Take your sense of adventure to new heights as you conquer Africa’s highest peak. Get the thrill of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro along with a spectacular safari through Tanzania’s finest parks.

Behold striking natural beauty, breathtaking vistas and often other-worldly ecological systems as you ascend snow-capped giant Mount Kilimanjaro with an expert guide. Mt Kilimanjaro is one of the highest free-standing mountains in the world, yet it can be summited without technical gear or extreme fitness. Spend your days ascending alpine deserts and glacial valleys, and resting at comfortable camps each night. As you near the summit, you’ll watch morning break over the incredible landscape and take in extraordinary views extending hundreds of miles. Standing on the roof of Africa is truly a moment that you will never forget. When your feet touch the ground again, head for Ngorongoro Crater, home to over 20,000 mammals including cheetahs, jackals, leopards, and some of the only black rhinos left in the world. With your experienced prvate guide, you’ll venture into the seamlessly never-ending expanses of the Serengeti in search of the Big 5, as well as some 500 species of birds. This African adventure promises to inspire memories that will last a lifetime.

Tsavorite Tours offers local support in each region you visit, another reason we deliver unbeatable value. Enjoy a personalized vacation that best suits your needs, developed by one of our experienced destination experts. Relax during your trip with our 24/7 support and expert local guidance.

DAY 1: KILIMANJARO – ARUSHA

You will be greeted when existing your aircraft upon arrival at the airport and escorted through security, customs, and immigration. You will also be assisted with your baggage and shown access to the airport lounge where available.

Your guide will drive you from Mt. Kilimanjaro to Arusha. The drive will take approximately 1 hour.

While you are in the care of Tsavorite Tours, your safety and security are our number one priority. As such, in the unlikely event of serious illness or injury, all Tsavorite Tours clients are covered by “Flying Doctors” Insurance policy. This emergency evacuation insurance covers the cost of the evacuation flight back to Nairobi for treatment.  This insurance policy however DOES NOT cover the cost of any medical treatment received. We highly recommend travel insurance for full coverage.

Accommodation: Mount Meru Hotel

The Mount Meru Hotel lies on 9 acres of lush landscape, surrounded by some of Africa’s most breath-taking vistas. Situated at the foothills of Mount Meru in the city of Arusha, this area is rich with a diverse array of wildlife, etched against the fertile slopes of this beautiful mountain. The Mount Meru Hotel, its management, and its staff members have made every endeavour to ensure that your stay is a rejuvenating and refreshing experience of African hospitality. Tanzanian warmth and kindness is renowned all over the world, and the opportunity to prove this fact much more than mere legend is an exhilarating opportunity to all at this pinnacle of splendor, the Mount Meru Hotel.

DAY 2: KILIMANJARO

Every excursion team is equipped with a fully operational safety kit. The kit includes a portable altitude chamber (on crater ascents), first aid kids, pulse oximeters, oxygen with regulator & mask, neck brace, mobile phone, satelite phone (on shira & crater), water filter, stethascope, portable stretcher, guest & crew AMS monitoring sheets.

Excursion guides and crews are specifically trained and instructed to ensure, wherever possible, that our guests can walk off the mountain, unaided, themselves. They are also trained extensively on monitoring systems and also management of AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), and more advanced forms of mountain sickness such as HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema) and HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema).

In the morning you are picked up at 8am from your hotel and drive to Machame gate to collect your permits. There is then an hour drive to the Umbwe gate where after checking in you set off up through the forest zone. This first day of hiking is not overly difficult but certainly steepens towards the latter end of the day. In the late afternoon you arrive in the first camp for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation: Lightweight Tent (B,L,D)

An overnight camp area will be set up in a clearing on the trail. Clients must provide their own sleeping bag, however clients will be provided with:

Client Tent: a lightweight 2-person “pup” tent used for 2 people (unless specifically booked for single occupancy), as well as a foam pad for sleeping. Tent is 52″ high, 92″ front to back, 82″ across. Floor area: 48 sq. ft.

Mess Tent: communal lightweight mess tent, lightweight table and stools.

Cooks will be on site to provide meals.

DAY 3: KILIMANJARO

The second day ascends from the forest zone into the heath zone and there are some very steep sections here. Taking it easy is essential to allow your body to acclimatise. A picnic lunch is taken on route and then in the afternoon you arrive into Barranco camp in time to relax for a while before dinner. The views of the Barranco wall and western breach pertain to events some 60,000 years ago when this whole part of the mountain collapsed.

