Location Northern Circuit, Kilimanjaro, Butiama, Musoma and Mwanza.
Day 1 Home town – Arusha
You meet at your Airport for early morning flight with, via Amsterdam (or similar) to Kilimanjaro airport, near Arusha, arriving in the evening. Here you will be picked up by Jeathvin Safaris. who will take you to the hotel that is not far from the airport.
Here it’s possible to have some food before bed, waiting for those who are tired after the journey. You have a great day ahead of you tomorrow.
Day 2 – Arusha to Machame Gate to Machame Camp
You will be picked up after breakfast at your accommodation, then transported to the gate for an early starts of yourKilimanjaro Adventure . Once we reach the park gate we will proceed directly to Machame hut campsite. The average hiking time is about 6 hours, and there will be lunch on the way, before dinner and overnight in tents. The altitude at Machame hut campsite is 3100m.
Day 3 – Machame Camp to Shira Camp
After breakfast you hike to Shira camp. The trek takes approximately 4 hours via the rain forest past the valley and a steep rocky ridge ending westward at a river gorge. You will have a rest, and lunch about halfway. Dinner and overnight in tents at Shira hut campsite, 3,658m above sea level.
Day 4 – Shira Camp to Barranco Camp
From Shira, a scenic day to Barranco camp in an average hiking time of 6 hours. We pass “The Lava Tower” and the Arrow glacier, altitude 4,876m. We descend to Barranco campsite for our third overnight on Kilimanjaro. 3,860 m above sea level.
Day 5 – Acclimatization day – Karanga
Leave Barranco in the morning after breakfast. A short 1, 5 hours hike to Karanga Valley, where we enjoy a warm lunch and relax in the tents.
Day 6 – Karanga Valley camp to Barafu Camp.
After breakfast we leave the Karanga valley and head towards the junction which connects with the Mweka trail. We hike to Barafu (Barafu mean ice in Swahili, be ready for low temperatures!) camp where we set up camp. This day’s walk is about 5 hours. Dinner and overnight at the campsite, altitude 4.600m with the possibility of sighting both Mawenzi and Kibo peaks. Early bedtime to prepare for the night ascent to the top!
Day 7 – Barafu Camp to Mweka via Stella Point and Uhuru Peak.
We rise early (around midnight) and head for Stella Point altitude 5,745m on our way to the summit Uhuru Peak (Uhuru means Freedom in Swahili) which is 5,895m above sea level. This part of the hike takes about 6 hours. From the summit we descend to the Mweka hut campsite, 3,100m above sea level. This part of the descent takes about 5 hours. Dinner and the last tenting night at the campsite.
Day 8 – Mweka Gate to Machame.
After breakfast, we descend to the Mweka Park Gate in an average hiking time of 4 hours at the gate the successful climbers who have reached the peak will be given the certificates proving their successful achievement of reaching the top! Then we will transport you to your next accommodation in Machame village, for “Celebration party” and cultural inputs.
Day 9 Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast we drive into the Ngorongoro Crater, which once was a huge volcano. The crater is 20 km in diameter and 600 feet deep and hides a wonderful protected natural area inhabited partly by the elephants, zebras, lions and rhinos.
Also living here is the semi-nomadic Maasai tribe known worldwide for its unique clothing and culture. Tonight we overnight on the crater rim.
Day 10 Serengeti
Today, the world famous Serengeti National Park, are providing for today’s memorable images and stories. Serengeti is the area where variety of nature- and animal films are recorded. The famous movie the “Lion King” is also based on landscape and nature in the Serengeti.
On our way we pass by Olduvai Gorge, the home of our forefathers, where we have found the oldest remains of our ancestors. Dinner and overnight in Serengeti.
Day 11 Serengeti
Today we will spend all day to become known in the Serengeti, and to pursue new fantastic animal experiences. If we are lucky, this can be the season to find the huge migration of millions of wildebeest and zebras.
Day 12 Serengeti – Butiama
If you’d like it, we can have a little drive in the park to look for the lions that are easiest to find early in the morning. Afterwards we eat breakfast and head for Butiama. We exit through Serengeti’s western corridor, scouting for your last wildlife shots, to The Ndabaka gate, then only an hour’s drive to Butiama.
Butiama is, foremost, famous as the birthplace and the final resting place of Tanzania’s founding president, Julius Kambarage Nyerere, who is known to Tanzanians as Mwalimu Nyerere.
The coming 3 nights you will stay at the JKN Hote, located in Butiama village, at Mwitongo, the homestead of Mwalimu Nyerere’s father, Chief Nyerere Burito. Adjacent to the hotel is the Muhunda forest, rich in indigenous tree and plant species, as well as various bird species, and velvet monkeys.
Day 13 Butiama
After real homemade breakfast, you will enjoy the The Mwalimu Nyerere Orientation Visit.
This walk and drive includes a tour of the Mwalimu J. K. Nyerere Museum, a visit to his mausoleum, a tour of his three residences, and a tour of his farm. Our tour guide will provide a brief description of Mwalimu Nyerere’s childhood period, including details of his life as a resident of the village of Butiama. One of the highlights is a visit to the Mwalimu Nyerere Library where part of his 8,000 book collection is maintained.
Back at the hotel you will enjoy the food and drinks which are provided within a homely atmosphere, and features continental dishes as well as local specialties.
In the evening you will be entertained by the Egumba Ngoma group that boasts a repertoire of traditional dances of the various ethnic groups of Mara Region and from the Lake Victoria zone.
Day 14 Butiama and Musoma
Done with another healthy breakfast, we will take you on a walk through the Muhunda ancestral forest where elders of the Zanaki ethnic group, the Wanyikura, have conducted traditional rituals in the past. In following tradition, access into the 15-acre enclosure is restricted to the Wanyikura only. Our tour guide will take you through nature trails adjacent to the Muhunda forest and provide details of Zanaki traditions.
After lunch in the open, we head to Musoma town, by the shores of Lake Victoria, for a tour including a visit to Mwisenge Primary School where Mwalimu Nyerere first began his education.
Day 15 Butiama to Mwanza
Saying goodbye to the historical grounds of Butiama, we drive along Lake Victoria to our last destination.
Surrounded by hills with enormous boulders, and set on the shore of Lake Victoria, is Mwanza, Tanzania’s second largest city. The home area of the country’s largest ethnical group, the Sukuma, and the economical heart of the lake region. We do a afternoon sightseeing here, and spend the night in a good hotel by the lake shore.
Day 16 Departure day
After your last breakfast by Lake Victoria, we will transfer you by plane to your departure airport, or onwards to the next adventure you have decided to do with Paka Adventures in Tanzania.