We set off early for Ruaha with lunch in Iringa Town, then continue to the National Park where we arrive in the afternoon. In the evening you can either go on a short game drive in the park or relax at leisure in the camp.

• Meal plan:
  • lunch
  • dinner
• Accommodation:
  • budget: Ruaha Public Campsite 
  • midrange: Ruaha River Lodge 
  • luxury: Mwagusi Safari Camp

Straight after breakfast, we take a full day game drive in Ruaha National Park. Several breeds of gazelle and antelope, including roan and sable as well as buffalo and various bucks go down to the banks of the river to drink. This attracts lion, leopard, hyena and other carnivores. For the avid birder there are also many avian species to observe.

After breakfast you will be accompanied by an experienced, armed guide on a walking safari. On this walk you experience a true feeling of the African bush, just like the famous explorers before you. Back to camp for lunch. The afternoon is spent game viewing in the park, also a spectacular event.

Early morning after breakfast, a game drive en route to Udzungwa Mountain’s National Park. Lunch on the way and dinner and overnight at the camp.

After breakfast in camp you set off for a very rewarding walk in this beautiful park, enjoy the natural beauty of the park. A picnic lunch on the trail and on the way down observe various primates in beautiful landscapes. Later we head off to MIkumi National Park.

After breakfast it’s about a one hour drive to Mikumi National Park where we will have a full day game drive. Lookk out for elephant, lion, wild dog, zebra gnus, antelope and much more. Over 300 species of birds have been observed in this park.

• meal plan: 
  • breakfast
  • lunch
  • dinner
     
• Accommodation:
  • budget: Mikumi Bush Campsite 
  • midrange: Mikumi Adventure Camp 
  • luxury: Vuma Hill Tented Camp

An early morning start and we head to Selous Game Reserve via Morogoro over the Uluguru Mountains. We will cross river and pass local villages and farms. The journey, which is full of interest, will take up to seven hours due to road condition but we will take breaks whenever needed. In SElous it will be a game drive en route for the camp.

Straight after breakfast, we venture on a full day game drive. Selous is home to a large population of elephant, many buffalo and wild dogs. Other species commonly seen are lion, bushbuck, impala, giraffe, eland, baboon, zebra, kudus and crocodile and hippo.

Accompanied by an armed ranger, to get close to the animals, your walking safari will be an unforgettable experience. Please note that armed rangers love the wildlife and are very knowledgeable about it. In the event of dangerous animals coming close, which rarely happens, a shot in the air is enough to see them off. You will have a picnic lunch in the bush and then transfer to Rufiji River for an afternoon boat excursion on the Rufiji River.

You will see large family groups of hippos and many crocodiles. Perhaps some elephants or carnivores coming down to drink, and many interesting birds. At sundown a short drive takes you back to your camp.

After an early morning, sunrise game drive, we drive back to the camp for breakfast. Then we leave with a packed lunch to drive to Kilwa Masoko via Kivinje. Kilwa declined when the Portuguese arrived. At first, the Portuguese, under the leadership of Vasco da Gama, threatened to attack the town unless a tribute was paid.

They eventually decided that they wanted Kilwa’s prosperity for themselves and took the island by force in 1505. The Portuguese constructed a large coastal fortress called Gereza. The island was under Portuguese control until an Arab mercenary and his men liberated the island in 1512.

After breakfast you will embark onto a local dhow to Kilwa island. Kilwa Kisiwani was to become the main trading port of the Indian Ocean. Its wealth came from the exchange of gold and iron from Great Zimbabwe and other parts of Southern Africa. Ivory, slaves from mainland Tanzania, textiles, jewelry, porcelain and spices from Asia were all traded here. By the 13th Century Kilwa had become the most powerful city along the coast, exercising political and trading domination as far as Pemba Island in the north and Sofala, the present day Beira in Mozambique, in the south.

An Arab chronicle lists over forty sovereigns who reigned at Kilwa in a period of five hundred years. Pedro Alvares Cabral, the Portuguese navigator, was the first European to visit. His fleet, on its way to India, anchored in Kilwa in 1500. Kilwa was then a large and wealthy city, possessing, it is stated, three hundred mosques.

After breakfast, we drive you to Mikindani Village. There is some debate over the origins of the name Mikindani. Some say that the town was named after a man from the Makonde tribe who killed the sister of the first immigrants from the Makonde Plateau. An alternative and more plausible, story is that Mikindani was named for the young palm trees (*mikinda*) that grow around the town.

Today we explore the village of Mikindani by foot. Mikindani is a fascinating old town with winding streets and an interesting blend of thatched mud houses and coral houses influenced by Arabic architecture. The first settlers to the area were members of the Makonde tribe who settled in the north west of the lagoon.

In the 9th century they were joined by Arab immigrant settlers from the Arabian Peninsula. A further influx of Arabs settled in Mikindani in the late 17th century, during the reign of Seyyid Said, Sultan of Oman.  In the afternoon we take you on a 35 km drive to Msimbati for dinner and overnight stay directly on the Indian Ocean.

During these days you can explore the unspoiled, untouched natural white sand and azure water of southern Tanzania*s coastline.  Msimbati is an exceptional site for nature lovers. It lies in the middle of a marine park. Msimbati has beautiful beaches on a peninsula, close to the the border of Mozambique.

The ocean floor is ideal for wet-suit diving as much for the beauty of its underwater scenery as for the fauna (the napoleon or humphead wrasse, turtles, tuna, sea rays, barracuda) and its flora  (giant gorgons, coral etc). Msimbati is a wonderful place to combine chilling out with exploring nature.

This day depends on the time of the flight; we transfer the clients to Mtwara Airport to catch the flight back to Dar.