Accommodation: Lightweight Tent (B,L,D)

DAY 4: KILIMANJARO

Today is a walk-high sleep-low day. You ascend into alpine desert and for those that are feeling strong you can even head up to Lava Tower before descending to the Barranco Camp. Lunch is taken as a picnic lunch on route. This is long day but pays dividends later on – great acclimatisation day!

Accommodation: Lightweight Tent (B,L,D)

DAY 5: KILIMANJARO

Today is another half day ascending to Barafu Camp. Once again lunch is taken in camp allowing plenty of time to relax before the summit bid. Desolate alpine desert and at times strong winds rip over this camp and yet in the evening splendid views of Mawenzi peak are the norm. A relatively early dinner is taken before heading to rest for the evening.

Accommodation: Lightweight Tent (B,L,D)

DAY 6: KILIMANJARO

Most people depart just before midnight for the final summit bid. Patience and persistence is the name of game to reach the summit and by dawn as the first rays of light start to appear, most arrive near the rim. Ascending via Stella Point affords a relatively short final section to Uhuru peak, the Roof of Africa! What goes up must come down and your goal today is to reach Mweka Camp before dusk.

Accommodation: Lightweight Tent (B,L,D)

DAY 7: KILIMANJARO – ARUSHA

After breakfast you descend once again through montane forest and around mid day after saying farewell to your crew, you are picked up and transfer back to your accommodation.

Accommodation: Mount Meru Hotel

DAY 8: ARUSHA – NGORONGORO

Your guide will drive you from Arusha to the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater. On the way you’ll have a game drive in Manyara before continuing on to your lodge near Ngorongoro. This drive will take 4-5hrs or more depending on how long you spend on your game drive in Manyara.

Just inside the Ngorongoro conservation area, a majestic waterfall beckons travellers to enjoy a light hike through the forest highlands. Along the way, experience the ‘elephant caves’: cave-like structures created by elephants digging up the earth to ingest the vitamin-rich soil. This soil also attracts other large animals like Buffalo, Bushbuck, Waterbuck, and Baboons.

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Farm House

The Ngorongoro Farm House is a small and exclusive lodge facing the Oldeani Volcano, only 5 kilometers from the Ngorongoro Lolduare gate.  This unique property was built to offer visitors an authentic experience reminiscent of the atmosphere of the old days.  Inaugurated in 2003, this lodge offers various rooms, cottages, and suites, all rustically designed and decorated using local materials and furnishings, all for the purpose of providing each guest an imaginary journey to the life of days gone by.  Meals are served in the main building, or on occasion around the pool, and feature ample selections of locally inspired dishes or popular western fares.  Guests at this lodge can cool off in the pool or enjoy tension soothing massages after game drives.

DAY 9: NGORONGORO

You are provided with a personalized, experienced tracker-guide and private transportation today whilst exploring around the Ngorongoro National Park grounds.

Explore one of the most recognized wildlife conservation areas in Tanzania today.  Depart your camp or lodge in a privately driven vehicle, along with a local expert guide, for an approximately 20 to 30 minute drive towards the Ngorongoro Park Gate.  It will then take you another 20 minutes to reach the crater rim itself.   The Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera.  This geological masterpiece was formed as a result of an extremely large volcanic explosion which caused the volcano to collapse in on itself, thus creating a crater.  The crater is roughly 20 kilometers wide and some 2000 feet deep, making the trip from crater floor to rim around 45 minutes by 4×4.  The extremely fertile crater floor is the reason why there is such a highly concentrated amount of wildlife here.  Over 20000 mammals call the crater home, including some of the only remaining black rhinos in the world.  The crater floor also boasts one of the highest carnivore densities in the world including large prides of lions, packs of hyenas and solitary predators like cheetahs and jackals.  A keen eye and expertly recommended search patterns from your guide, may help you spot some of the less common species like leopards, servals, and bat-eared foxes.

