Tanzania Birding Safari with Daniel Edelstein & Tanzanian Ornithologist, Edwin Osujaki

specialDeparture: February 19 – March 2, 2018
Space is limited to 12 persons
Join us on this rare chance to experience wild Tanzania through the eyes of Avian Biologist and bird expert Daniel Edelstein & Tanzanian Ornithologist, Edwin Osujaki to discover its many unique bird species. This itinerary has been specially crafted to maximize viewing of bird varieties indigenous to the particular areas. Hundreds of species are recorded in Arusha National Park alone. We will have the chance to encounter numerous varieties of eagle, including the Tawny, Fish and Verreaux Eagle, as well as the Peregrine Falcon to name just a few. Traveling along the Tarangire River, we will have the opportunity to witness Red-fronted Parrot, Red-fronted Tinker bird and the Magpie Shrike. Along with birding you will have game drives to see the local larger animals. For you birding travelers do not miss this chance to explore Tanzania with these two birding experts. CALL NOW 415-331-3791
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Daniel Edelstein Bio
Daniel Edelstein is a professional birding guide since the 1980s. He works full-time as a freelance Avian Biologist and is a Certified Wildlife Biologist Associate. Daniel has presented birding programs and led tours in more than 20 USA states. In addition, he teaches all the college-level birding classes as an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Biology Department at Merritt College (Oakland, CA). Daniel is a Federal Permit Owner To Conduct Surveys For California Tiger Salamander, California Red-legged Frog, and Ridgway’s Rail.

Edwin Osujaki Bio
Edwin Osujaki (also known as “Kamau”) was born and raised in Arusha, Tanzania and has been working as a professional safari guide in Tanzania for the past 11 years. He graduated #2 in his class from the prestigious Mwewe Ranger Training and was certified in Ornithology at the Naivasha School in Kenya, trained under the famous East African birder, Don Turner. He has worked with two of the biggest safari companies in Tanzania and has led numerous tourists from the US, UK, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. He believes that any day spent looking for birds is a beautiful day – and often leads to unexpected and exciting sightings for other animals too!



ITINERARY

Day1:Arrive Arusha
You will be met at the Kilimanjaro International Airport, after clearing customs and immigration formalities
By our representative holding a sign with your name on it and driven to your hotel.
Dinner & Overnight at Mount Meru Game Lodge & Sanctuary Lodge

Day 2: Arusha National Park
After breakfast, depart with packed lunch in hand, for a full day of Birding and game viewing in Arusha National Park.

With an area of 137 sq km, Arusha National Park is one of the smaller and most beautiful National Parks in Tanzania. More than 400 species of birds have been recorded in the park and, as we explore along the Momela Lakes, we will have the opportunity to witness Great Crested Grebe, White and Pink-backed Pelican, varieties of flamingo, egret and heron and much more. Traveling through the highland montane forest, we will view the rugged Mount Meru (4575 m above sea level) and Mt Kilimanjaro, towering at 5895 m to the east, which can be visible on clear days from many locations in the park. Here we will have the chance to encounter numerous varieties of eagle, including the Tawny, Fish and Verreaux Eagle, as well as the Peregrine Falcon to name just a few. Beyond the vast collection of birds, the most common animals found in this park that we will witness could include the Abyssinian black and white colobus monkeys, the Vervet monkeys, the red forest duikers, hippos, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, bushbucks and sometimes the leopard.

Late afternoon drive back to your Lodge. Dinner & Overnight at Mount Meru Game Lodge & Sanctuary Lodge

Day 3: Tarangire
We begin our day with an early morning drive to Tarangire National Park.

Tarangire offers a wide variety of wildlife in its area of 2,850 sq. km., including the recording of over 550 bird species. As in all ecosystems, the vegetation and the types of animals you find are closely correlated. The principal features of the park are the flood plains and the grassland, mainly comprising of various types of acacia trees, and a few scattered baobabs, tamarind and the sausage trees.

