Tanzania Family Journey: A Serengeti Safari

Welcome to Arusha–your arrival transfer to the hotel is included. Check in and get excited to meet your fellow travelers during a welcome meeting this evening where all families can bond before the Journey ahead. Our National Geographic Family Journeys tour in Tanzania has a maximum group size of eighteen travellers in addition to our highly trained Expedition Leaders and safari guides/drivers. We will make use of a maximum of three 7-seat 4x4 safari vehicles, with 6 guests per vehicle, meaning everyone gets a window seat.

Included Experiences

• Arrival Transfer: You will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel to start your adventure.
• Welcome Moment - Meet Your Expedition Leader and Group: Your opportunity to meet your National Geographic Expedition Leader and fellow travellers, and learn more about your tour. Opt to join the group for a local meal afterwards. Don't forget to see the notice in the lobby (or ask reception) for the official time and place to meet up with the group.

Duck under the giant leaves of banana trees as you explore the lush farmlands surrounding the vibrant town of Mto wa Mbu, which has attracted some 18,000 residents from 120 different tribes. Take a guided walk through the community, learning about local history, industry and cuisine from members of several Tanzanian tribes. You’ll also visit a local market and learn how the residents' huts are made. Then enjoy lunch with a local family, tasting different types of banana and rice dishes harvested from nearby farms. After lunch, visit the workshops of local artisans who will describe influences and materials they use to make the items they sell in local markets. They’ll also show you techniques they use to create art from banana leaves—then it’s your turn to create some banana art of your own! Continue to the Rift Valley escarpment and settle into the lodge.

Included Experiences

• 7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle: Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
• Mto wa Mbu Community Visit and Lunch: Take part in a cultural walk to learn about life in this East African town. Mto wa Mbu has attracted some 18,000 residents from 120 different tribes. During the two-hour tour, visit the community's local market, go right to the farmer's fields, see how huts are constructed, and meet artisans in their shops. Afterwards, sit down with our new friends and enjoy a traditional lunch of meat and plantains.
• Mto wa Mbu Painting and Crafts: The town of Mto wa Mbu offers visitors an opportunity to experience traditional ways of life among small communities in Tanzania. You'll spend the morning exploring the area and trying local dishes. Then, under the guidance of a local artist, try your hand at traditional painting. Your instructor will show you techniques and describe influences and materials they use to create the items you may have seen for sale in local markets.

It’s officially time for safari, but first an introduction to the remarkable anthropological history of the Serengeti area. Delve into the story of human origins at the Olduvai Gorge Museum and Visitor's Center, located near the site where National Geographic archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey discovered early hominid fossils and stone tools. After a filling picnic lunch, continue to the world-famous Serengeti National Park and go on a safari across the wild Serengeti Plain. Throughout your safari, keep an eye out for galloping giraffes and lounging lions. Then, head back to camp for a delicious dinner before settling in for a good night’s sleep.

Included Experiences

• 7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle: Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
• Olduvai Gorge Museum: The Olduvai Gorge is a steep ravine in the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania. It is one of the world’s most important paleoanthropological sites. Beginning in 1931, excavations by Louis Leakey revealed evidence of early man dating back nearly 2 million years. Visit the Olduvai museum and see bone fossils and fragments of ancient stone tools. This UNESCO World Heritage site provides an intriguing glimpse into the origin and evolution of man in these Serengeti Plains of Africa.
• Serengeti National Park Safari : This is the reason you came to Africa. Charge your camera, grab your binoculars, and set out on safari. Your eagle-eyed driver will keep an eye out for wildlife – buffaloes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, and more. Tanzania’s Serengeti tends to be less crowded than some of Kenya’s reserves, so enjoy the scenery, the vast expanse of the grasslands, the play of light and shadow, and the up-close look at wild Africa.

Today, get to know the incredible creatures of the Serengeti as you set out on morning and afternoon wildlife-viewing adventures. Ride in a 4x4 over golden plains, gazing out from the pop-up roof to glimpse wildlife through binoculars or watch as animals walk right by you! Watering holes also draw all kinds of visitors, from towering giraffes to the tiny dik-diks, a miniature species of antelope. With luck, spot all of Africa’s “Big 5” safari stars—lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo.

