Tier
2 Safari
Tour Name: Sopa
Lodges Classic Tanzania Safari II
Tour Number:
AMDSTZ2808
Duration: 6 Days
Departure Days: Tuesdays
Destinations: Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro
Crater & Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park
Accommodations: Tarangire
Sopa Lodge, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge, Serengeti Sopa Lodge
Prices:
Scroll Down To The End Of
This Itinerary
Safari Description:
The Sopa
Lodges Classic Tanzania Safari
Program is A
Mix Of ROAD & AIR
Safari Combining Interactions While
Driving As Well As A Birds Eye View Of Experiences Of The Serengeti Plains And The Landscapes Covering The Beauty Of Northern Region Of
Tanzania.
Sopa
Lodges Classic Tanzania Safari traces
its ways through the famous Northern Tanzania parks and reserves with the opportunity to overnight
at the well known Sopa Lodge accommodation chains which are all strategically
located with in the destinations. In Northern Tanzania Sopa Lodges can be found in
Tarangire National Park known for its elephant migrations, on the Ngorongoro Crater
rim overlooking the crater floor and in the south-west wildebeest migration path
in the Serengeti National
Park. The Sopa Lodges are one of the reason for the fame surrounding these Northern
Tanzania parks.
Experience
the ecosystem of the Tarangire National Reserve with diverse wildlife
populations and its 550 recorded bird species. The Ngorongoro Crater rim delivers awesome and
spectacular views of the crater with the opportunity to descend the crater floor
for a game drive. On the way to the Serengeti National Park stop over at the
Olduvai Gorge located in the conservation area. It is here, on this Maasai owned
land that balance between retaining the rights for the Maasai to continue the
pastoral ways and Tanzania Government’s control of natural resources has been
bound. Watch the young Maasai child tend to their cattle a few steps away from
the site where hominid remains were excavated. Continue on to Serengeti
epitomized around the globe in documentaries, movies and even animated cartoons.
The Serengeti is home to the wildebeest, zebras and antelopes during the great
migration season. The presence of migration attracts prey and predator to
partake in the cycle of life, which is eloquently described in AfricanMecca’s
poem about the Serengeti.
Sopa
Lodges Classic Tanzania Safari
Also OPTIONALLY Allows
The Opportunity To Extend Out On A Chimpanzee Trekking Safari Or At Any Of
Other Off The Beaten Path Parks. Contact AfricanMecca Destination Professionals
For More Guidance And Options. Beach Vacations In Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar And
Other Indian Ocean Islands Are Also Available.
Learn
more about AfricanMecca’s Safari
Tier™ Ratings – Click
here
Program
Highlights:
Detailed Safari
Itinerary:
Guests arriving
today normally have the following 3 options available to them as stated below:
1.
If
arriving on an early morning, your program will begin at 2.00 PM on the
stated departure days.
2.
If
arriving on an evening flight, your program can only start the following day.
Please view the Safari Notes section below to view the Arusha hotels and lodges
available to AfricanMecca guests. Your guide will help you check in to your
Arusha hotel or lodge. Pre-arrangements need to be made before your arrival so
please let us know the Arusha hotel or lodge of choice when selecting this
program. If you need assistance in selecting an accommodation appropriate for
your itinerary, please let us know.
3.
This
program can start from Nairobi, Kenya upon completion of a safari program by
noon and connecting to Tanzania on the 12.30 PM flight, arriving in Kilimanjaro,
Tanzania at 1.30 PM.
.
Day 1-2: Arrival In Tanzania – Serengeti
National Park
Upon arrival at the Kilimanjaro International
Airport in Tanzania, our guest relations’ officer will personally meet all
arriving guests. We will be standing outside the arrival section holding a
signboard with your name on it. We will help you board your afternoon flight to
the Serengeti National Park. Once you arrive and alight from the plane at the
airstrip, you will be met by your guide. Experience the Serengeti during your
stay with morning
and afternoon game drives!
