Today is the day you set off from your chosen airport and head to Tanzania with connecting flight(s) on the way.

Today, you arrive in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Our local guide will be there to meet you at the airport and drive you to your hotel, where you will spend two nights. The rest of the day is yours to settle in in Africa and perhaps enjoy a dip in the pool?

Today, the experiences kick off in earnest! You’re going on a half day excursion to the nearby Arusha National Park. The park is small and very much overlooked but offers both a scenic landscape and a varied wildlife. By way of something extra special, it’s also possible to hike, cycle and canoe here. In the vast majority of national parks, you’re not allowed to leave the safety of the safari car, but as the number of predators here in the national park is relatively low, you have the possibility of a different kind of experience.

The prey has apparently also cottoned on to the fact there are not that many predators here. You can expect to get good shots of zebras, giraffes and buffaloes, not to mention antelopes, wildebeest, hippos – and various monkey species – which also inhabit the park.

Enjoy the view of beautiful Mt Meru, which often – somewhat undeservedly – fades in the shadow of its famous big brother, Kilimanjaro, and remember that you have the car to yourself, so there’s plenty of opportunity to stop whenever you want. You bring your packed lunch with you and eat in the national park.

As a rule, the half day excursion today is a safari where you experience some of the highlights of the national park, but talk to your guide if you have any special wishes as to activities.

The rest of the day is yours to do as you please – perhaps just to enjoy the pool at your hotel? It’s also possible to rent bicycles if you feel the need to move around a bit before the safaris coming up!

You’ll be picked up from the hotel early in the morning and head for Tarangire National Park. It’s a drive of around 3 hours, typically with a stop on the way. Again today, you have a packed lunch with you in the car, so let your guide know when you get hungry, and he’ll find a good picnic spot for you.

In the afternoon, it’s safari time in Tarangire, where you can look forward to elephants in their masses! The park is home to the largest concentration of elephants in the whole of northern Tanzania. And for several reasons. One of the reasons is that the elephants can always find water in Tarangire. Even during the driest period of the year, when even the river is almost dry, the elephants know where to find water.

Tarangire is also known for its many baobab trees, and you’d have to be very unlucky not to get a picture of an elephant standing under a baobab tree, illustrating perfectly just how big some of the trees are. The baobab is one of the world’s oldest trees and can live up to around 3,000 years. It is said that a baobab tree is not fully grown until it’s 1,000 years old!

You arrive at your camp before sunset, so you can enjoy a dip in the pool to rinse off any dust!

If you fancy it, it’s possible to start the day by seeing it all from above by purchasing a hot air balloon safari.

The day is spent on safari in the national park.

The landscape in Tarangire is extremely varied, with everything from dry plains, bright red sand, large termite mounds and hills with bushes and trees. And Tarangire hides a secret. One of the kind you only discover if you spend the night in the park, as you will be doing. In the heart of the national park is the Silale Swamp. It’s far enough away that those who only visit the park for one day can’t reach it. It’s their loss! There’s water and green grass here all year round, so during the dry periods of the year, Silale is a magnet for all animals from elephants to lions, leopards, wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes, wild dogs – and pythons.

The trip to and from the swamp is naturally a “game drive”, and what the day has to offer is completely impossible to know. But that’s the charm of safari – anything can happen. Keep a good eye out. Something’s bound to show.

You’ve got a packed lunch with you in the car again today, so you have lunch in the park.

It’s time to say goodbye to Tarangire and head towards the fertile highlands on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater. You can choose to go on a morning safari in Tarangire and drive to Karatu after lunch, or drive straight after breakfast, so you can enjoy the pool in the afternoon. Have a chat with your guide about what’s best.

We’ve saved the best to last. With a little luck, you might get to experience the Big 5 today. It will happen on a safari in the Ngorongoro Crater, which is the world’s largest inactive volcano. The volcano erupted some 2–3 million years ago and folded in on itself, leaving a gigantic hole, which is today home to 30,000 animals and 350 different species of birds, all of which have access to water all year round. Just the drive down into the crater is a highlight in itself. With the roof of the safari car open, down, down, down you drive. You can feel the temperature change and smell all the different trees and flowers until you finally reach the microcosm at the bottom.

The only animal you won’t find in the crater is the giraffe. Think what the drive down here was like. Otherwise it’s all here – and plenty of it!

Elephants, zebras, wildebeests, buffaloes, lions, flamingos, hippos, antelopes, storks, hyenas, jackals – and the endangered black rhino. The base of the crater is flat and covers an area of 260 km2, and towering 600 metres up above you is the crater’s edge. It feels as if you’re at the bottom of the world, but the crater floor is actually 2,000 metres above sea level.

Once again, you have lunch with you in the car, often enjoyed by a scenic lake with a view of hippos and lots of birds.

If you like, you can also (on school days) visit a local school. The school is located on the edge of Ngorongoro, and a visit here means a slightly shorter visit to the crater, so have a chat with your guide about what you’d prefer! TourCompass has donated the kitchen building to the school and we also make a monthly contribution for uniforms, school materials and food. the school has place for 52 children aged 3–6. In the morning, the children help at home, and at midday, they go to school. The school day starts with a hearty meal to ensure they are full and ready to learn. When the children start school, they only speak the local Masai language. They must therefore start by learning Swahili and then English (which are the two official languages in Tanzania) before they can actually start learning to read. It’s both a touching and educational experience to visit the school, and if you feel like it, you’re welcome to bring school supplies or used clothes as a donation.

At the end of the day, you head back to the hotel where the pool awaits you!

The time has come to say goodbye to the safari car. But before you wave goodbye to the car and driver, there’s just time for a visit to the village, Mto Wa Mbu, where you go for a guided walk through the small community and meet the local people right up close.

Some 120 different tribes live in the area, and this excursion is a great opportunity for you to get a little closer to everyday life as it is lived by most people in Tanzania.

The visit ends with the most delicious lunch prepared by the best chefs in the village, giving you the opportunity to taste as many as 14 different regional dishes from different areas in Tanzania. Cooked over an open fire, the food is incredibly tasty! One of the fundamental ideas behind the project is to give the women in the village the opportunity to become educated, and the women cooking for you have all been on courses in food safety, for example. So, even though it might look primitive, they know what they’re doing! Sit back and look forward to tasting makande, ugali, rice pilaf, kachumbari and countless other delicacies!

After this exciting experience, you will be driven to the airport, from which your journey home begins – if you haven’t chosen to extend the tour with a trip to exotic Zanzibar.

You arrive in the UK after a fantastic tour.