Southern Circuit – 15 Days

Day 01: Arrival in Dar es salaam – Tanzania
>> Airport – Tiffany: 20 – 30 minutes
>> Meal Plan: Dinner
Meet and great at Dar es salaam International Airport and get transferred to Dar City Centre for accommodation at Tiffany Hotel. The Tiffany Diamond Hotel & Spa offers world-class accommodation, international and local cuisine, leisure facilities and business amenities. It is a newly opened Hotel located at the heart of Dar es salaam city. The Hotel offers74 guest rooms fitted with all the amenities required by both Business Man / Women and Tourists, such as High speed free Wifi, Flat screen satellite T. V, Mini fridge, Safe deposit which are big enough to hold a lap top, Private ensuite, Fully A/C , Hot shower, Reading table and chairs, Coffee Maker, Word rope, Jaccuzzi in some rooms and phone, just to make sure our guest feel at home away from home. Dinner and stay overnight on bed and breakfast.

Accommodation: Tiffany Hotel & Spa
Meal Plan: Half Board

Day 02: Transfer From Dar es salaam To Iringa Town
>> Dar es salaam – Iringa: 7 – 8 hrs
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
We take breakfast early in the morning, we then get on board and start driving slowly to Iringa Town via Chalinze. Iringa with a population of 112,900 is situated at a latitude of 7.77°S and longitude of 35.69°E. The name is derived from the Hehe word lilinga, meaning fort. Iringa is the administrative capital of Iringa Region. It has many established industries, including manufacturing and food processing. We arrive in Town in the late afternoon and check in at Iringa Sunset Hotel. The Hotel is located in Gangilonga Hills overlooking Iringa Town just 25 mins from the airport, a 10-min drive from town center. Iringa Sunset Hotel is ideally situated for a peaceful stay after a busy day’s schedule. All services that you require are available including dining, bar, meeting room and viewing point. All rooms are well equipped with satellite TV, WIFI, Room Service. Dinner and stay overnight on half board basis. 

Accommodation: Iringa Sunset Hotel.
Meal Plan: Half Board

Day 03: Half Day Game Drive In Ruaha National Park
>> Iringa Town – Ruaha Park: 2 – 3 hrs
>> Tour Duration: Half Day
Pick up from Iringa Sunset Hotel, after early morning breakfast, we take our lunch box and depart for Ruaha National Park. We arrive there in the late morning and start our game drive immediately until late sunset. Ruaha National Park forms the core of a wild extended ecosystem covering about 40,000 sq km and provides home to Tanzania’s largest elephant population, estimated at 12,000. In addition, Tanzania’s largest national park hosts buffaloes, greater and lesser kudus, Grant’s gazelles, wild dogs, leopards, antelopes, colorful birds and plants among the other. After the tour we drive to Ruaha Hiltop Lodge for check in and relax. Dinner and stay overnight on full board basis.

Accommodation: Ruaha Hiltop Lodge.
Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 04 – 05: Full Day Game Drive In Ruaha National Park
>> Game Drive: Full Day
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Today we are having a full day safari in Ruaha National Park, your activities will basically concentrate along the great Ruaha River, Mwagusi Sand River and Mdonya River. Lunch in the middle of nowhere followed by more drives to the homes of buffaloes, elephants, lions, leopards, antelopes, colorful birds and plants until 6.30pm for the beautiful sunset in the East African Great Rift Valley. Dinner and overnight stay on full board basis.

Accommodation: Ruaha Hiltop Lodge.
Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 06: Walking safari, Maasai Village Tour & Transfer To Iringa Town
>> Walking Safari: 3 hrs
>> Maasa Village: 1-2 hr
>> Ruaha Park – Iringa Town: 2 – 3 hrs
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
This morning you will explore the park by a nature walk for 3 hours with the Tour Guide and Armed Park Rangers to ensure your safety. The walking safari is the most real and authentic way to experience the bush and our guides are incredibly experienced and have spent decades walking Africa’s wilds.  Allow them to lead you safely through Ruaha’s rugged landscape as our ancestors travelled, on our own two feet, on a level playing field with the animals and the thrill of not knowing what maybe hiding behind the next bush. Breakfast will be enjoyed at the end of the trail and then a drive to Maasai Village for a 1-hour tour. This is the only chance to learn and experience their traditional way of life, customs and norms of the Maasai people. After the tour we drive to Iringa Town, we check in at Iringa Sunset Lodge and relax. Dinner and stay overnight on half board.

Accommodation: Iringa Sunset Hotel.
Meal Plan: Half Board

Day 07: Isimila Stone Age Site
>> Iringa Town – Isimila: 30 Mns
>> Tour Duration: Half Day
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After breakfast we proceed to Isimila Stone Age and Earth Pillars Site for a short walk, excavations and photographs which is signposted off the Mbeya road to the left, about 21km southwest of Iringa. Tools found at the site – hammerstones, axe-heads, flints and scrapers – are estimated to be between 60,000 and 100,000 years old. There’s a museum with small, well-captioned displays highlighting some of the discoveries. After the tour we drive back to Iringa Town at Sunset Lodge. Dinner and overnight at Iringa Sunset Hotel on full board basis.

