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Serengeti Wildebeest Migration
Safaris - 2012
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The key features of our scheduled departure safaris are:
* We focus on the region's top
game viewing and wilderness areas, which includes the Serengeti,
Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara.
* Accommodation at luxurious hotels in spectacular
settings in each national park.
* Professional Safari
guides.
* Unlimited mileage on game dives.
* Window Seats for all clients.
* A South
African tour assistant will join you on your safari to ensure that
your needs are taken care of.
* All the services that you
will use during your safari, from the airway services to the accommodation
and guide services will be provided by agencies and establishments that we
have built sound business relationships with. You are ensured of the best
service that Tanzania has to offer.
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Wildebeest Migration details:
You've seen it on
television and maybe even went to watch the IMAX version. You've read
about it and probably dreamed of one day witnessing it first hand. It
is something that can still inspire wonder at the amazing planet we live
on: THE MIGRATION. This extraordinary annual trek that
wildebeest adn other grazing herbivores embark on across the Serengeti-Mara
ecosystem is one of the greatest spectacles in the natural world.
Over two million herbivores partake in this journey, with about 200 000
zebra and 500 000 Thomson's gazelle behind the main players...
one-and-a-half million wildebeest! To be on an endless plains with
thousands of animals galloping around you while the red dust of Africa
hangs in the air is a dramatic experience that you can only fully
understand once you've been there yourself. It is the one thing that
really is much better in real life than on the gib screen!
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| Dates available for
departure: |
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2012 Group Tours
21 - 28 April
(18 places available)
28 April - 5 May
(16
places available)
1- 8 May (16 places available)
5 - 12 May
(4 places abvailable)
12 - 19 May
(16 places available)
15 - 22 May
(12 places available)
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Price per Adult |
Plus Airport Taxes |
TOTAL PER PERSON |
| Sharing |
R19 380.00 |
R1 825.00 |
R21 205.00
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| Single |
R20 264.00 |
R1 825.00 |
R22 089.00
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| Balloon safari per
person |
R3
420.00 |
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*Please note: if you book your balloon safari on
arrival the cost will be $500.00 pp
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| INCLUDED & Safari
Itinereray: |
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DAY 1
Johannesburg / Kilimanjaro Airport /
Arusha
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Meet and greet by a
representative of eXplore Plus Travel & Tours at OR Tambo airport at
the Kenya Airways check-in counter two hours before the scheduled departure
time.
The fee includes return economy airfare with Kenya
Airways (via Nairobi) from Johannesburg to Kilimanjaro
Airport (depart: 11h15 - Arrive: 19h00). You will
therefore touch down in Nairobi and board another flight to Kilimanjaro. At
Kilimanjaro the friendly safari team will wait to take you to the
Arusha Mountain Village Lodge including
breakfast.
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DAY 2
Arusha / Lake Manyara
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After
breakfast, drive through the local town of Mto wa Mbu (Maasai for
Mosquito Village) to Lake Manyara National Park followed by an
afternoon game drive in the park with a picnic lunch.
Overnight at Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge with a
picnic lunch, dinner and breakfast.
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Lake Manyara National
Park
The park includes a variety of
habitats, making it possible to sustain a wealth of wildlife in this
relatively small area. The main habitats include the shallow soda lake
itself, which occupies 70% of the National Park total area of 320 sq. km,
the ground water forest, open grassland, acacia woodland and the rift wall.
The famous tree-climbing lions are the most famous spectacle in the park,
so look out for Simba and family lazily lounging among the brances of the
acacia trees. Lake Manyara National Park contains over 400 bird species
found in most savannah and river habitats in East Africa. Common water
birds to be seen here are pelicans, spoonbills, Egyptian geese, hammerkops
and the migratory flamingoes, which arrive in hundreds of thousands,
creating one of Africa's greatest natural sights over the soda lake.
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DAY 3
Lake Manyara / Serengeti
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After breakfast drive
from Lake Manyara to Serengeti National Park. En-route to the
Serengeti you can opt to visit a Maasai Village near Ngorongoro
Crater. (The Maasai charge US35 per person. The proceeds are used to buy
water and other necessities for the tribe that you will visit. Your package
does not include this fee and therefore your entrance to the village will
be for your own account.) After bidding the Maasai farewell, you'll visit
Olduvai Gorge, a famous archaeological site. The gorge lies on the
site of an ancient lake, covered by thick layers of volcanic ash, which
carefully preserved the world's earliest records of mankind and which was
unearthed by the dedicated Leakey family. The museum displays some of their
fascinating discoveries and remarkable finds. Enjoy your picnic lunch
at the Naabi and before you realise it, you're standing at the entrance to
the endless plains of legend: the sensational Serengeti! gate followed by a afternoon
game drive en-route. From here your guide will take you to the
Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge that will be your home for the
next three days. Your stay here includes breakfast, lunch or picnic lunch
and dinner.
