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Selous, Spice and the Coast - Tanzania
13 days (15 inc. flights) - from £1970
- A truly varied and exciting holiday.
- Wildlife in the beautiful Selous Game Reserve.
- Excellent rustic yet comfortable safari lodges with great environmental and community policies.
- Zanzibar's beautiful North East beaches.
- Bush and beach in a unique combination at Saadani National Park.
- Gorgeous tented camp on the beautiful wild beaches of Saadani.
- Walks, jeep game drives, boat safaris, canoeing...
- Fascinating railway journey into Selous from Dar.
Description
This fabulous Africa wildlife and beach holiday in southern Tanzania is all about diversity of experiences. It's an adventure holiday which gives you the chance to enjoy some excellent wildlife viewing in the renowned Selous Game Reserve (on foot, by boat and by jeep), to the glorious beaches of Zanzibar and to Saadani National Park on the mainland coast north of Dar es Salaam for wild coastline, nature and culture.
To get around, you take a fascinating train journey from Dar to Selous, enjoy boat and canoe trips, walks, and some short flights. Your accommodation is no less varied, and includes a thatched, tented cottage on stilts on the Indian Ocean, a gorgeous lodge in the hills of Selous, a boutique beach hotel on Zanzibar and, and even a night fly camping (wild camping in tents) by a river.
After a night in Dar es Salaam we take you on what we hope you will find a heart-warming and fascinating visit. The Bibi Jann project is an orphanage for children and their grandmas, and it's a very happy place!
We then drive you about four hours north to Saadani National Park. This unique and beautiful park is on the coast so combines beach with wildlife, and also has a small but thriving village and a turtle project. It's remote; few travellers know about it so it's quiet, the beach is clean, wild and deserted, AND the park has four of the 'Big Five' (no rhino). There are also giraffe, reedbuck, waterbuck, eland, zebra, buffalo, warthog and smaller antelopes, and lions are making a determined effort at a comeback here. You will love your time at Saadani, and we give you plenty of opportunities to Make it Yours with a choice of safari options.
We take you on a boat safari on the Wami River, and give you a night's adventure camping on its banks. Then you head across Africa on a five-hour train journey, mixing with the locals and indulging in people and landscape watching before you arrive at Selous Game Reserve.
One of Tanzania's largest reserves (much larger than the Serengeti) Selous is far less visited than the parks in the north. It has a varied landscape, from mountains to valleys, rivers and lakes, so not only does this make for a wonderfully scenic safari, but it also means that there is a great variety of wildlife. There are thousands of elephants, buffalos and antelopes, huge numbers of hippos, wildebeest, giraffe, zebras, and even the endangered wild dogs are doing extremely well here.
Ending your holiday by flying to the spice island of Zanzibar, where you'll stay on the north east coast in a small friendly hotel on a really lovely beach. You could Make it Yours with a Spice Tour, go snorkelling or diving, or you could just enjoy the sunshine and friendly people!
So, why choose this Tanzania adventure safari and beach holiday? For a really varied and good quality African experience, for a truly superb price.
Itinerary Summary
- Day 1: Arrive in Dar es Salaam. Overnight.
- Day 2: Morning visit cultural project then drive to Saadani National park.(B, D)
- Days 3-4: Saadani - we give you two free days, but provide lots of options to help you make the most of your time in this special place. (B,L,D)
- Day 5: Fly camping in Saadani.(B,L,D)
- Day 6: Drive back to Dar and take afternoon train to Selous (must be a Tuesday or Friday). (B, D)
- Day 7: Morning foot safari around the lodge, afternoon visit to Kisaki village. (B,L,D)
- Day 8: Full day game drive including boat safari in Selous Game Reserve. (B,L,D)
- Day 9: Pre-breakfast game drive in Selous, lunchtime flight to Zanzibar. (B,D)
- Days 10 - 12: Relax on Zanzibar (B,D)
- Day 13: Transfer to airport. Fly back to the UK (if flights selected). (B)
Detailed Itinerary
- Day 1 (Sun or Thurs): Arrive at Dar es Salaam. Check into your hotel on the Slipway waterfront then relax after your flight or explore! This is a great place to wander around the markets, but if you want to go out on excursions (such as a snorkelling trip) these can be easily arranged locally.