Accommodation: Iringa Sunset Hotel.
Meal Plan: Full Board

Day 08: Iringa Town – Mikumi National Park
>> Iringa Town Tour: Half Day
>> Iringa Town  – Mikumi Park: 3 hrs
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
After taking breakfast in the morning, pack up from your room then drive to Iringa town for the Gangilonga Rock, “Hehe word for the talking stone”, to enjoy a view of Iringa town and nearby streets and map location of the city centre. This will be followed by a tour to the Rock paintings in Igeleke hills for an orientation on the GPS’s, African technology with Hehe beliefs from 40,000 years ago to the present. Then drive back to town to visit the museum and other interesting sites which will be followed by lunch at the restaurant or at Iringa Sunset Hotel. After lunch we drive to Mikumi National Park. Dinner and stay overnight on full board basis.

Accommodation: Mikumi Safari Lodge
Meal Plan: Half Board

Day 09 – 10: Full Day Game Drives in Mikumi National Park
>> Game Drive: Full Day
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
We will be having 2 full days of game drive around Mikumi Park. The beautiful plains, surrounding mountains and hills bring compelling natural beauty with addition to superb light, make it a wonderful venue for wildlife photographers. There is a rich variety of bird species as well as large numbers of giraffes, buffaloes and elephants and close to the water holes also tree-climbing lions, leopards, wild hunting dogs, black-blacked jackal and hippos. Furthermore, we can see zebras, wildebeest, elephants, impala, warthog, eland and other antelopes. Several observation towers enable you to overview the park in its entirety. Dinner and stay overnight on full board basis.

Accommodation: Mikumi Safari Lodge.
Meal Plan: Full Board.

Day 11: Mikumi Park – Selous Game Reserve
>> Mikumi Park – Selous Reserve: 5 – 6 hrs
>> Boat Cruise: 1 – 3 hrs
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
In the morning you’ll be picked up from Mikumi Safari Lodge and driven to Selous Game Reserve with your lunch boxes. It is relatively far and you will have a picnic lunch en route or if you leave early in the morning you will enjoy a hot lunch at the Lodge shortly after arriving. This is the beginning of your bush adventure in the African wilderness, where you will spend 2 nights at Selous Butembo Tented Lodge, which is perched on the edge of the mighty Rufiji River. The tents are generously structured with a safari atmosphere, tastefully furnished and with en suite toilets, sinks and showers. All tents are facing the Rufiji River. 

In the late afternoon after relaxing you’ll go on a thrilling boat safari on the Rufiji River where you’ll see hippos and crocodiles in their natural habitat. Your guide will also be able to point out interesting birds and plant species during this trip. Rufiji River offers the most exciting Boat Safari in Selous Game Reserve. The river is full of hippopotamus and crocodiles, which can be watched at a close range. Birds and other animals along the river banks expose the beauty of Tanzania’s wilderness. Buffaloes, water-bucks and impala are usually seen in the water meadows; elephants and lions sometimes seen drinking water. Dinner and stay overnight on full board. 

Accommodation: Selous Butembo Lodge.
Meal Plan: Full Board.

Day 12 -13: Full Day Game Drive in Selous
>> Tour Durations: Full Day
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
You will be spending the whole day doing game drives in the plains of Selous Game Reserve. The Reserve is reputed to be the best off the beaten track wildlife safari destination away from the crowds. Selous is the largest Game Reserve in Africa with its area being more than the size of Switzerland and is full of wild animals and birds’ species whereby more than 350 Bird species have been recorded. These will be a very special day used in exploring the wilderness in the biggest game reserve in Africa and viewing diverse wildlife which includes lion, giraffe, wildebeest, zebra, elephant, wild dog and so much more. You might even see the rare Sable antelope! Unlike the Northern parts of Tanzania where animals and birds are more habituated, animals here are timider. Dinner and overnight stay on full board basis.

Accommodation: Selous Butembo Lodge.
Meal Plan: Full Board.

Day 14: Walking Safari – Drive To Dar es salaam
>> Tour Durations: 2 hrs
>> Selous – Dar es salaam: 5 – 6 hrs
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
The walking safari starts as early as 06.00 am or 06.30am. The crispy fresh African air mixed with the wild waft of the animals evokes your sense of smell to the intoxication unique bush odors of Africa. This allows you to get a real feel of the African bush. The sights, sounds and smells of a walking safari are a special treat that will live long in your memory. The thrill of being close up to the animals and to “shoot” them with your camera is one of the greatest, unforgettable experiences one carries back to the “civilized” world. Thereafter, we get back to the Lodge for breakfast and a bit leisure. We then take our lunch boxes and leave for Dar es salaam, arriving there in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight on half board basis.  

Accommodation: Tiffany Hotel & Spa.
Meal Plan: Half Board.

Day 15: Fly Back Home
>> Tiffany Hotel – Dar Airport: 30 Mins
>> Meal Plan: Breakfast
After breakfast, lunch or dinner we can take our road transfer to Airport to catch your flight back home or to any other destination of your choice. Departure time will depend on your reporting time at Airport. Your check out time is 10Am. Lunch and dinner are not included today. After checking out you have to keep your luggage at the Store or at reception. End of service.