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Legendary Serengeti and Tarangire National Park
Tanzania Family Private Safari
Overview
With its world-renowned game reserves, home to some of the largest concentrations of wildlife anywhere in the world, and its rich culture and welcoming people, including the legendary Maasai of the Serengeti, Tanzania is the perfect place for a fantastic family safari. We bring you to two of its world-renowned sanctuaries—Tarangire National Park, whose migrating wildlife is drawn by the permanent waters of the Tarangire River, and the famed Serengeti, where the earth's greatest gathering of terrestrial wildlife roams freely on golden savannas. Expert private guides, exciting game drives, fantastic private camps, and special activities for kids—including Swahili lessons, perfectly paced bush walks, and Maasai storytelling and jumping competitions—combine to make this the quintessential family safari. You can add extra days at each camp if you like, and post-trip, enjoy a visit to the paradisiacal island of Zanzibar, Ngorongoro Crater, Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve, or track gorillas in Rwanda.
Arrive: Arusha, Tanzania
Depart: Arusha, Tanzania
Highlights
- Special activities tailored for kids, including a special Maasai ceremony, a nature walk with Maasai, African cooking lesson and storytelling, Swahili lessons, Maasai beading, and more!
- Exclusive luxury camps right at the heart of the Great Migration, away from the lodge circuit crowds—our camps are private for your group alone
- Private expert guides and a delightful camp staff
- Custom-designed Land Cruisers, carrying just five passengers, with a guaranteed window seat for all plus a rooftop viewing hatch
- Optional extensions to Ngorongoro Crater, Masai Mara National Reserve, Zanzibar, Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda
Itinerary
After an overnight in Arusha, fly by charter flight to your private safari camp in Tarangire, a haven for wildlife. Lions and leopards are the most common predators here, and herds of up to 300 elephants graze near the Tarangire River, while migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest, and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons. Tarangire has the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem, and is the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the oryx and the gerenuk are regularly observed. Our close association with the local Maasai here is a special treat, and adds a lot to a family safari. Enjoy a special Olpul ceremony with an entertaining jumping competition, take a medicinal walk with a Maasai guide, make a traditional Maasai soup at camp, and more! Some evenings, you’ll take night game drives with a spotlight to see the nocturnal wildlife.
From your exclusive private camp, enjoy the privilege of exploring the Serengeti by 4WD vehicle in a secluded section of the park, far from the lodges and other park facilities. Dawn and late-afternoon game drives bring you into varied regions, from the open plains and rock kopjes to river habitats, as game conditions dictate. You should see vast numbers of migrating wildebeest and zebra, along with Serengeti's resident wildlife, including giraffe, buffalo, topi, hartebeest, waterbuck, impala, reedbuck, bushbuck, dikdik, hippopotamus, crocodile, warthog and diverse birdlife. Large prides of lion reside here, as well as clans of spotted hyena. Special activities for kids range from fun and interactive Swahili lessons to stargazing after dinner with the camp staff. Your remote mobile camp features roomy, custom-designed walk-in tents with attached bathrooms and open-air hot showers, and comfortable beds (queen or twin-bedded) made up with linen and a duvet. There is also a slightly larger family tent with room for one or two young children to stay in the same tent. Depart on Day 8 via Arusha.
Accommodations
Scroll through our signature accommodations for this trip below. Although it is highly unlikely, we may make substitutions when necessary.
What the Trip is Like
This trip is Level 2, Easy to Moderate, according to the Wilderness Travel trip rating system. It is a camping and lodge safari with game viewing by 4WD vehicle. It can be enjoyed by anyone in reasonably good health. On safari, there are long driving days over rugged dirt tracks.
Review Trip Level Details
Tanzania lies close to the equator, so seasonal variations in temperature are not extreme. June, July, and August are the coolest months in East Africa, with lows around 40°F and highs of 70-80°F. In Ngorongoro and the Serengeti in these months, you may want to bring a set of long underwear, down vest, or extra sweater for chilly mornings and evenings. September, October, and November are warmer, with lows around 65°F and highs of 75-85°F. Scattered rains occur in November and early December, which helps to lay the dust. December to March are the East Africa's warmest season, with daytime temperatures from 80-90°F and evenings from 50-60°F. Avoid April and May, the rainy season. Zanzibar has ideal vacation weather, warm and sunny year-round except April and May (the rainy season). Daytime temperatures are in the 75-85°F zone, cooled by sea breezes.
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Book your trip today
Our Area Specialists know every detail about our tours. They will be happy to answer any questions and help you choose the journey that’s right for you. Contact us to learn more or book your trip today!
Itinerary
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Trip Levels
With more than 200 different adventures to choose from, we want to help you find the trip that’s right for you. Our Trip Level system ranks each trip in two ways: a number rating from 1 to 6 according to the activity, and general travel rigors. 1 is the easiest and 6+ the most difficult—see descriptions below for explanations of each number. A plus (+) sign means the trip is a bit more strenuous than other trips of that level. The detailed explanation of each trip—below the bar with the number rating—is perhaps more important, specifying activities, altitudes, hiking, and travel conditions. The Detailed Itinerary, available by download or mail, gives further information. Our Area Managers can also answer questions and guide you to the trip that best suits your interests.
Level 1 – Easiest
Non-camping journeys, optional walks, little elevation gain or loss.
Level 2 – Easy to Moderate
Hotel nights and/or safari-style camping, hikes of two to four hours on some days. Other physical activities are sometimes included, such as optional sea kayaking.
Level 3 – Moderate
Half- to full-day hikes (3-6 hours) over rolling countryside on most days, occasional steep trails. Many of our hotel-based walking tours are in this category, as are our snorkeling adventures.
- Tuscany & the Cinque Terre
- Argentina: Hikes and Estancias of Patagonia
- Palau Snorkeling & Sea Kayaking
- Some trips with minimal hiking but rugged travel conditions or long drives, such as Tribal Ghana, Togo & Benin, are Trip Level 3.
Level 4 – Moderate to Strenuous
Full-day hikes (4-6 hours), mountainous terrain, significant elevation gains and losses (hiking up or down as much as 3,000 feet) on many days. Altitudes no greater than about 10,000 feet.
Level 5 – Strenuous
Full-day hikes (4-8 hours), mountainous, steep terrain (hiking up or down as much as 3,500 feet) on many days. Trips with hiking at average altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet are in this category.
Level 6 – Very Strenuous
Full-day hikes (5-8 hours), mountainous, steep terrain (hiking up or down as much as 3,500 feet) on many days. Most hikes take place at altitudes above 10,000 feet, with some days ascending as high as 18,000 feet.