Among the many resources and beauties found and
seen in the Serengeti ecosystem: rich animal and plant diversity, unexposed gold
and mineral mines, superb sunsets on smooth landscapes, the number one wonder on
the list in the Serengeti is the great wildebeest migration. The migration has
formed its own culture in the Serengeti, with the wildebeest doing what they are
do for the last two million years. Nothing is a constant: not the rains, not the
grass nor the timings of the migration. The whole migration is masterfully
planned by nature, with most times the migration being led by the Burchells
Zebra who relish the tall grasses, making it easier for the wildebeest with
their sunken heads to chomp on the shorter grass. The remainder of short grass
benefits the Thomson's (also called Tomi's) and Grant gazelles that trail the
magical spectacle of the wildlife procession. The wildebeest crossing over the
river is a highlight for many who want to see them emerge victorious, when they
make it across the river; other visitors take a different view and wait for the
opportunity for nature to define its own rules. The river trees and hill mounds
create an advantage and attract leopards and lions adding to the fascinating
experience in the Serengeti National Reserve.
Activities Included:
Day Game Driving.
Other Experiences
Available Additionally:
Serengeti Hot Air Balloon Safari; Walking Safari; Bush Dining Experience.
Overnight
Accommodation:
Serengeti
Sopa Lodge
Day 3: Serengeti National Park – Ngorongoro
Crater
After breakfast, drive to Ngorongoro Crater with
a stop over at Olduvai Gorge Valley, site of the hominid fossils excavated by a
team of archaeologists under the leadership of Mary Leakey. Listen to a lecture
being presented or peruse the museum walls filled with history. Continue there
after to Ngorongoro crater rim.
As you enter the Ngorongoro Crater and
Conservation Area, the elevation increases as guests drive on the strikingly
rich red soils of the Ngorongoro; AfricanMecca guests can feel a tingle of the
cool African highland air caressing against their face and with refreshing
African sun warming their body as it crosses from east to west. The ascension
from the Ngorongoro base to the crest of the crater reveals magnificent and
panoramic views of the beautiful crater. Imagining the crater sustaining
thousands of wildlife adds to the exiting adventures that lay ahead.
Activities Included:
Visit To Olduvai Gorge; Day Game Driving On
Route; Game Viewing Using Binoculars
From Crater Rim.
Other Experiences
Available Additionally:
Nature Walk Around Crater Rim.
Overnight
Accommodation:
Ngorongoro
Sopa Lodge
Day 4: Ngorongoro Crater & Conservation
Area
After
receiving a sample safari experience on your previous day, after breakfast,
descend to the crater floor and enjoy 6 hours of wildlife viewing experience (government
allotted time to benefit environmental preservation) .
The Ngorongoro crater's spectacular setting and abundance of wildlife
combination makes it one of the wonders of the natural world. The crater alone
has over 20,000 large wildlife including some of Tanzania's last remaining black
rhino. The rhinos emerge from the forests in the mists of early morning and
their prehistoric figures make a striking impression, surrounded by the ancient
crater walls. No fences or boundaries border the Ngorongoro crater walls -
animals are free to enter or leave the crater but many of them stay for the
plentiful water, prey and grazing available on the crater floor throughout the
year. The most commonly seen animals are lions, elephants, wildebeests, zebras,
eland, bushbuck, cheetah, jackals, buffalos, grants gazelles, Thompsons gazelle,
black rhino and many more. Also, on the crater floor are swamps providing water
and habitat for elephants and hippos as well as numerous smaller wildlife such
as frogs, snakes and serval cats.
Activities Included:
Day Game Driving; Game Viewing Using Binoculars
From Crater Rim.
Other Experiences
Available Additionally:
Nature Walk Around Crater Rim.
Overnight
Accommodation:
Ngorongoro
Sopa Lodge
Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater
& Conservation Area - Tarangire National Park
After a
reviving breakfast in the morning, drive to Tarangire National Park with picnic
lunches with game
viewing on route to your lodge and an afternoon game drive.
The landscape and vegetation at Tarangire combines a mix not found in Lake
Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater or Serengeti, common parks visited on the northern
safari circuit in Tanzania. The park also has the highest number of elephants in
the whole of the northern Tanzania parks, exceeding Lake Manyara and Serengeti.
