From Zanzibar Surf to Safari

Your dedicated Africa FlashMc Tours guide will meet you either at Zanzibar’s Abeid Amani Karume International Airport or your hotel.  From there, you will be escorted to your direct flight from the island to Serengeti National Park, Tanzania.  The flight takes 2-3 hours, depending on the location of your destination camp.  After touchdown, we’ll transfer you to your lodgings for the next two nights.  After settling in, lunch is served, after which there is some leisure time before the first game drive of your safari.

Serengeti National Park covers nearly 15,000 square kilometres (5791 sq. mi) and lies on Tanzania’s northern border with Kenya.  The park sits adjacent to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and forms part of the Greater Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem, which incorporates Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve.  The latter area forms the stage for the Great Wildebeest Migration, a seasonal spectacle during which millions of herbivores roam the plains in search of sustenance.

For game viewing purposes, generally speaking, wildlife is most active in the late afternoon and early morning (night drives are not allowed in the Serengeti).  Your first game drive will be a great opportunity to get acclimatised and familiarise yourself with this vast wilderness.  On your return, dinner awaits, followed by a good night’s rest.

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Serengeti National Park
• Lunch and dinner, not breakfast
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

Should you choose to do so, the optional hot-air balloon safari requires waking before dawn while the air is cool and calm.  Rising over the plains as the sun paints the landscape below is an experience to remember.  After seeing various species of wildlife from the air, you’ll join a full-day game drive.

With an area as vast as the Serengeti, you would need weeks to explore.  However, safari guides throughout the park share information regarding wildlife sightings, meaning they know just where to take you to enjoy the action.  For many visitors, seeing the Big 5 is a priority.  These five species – lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo – were considered the continent’s most dangerous animals to hunt.  Protected within the park, they remain a firm favourite with photographers, although rhino sightings are considered a rare treat..

In the course of the day, you will stop at a scenic spot to enjoy a picnic… and give your legs a good stretch.

For birdwatchers, the Serengeti is a delight.  Nearly 500 species of birds inhabit various habitats, from riverine thickets to open grasslands.  If mammals are your preference, around 70 different mammals have been recorded.  As such, you’ll appreciate your guide’s in-depth knowledge and ability to interpret the interplay of species you encounter.

Returning to camp at dusk, you can look forward to a delicious dinner before bed.

• Accommodation at your camp or lodge
• Overnight stay inside Serengeti National Park
• Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra

Rising early, it is time once again to board your safari vehicle in search of wildlife.  Whether or not you will see the famed migration will depend on when you visit.  Dependent on rainfall, it typically occurs between December and November, but the peak viewing period is generally considered to be July through October.  Rest assured, though, that visitors are seldom less than amazed by all they see in the park.  

The abundance of prey species naturally means that predators are also plentiful.  Highly endangered, African wild dogs seldom make an appearance.  However, their scarcity is compensated for by a high density of lions, leopards, cheetahs and spotted hyenas.

Always fascinating to watch, large herds of elephants are frequently seen.  And, with so much grass about, massive herds of Cape buffalo bellow and bash their way around the terrain.  In addition, blue wildebeest, zebra, warthogs, and various antelope species are common.

All too soon, you return to camp for checkout.  Then, you’ll head to the airstrip for your return flight to Zanzibar.  At this point, you’ll bid your guide farewell.  As you go, consider whether the following resonates with you: “When you leave Africa, as the plane lifts, you feel that more than leaving a continent, you’re leaving a state of mind. Whatever awaits you at the other end of your journey will be of a different order of existence.”

We at Africa FlashMc Tours hope you decide to return as our guests.

• No accommodation, this is the final day
• Breakfast and lunch, no dinner
• Drinking water, other drinks are extra