DAY 1 Sunday, October 24 Overnight Flight to Tanzania

We begin our travels with an overnight flight from the U.S.A. to Tanzania.

DAY 2 Monday, October 25: Arusha, Tanzania

Welcome to Africa!  Upon arrival at the airport, we will be transferred to our lodge for a late check-in and overnight to prepare for an exciting African adventure!

DAY 3 Tuesday, October 26: Arusha

Begin your day with a relaxed breakfast before heading to Cultural Heritage Center, a sprawling gallery and shopping complex built like a spiral tower honoring Tanzania’s tribal diversity. Admire intricate carvings, vibrant paintings, ancient tribal jewelry, and rare artifacts from over 120 tribes. This is more than a shopping stop — it’s an immersive museum experience celebrating East African identity. Later, visit the St. Mark’s Orphanage & School Project (started over 40 years ago by our guide’s adoptive parents), a deeply moving and uplifting experience. You’ll be welcomed by joyful children that are eager to greet you. This visit supports education, nutrition, and emotional care for 250 children rescued from vulnerable situations. We will have a chance to interact with the children, learn about the education system in Tanzania. Relax late afternoon and evening. (B,L,D)

DAY 4 Wednesday, October 27: Tarangire National Park

Tarangire lies in a vast baobab-studded valley carved by the Tarangire River, a lifeline for wildlife during the dry season. Home to Tanzania’s largest elephant population, the park also teems with zebra, impala, eland, buffalo, and prides of lion lounging in the shade, dwarf mongoose, and over 550 bird species add to the excitement. (B,L,D)

DAY 5 Thursday, October 28: Iraqw Tribe, Safariland & Maasai Village

Start the day with a guided visit to an Iraqw tribal homestead, a Cushitic-speaking farming people whose roots go back to ancient Ethiopia. Learn about their crops, farming, and harmonious relationships with land and livestock. Then we visit the sustainable agricultural demonstration project known as SafariLand. This innovative space showcases permaculture, medicinal gardens, rainwater harvesting, and eco-education. Your farm-to-table lunch includes fresh produce harvested from the gardens. Continue to a nearby Maasai village, where you’ll witness traditional dancing, participate in a cultural exchange, and explore the gendered roles in pastoral life. Learn about the significance of cattle, beadwork, age-set systems, and the unique balance between tradition and modernity. (B,L,D)

DAY 6 Friday, October 29: Bushmen- Hadzabe Tribe And Datoga Blacksmiths

Depart for Lake Eyasi, and engage with the Hadzabe, one of the last true hunter-gatherer tribes in East Africa that live like they have for tens of thousands of years. Accompany them on a mock hunt with bows and arrows and learn how they harvest wild honey and tubers. Their click-language and lifestyle resemble that of the earliest humans. Then we visit the Datoga community, known for intricate beadwork, pastoral life, and centuries-old iron-smelting techniques. Watch them create tools and jewelry from molten metal using traditional bellows and stone anvils. These two tribes offer a window into humanity’s origins and cultural resilience. Lake Eyasi’s remote beauty and raw cultural encounters are deeply moving and memorable. (B,L,D)

DAY 7 Saturday, October 30: Ngorongoro Crater

After early breakfast, we’ll stop for a view from the Crater’s edge and then descend into the Crater for an unforgettable game drive on the Crater floor. Ngorongoro Crater was formed when a massive volcano collapsed three million years ago. With around 30,000 resident animals, the game viewing is excellent with opportunity to see lions, black rhino, wildebeest, hyenas, hippos, elephants, warthogs, thousands of flamingos, and one of the best places to see the endangered Black Rhino. The Lerai forest is home to elusive leopards and vervet monkeys, while the swampy springs are a hippo haven. (B,L,D)

DAY 8 Sunday, October 31: Serengeti National Park

After breakfast, with picnic lunch box we head towards the Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. The park spans 5,695 square miles of acacia-dotted plains and seasonal rivers—this is the home to the Great Migration and all of Africa’s Big Five. (B,L,D)

DAY 9 Monday, November 1: Serengeti National Park

Today we will enjoy a full day with game drive in the Serengeti. There will be an optional early morning balloon ride and breakfast excursion to enjoy the vast Serengeti from the air—a remarkable experience! Exploring the sweeping grassy plains, rocky outcrops (Kopjes) and sparsely wooded river valleys of this incomparable park where lion, cheetah, leopard, hippo, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, gazelle, ostrich and many other unique birds can be seen.  (B,L,D)

DAY 10 Tuesday, November 2: Return To Arusha–Depart For Home

After breakfast we fly to Arusha for lunch and some last-minute souvenir shopping. Later, we’ll be transferred to the airport for our overnight homebound flight, arriving home on November 3.  (B,L)