Included Experiences

• Serengeti National Park Safari : This is the reason you came to Africa. Charge your camera, grab your binoculars, and set out on safari. Your eagle-eyed driver will keep an eye out for wildlife – buffaloes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, and more. Tanzania’s Serengeti tends to be less crowded than some of Kenya’s reserves, so enjoy the scenery, the vast expanse of the grasslands, the play of light and shadow, and the up-close look at wild Africa.
• 7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle: Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.

On a morning safari, look out for cackling jackals, brave honey badgers or long-necked ostriches strutting through the grass. Enjoy a picnic breakfast surrounded by the vast savanna before heading out of the Serengeti en route to the Ngorongoro Conservation area. Once you settle into the lodge, enjoy a delicious lunch to fuel up for your next adventure. In the afternoon, join your Chief Experience Officer and a park ranger for a walk along the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, observing the small flora and fauna that make this biodiverse spot so spectacular. Keep your eyes peeled for inspiration, as after the walk concludes, you’ll head back to the lodge to meet an artist from the local community who will guide you through a painting class. You’ll get to use your own canvas to illustrate all the things that inspired you on your walk along the rim of the crater.

Included Experiences

• 7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle: Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
• Serengeti National Park Safari : This is the reason you came to Africa. Charge your camera, grab your binoculars, and set out on safari. Your eagle-eyed driver will keep an eye out for wildlife – buffaloes, elephants, lions, wildebeests, zebras, and more. Tanzania’s Serengeti tends to be less crowded than some of Kenya’s reserves, so enjoy the scenery, the vast expanse of the grasslands, the play of light and shadow, and the up-close look at wild Africa.
• Ngorongoro Rim Walk & Painting: Join your Chief Experience Officer and a park ranger for a walk along the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. Observe the small flora and fauna, and try to spot zebra, gazelles, buffaloes, and warthogs from your vantage point. Be on the lookout for inspiration because after the walk concludes, you’ll head back to the lodge to meet an artist from the local community for a painting class. Use your own canvas to illustrate your walk along the rim of the the biggest, unbroken volcanic caldera on Earth.

Set out into the Ngorongoro Crater, an enormous volcanic caldera where animals of all kinds gather to graze or hunt. Descend into the caldera for a full-day safari drive, ready to be mesmerized by zebra stripes and the eland’s spiral horns. Spot buffalo, wildebeests, zebras and gazelles as they bound across the grass. Enjoy a picnic lunch along the way within the crater.

Included Experiences

• Ngorongoro Crater Full Day Safari Drive: See the wonders of the Ngorongoro Crater on a full-day safari drive down into the crater to some of the best spots to view wildlife. Watch for zebra, gazelles, buffalo, and warthogs. Keep your eyes peeled and camera ready to capture a pride of lions or a lone leopard walking along the savanna. Enjoy lunch down in the crater before driving around for more wildlife viewing opportunities.

Your day begins with a visit to a local coffee farm, where you’ll learn about the “seed to cup” coffee making process. After watching the beans roast, you’ll get to sample some of the freshly made coffee. After you enjoy lunch at the farm, take a walk through the picturesque landscape. Your next stop is a visit to a Maasai village in the Monduli district, where you’ll chat with locals and learn about the G Adventures-supported Clean Cookstoves project—an amazing initiative that seeks to reduce household air pollution. You’ll meet one of the project’s female engineers and lend a hand during the installation of a new stove in a village boma, or traditional home. Return to Arusha and gather for a farewell dinner while sharing stories about your exciting adventures.

Included Experiences

• 7-Seat 4x4 Safari Vehicle: Get a better view and take better snapshots aboard this off-road ride with a pop-up top.
• Clean Cookstove Project Visit: Visit a Maasai village in the Monduli District and witness the benefits of the G Adventures-supported Clean Cookstove Project. In Tanzania, 95% of people rely on cooking with wood and coal. Women and girls spend hours walking to collect wood every day (making them vulnerable to assault and unable to use their time to go to school). Indoor smoke from open-fire stoves causes cancer, emphysema, pneumonia, blindness, and burns. Take a guided tour of these villages and meet the women that have been trained as stove engineers, visit bomas (traditional homes), and observe (or get your hands dirty) by helping the Stove Team build a stove in a home. See the beneficial impact of the clean-burning stoves on the health and daily lives of the Maasai villagers, especially the women.

Depart at any time.