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Serengeti National
Park
The Serengeti covers a vast area of
over 14,763 sq. km and is home to the most spectacular concentration of
game found anywhere in the world. Its wild, untouched beauty is the
subject of many great books and films. It is Tanzania's largest national
park and boasts the big five as well as over 35 other species of game
animals and an astonishing selection of bird life... The legendary
migration adds to the uniqueness of the park, with well over a million
animals stampeding across the plains, usually during April, May and
June.
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Enjoy your full day in
Serengeti National Park with morning and afternoon game drives (or a
full day game drive) with a choice of lunch at the lodge OR a
picnic lunch box. This is one day during which you can just
relax and enjoy the vast beauty that Africa has to offer. The Serengeti is
one of the few places in Africa where game sanctuaries have remained
completely unspoiled.
Overnight at Serengeti Serena
Safari Lodge with breakfast, lunch and dinner
included.
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Enjoy your full day in
Serengeti National Park with morning and afternoon game drives
(or a full day game drive) with a choice of lunch at the lodge
OR picnic lunch box. Another wonderful day in the land of Lion
King.
Overnight at Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge
with breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
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DAY
6
Serengeti / Ngorongoro Crater
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After breakfast,
enjoy a morning game drive in Serengeti National Park with
a picnic lunch at the park gate before driving to Ngorongoro
Crater.
Overnight stay at Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge with
breakfast, lunch and dinner included.
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Ngorongoro Crater
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers 8300 sq
km, of which the renowned Ngorongoro Crater only makes up about 3% - equal
to approximately 260 sq km. The conservation area also encompasses the
volcanic area around the Ngorongoro Crater including the still active
volcano of Oldoinyo Lengai and the famous Olduvai Gorge. Its centerpiece,
the Ngorongoro Crater, is the largest unbroken caldera in the world. It is
often referred to as the eighth wonder of the world and the first sight of
it is truly breathtaking. Standing on the edge of the crater, you have a
postcard view of picture perfect clouds floating above a deep purple crater
ring. And in the bowl below Africa has spread a patchwork blanket of greens
and pinks dotted with animals. The crater floor houses a big population of
varied wildlife, including the almost extinct black rhino. Animal densities
are high, and game viewing is excellent. You will be able to get "up close
and personal" with the animals. But that treat will have to wait until
tomorrow. For now you're going to Ngorongoro Serena Lodge for another dose
of the unparalleled Tanzanian hospitality that you've grown accustomed to
by now.
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DAY 7
Ngorongoro Crater / Arusha
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After breakfast,
descend 600 m into the magnificent crater for a half-day (6 hours)
crater tour. You will witness an unforgettable spectacle of
African wildlife - a world teeming with animals. Supported by a year round
water supply and fodder, the park supports a vast variety of animals, which
also includes the black rhino. Another big draw to this picturesque park is
it dense population of predators, which includes lions, hyenas, jackals,
cheetahs and the ever elusive leopard. We will enjoy a picnic lunch at the
hippo pool near the Mandusi Swamp. You will also drive through the haunting
forest and feast your eyes on some of the most spectacularly green
vegetation you will ever see. Later in the afternoon, you will ascend
to the crater rim for the drive to Arusha, back to the beautiful Arusha
Mountain Village Lodge with breakfast &
dinner.
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DAY
8
Aursha / Kilimanjaro airport / Johannesburg
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Breakfast box
on request. Enjoy early morning coffee or tea before your transfer
to Kilimanjaro airport for your flight home. Your flight home departs at
06h00 (Tanzanian time) arriving 11h50 (South African
time).
End of
service.
