Tour Leader: Paul Varney
Tour price (Per person): USD7,095 * GBP5,493 * EUR6,619 * AUD10,783
Single Supplement: USD590 * GBP457 * EUR550 * AUD897
Tour Leader: Yoav Perlman
Tour price (Per person): USD7,195 * GBP5,570 * EUR6,713 * AUD10,935
Single Supplement: USD610 * GBP472 * EUR569 * AUD927
Our tour explores the famous and quintessential birding and wildlife reserves of northern Tanzania, Tarangire, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The tour will focus on Tanzanian endemics and regional specials whilst having ample time to marvel at some of the highest concentrations of wildlife to be found anywhere on our planet, and all this amidst spectacular scenery in one of Africa's wildest, most stable and least spoilt destinations. Some of the many regional specials and endemic birds that we will target on this tour are the beautiful Fischer’s and Yellow-collared Lovebirds, Ashy Starling, Grey-breasted Spurfowl and Rufous-tailed Weaver. With Mt. Kilimanjaro as a backdrop, we will search for the highly localized Beesley’s Lark, one the world’s rarest lark species with perhaps no more than 250 birds left. Our tour uses a good standard of accommodation and comfortable safari vehicles with pop-up roof hatches to optimize viewing. This incredible and immensely rewarding birding safari is augmented by some of the most outstanding mammal viewing the world has to offer.
Fischer’s & Yellow-collared Lovebirds; Ashy Starling; Grey-breasted Spurfowl; Rufous-tailed Weaver; Beesley’s Lark; Rosy-patched Bushshrike; Blue-naped Mousebird; Von der Decken’s & Silvery-cheeked Hornbills; White-bellied Go-away-bird; White-headed Buffalo Weaver; Grey-crested Helmetshrike; Karamoja Apalis; Secretarybird; Bateleur; Silverbird; Blue-capped Cordonbleu; Lappet-faced Vulture; Schalow’s & Purple-crested Turacos; Tacazze, Golden-winged & Eastern Double-collared Sunbirds; Crowned & Martial Eagles; Abyssinian Scimitarbill; vast numbers of Greater and Lesser Flamingos; Red-throated Tit; Steel-blue Whydah; Kori & White-bellied Bustards; Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill; Saddle-billed & Marabou Storks; Grey Crowned Crane.
African Elephant; Black Rhinoceros; Lion; Leopard; African Buffalo (the 'Big Five'); Cheetah; Serval; East African (Maasai) Giraffe; Spotted Hyena; Bat-eared Fox; Thomson’s & Grant’s Gazelles; Tsessebe; Hartebeest; Bohor Reedbuck; Common Eland; Common Hippopotamus; Kirk’s Dik-dik; Oribi; (Defassa & Common) Waterbuck; Blue Wildebeest; Plains Zebra.
lowland & afromontane forests, Acacia savanna, rivers and wetlands, rocky gorges, grassland, Baobab-studded grasslands.
warm to hot, dry conditions, but cool at higher elevations and rain can be expected
6 with 1 Rockjumper leader
undemanding, but some relatively long drives
comfortable lodges & tented safari camp
mostly easy birding & mammal watching
Oldupai Prehistoric site, Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Maasai, African curios
very good to outstanding
Both the tour leader, Stuart Elsom, and the local driver were great. he knew exactly where to go for a certain set of species - all knowledge from his many trips to these areas of the tour.
Our Tanzania: Highlights of the North tour was a wonderful experience. Nigel Redman was a superb leader with an in-depth knowledge of the birds of East Africa which he generously shared throughout the trip. His many years of experience in leading birding tours showed: he was an expert in spotting and identifying birds and, most importantly, getting participants on the bird quickly. Nigel's own enthusiasm and delight in birds was contagious and his good humour set the tone for a very enjoyable tour. He and local guide Roger were true professionals and we would love to travel with either again.
"Andre loved showing us this part of Africa and now we understand why! Yes the birds were amazing and yes seeing the animals in their natural habitat was breathtaking but it was also much more. It was the endless horizons. It was the distant and up close rains. It was Mt. Kenya appearing and disappearing rom us. It was the people. The colorful clothing. The happy faces and the shy children. It was the beautiful lodges and the excellent food. TIA! This is Africa!"
Paul Varney was a superb guide. He worked hard throughout the tour, ensured everyone got what they wanted from the trip and had incredible patience always answering (even often repeated) questions and had excellent knowledge of the birds and game. What really impressed was he was always open and willing to say he didn’t know or wasn’t sure, knew when to let an ID go and would make effort to work out a tricky ID from images overnight and confirm later. We thoroughly enjoyed his company and he made it a great experience. Moses our driver was fantastic. He has great knowledge of the areas visited, is an excellent, careful and confident driver and has incredible eyes. He is also a genuinely caring and lovely man who helped make the time in the vehicle a lot of fun. Your ground agents are brilliant. I guess you know that, but they made everything work very smoothly and helped with organising transfers.
I really enjoyed the tour. It was hard work at the beginning with the walking and the birds difficult to see in the forest.
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