Traveling along the Tarangire River, we will have the opportunity to witness Red-fronted Parrot, Red-fronted Tinker bird and the Magpie Shrike. After lunch at the Maramboi Tented Camp, our home for tonight, we will head back out for an afternoon of birding and animal viewing. In addition to varieties of Vulture, Eagle, Ostrich, Woodpeckers, Orioles and Owl; animals we shall encounter in the park include zebras, wildebeest, lions, leopards, waterbucks, giraffe, gazelles, impala, gerenuk, lesser kudu and the most concentrated area of elephant found in the world.

Late afternoon drive back to camp. Dinner & Overnight at Maramboi Tented Camp

Day 4: Tarangire – Lake Manyara
This morning, with coffee in hand, we arise early for sunrise bird watching on foot around Maramboi area. We return to camp for breakfast before heading out to Lake Manyara.

Drive to Lake Manyara Serena Lodge with lunch upon arrival. Following lunch, we will take advantage of our lodge’s spectacular location overlooking Lake Manyara, as we embark on a bird-watching and nature walk along the trails situated around the Lodge.

Dinner & Overnight at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge

Day 5: Lake Manyara
After breakfast, with packed lunch in hand, we depart for a full day of bird watching & game viewing in Lake Manyara National Park.
The cleavage, known as the Great Rift Valley, can be identified from space as the most distinctive feature of the continent. The seam of this cleavage has developed a series of fascinating and beautiful lakes, making Lake Manyara a fantastic park to view an incredible variety of bird species, including heron, egret, pelican, geese, wagtail and flamingo, the most notable of course, being the pink flamingo found in large flocks along the shallow of the alkaline lake.

Beyond the variety of birdlife, every imaginable East African animal is found here in abundance. There are great herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and several varieties of gazelle. Mahogany, sausage tree and croton are alive with blue monkeys and vervet monkeys. Some of the most amazingly large pods of hippos congregate at the rivers emerging into the lake. Lake Manyara is also known for its tree-climbing´lions.

Late afternoon drive back to your Lodge. Dinner & Overnight at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge

Day 6: Lake Manyara
With packed lunch we depart for another full day of birding and game viewing in Lake Manyara National Park. The highlight, no doubt, will be our visit the to the Lake Manyara Shallow, where, on the Flamingo walk board and the hot spring we will enjoy the spectacle of large flocks of Pink Flamingo, as we have our picnic lunch on site.

Late afternoon drive back to your Lodge. Dinner & Overnight at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge

Day 7: Karatu
This morning, with coffee in hand, we arise early for sunrise bird watching on foot around the lodge. We return for breakfast before heading out to Karatu, a stopping off point, as we make our way to the Serengeti.

Upon arrival at Ngorongoro Farm House, our home for the night, we shall enjoy lunch.
In the afternoon, we will visit the coffee farm, enjoy the guided bird & nature walk in the Forest, amidst waterfalls, and a unique spot known as Elephant cave along the way.

Dinner & Overnight at Ngorongoro Farm House

Day 8: Ndutu
After breakfast we will head to the Ndutu area with a visit to a Maasai Village en route. Here will learn of their culture and traditions firsthand, as we interact amongst the locals.
Lunch at Lake Masek tented camp.

After lunch at our camp, we will embark on an afternoon game drive in Ndutu area. This is the time of the year, when the Wildebeest make their way to Ndutu for calving season. Their arrival brings out various predators (Lion, Cheetah, Hyena etc.) as well as vultures and numerous varieties of birdlife, giving us the opportunity to witness the circle of life in all its drama.

Dinner & Overnight at Lake Masek Tented Camp

Day 9: Serengeti
This morning after breakfast we head to the famed Serengeti, our destination being the Central Serengeti area. Upon arrival, we shall have lunch at the Kubu Kubu Tented Camp, our home for the next two nights
After lunch, we shall depart for an afternoon of bird and game viewing in the Central Serengeti area, where we will have the opportunity to view a variety of different species of eagle, flamingo, ostrich and vulture to name a few.
Dinner & Overnight at Dinner & Overnight at Kubu Kubu Tented Camp

Day 10: Serengeti
This morning after an early breakfast, with packed lunch depart for a full day of bird & game viewing in Central Serengeti National Park. The name ‘Serengeti’ comes from the Maasai language and appropriately means “the endless plain”. The National Park is as big as Northern Ireland, but its ecosystem, which includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve and the Maasai Mara Game reserve (in Kenya), is roughly the size of Kuwait. It lies between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east. As such it offers the most complex and least disturbed ecosystem on earth.

