A Nature and Wildlife Journey Across the Globe

Travel with Dee Ann : Tanzania 2012- Nature's Dance II

2012 Photo Safari Itinerary

Dates: June 1- June 16, 2012
Professional Photo Leader: Dee Ann Pederson
To Insure an Intimate and Personal Experience: Max. Group Size 13

June 1st, 2nd and 3rd- Serena Mountain Village Lodge

After a long journey, we will spend our first three nights in the comfort of Serena Mountain Village Lodge. Our first day has been designed to allow everyone time to relax and adjust to the time change. The only items on the agenda will be our welcome reception and safari orientation in the late afternoon.

Nestled on the edge of Arusha at the foot of the wooded slopes of Mount Meru, The Serena Mountain Village Lodge is also amidst surrounding coffee plantations on the shores of tranquil Lake Duluti. You will be able to relax while taking a walk through the lush gardens, taking a guided walk around the lake or canoeing on Lake Duluti or just sipping your coffee while enjoying your first day in Tanzania.

Arusha National Park

The following day will be spent exploring Arusha National Park's many riches. With both morning and afternoon game drives, you’ll have plenty of time to experience all this beautiful place has to offer.

Unlike many of Tanzania’s protected lands, Arusha National Park is lush with vegetation, rainforest and mountainous terrain. Its slightly moister climate offers home to a wide variety of birds and animals, including its mascot, the unique and acrobatic black-and-white colobus monkey. A crater in the midst of its forest has a huge marsh on its floor, supporting large herds of warthog and buffalo. The park is bordered on the west by Mount Meru (14,000 feet), and has a commanding view of Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 feet) to the east (weather permitting).

June 4th- Lake Manyara Serena Lodge

Today we will depart Arusha on our way to Lake Manyara. As we get close to Lake Manyara there is a wonderful market along the road abounding with color from the numerous varietals of bananas and "Tinga Tinga" painting by native artisans. We will stop here as a group and stroll around the market giving us opportunity to photograph colors, patterns, people and culture. We will then have lunch at the lodge which is set on a bluff overlooking Lake Manyara, and offers extraordinary views, beautiful scenery and a true sense of the vastness and beauty of this land. We’ll be here for one night, with an afternoon game drive excursion into the forest and the open woodland of Lake Manyara National Park.

Lake Manyara

About 80 miles from Arusha, Lake Manyara’s wildlife-rich park borders the wall of the famous African Rift Valley, and is home to lions, giraffes, hippos, as well as the highest density of elephants in Africa. Baboons and blue monkeys stroll through its forests, while zebras and giraffes roam its open grassy plains. Lake Manyara is also noted for its profusion of birds (more than 380 species). The name "Manyara" derives from the plant Euphorbia tirucalli from which the Maasai build a hedge to protect their livestock from predators. The Maasai language in known as Maa.

June 5th, 6th and 7th- Ndutu Safari Lodge

To take in all Ngorongoro Conservation Area has to offer and to experience yet another remarkable ecosystem of Tanzania, we will journey today from Lake Manyara to Ndutu, where we will spend our next three days. The wildlife and the habitat of this relatively small area will captivate you! Upon arrival to Ndutu we will enjoy lunch at Ndutu Safari Lodge which will be home for three nights. Following lunch we will venture out on the first of four game drives to explore the wild places and wildlife of Ndutu. We will also take time out of the safari vehicle to walk along the shore of Lake Masek one morning, which provides interesting small subjects and patterns to photograph; returning mid morning to the lodge and favorite bird bath / drinking venue of the colorful birds of the area, to continue our morning photo opportunities. Ndutu Safari Lodge has been a favorite of professional wildlife photographers and film makers for several decades simply because it is one of the best places to see it all!

Ndutu (Ngorongoro Conservation Area)

A striking characteristic of this area is the stunning acacia woodland, which is immediately surrounded by the short grass plains. Within this wooded area is Lake Ndutu - one of the Rift Valley’s soda lakes. At the height of the wildebeest migration, and when heavy rains have fallen, lines of wildebeest can often be seen crossing the lake. Accompanying the wildebeest are large numbers of zebra and Thomson gazelles.

Sights abound, so do sounds. Listen to the murmurs of a million doves greeting the sunrise, a cacophony of guinea fowl as they startle away, the swish of a hawk through the clear air. Hyenas howling, zebras and jackals barking, the rich chorus of Ndutu rings round, night and day. “Don't expect five stars from our campfire, you'll see millions!” Ndutu Safari Lodge still has the informal, intimate feeling of the original bush camp, built by legendary hunter George Dove in the 60's. Now, comfortable cottages have replaced tents, but the main buildings place no barriers between you and nature.

