9 Days South Of Tanzania Safari Tour

Best time to travel: July - March

Our 9-day lodge safari will show you the well-known conservation areas in the south of Tanzania. You will explore national parks like Mikumi, Udzungwa, Ruaha, and the Selous Game Reserve with a safari vehicle, on foot and by boat. Besides the safari activities, there will be ample time to meet the local people and get an impression of the African culture.

Due to the long driving distances in the southern part of Tanzania, the safari is organized as a combination between drive and fly-in safari. This allows you to explore the whole south of Tanzania while the traveling time stays moderate.

Day 1: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

In the morning, your guide will meet you at your hotel in Dar es Salaam or the airport. As soon as your luggage is loaded onto the safari vehicle, the safari starts. After approximately 5 hours of driving on a good tarmac road, you will reach Stanley's Kopje Tented Camp in Mikumi National Park. This nicely-located and well-managed lodge will be your home for the first night. A hot lunch waits for you at your arrival and after lunch, you will use the rest of the afternoon for a game drive in the national park.

Stanley's Kopje Camp: Located on the Mkata plain is Stanley's Kopje Camp, a smaller personalized tented camp with a relaxing bush atmosphere set up on a rocky hill that boasts spectacular 360-degree views of wildlife converging on the Mwanambogo water hole in the north. A new pool has recently been installed with the same commanding views. Sit by the pool with a cold drink and your binoculars to spot the latest action on the plain or let the expert guides take you on a game drive in specially designed open 4WDs. All tents are en suite with hot showers and flush toilets and enjoy a spacious verandah to admire the view.

Included: Lunch; Dinner

Day 2: Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

Mikumi National Park is the third largest park in Tanzania. Most areas of the park are open for photo safaris, especially the seemingly endless Mkata Plains in the northwest of the park, which gives you the feeling of being in the Serengeti. Mikumi is well-known for its big buffalo herds and the large elephant populations.

There are good chances to get the following animals in front of your lenses: zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, impalas, waterbucks, reedbucks, hyenas, baboons, lions, and many more. After a full day in the bush, you will return to Stanley's Kopje Tented Camp in the evening.

Camp Details:

12 tents on wooden platforms with thatched roofs. All have en suite bathroom facilities

All tents can be double, twin, single, or triple. Extra beds can be added on request.

The tents are fully furnished.

Tents are mosquito-proof - spray is provided.

Electricity provided by generator - 24V with UK style 3 pin sockets

Power is not 24-hour

Power is available for lighting and recharging batteries but not for hairdryers

Swimming pool - towels provided

Restaurant and bar

Solar heated water

Included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 3: Mikumi National Park, Tanzania – Udzungwa National Park, Tanzania

After an early breakfast, you will drive approximately 1 ½ hours to the Udzungwa Mountains. At the park entrance, you will meet your local guide who takes you for a several-hour hike through the rainforest. The magnificent lush green mountain landscape is the home of several endemic plant and animal species like the Udzungwa red colobus or the sanje mangabey – one of the most endangered primates in Africa.

A highlight of the walk is the 300-meter-high Sanje waterfall. In the evening, you will drive back to Stanley's Kopje Tented Camp arriving for dinner and overnight.

Included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 4: Ruaha Valley, Tanzania

After breakfast, you will leave Stanley’s Kopje Tented Camp and drive southwards towards Iringa. On the way, you pass the scenic valley of the Great Ruaha River where some majestic baobab trees are growing. Today’s destination is Kisolanza Farm, 40km away from Iringa. On the farm, the owner-family Ghaui has grown vegetables, flowers, and tobacco for more than fifty years.

After your arrival in the afternoon, you have time to explore the farm and the surrounding area. Taste the fresh farm products during dinner and overnight at the rustic cottages of the farm.

Included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 5; Ruaha Valley, Tanzania – Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Today, you drive towards Ruaha National Park. If you wish, your guide can stop at the local market in Iringa, the biggest city in the province. After a drive through some small local villages, you will reach Tandala Tented Camp, your home away from home for the next 2 nights. In the afternoon, you will go on a game drive into Ruaha National Park.