A unique combination of diverse habitats enables it to support more than 500 species of birds and 30 species of large herbivores. Its landscape, originally formed by volcanic activity, has been sculpted by the concerted action of wind, rain and sun. It now varies from open grass plains in the south, savanna with scattered acacia trees in the center, hilly, wooded grassland in north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Small rivers, lakes and swamps are scattered throughout. Rising in the southeast, there are the great volcanic massifs and craters of the Ngorongoro Highlands.

As we travel through the central plain making our way to the Hippo Pools, where numerous wildlife of all ilk meet, we shall be on the lookout Tanzanian endemics such as Fischer’s Lovebird, Grey breasted Spur Fowl, as well as Usambiro Barbets, Grey capped social weaver and the Secretary Bird to name a few. In addition, there will be numerous opportunities to witness the many different animal species including the Big Five (Lion, Rhino, Leopard, Elephant, and Buffalo) for which the Serengeti is world renowned.

Late afternoon drive back to Camp.

Day 11: Serengeti/Ngorongoro/Karatu
After an early breakfast, with packed lunch in hand, we embark for the Ngorongoro Conservation area our destination being the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater.
Sometimes compared to the Garden of Eden, Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO Site, is an extinct collapsed volcano, rising 7,500 feet at the rim with the floor being 2,000 feet below. This is all that remains of a once-vast volcano that is a part of the Great Rift Valley, the longest continuous crack in the earth’s crust. Ngorongoro’s floor extends 102 square miles with alkaline Lake Magadi in the center.
The crater is an island sanctuary, protected from the fluctuating weather conditions on the surrounding savanna. Upon reaching the floor of the crater we will want to keep an eye out for Rufous Tailed Weaver, endemic to Tanzania, the Golden Winged Sunbird, large flocks of both lesser and greater Flamingo and a variety of Raptors, including the Tawny and Warlberg’s Eagle. Once again we will also have the opportunity to view the big five (lion, elephant, rhino, leopard and buffalo), plus many of the plains herbivores, such as wildebeest, Thomson’s gazelle, zebra and reedbuck.

Time permitting, we can walk the rim. Time permitting visit a Maasai Village.

Late afternoon, we proceed to Ngorongoro/Karatu area. Dinner & Overnight at Tloma Lodge

Day 12: Arusha
After a leisurely breakfast, we will make our way back to Arusha and the Mount Meru Game Lodge where will have lunch upon arrival.

This afternoon may be spent at leisure or take advantage of a bird watching walk amidst the Lodge surroundings

Dinner & Overnight at Mount Meru Game Lodge & Sanctuary Lodge

Day 13: Depart Arusha
Transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight homebound.
End of services

COST: $5998.00 USD per person
(*Balloon Ride over Serengeti can be arranged on site and paid locally)

*Rate based on 12 persons, twin share—single supplement applies and single rooms are limited. An additional surcharge applies if the 12 persons group size is not met.

CALL NOW for DETAILS 415-331-3791

Price includes:
-Accommodation and meals as per the itinerary
-Ground transportation in a 4×4-safari vehicle (max. 6 window seats) with an English speaking driver/guide and birding expert.
-Game drives as indicated
-Bottled water in the car during game drive
-Services of our representative at the airport
-Tourism Development Levy (currently US $ 1.50 per person per night)

Price does not include:
-International Air Ticket
-Travel Insurance
-Visa
-Inoculations and personal insurance
-Optional activities and excursions
-Beverages unless stated otherwise
-Gratuities & tips
-Laundry and other personal expenses

CALL NOW to BOOK 415-331-3791