rare Iringa red colobus and the Sange crested mangabey monkey. Fragments of the Eastern Arc Mountains rise from the Udzungwa rainforest below and views from the peaks allow climbers to see the Selous Game Reserve and the coast of the Indian Ocean. There are many hiking trails in Udzungwa Mountains National Park that wind through various sections of the park. The most popular route is the half-day ramble to Sanje Waterfall. Mountain climbing is a popular activity that draws many visitors. Climbers can follow the trail up to Mwanihana Peak, the second highest point in the park or Luhombero Peak, the most challenging trail.

After breakfast depart to Ruaha National Park. Check in at Ruaha Hill Top base on full board.

Ruaha Hilltop is situated 110 km from Iringa Town, 5 km from Tungamalenga Village and near the boundary of Ruaha National Park. The lodge is built high on a hill with a wonderful panoramic view.  There are many different types of birds and trees that can be seen near the lodge. Dining and bar is all under one roof with a special place to enjoy the sunrise and sunset.

Full day game drive in the park with lunch boxes. Dinner and overnight at Ruaha Hill Top.

covering a conservation area of 10,300 square km in the south-west of the country, Ruaha National Park sprawls within and along the Great Rift Valley, covering a unique transition zone where the eastern and southern species of both fauna and flora meet against a dramatic topographical backdrop. This is also one of the few Tanzanian parks where sightings of the rarer antelopes, such as the Sable, the Roan and both lesser & Greater Kudu, are a probability rather than a possibility. The proliferation of plains game in the park also ensures that the larger predators - leopard and large prides of lion - are unusually active. The bird life, too, is unparalleled with some 530 species recorded.

Another full day game drive in the Park with lunch boxes. Check in at Ruaha River Lodge for dinner and overnight, NIGHT GAME DRIVE WITH RANGER (19HRS-22HRS)

Night Game Drives in Tanzania: Night game drive is an adventurous activity in Tanzania that is carried out at night in an open safari vehicle with a canvas canopy, spotlight torches for clear viewing, driven by a professional guide and with the help of an armed park ranger to protect you from any danger.

After breakfast proceed to Mbeya with Lunch boxes, dinner and overnight Utengule Coffee Lodge.

Utengule Coffee Lodge offers guests an oasis of calm on the slopes of the mighty Mbeya range in Southern Tanzania, with spectacular views across the East African Rift Valley. In terraced gardens on an estate famous for its gourmet coffee, ‘The Lodge on the Coffee Estate’ has 16 rooms with en-suite facilities, the most luxurious have open glass frontages and large balconies overlooking the pool and the Rift Valley beyond.
Guests at the lodge can expect ‘a personal touch’ with home cooking using locally-grown ingredients and exceptional hospitality offered with a smile. You can swim, play squash or tennis, walk, take a guided trek, a tour of The Coffee Farm, read a book, or simply watch the variety of birdlife in the gardens and marvel at the gorgeous sunsets.

After breakfast proceed to Katavi National Park with lunch boxes and check-in at Katavi Wildlife Camp on full board accommodation.

Katavi wildlife camp is very exclusive and located in the best game area so that you can watch the daily movements of game between food and water and witness the dramas unfold before you. The tents, luxurious in size and furnishings, are cunningly set back in amongst the trees that line the floodplain, providing both shade and camouflage in the prime game viewing area of the park, where the wildlife are unaware of your presence. 

Two days to explore Katavi Plain National Park. All meals and overnight at Katavi Wildlife Camp.

Katavi Plains National Park was established in 1951 and given National Park status in 1974 by the government. The Park is one of the upcoming tourist attractions in Tanzania as it is an unspoiled wild park with unique attractions. Because of its remote location it receives few visitors and it’s the best for those tourists who love peace. Katavi is excellent for bird-watchers as it has over 400 species. You are also likely to see leopards, elephants, giraffes, lions, zebras and buffalos. 

NIGHT GAME DRIVE WITH RANGER (19HRS-22HRS)

Night Game Drives in Tanzania: Night game drive is an adventurous activity in Tanzania that is carried out at night in an open safari vehicle with a canvas canopy, spotlight torches for clear viewing, driven by a professional guide and with the help of an armed park ranger to protect you from any danger.

After breakfast depart back to Mbeya with Lunch boxes, dinner and overnight Utengule Coffee Lodge.

Utengule Coffee Lodge offers guests an oasis of calm on the slopes of the mighty Mbeya range in Southern Tanzania, with spectacular views across the East African Rift Valley. In terraced gardens on an estate famous for its gourmet coffee, ‘The Lodge on the Coffee Estate’ has 16 rooms with en-suite facilities, the most luxurious have open glass frontages and large balconies overlooking the pool and the Rift Valley beyond.
Guests at the lodge can expect ‘a personal touch’ with home cooking using locally-grown ingredients and exceptional hospitality offered with a smile. You can swim, play squash or tennis, walk, take a guided trek, a tour of The Coffee Farm, read a book, or simply watch the variety of birdlife in the gardens and marvel at the gorgeous sunsets.

After breakfast, transfer to Mbeya Airport for your flight back to Dar (Flight tickets not included in this quote). Meet your driver guide in Dar and transfer to either hotel or International Airport for your departure back home.