Tanzanian Wilderness Safari

Day 1: Arrival

Today you’ll arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport, where you’ll be met by your ride hosts and driven approximately 35 minutes to their safari polo club, where you’ll be spending the first night. There will be time to settle into your surroundings (there’s a pool – yay!), before enjoying the first of many ‘sundowners’ and dinner at the clubhouse, where your hosts will deliver a short briefing about the week ahead. Then it will be time for your head to hit the pillow to get a good amount of shut-eye before your epic Tanzanian safari begins in earnest.

Day 2: Mount Meru

You’ll be woken with a call for tea and coffee (yes please!) and breakfast will be served anytime from the early hours. At around 11am you’ll bundle into a safari vehicle and drive about twenty minutes down the road to Arusha National Park, where you’ll meet the safari horses and ride into one of the most beautiful protected parks in East Africa.

You’ll wander through the soul-stirring scenery which has an almost lost-world feel, marvelling as the vegetation changes dramatically, from open grassland to rainforest. Keep your eyes peeled, globetrotters, as this will be your first chance to encounter elephants, buffalo, all your plains game, leopards (if your good games-viewing juju is on point) and other rare species such as Suni, Red Duiker, the magnificent Hartlaub’s turaco, and so much more!

After lunch en route and a short siesta, you’ll continue riding through leopard country and pass by Margarete Trappe’s old house. This legendary lady is remembered as the Iron Lady from the first world war: “If, as children, we were thrilled by Buffalo Bill, we should have been still more spellbound by Mrs Trappe’s adventures, the adventures of the fearless woman with her two legendary horses, Comet and Diamond, and her two inseparable Alsatians. Like a phantom she would suddenly appear, and like a phantom she would vanish; as intimate with wild beasts as though they were tame.” You’ll hear these tales about Margarete and more as you follow her old riding paths through the holy forests of the park.

Your first night’s campsite is based at the foot of Mount Meru, an almost perfect volcanic cone with a spectacular crater. You’ll enjoy sundowners followed by dinner under the stars and, when you’re ready, fall asleep to the musical accompaniment of the sounds of wild Africa.

Day 3: Fig Tree Arch

If you’re lucky, your wake up call this morning will be the very talkative Colobus monkeys, who are sometimes referred to by the locals as ‘messengers of God’ because of all the time they spend travelling back and forth between the treetops.

After a hearty breakfast you’ll mount up and head in the direction of the filming location for the adventure rom-com Hatari! starring John Wayne, aiming to reach Fig Tree Arch, a massive natural arch large enough to fit five horses underneath. Along the way you’ll no doubt encounter a wealth of wildlife, perhaps even some giraffes silhouetted against ancient baobab trees, or a herd of elephants meandering along. Lunch will be enjoyed next to a waterfall in the rainforest about 2000 metres above sea level, before you begin the route back to camp, passing another 30 metre-high waterfall.

On returning, there will be an opportunity to change your mode of transportation and jump into the safari vehicles to visit the Momella Lakes, where you might see hippos wallowing in the shallows and countless beautiful water birds. Sundowners will be enjoyed at the lakes before heading back to camp for another sumptuous dinner under the stars.

Day 4: The Foothills

Waking up with the sun, you’ll enjoy a big breakfast before mounting up for another day exploring the Tanzanian wilderness, making use of the cooler morning hours to cover as much ground as possible before lunch.

Leaving Arusha Park behind, you’ll head east towards the mighty Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak and the world’s tallest free-standing volcano, marvelling at its snow-capped summit as you and your fellow globetrotters ride towards it on the horizon.

It’s a long journey through Tanzanian farmland and the Maasai steppe, with unforgettable cultural interactions along the way, and lunch will be served in the shade of an acacia tree beside a dam where both cattle and horses can drink. After a leisurely three-hour siesta, you’ll continue across wildlife-rich plains to reach camp just before the sun slips below the horizon.

Day 5: Mount Kilimanjaro

Today will be a special day, as it will be spent tracking the biggest land-living mammal, the elephant, in the shadow of the impressive Mount Kilimanjaro. The terrain differs from what you’ve been riding through over the past few days, shifting from thick scrublands to acacia woodland. You’ll return to camp for lunch and a siesta, then head out for another ride in the afternoon, arriving back before sunset to enjoy another night in this remote and remarkable place.

Day 6: Seven Sisters

You’re moving camp again today, globetrotters, so after an early breakfast you’ll saddle up and ride towards the so-called Seven Sisters (seven hills). After crossing the hills, you’ll continue through Sinya Village before stopping for lunch under a shady tree. The terrain varies from open grassland to beautiful canopy forests, offering a good chance of seeing plains game such as zebra, giraffe and wildebeest, and your guides will also keep an eye out for the shy Gerenuk, or giraffe gazelle. Tonight’s campsite is set in the most picturesque and astonishing of places, and if the sky is clear, you’ll feel as though you’re being watched over by four powerful mountains: Mount Meru, Namanga, Longido, and the most legendary of all, Mount Kilimanjaro.

Day 7: Kenyan Border

This morning you’ll wake with the sunrise across the Kenyan border for another day of tracking elephant, hopefully observing these grey giants from the back of your incredibly brave safari horses. The night will be spent overlooking the pans, with the plains game on constant alert for predators, and with any luck you’ll enjoy another clear night – because the view of the mountains is breathtaking, but the star-filled African sky is truly mind-blowing.

Day 8: Departure

It’s your last morning on safari – BOO, HISS! After one final hearty breakfast you’ll say goodbye to your beautiful horses, incredible guides and hardworking crew, then jump into the safari vehicles and travel back towards civilisation. Depending on road and traffic conditions, it will be about a three-hour drive to the airport, so if flying out today please book flights departing after 3pm.