Tandala Tented Camp: Tandala Tented Camp is named after the elegant Kudu antelope which frequents the surrounding area. (Tandala is Swahili for both Greater and Lesser Kudu). The camp has an intimate atmosphere and friendly, professional staff who make you feel welcome and relaxed. Tandala Tented Camp offers luxurious raised tented accommodations, fine cuisine, and a great base for your safari. There are ten spacious, elevated luxury tents offering a variety of bed arrangements.

Extra beds are available for children or to accommodate a third person on request. All lighting is provided by 24-hour solar power in true eco-lodge style. Each unit stands at least eight meters away from the nearest neighbor providing absolute privacy. The en suite bathroom at the back of each tent is enclosed in thatch and stone with a view of the bush. Hot showers are provided by gas and solar power.

Included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 6: Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

Ruaha National Park is the most visited national park in the southern part of Tanzania. Due to its size and the fact that the south of Tanzania is less visited than the northern parks, you have ample space and you will see hardly any other safari vehicles. Ruaha National Park forms a border between Africa’s eastern and southern ecosystems. Here you will find kudus, which you will find seldom further north as well as grant gazelles which reach their southernmost breeding area.

The source of life in the park is doubtless the Great Ruaha River with its huge numbers of crocodiles and hippos. The drier Ruaha National Park gets, the more the animals of the park are concentrating around this lifeline. During the dry season, you can see elephants (approx. 10.000 elephants are living in the park), buffalos, lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, Sable- and Roan- antelopes, giraffes, zebras, warthogs, mongooses and lots of other wild animals. After a busy safari day, you will return to Tandala Tented Camp in the evening.

Included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 7: Ruaha National Park, Tanzania – Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

In the morning, you will go with your local guide on a walking safari in the concession area around Tandala Lodge. After lunch, you say goodbye to your safari guide and you will fly to Selous Game Reserve. After you land at the small airstrip, you will be picked up by a driver from Rufiji River Camp.

Rufiji River Camp: Rufiji River Camp is located on the banks of the Rufiji River, at a point where the ample and tranquil river is animated by many different species of animals. The tented camp, situated in the heart of the reserve, is environmentally friendly and each tent is equipped with a private bathroom and a veranda facing the river. There is a constant flow of animals coming down to drink at the river offering a permanent show to visitors of the camp.

The water is usually full of hundreds of hippos as well as groups of crocodiles that laze in the sun on the sandbanks of the river. A structure in the central part of the camp hosts the restaurant, bar, and library, all with a view of the river and the sunset.

Included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 8: Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

Selous Game Reserve is the biggest wildlife conservation area in Africa and forms together with the bordering Mikumi and Udzungwa national parks an area which is as big as Switzerland! The northern part of Selous Game Reserve is open for photo safaris there you can find miombo trees, open grassland, and savannah plains. The mighty Rufiji River is unique and meanders through the game reserve.

During the dry season, the river attracts elephants, buffalos, giraffes, lions, wild dogs, wildebeests, zebras, and different species of gazelles and antelopes. From your luxurious camp, you will explore this unspoiled wilderness from a safari vehicle and by boat on the Rufiji River.

Included: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner

Day 9: Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania – Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

After breakfast, there will be time for another game drive before you will be dropped off at the airfield from where you take your flight to Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar.

Included: Breakfast; Lunch

Items Included:

Transport in 4x4 Safari vehicle

Professional English-speaking guide

Meals provided according to the travel plan

Mineral water on safari (1.5 liters per day/person)

Overnight stays in safari lodges / tented camps

All national park fees

Flight with coastal aviation from Ruaha NP – Selous Game Reserve incl. Tax

Flight with coastal aviation from Selous Game Reserve to Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar

Items Not Included:

Alcoholic and soft drinks

Visa fees

Tips

Personal spending monies for souvenirs etc

Travel Insurance