There have also been a 550 bird species recorded in the Tarangire National Park,
making a sure pleaser for any bird lover. The park displays a diverse number of
wildlife namely: elephant, lesser and great kudu, African buffalo, cheetah,
fringe-eared Oryx, leopard, lion, Maasai giraffe, spotted hyena, common zebra,
white-bearded wildebeest
Activities
Included: Day
Game Driving.
Other Experiences
Available Additionally:
Walking Safaris.
Overnight
Accommodation:
Tarangire
Sopa Lodge
Day 6: Tarangire
National Park – Arusha
After a hearty breakfast, drive
to Arusha at 9.30 AM. Upon arrival in Arusha,
connect to your international/local outbound flight. This section of the program
ends in Arusha.
What's
Included:
- Pre-planning
professional program expertise, resource guiding along with first hand
experience.
-
Professional wildlife
guiding services. All guides are native experts in African wildlife, game
driving, and the African culture, many of who speak other European languages
- Accommodation in a
double or twin room - sharing.
- Full board meals
when staying the night during the safari.
- Internal airlines
as indicated.
- All point-to-point
personalized meet, greet and transfer service as in the program.
- All park entry
fees, airstrip transfers, VAT, state levies, service charge and hotel taxes.
- All gratuities
except to driver-guides, game rangers, escort, and lodge, hotel, camp or bar
staff.
- 24
Hours-7 days US/UK/Tanzania office and cellular emergency contact details
What's Not
Included:
Personal expenses such
laundry, flying doctor service, travelers insurance; communication charges,
visas, international airfares; meals, drinks, excursions, Arusha hotel
accommodation, additional activities or sightseeing NOT included in the
itinerary.
AFRICANMECCA CUSTOMER COMMENTS
Thank you so much for all of your help
planning our trip to East Africa. We all had a wonderful time! The Arusha Hotel
was first rate...we were very comfortable there. But the next day, things got
even better because we were greeted at the hotel by Steven. Steven drove us to
the office where we met Jervin (a very nice lady), and then our fun really
accelerated! Steven was an outstanding guide (we all highly recommend him), and
for the next 6 days we could not have been more happy! Ngorongoro Sopa was a
very nice lodge, and were were very comfortable --plus their food was excellent.
MIGRATION CAMP put a whole new meaning on luxury. It was truly 5-star! However,
we did not know that Migration Camp was an "all inclusive". When it
was time to check out at Migration, we were told that all of our drinks,
laundry, etc, were all included (wow!). All in all, Migration was the most
luxurious of our destinations and we highly recommend it! Thanks for getting us
in there for 3 nights! Rifuji River Camp in the Selous Game Reserve was just as
you said it would be, and that was fine. We were happy with their service, and
the food was more than adequate. Though it was not as comfortable as Migration,
it was good enough and we made out very well there. Once on Zanzibar, our time
at Blue Bay was very enjoyable (it is also a lovely place) and the drivers and
Spice Tour operators were very nice. But I must say we were surprised by the
extremes between Blue Bay and Emerson and Green. Knowing that Emerson and Green
is in Stone Town, and therefore a completely different setting, we expected it
to be smaller in scale etc. It was exotic and very interesting, but clearly not
as comfortable as the other hotels you suggested. But that is Stonetown, and we
enjoyed the experience. I feel that the best part of the entire trip was our
time on safari. We had amazing adventures with our guide, Steven, and highly
recommend him. We saw all of the Big 5, including a leopard each day for 6
days...and also: cheetahs, warthogs, all the antelope, millions of wildebeest
and zebra (naturally), giraffes, hyenas, hippos, crocs, more birds than we can
remember, and so much more! It was truly a memorable experience! We also greatly
appreciate the efforts made to insure that we were aware of our airline changes
while in Zanzibar. Please thank your people, including Altaf, for us. It was a
great comfort knowing that you and your team always had our best interest at
heart. Thank you so much for your help! We are very happy we chose AfricanMecca
and we will definitely recommend you to our family and friends!
Thank You Raza! Asante Sana-- Wishing you all
the best--
Katherine Custer
United States