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Farm House

DAY 10: NGORONGORO – SERENGETI

Your guide will pick you up from the Ngorongoro Conservation area and drive you to the famous plains of the Serengeti.  On this drive you have the option of stopping at Olduvlai Gorge, the Serengeti welcome centre and lookout point, or stop for lunch at a picnic spot.  After entering Serengeti Park you will have the chance to enjoy game viewing as you drive through the park to your next accommodation. This drive takes 5 to 6 hours depending on the number of stops you make and how much game viewing you enjoy along the way.  Expect longer trip times during the rainy seasons.

The massive Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge is often referred to as “The Cradle of Mankind.”  Beginning in the eastern Serengeti plains, the gorge is roughly some 48 kilometers long.  Resulting from millions of years of natural erosion, this gorge boasts a steep-sided ravine that cuts and stretches its way through the Great Rift Valley along eastern Africa.  The gorge is named after a commonly used plant by the Masai people with the scientific name of Sansevieria-Ehrenbergii, or Oldupai for short.

Get ready for an afternoon to remember as you set out accompanied by an experienced tracker-guide into the seamlessly never-ending expanses of the Serengeti.  The park is world renowned for its healthy stock of resident wildlife species, in particular the African Big 5 which or course includes buffalos, elephants, rhinoceros, leopards and lions.  Although with sightings considered a rarity, very few black rhinoceros still live within the confines of the park grounds.  The Serengeti is also home to the largest population of lions and giraffes in all of Africa.  Heavy concentrations of topi, gazelle, waterbuck and Coke’s hartebeest provide an ample food source for local carnivores including cheetah, hyenas and African wild dog.  The park is also home to some 500+ species of birds, ranging in size and weights some of these bird including ostrich, crowned crane, marabou stork and secretary bird are the most sought after photogenic birds on the planet.

Accommodation: Mbalageti Camp

Mbalageti Serengeti Camp features luxury tented chalets as well as lodge style standard rooms on the slopes of the rising Mwamweni Hill. Each room type is equipped with all the utilities of home, such as an en suite bathroom and a veranda with a stunning view. Dining takes place both in the bush, privately or with small groups, or in the dining tent, where local and continental cuisine forge new roots. English tea is served in the gardens with pastries daily. Activities range from spending some alone time in the loft reading books to a relaxing float in the tranquility pool, with the Serengeti plains as the backdrop.

DAY 11: SERENGETI

This morning’s African adventure begins with an exploratory game drive through Tanzania’s oldest and most recognized National Park, the Serengeti.  This location offers the most expansive game viewing in Tanzania. From predators to prey, great herds of grazing herbivores to tactically cunning packs of carnivores, life on the plains of the Serengeti can best be defined as a complete “circle of life.”  A photographic dream unfolds before your eyes as giraffes and elephants feast on tasty shrubbery, whilst impalas, gazelles and buffalos dance carefully through the plains as to not become the latest meal for on-looking lions, cheetahs and hyenas.

Spend the day taking in the spectacle of the famous wildebeest migration.  This annual migration through the Serengeti and Masai Mara is one of the safari highlights of Africa.  The wildebeest migration moves in a basic clockwise direction throughout the year in the Serengeti eco-system and moves north into the Masai Mara in Kenya from June/July through to Sep/October.  Sightings cannot be guaranteed as the herds move according to the availability of food sources and migration movements can be erratic. The herds are accompanied by zebras and Thomson’s gazelles and are stealthily hunted by local predators such as leopards, lions and hyenas.

Accommodation: Mbalageti Camp

DAY 12: SERENGETI – ARUSHA

If time allows, your expert guide will squeeze in one more game drive before dropping you off at the airstrip. It will be your last chance to see the park’s diverse range of animals.

Take your flight from Serengeti to Arusha today. The flight will do more than one stop on the way. The flight duration is approximately 2 hours.

Luggage restriction applicable to this flight: Standard Y Class – 15kg per person, Premium XL Class – 30kg per person for both carry-on and checked luggage. Your checked luggage needs to be soft-sided – no wheels / no spine, a duffel bag is recommended. A small purse/backpack, is recommended as a carry-on, to keep your camera, passport, hat, sunblock or other items you need within easy reach.

Stop for lunch at the Arusha Hotel in this tourism capital of Tanzania. Shop the local souvenir market.

Time permitting, visit a local handicrafts market to stock up on souvenirs.

You’ll enjoy an airport transfer between your Arusha hotel and Kilimanjaro International Airport with a private vehicle and English speaking driver.