- Day 2 : Visit the Bibi Jann project, where grandmothers are caring for their orphaned grandchildren, then set off by road and head for Saadani, north of Dar (about 4 hours). (BD)
- Days 3-4 : At Saadani. You have two full days now to chill out at your gorgeous escape pad by the Indian Ocean. A stilted, thatched tented cottage is your home for 3 nights. Enjoy the beautiful, wild beach, or go for some of the safari options. This is a beach and bush location! Four of the ‘big 5’ are here (no rhino) and there are healthy populations of giraffe, reedbuck, waterbuck, eland, zebra, buffalo, warthog and smaller antelopes. The lion population is increasing and sightings are now commonplace, though not guaranteed. (B,L,D)
- Day 5 : After lunch we transfer you to the Wami River (not far away). Here we set up a small camp for you so you can enjoy a bit of adventurous camping for one night. In the afternoon we take a boat safari on the river. A fly camp is a camp with no infrastructure, so when we pack up nothing of the environment is disturbed. You sleep in tents and we’ll cook by the campfire. A very African experience, and great fun! (B,L,D)
- Day 6 : Train journey to Selous. Today is a journey through Africa! First we drive you back to Dar, then you’re booked in a First Class seat on the afternoon train to Selous (about 5 hours if all goes to plan - but this is Africa, so the train runs on African timing!). Relax, enjoy the journey, the views and the people watching. You’ll be met at Kisaki and taken to your gorgeous Sable Mountain safari lodge. This is a fabulous spot, with a natural spring water swimming pool, a tree house overlooking a watering hole and even a star-gazing snug! (BD)
- Day 7 : A walking safari and visit a local village. This morning we take you on an exciting walking safari just on the outskirts of the (unfenced) Selous Game Reserve. After lunch we’ll visit Kisaki, meeting some local people, perhaps visiting a hospital project, and just discovering a bit about a small rural Tanzanian village (very non-touristy!). (B,L,D)
- Day 8 : A full day wildlife viewing and boat safari in the Selous. We go into the reserve today and enjoy a wonderful day’s game viewing. The wildlife here is excellent, and you’ve got great chances to see lions, eles, wild dogs, many plains animals and birds too. We’ll also take you on a boat safari for which Selous is famed. (B,L,D)
- Day 9 : Off to Zanzibar! A pre-breakfast game drive in Selous Game Reserve for your last chance to spot some great wildlife. You have a lunchtime flight to Zanzibar (1hr+), then you’re collected and taken to your boutique beach hotel in the north east. (BD)
- Days 10-12 : Relax on Zanzibar. A 5 minute walk from Nungwi village,and right on the beach, the 8 stylish rooms have a sea view, there is an infinity pool, and loads of optional activities on offer such as snorkelling, diving, cruises, and kayaking. Take it easy! (BD)
- Day 13 : Head for home. We transfer you to the airport for your flight home (if selected). (B)
Is it for you?
This is a great trip for anyone who wants a bit of wildlife, a bit of beach, and to see some remote places as well as some of the more popular places. Most of the accommodation will suit everyone, as the lodges in Selous and Saadani, and the hotel in Zanzibar are all good quality. The fly camping in Saadani is really about the only thing which might not be right for a few people (ie if you don't like camping). Feel free to chat to us about this if you're unsure though.
Best times to go
This trip is best taken between about June and November. It can be taken at other times, but in the rainy season there can be logistical problems ... and you'll get a bit wet at times! The train travel day of this trip must be on a Tuesday or Friday.
Getting there
You need to fly into Dar es Salaam and out of Zanzibar for this holiday. As we're ATOL-bonded, we can arrange flights for you, or you can sort them yourselves. If coming from the UK you would normally take an overnight flight the day before this itinerary and on the way home would also take an overnight flight arriving back in the UK the day after this itinerary. Our flights would be via Nairobi.
Gallery
Responsible Travel
How this holiday helps:
Your holiday includes a visit to the Kisaki hospital project near Selous, which benefits from your visit.
Also, the lodges in both Selous and Saadani both have extremely good eco-credentials in terms of their environmental policies (eg solar power in the Selous lodge) and community responsibility. The local community land owners are given bednight fees and lease payments for the Selous lodge. The owners are also very committed to the welfare of staff and the local community. For example scholarships have been provided for some local children to go to secondary school, the Saadani lodge has provided an antenatal clinic, electricity for the dispensary, water, food relief ...
Carbon Offsetting:
For every client we take on holiday we plant 10 indigenous tree saplings. This is used as a poverty alleviation and biodiversity scheme as well as helping with carbon offsetting. Click for more details …
Giving to grassroots projects:
Our registered charity, The Tribes Foundation, is currently raising funds for a project in Tanzania. The kindness of strangers can make a big difference, so if you’re a travel philanthropist considering donating to a worthwhile charity, please consider backing this excellent community project.
Bibi Jann Children’s Care Trust supplies 60 children ages 2-6 (many of them AIDS orphans) with two meals a day and snacks and a pre-school education, including English, which is prompting graduates to excel in primary school. A first grade class opened in January 2006 and a second grade in January 2007.The Trust, oversees the school, adult literacy classes, women's group, AIDS-orphans school sponsorship program, and now GRANDMA-2-GRANDMA (though which people may sponsor a grandmother who is rearing her AIDS-orphaned grandchildren). Some 30 bibis (kiswahili for grandmothers) meet weekly to create and perfect their crafts for sale, with the goal of becoming self-supporting. The trust also sponsors three orphaned girls who live in the school compound.
We will shortly have a page with photos of the project on http://www.the-tribes-foundation.org/.
FOR MORE GENERAL DETAILS ABOUT OUR RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL POLICIES, CLICK HERE.
Add-ons
Make it Yours.
We promise that all our Down to Earth holidays are exciting adventures as they stand. But you are an individual. ("I'm not." ed). So why not add extras to your holiday to make it different and more unique to you?
You can extend your holiday with the following short trips:
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