Northern parks, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar
2024
Highlights of the trip
During your stay you can enjoy the following highlights: Culture / Heritage, Faune and flora, Discovery, Adventure / Sports & Leisure, Free time.
Best times to go
The best time(s) to go is/are : Printemps, Eté, Automne, Hiver.
Petit Futé
Where to stay - Arusha ?
The map of your stay "Northern parks, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar"
Detail of the stay : Northern parks, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar
How to get there - Arusha
Arrival and visit of Arusha
Steps: Arusha
Arrival in Arusha after a long and tiring flight. Visit of the city with a guide. The change of scenery is complete in the middle of the flow of multicoloured trucks and buses, pedestrians who seem to converge to exchange provisions, clothes, mechanical parts... A real ant farm! Go out to a good restaurant in the city to taste Swahili specialities.
Walking tour of Arusha National Park
Steps: Kilimandjaro
Walking tour of Arusha National Park, accompanied by a ranger, to stretch your legs after a very long flight with a stopover. It is necessary to fill up with oxygen before you can drive for miles on a 4x4 safari. Enjoy the incredible views of Mount Kilimanjaro and the surrounding Mount Merou.
Safari in Ngorongoro Crater
Steps: Ngorongoro Crater
Departure for the Ngorongoro crater, the road is long and tiring in Masai land to the edge of the crater, it is an impressive 4x4 ascent, hang on! You go on a six-hour safari in the crater to discover its extraordinary wildlife. Picnic break. In the middle of the afternoon, you take the road to Olduvai. Walk with a Masai to watch the sunset
Road to Serengeti and safari in the Seronera area
In the morning you take the road to Serengeti National Park, through dented 4x4 tracks. The formalities may take a little time. Then you enter a vast plain that stretches to infinity (which means Serengeti in Swahili) that you must penetrate to the heart of the Seronera area to take a safari, before joining your lodge in this area
Safari in Seronera, full day
Seronera is one of the richest regions in the world in wild animal fauna. You must be in this very remote area to make the most spectacular safaris. In this large plain, lonely lions groups or cheetahs feel fast, while sleepy leopards in the trees of the only wooded Seronera area, after a rich meal eaten during the night.
On the way to Lake Natron
In the morning, you leave Serengeti National Park for Lake Natron, on a very dented and challenging trail, but with beautiful scenery. A picnic break is welcome, but it will take a day to get to the camp. You will discover the landscapes of the alkaline lake of tectonic origin in pink and red colours.
Visit of Lake Natron
In the morning, you will visit Lake Natron by 4x4 and on foot, with a Masai guide. The landscapes are fantastic, you can observe the famous dwarf flamingos and other migratory birds that come to breed here. After lunch at the camp, you will take a boat trip on the Ngaro Sero River. Swimming in the clear and refreshing waters of a waterfall. Return to camp for dinner
Tarangire National Park
Steps: Engaruka
Departure in the direction of Arusha, with a break halfway through to visit the village of Engaruka. Then, in the afternoon, you will discover Tarangire National Park in the afternoon, known for its hundreds of elephants that live in groups along the river. Beware of the many tsetse flies, do not wear blue or black. Overnight in the park
Visit to Manyara National Park
Steps: Arusha
In the morning, safari in the park of Tarangire where it is not rare, in addition to elephants, to meet groups of lions, sometimes perched in the acacias with low branches. In the afternoon, you will discover the wonderful landscapes of Lake Manyara and its thousands of pink flamingos. Return to Arusha, restaurant and well-deserved rest.
Moshi and coffee plantations
Steps: Kilimandjaro
Take the road to Moshi, a smaller, more friendly town in Arusha, at the foot of Kilimanjaro. At this point you are tired of the safari, rest, and take a short walk through the surrounding coffee plantations, along a path that leads to a beautiful waterfall just outside the city, with a Masai guide
Climbing Kilimanjaro by the Shira route - day 1
Steps: Moshi
The Shira route is absolutely superb, a little more engaged than on the eastern side, but not too busy and feasible for any sporty trekker. From Moshi, take the Arusha road and then turn off on a 13 km track going up through the forest to Londorossi. The ascent is very regular (23 km) to Shira Hut.