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| Also INCLUDED in
above itinerary & prices: |
- Return economy airfares with Kenya Airways from
Johannesburg to Kilimanjaro airport
- Including SA & Tanzania airport taxes
- Transfers to and from Kilimanjaro Airport with English speaking
driver guide
- Accommodation on safari in full board basis (breakfast, lunch
& dinner)
- Use of 4x4 stretched vehicles
- Unlimited game drives during the safari
- Services of your professional and knowledgeable Tanzanian English
speaking driver guides
- All national park entrance fees
- ½ litre of water per person per day during game drives
- Comprehensive support from our operational office in Tanzania for the
duration of the safari
- Travel information pack
- Free postage of travel documents
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| EXCLUDED in
above itinerary & prices: |
- Entry visa to Tanzania (The current visa fee for an SA passport holder
is $50-00)
- Yellow fever inoculation (+/- R500-00)
- Travel Insurance (Highly recommended)
- Meals and drinks not specified
- Laundry services
- Gratuities to the driver/guide and hotel staff
- Driver guide - suggested at USD $5 - $10 per person per day
- Waiters at lodges / Porter / Room stewards - $1.00
- Maasai Boma visit fee which is USD $35 per person
- All expenses of personal nature
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PLEASE NOTE:
- Exchange rate
used: R7.50 to US$1.00
- Prices quoted are
based on a cash (EFT) discounted price. For any other means of payment
contact us for an updated price.
- Prices quoted are
based on a group fare on Kenya Airways
- Prices quoted are
based on 18 pax traveling together on the same dates and
itinerary
- 30kg luggage allowance
on Kenya Airways
- Price quoted is per
person sharing / single
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Serengeti Balloon Safari
Probably the most beautiful balloon flight in the world and the
ultimate Safari Experience!!!
AT 5:00 a.m. Serengeti Balloon Safaris
will collect you from your central Serengeti lodge, and transfer you by
Landrover to the launch site near Maasai Kopjes. Here you will meet your
pilot, receive a briefing and watch the inflation of your balloon.
At
dawn take off, rising as the sun rises and float in whichever direction the
winds of the morning take us. Your pilot can precisely control the altitude
of your balloon, sometimes flying at treetop height, sometimes lower,
offering a unique perspective and great photographic opportunities of the
wildlife below. At other times he will ascend to 1000 feet or more to offer
you an unspoilt view of the enormity and wonderful panorama of the
Serengeti.
The flight takes about one hour depending on
conditions, and although you won’t want to, eventually you will have
to land. You celebrate in the traditional manner with sparkling wine before
sitting down to a full English breakfast prepared and served in the bush in
'Out of Africa' style with bone china, linen table cloths, King's silver
etc.
After breakfast you receive your Serengeti Balloon certificate
and we drive you back to the lodge.
At 10:00a.m. you’ll arrive
at the lodge - ready to continue your day's activities.
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| Description on
Lodges: |
| Arusha Mountain
Village Lodge |
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Mountain Village Lodge
is nestlling in the heart of a coffee plantation on the shores of Lake
Duluti. It is the perfect place to relax before or after experiencing
the adventure of a Serengeti Safari. The Lodge has 46 guest
rooms - all are en-suite with private front doors leading out into the
garden. The rooms are dreamily romantic and comfortable.
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| Lake Manyara Serena Safari
Lodge |
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Designed to reflect
the brilliance of Lake Manyara's unique birdlife, the Lodge draws on an
inspirational architectural motif that melds swooping avian curves with the
gentle concentric patterns. The circular, closely-thatched 67 rooms
echo the tradfitional Maasai 'Boma' style of construction whilst featuring
a vibrant interior designconcept that reflects the Maasai people's abding
love of brilliant scarlet-andindigo checked 'Shukas'. Each room has a
private verandah and breathtaking views of the shimmering reaches of the
flamingo-frosted Lake.
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| Serengeti Serena Safari
Lodge |
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The lodge featured
thickly-thatched, stone-built rooms, spaciously set amongst groves of
indigenous trees that are cooled by sparkling streams and papyrus-fringed
ponds. There are a total of 66 rooms at the hotel. Each room is
accommodated in a stone built, traditionally-thatched 'Rondavel', featuring
natural stone bathrooms, wildwood balconies, rope-lashed staircases,
leopard-print drapes and intricately carved furniture.
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| Ngorongoro Serena Safari
Lodge |
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| The Ngorongoro Serena
Lodge is built onto the rim of the amazing natural phenomenon. It is
built of stones and boulders and is literally hidden in teh vegetation of
the crater's rim, disappearing completely from view from the crater's
floor. The interior is filled with exquisite wooden furniture and
African artefacts, and stunning frescoes adom the walls of many rooms and
public areas. The hotel has 75 rooms. |
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For
more Safari info visit:
www.eXploreSerengeti.com
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