Tanzania - Itinerary

Day 1

We gather at Arlanda airport for our mutual flight to Africa. At Arlanda you can get to know the other travellers. You will meet our tour guide and he/she will immediately make you feel comfortable in the group. We will enter the plane together and at 20.00 we will fly towards Nairobi airport in Kenya.

Day 2

We land in Nairobi at noon 12.00. We get picked up by our partner JM -tours who will stay with us until we depart for Zanzibar. The journey to Tanzania will take 5 hours. It´s exciting to see the African scenery and if we are lucky we will see some wild animals. 10 km before reaching Arusha we will turn to the left to Ngaramtoni where we will stay for two nights.

Stop overnight in Ngaramtoni

Day 3

Together we make breakfast and enjoy the beautiful surroundings with Mount Meru right behind us. JM tours pick us up and we go to Arusha national park some ten kilometers away. The park is situated at the edge of Mount Meru and our cars drive up the steep hillside. We stop at the top of the volcano to eat the lunch we have brought.

In town we change our euros or dollars for Tanzanian shillings. After that we make a visit to “Hope for Children” a children’s home for Maasai children whose parents have been diagnosed with HIV. We eat dinner in the town centre.

Stop overnight in Ngaramtoni

Day 4

Again we cook breakfast together and pack our things into the jeeps before heading south for the national parks. In a village on our route we buy some fruit for our lunch. Especially the red bananas are tasty. We look out over Lake Manyara from the end of Rift Valley. The lunch consists of sambusa and fruit. From the town Karatu we make a detour to Gibb’s farm with its floral splendour. Those interested can walk a few kilometers to a small waterfall through the plantation lined by a rainforest. If you do not wish to do that it is quite enough just to sit down and enjoy the view. After the walk we naturally take pleasure in a cup of coffee produced on the farm. Before nightfall we continue to Kudu where we are to spend the night. There we will be served a dinner buffet.

Stop overnight in Kudu-Lodge

Day 5

After an early breakfast it is time to see the Ngorogoro crater. The twisting road leads up to the crater and a wonderful view. We take the steep way down into the crater and meet the African animals at the bottom. We have our packed lunch by a lake. Here lives many hippopotamus. When we have driven out of the crater we will meet big groups of giraffes. A detour gets us to Oldopai Gorge, where humans took their first steps. In the twilight we will reach Seronera Wildlife Lodge built around impressive granite boulders. After washing off the road dust we will eat a dinner buffet.

Sleeping accommodation Seronera Wildlife Lodge

Day 6

Before sunrise we are off on a morning excursion. After a few hours safari a big breakfast awaits us at the hotel. The safari through Serengeti continues after we have packed our cars. Packed lunch. Near dinner time we continue the drive through the western corridor to reach Lake Victoria. We sleep just outside the national park after eating an African buffet.

Sleeping accommodation Serengeti Stop Over

Day 7

After breakfast we travel along the seaside of Lake Victoria to Mwanza. We visit a “steelmarket” owned by a cooperative that in different creative ways recycle old cans. Our lunch is served at Kuleana, “the pizza place for homeless children”. When we have eaten we drink a cup of coffee at the brink of the lake. We continue our journey and reach Nzega comfortably after 250 km on an asphalted road. We check in at Tazengwa guest house and eat a traditional African dinner. It will be possible for those who want to stay overnight in the home of a family in the village.

Sleeping accommodation Tazengwa Guesthouse

Day 8

We make ourselves at home and enjoy the African morning. After a relaxing morning we take a tour into town, looking at the market and wandering around in the city. In the local restaurant Fourways we will be served lunch. The rest of the day is spent visiting a Secondary School and admire the city at sunset. Dinner at the guesthouse. Those who wish can make the day complete by spending some time in a genuine Finnish sauna and a take a swim in the pool.

Sleeping accommodation Tazengwa Guesthouse

Day 9

When we have had breakfast we visit the local hospital. Back at Tazengwa we will be visited by a family of craftsmen, “the basket family”. They will show us their work and we will have the opportunity to buy their baskets as well. This evening there will be a barbecue by the pool. It might be the first time you taste meat roasted on cycle wheel spokes.

Sleeping accommodation Tazengwa Guesthouse

Day 10

The day is begun by a walk to mount Honge where get breakfast. Those who wish can participate in an African church service. There will be dancing and singing that definitely lifts your spirits. We have tea by the pool and eat spongecake baked on a stove fired with charcoal. The rest of the afternoon we will spend in homes of African families. We have dinner together with them.

Sleeping accommodation Tazengwa Guesthouse

Day 11

There will be multiple choices today. You can choose between visiting a hospital, birdwatching, taking part in the African everyday life, experiencing agriculture, carpentry, furniture carpentry or sewing. There will be time to visit the city again for those who feel they have not bought enough already.

Sleeping accommodation Tazengwa Guesthouse

Day 12

We catch an early flight with Precision Air from Shinyanga to Dar es Salaam. Lunch at the airport. The flight further to Zanzibar only takes 20 minutes and after a busride of a bit more than an hour we will reach Paje Ndame on the eastern coast. This is where we will stay the rest of the journey. Exotic fruits have been purchased along the way. Paje Ndame Village is right on the beach and we will sleep in bungalows at the brink of the ocean. For dinner we get a three course meal.

Sleeping accommodation Paje Ndame

Day 13

We enjoy swimming and sunbathing. In traditional hand carved boats half the group goes snorkeling inside the reef. We sail back and walk the last few meters to reach the shore and the beach. Lunch is served at Paje Ndame. In the afternoon there will be an excursion to some of the freshwater caves on the island for those who want. It is very nice to swim among the stalactites.

Sleeping accommodation Paje Ndame

Day 14

Another wonderful day at the beach. The other half of our group goes snorkeling. Maybe we play an international match of “Kubb” against the Maasai. We will probably loose because they are good players with lots of practice.

Sleeping accommodation Paje Ndame

Day 15

We go on a spice tour to see, smell and taste some of the amazing herbs and fruits growing on the island. For example clove, nutmeg, vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, heart of an oxe, carambola, rambutan, coffee and chocolates. A flavory vegetarian meal made from locally grown products is what awaits us for lunch. In our bus we cross the island and descend into some of the caves where slaves were hidden before being shipped out after the slave trade was illegalized. Afterwards we go for a lovely swim, maybe the best of the whole journey. We make a visit to Stonetown, a world heritage site, and wander the narrow alleyways. We buy our dinner at the market in the harbour. Roasted fish is a must but maybe you ought to taste some lobster as well. Tired and satisfied we go home.

Sleeping accommodation Paje Ndame

Day 16

Last day at Zanzibar. You will have the opportunity to go on the marvelous “Blue Sea” tour out into the archipelago and taste roasted lobster among many other delicacies (costs about 45 dollars).

Sleeping accommodation Paje Ndame

Day 17

We en joy the last morning before leaving the island in the afternoon at 15.45 and we wonder when we will be back to Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Day 18

9.00 in the morning we land at Arlanda, back in Sweden again.