Climbing Kilimanjaro by the Shira route - day 2
Steps: Mont Meru
Shira Plateau - Arrow Glacier Camp. Continuing towards Kibo, it takes us 4 hours to reach the lava tower, at 4,600 m. It is best to continue to Arrow Glacier Camp, at 4,900 m. If the sky is clear in the evening, you can see Mount Meru. After Shira, some expeditions sometimes decide to spend the night at Moir Hut, to attack the Credner glacier on the northwestern slope.
Climbing Kilimanjaro by Shira route - day 3
Arrow Glacier Camp - Crater or Uhuru Peak. From the base of the glacier, one rises straight up on a moraine. The slope increases and we arrive on the last rocky jump before the plateau of the Kibo crater. We cross the plateau to the southeast, to attack the 300 m of the summit, in a snowy valley, with rock climbing passages. We start the descent to the camps of Mweka Hut or Horombo
Climbing Kilimanjaro by the Shira route - day 4
Steps: Nungwi
From the camps of Mweka Hut or Horombo, there are 3 hours of very pleasant descent through a magnificent primary forest crossed by blue monkeys. On arrival, you rest at lunch break after this challenging trek. Return to Arusha and flight to Zanzibar in the evening, arrival in Nungwi: dinner in a restaurant in the centre and overnight rest
Lazing on the beach in Zanzibar
Steps: Nungwi
After a week of gruelling safaris in the heat and dust of the bush, there's nothing like a few days on the beach at Nungwi or Kendwa in the very north of the island, among the most beautiful beaches because there are no coral reefs. Here, you can swim at any time in the turquoise waters. It's a picture-postcard landscape that invites you to take a siesta under the palm tree.
Relaxation, visit of Nungwi and dhow ride
Steps: Kendwa
New day of rest and beach. We take the opportunity to soak up the lively atmosphere of Kendwa, the second largest city on the island after Stone Town. Visit the dhow making workshops, visit the turtle aquarium, and beach session followed by a massage on the deckchair, as there are many outdoor spas here. In the evening, enjoy a sunset on a dhow, the traditional boats of Zanzibar
Stone Town: cultural visit of the capital of Zanzibar
Steps: Nungwi
Discover the labyrinthine streets and fantastic architecture of the old city, with its Indian, Arab and African influences. Unmissable: the Old Dispensary, the old fort, the Anglican church, the slave prison, the Mtoni palace... Soak up the authentic atmosphere, buy souvenirs. Passage to the market of Forodhani, dinner in a good restaurant, return to Nungwi.
Places of interest : THE OLD FORT THE OLD DISPENSARY
Diving or snorkeling in Mnemba
Steps: Nungwi
The jewel of the northern coast is called Mnemba, an island surrounded by a huge coral reef that dives into a wall, and can be discovered both diving and snorkeling. Located opposite Matemwe, boat trips are also organized from Nungwi. In the afternoon, go to the Matemwe fish market (around 4pm), and walk around this authentic village
Jozani Forest Reserve - Chwaka Bay National Park
Zanzibar has only one national park, the one that includes the Jozani forest and the wild mangroves of the preserved coast of the park. The forest is home to the adorable Colobus monkeys that can easily be approached. The visit of the park with a forest ranger takes a good half day. In the afternoon enjoy the beach
"Spice Tour", "Dolphin tour" and "Safari Blue"
Steps: Kizimkazi
Choose from the island's unmissable tours one or two that you will love to do. The unmissable: the Spice tour, which takes you on a tour of a farm where all the spices of the island are grown, very instructive. Or the Dolphin Tour in Kizimkazi (where you can admire the village's 12th century mosque) or the Safari Blue, a day of snorkeling in the south of the island
Places of interest : SAFARI BLUE DOLPHIN TOUR SPICE TOUR
