East Africa Serengeti & Zanzibar 2023

Overview

If your bucket list includes Serengeti, this tour will tick that box and offer you much more than Serengeti. It is such a great event that I changed the name to, East Africa Safari, just do the tour justice.

It really is a great east African experience. This will be a month of your life that you will never forget.

You will see and experiencing something unique. We tour up through the heart of East Africa.

Some of the places you would recognise includes; Victoria  falls, Lake Victoria, mount Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar island, Ngorongoro crater, Lake Malawi, Mana pools, Lusaka, Dar es Salaam, Lake Tanganyika.

At the heart of the tour, we will search for the Wildebeest migration in the Serengeti. At this point the migration counts at about 2.5 million wildebeest. It is an experience of a lifetime.

We will visit the craft shops of the Masai. The spice tour of the historical Zanzibar Island.

This is a tour that every person must do at some stage. It is absolutely spectacular, and worth every cent.

The Itinerary

Day 1 to 7

This is where our journey start. We meet at Nata Botswana for our first night. I will be driving up from Johannesburg and should arrive in the late afternoon.  Nata has a restaurant if you don’t feel like cooking for the evening.

With everybody together we start our journey and travel North. We cross into Zambia and head towards Livingstone. We should be arriving in Livingstone at about 3pm giving us time to visit the falls or do some activities. We sleep in Livingstone and the next morning more time to visit the falls. From here we set off in a northerly direction towards Lusaka for the night.

In Lusaka we stop for groceries and we fill the vehicles with fuel and if time allows, we will have a bite to eat in one of the coffee shops. Turning onto the Tanzam highway,we stop over at a hot springs campsite to take a rest. A mid day departure means it is a good time to take a break and relax a bit. You may visit Shiwa house, a colonial landmark if you wish. We continue north and cross in to Tanzania.

Day 8 to 11

In Tanzania we make our way to Lake Tanganyika for a wonderful few days and then further north to Lake Victoria. We spend two nights in Mwanza with Great Lake fish and chips and a few local beers.

We also take the time to get our groceries up to date, give our vehicles a once over and prepare for Serengeti.

Day 13

We enter the great Serengeti national park and start our 5 days in the western corridor.  The next 4 days are made up of game drives and wildebeest action.

Day 14.

We are still in the Serengeti, today, those who are interested goes out for a hot air balloon flight. It is expensive, but one of the best experiences you will ever have.

Day 16.

We complete our Serengeti leg and make our way to the neighbouring park, Ngorongoro. We drive in to the crater for the day and experience one of the most spectacular wildlife places on earth. We sleep on the rim of the crater for the night.

Day 18-20

We leave the wildlife area, and after doing a bit of Massai novelty shopping we make our way to Dar Es Salaam, harbour of peace.

Day 20-22.

If you were interested in Zanzibar, you can not mis this section. We travel across by ferry and sleep one night on the island. We visit stone town, the old slave market, the governors house and do an unforgettable tour of the spice farms. Combine this with a hotel room and a bit of luxury….mmmmm.

Day 23.

Once we are done, back on the ferry and back to Dar.

Day 25

We continue our journey down through the beautiful central Tanzania. We turn off the Tanzam highway and head for Malawi. We cross in to Malawi in the late afternoon and head to our campsite.

 Day 25-28.  

A few long days traveling, we deserve an off day. We take a breather next to the lovely lake Malawi. Sort out our shopping, have some Chumbo fish and chips, and just relax.

 Day 29,30.

We follow the lake further south and turn back towards Zambia. Then from Chipata down to Lusaka.

Day 31. 

We are back in Livingstone for our last night. Tomorrow we start our journey back to South Africa 

Tour specific comments

Vehicle:

A normal 4×4 with low range as you buy them from the shop floor. No special kit required.

Drivers:

No experience required, I personally guide the tour and will give you everything you need as we go.

Towing:

Malawi has narrow roads, just be aware.

Other:

There is 220V power available from time to time.

How does the Migration work?

A question that gets asked a lot, here is the answer:

The migration in the Serengeti region happens every year. The local wildebeest have figured out the best way to move around to get the best grazing, water and to have the best survival opportunities over the last few thousands of years.

This has left them with the current clockwise migratory pattern which they follow annually.

They start the year in the South, the pregnant females calf around Feb March and start moving North. Then in mid summer they turn South from the Masai Mara section. The group of wildebeest is followed, and they travel through predator sections.

The river crossings seen on TV is normally the Masai Mara NP river crossings in Kenya in October November and it is not necessarily good for viewing. Many animals drown in this section, and it can become grim and upsetting.

We travel to the Serengeti in May and June when the wildebeest should be in the western corridor.

We also visit some of the iconic sites in the Serengeti as well as the Ngorongoro Crater

Here is a video of the route

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