Day 1 -
Depart Home
Your adventure begins today as you board your flight from
Detroit, MI, or another city, to Amsterdam.
Day 2 - Amsterdam/Arusha,
Tanzania
Arrive Amsterdam and connect with your scheduled flight
to Mt. Kilimanjaro International Airport. Upon arrival you will
be met and driven to your lodge. This evening is at your leisure
to relax and unwind from your international flight.
Moivaro Coffee Plantation
Day 3-4 - Arusha/Tarangire
National Park
After breakfast, you depart for Tarangire National Park.
Here you will spend two days exploring the park.
Tarangire National Park is the most Southern of the
accessible parks of northern Tanzania. Named after River Tarangire,
the park covers an area of 2,600 sq.km. Much of the park is open
grassy savannah, dotted with splendid specimens of Baobab trees,
but there are also areas of swamp in the south. The park is also
spectacular in dry season when many of the migratory wildlife species
come back to the permanent waters of the river until the onset
of the rains when they migrate again for better pastures. This
animal phenomenon takes place from June to September.
Your days here will be spent on morning game drives,
afternoon siestas and late afternoon game drives. During the dry
season this park becomes the gathering spot for many animals due
to the Tarangire River being the only permanent water source in
the near area. As many as 6,000 elephants can inhabit this park
at any given time.
Your nights here will be spent at a deluxe lodge
nestled into the wooded hillside valley overlooking Tarangire Hill.
Tarangire Sopa Lodge (BLD)
Day 5 - Tarangire/Ngorongoro
Crater
Today you travel on to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Along
the way, you'll stop for a visit in the village of Mto wa Mbu -
a bustling market village - have lunch and a hike at Gibbs Farm
before continuing on to the Crater.
It's a magnificent drive up to the crater through
different eco systems. Take a light sweater, as it can get cool
as you climb high above the forest to the rim of the crater.
The park is located between the Serengeti and Lake
Manyara. It is home to the famous volcanic Ngorongoro crater, which
is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. The crater (610 meters
deep and 260 km squared) is a microcosm of East African scenery
and game and is usually visited on the way back from the Serengeti
to Arusha. Scenic grandeur and stunning views are the hallmark
of this wonder of the world.
Spread out along the upper-most rim of the Ngorongoro
World Heritage Site, your lodge offers breathtaking views of the
crater floor far below.
Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge (BLD)
Day 6 - Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast you will descend onto the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater for
a full day game viewing with picnic lunches. This vast caldera, covering
260 square miles supports a year round resident population of over 20,000
animals in an eco-system of grassland, swamp, lakes and woodland. This is
the best area in Tanzania to see the rare black rhino.
As the day comes to an end, we'll return to the lodge
for dinner and overnight.
Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge (BLD)
Day 7 - Ngorongoro Crater/Serengeti
Depart this morning for the Serengeti. Along the way stop at Ol'duvai Gorge
for a short lecture and visit to the small but interesting Leakey's museum.
This is the spot where Richard and Mary Leakey discovered Nutcracker Man.
A picnic will be enjoyed at Naabi Gate, the entrance to the Serengeti National
Park. You'll game drive the remainder of the day and end for dinner and our
overnight at your lodge centrally located within the park.
Seronera Sopa Lodge (BLD)
Day 8 - Serengeti
Today you will have a full day game driving within different areas of the Serengeti.
This is the most popular and spectacular of all the
game parks in East Africa. In the local vernacular it means "The
Endless Plains that go-up to the Sky". It covers a huge area of
14765sq. km. It was proclaimed a reserve as far back as 1929, but
it was mainly due to the efforts of Prof. Bernard Grzimek and his
son Michael that the importance of the whole area was appreciated
and declared a National Park, as we know it today.
Life in the Park centers on the Wildebeest herds.
Each year, after the short rains in November, the migration starts
when the Wildebeest (Gnu) and the Zebra gather in there thousands
on the plains below the Ngorongoro Highlands. During February they
move North and West following the rains and the fresh grasslands.
The herds overlap into the Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya. Come October
they start back through the Serengeti towards Lake Ndutu and Lagaja.
This yearly phenomenon involves some 1.5 million
animals. However, the whole "process" affects the lives of hundreds
of thousands of other species who rely on the passage of the migratory
herds for their survival: predators, gazelles, bird life and lowly
insects, not to mention the grasses and trees that are fertilized
by their droppings.
After a day on the Serengeti Plains return to your
lodge for dinner and overnight.
Serengeti Sopa Lodge (BLD)
Day 9 - Serengeti/Lake Manyara
After breakfast depart the Serengeti and travel to Lake Manyara National Park.
Have lunch at our lodge before proceeding down the Rift Valley Escarpment
to the park for an afternoon game drive.
Lake Manyara is home to the famous tree-climbing
lion - and if lucky, they'll be close enough to the track to spot.
While small in size, Manyara is home to a wealth of bird and wildlife.
Almost 2/3rds of the park's area is the soda lake itself.
Lake Manyara Serena Lodge (BLD)
Day 10-16 - Arusha/Education
This morning return to Arusha arriving in time for lunch.
After lunch, each teaching participant will be transferred and
introduced to the host family they'll be living with for the
remainder of their time in Tanzania.
Arusha Medium School
Teachers will be given an English-speaking assistant
teacher who will help them with the daily school activities.
Those who want to teach English and various other subjects will
be put in "English Medium Schools". For those who want an even
more adventurous experience can opt for teaching at a local Maasai
school.
During your weeklong stay we will have the opportunity
to go out into the bush to observe the differences between "city" and "rural" schools.
A classroom is anywhere you find it.
Rural Maasai School
On the weekends we'll bring everyone back together
for a luncheon at Moivaro Lodge. It will give all the opportunity
to compare notes, relax, swim and just enjoy an afternoon together.
Day 17 - Arusha/Amsterdam
Today we meet as a group for the last time. There will
be an early farewell dinner prior to being transferred to Mt. Kilimanjaro
International Airport for your flights home.
Day 18 - Amsterdam/U.S.A.
Arrive in Amsterdam this morning and connect on your flight back to the U.S.A.
Note: While the host families are eager to accommodate
we recommend a $100 donation to help defray the cost of food and
transportation while in their homes. This, like any tipping, is
at your discretion.
Homes in this part of Africa are small and fairly basic compared
to what you are used to, yet spotlessly clean. Most are cinderblock
style with stucco covering. Some cooking is done outdoors barbeque
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