June 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th – (Private Tent Camp – Serengeti)

With five full days in the Serengeti, we’ll have time to experience what makes this place so breathtaking and unique. Daily game drives give us time in the field in all of the varied habitats here, highlighted by “up close and personal” encounters with the Africa you may have long held only in your dreams. A private mobile tent camp is home for our time here, with home-cooked meals, and a sense of community greeting us each evening upon our return to camp to reflect on the day's memorable moments around a campfire – a great way to fully absorb the feeling of the Serengeti. Arrangements have been made in our itinerary while in the Serengeti for those guests who purchase the optional Hot Air Balloon Excursion.

Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s largest, and probably the world’s best known wildlife preserve. It’s comprised of almost 15,000 square kilometers, an area larger than the state of Connecticut. The name Serengeti is a derivative of the Maasai word meaning “endless plain.” In an area this large, it’s no surprise to find many varied habitats: open grasslands, (interspersed as they are with rocky outcrops called kopjes and sprinkled with characteristic flat-topped acacia trees); open woodlands; and mosaics of grassland and woodland combined.

Big cats (lions, leopards, cheetahs), along with wildebeest, gazelle, zebra, and millions upon millions of birds and insects, leave even the most casual visitor with a profound sense of wonder with both the richness of life here as well as the spaciousness of the landscape. The Serengeti is the largest wildlife sanctuary in the world and the site of one of the most breathtaking events in the animal kingdom - the migration of more than a million wildebeest.

June 13th– Maasai Village

As we travel from the Serengeti to Ngorongoro Crater we will make a special stop to visit and photograph a Maasai Village. We’ll have the entire morning with the Maasai to experience a bit of their village life, embrace their dancing and singing, and share time with the small children during school. The young children seem to love visitors, and often flock to our sides as we share time and space with these history-rich and colorful people. You will have to opportunity to take home some of their native hand crafts and beadwork.

The Maasai have lived in this land for hundreds of years, peacefully coexisting with the often harsh environment and constant threat from large predators. Cattle form the basis for their lifestyle, which they protect from lions with fences constructed from acacia thorns. They’re a beautiful people, kind, friendly and calm, dressing in bright, bold colors. Their sense of community is strong, and they’re known to the outside world for their gorgeous artistic beadwork.

June 13th, 14th and 16th– Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge

We’ll close out our safari experience with three nights at the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge with two and a half days in the crater. The crater’s unique ecosystem offers us new sights and sounds, a perfect way to wrap up an exciting adventure. We’ll plan our trip into the crater to maximize daylight experience there, returning in the evening to enjoy the sunset from the crater rim on the lawn of our luxurious lodge and the company of new friends.

Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area offers 100 square miles of varied natural habitats, and is home to some 30,000 animals. As we ascend the outer rim of the crater, the landscape changes dramatically. The lush, rain-forest vegetation begins to thin as we climb, and soon we’re at the rim of the largest intact volcanic caldera in the world.

The ecological richness and diversity created by this natural enclosure, along with its year-round supply of water, means that most of its residents simply don’t have to leave in search of food. Perhaps that’s why the grand old bull elephants and the rare black rhino take command of the perennial, tender vegetation on the crater floor. This time of the year, following the long rains of April and May, will offer us color from the blossoming flora as a backdrop for our images.

June 16th– Kimemo Cottages & Cultural Heritage Center

Today we end this amazing journey as we enjoy our drive back to Arusha. We will stop for shopping and lunch at the Cultural Heritage Center and then on to our day room at Kimemo Cottages to refresh before our evening transfer to the airport for our departure back home.

Kimemo Cottages is set on a mature coffee farm, five self-catering cottages are fully equipped and comfortably furnished. Each enjoys its own beautiful spacious garden, surrounded by stunning panoramic views. Just open the door and make yourself at home. This is a perfect little retreat for peace and privacy, an afternoon nap and repacking your luggage before departing for the airport. Internet access is also provided.

The Cultural Heritage Center presents crafts and artifacts from hundreds of tribes both local and from other parts of Africa. Room after room…The selection of African crafts is amazing, almost seems like it could be a museum. But of course it’s a store, so you can buy anything you see here; they’ll even ship your treasures anywhere in the world. However in January 2010, as if there were not enough to see and extraordinary Art Gallery & Museum was opened to enhance you experience at The Cultural Heritage Center and to add another dimension of interest for those travelers less interested in shopping and more fascinated by the arts and culture of Africa. They have it all here. Impossible to see it all on your first visit so, like the wonder of nature and wildlife of the national parks of Tanzania you will find yourself already thinking about your next visit.