Itineraries

You will be met by our knowledgeable safari guides, who are a wonderful resource and who will constantly attend to your needs. they have many years experience and can answer all specific questions about environment, local people and wildlife.

Lake Natron Sidai is a permanent lodge in northern Maasailand located on a small range of hills within the Great Rift Valley. The lodge looks onto the majestic volcanoes of Ngorongoro, Lengai, Kitumbeine and Oclai which rise to altitudes of 10,000 feet above sea level. This unique landscape is home to several remote Maasai clans who still maintain their traditional nomadic lifestyle. The lodge itself is built to blend in with the landscape and has every amenity, including hot and cold running water, flushing loos and electric light whilst maintaining the untamed aura of Africa.

Wildlife native to the Rift Valley floor of Lake Natron include the rare lesser kudu, gerenuk, fringed-eared Oryx, East African impala, Grant’sgazelle, and Thomson’s gazelle. Zebra, wildebeest and giraffe are ubiquitous.

The landscape here is flat topped acacia savannah dominated by lofty rain forest clad mountains unique to this part of Masailand. The lake itself is a natural soda lake fed by hot springs and is overlooked by the volcanoes Mount Gelai and Mount Lengai, the holy mountain of the Masai. It attracts an abundance of bird life including thousands of flamingos. It is possible to visit Masai homesteads or “manyattas” and acquire traditional arts and crafts.

This area is tsetse fly free and, generally speaking, mosquito free. It is warm during the day, but it is often cool in the evenings. At higher altitudeon the mountains – up to 9000ft, it can get very cold, cloudy and it may rain occasionally. The inhabitants of the rainforest on these mountains include Masai bushbuck, Cape buffalo and leopard.

Often referred to as “the eighth wonder of the world,” the Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa’s best-known wildlife arenas. A World HeritagSite, it is also one of the largest volcanic craters in the world, almost 20 km wide, 610-760m deep and covering a total area of 264 sq km.

The origin of the name Ngorongoro is uncertain, but legend has it that it named after an old Masai herdsman - Ngorongoro - who lived in the Crater and made cowbells for his beloved herds of wondering cattle. An utterly unique biosphere, the Crater harbours grasslands, swampsforests, saltpans, a fresh water lake and a glorious variety of birdlife, all enclosed within its towering walls.

 Due to its high concentration of wildlife, close-range viewing opportunitiesand striking scenery, the Crater is also Tanzania’s most visited destination. Quite apart from the “big five” (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo), all of whom can often be spotted in a morning, the Crater also hostsup to 25,000 large mammals. Most are grazers, of which zebra and wildebeest comprise almost half, and the rest are gazelle, buffalo, eland, hartebeest and warthog. As a result of these extraordinarily large numbers ofherbivores, the Crater also hosts one of the densest predator populationsin Africa, most of which are lion and spotted hyena.

Finally, the Crater supports a large elephant population, most of whichare bulls due to the relative paucity of food for the breeding herds. Certain animals such as giraffe, topi and impala, are notable by their absence.

Only two seasons exist in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, wet anddry. From November to May is the wet season when virtually all the annualrain falls, and the dry season extends from June to October.

Maswa Mbono Camp is is a luxury tented camp in keeping with the East African safari tradition. The huge safari tents are made from heavy green canvas, 28 feetlong, 14 feet wide and 9 feet high with a weather proof fly sheet to keep the tent dry and cool. The tents have sewn-in floors and mosquito proofnetting windows that keep out any stray insects.

Each tent has a spacious verandah furnished with table and chairs - a perfect place to sit and watch the sun go down. Private shower and flushingtoilets are attached to each tent, and hot and cold water is brought to your tent shower or basin at any time by the tent attendant upon request.

Inside the tent are full-sized comfortable beds, carpets, bedside table, hanging closet, towel rail and mirror. Bright lighting in the tents and throughout the camp is provided by a central camp generator and from rechargeable batteries. Video and camera batteries can also be recharged in camp.

Game View Maswa & Serengeti. Mbono Camp.

Located along the southwestern boundary of the Serengeti National Park, this unique wildlife reserve is home to a wide variety of game species but is particularly reknown for its prides of lion, frequent sightings of leopard and vast herds of Cape buffalo.

The Maswa Game Reserve is an important component of the southern Serengeti ecosystem, being one of the corridors for the summer migration of huge herds of wildebeest and zebra which pass through in January, February and March feeding on the new growth of grass that appears after the short rains. It is also a dry season refuge for large numbers of game species seeking water in the springs and pools formed in the sand rivers.

 The plains game species, Roberts and Thomsons gazelles, greater kudu, impala, roan antelope, klipspringer, topi, hartebeest, herds of eland and zebra - all frequent this reserve.

The landscape can be described as classic East African savannah with open short grass plains interspersed with the flat topped acacia tortililis, whistling thorn and majestic granite outcrops.