Northern Tanzania Family Safari Adventure

Begin the day with a leisurely breakfast at the Arusha Coffee Lodge and time to explore its picturesque grounds, then drive to the Ilboru Primary School to meet its students and staff. It’s one of the few schools in northern Tanzania that offers schooling for students with special needs.

You’ll then drive overland to the small but spectacular Lake Manyara National Park, which was described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I have ever seen”. You’ll be staying at the luxurious Lake Manyara Tree Lodge that nestles below the Great African Rift Valley and is renowned for its romantic, stilt suites shaded by a mahogany forest. Each child will receive a WILDchild bag on arrival, with a logbook, crayons, pencils and a pawprint tattoo that they’re sure to love.

Following a delicious family breakfast at the Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, embark on a half-day game drive to spot a variety of wildlife species. Photograph the flamingos wading in the shallows and pay a visit to a traditional Maasai village to learn about their unique cultural customs.

Return to the lodge in time for lunch, then relax beside the swimming pool for the rest of the day. Parents might want to indulge with a pampering spa treatment while kids are attended to by the lodge staff. Reconvene for a scrumptious family dinner, with something to suit all taste buds.

After a leisurely breakfast, it’s time to depart the Lake Manyara Tree Lodge and head overland to the Ngorongoro Crater to meet the Hadzabe Bushmen. These hunter-gatherers inhabit the land surrounding Lake Eyasi, with their traditional way of life and connection with the environment unchanged for centuries.

In the late afternoon, you’ll arrive at the Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, an award-winning accommodation that perches on the edge of the crater itself. Relax over a family dinner in the lodge’s signature restaurant before an early night, ready for the adventure that lies ahead.

NB. The Hadzabe Bushmen experience is not suitable for children under the age of 12 years. A Mto wambu community visit will be offered as an alternative.

After breakfast at the lodge, embark on a three-hour game drive through the UNESCO-listed Ngorongoro Crater, which is one of the most majestic wildlife viewing destinations in East Africa. 
Then it’s time to catch your flight to the Serengeti National Park where you’ll be staying at the family-friendly Four Seasons Safari Lodge. Take advantage of the lodge’s excellent facilities before dinner at one of their three restaurants.

What better way to experience the spectacular Serengeti than by getting a bird’s eye view of its landscapes during an early morning hot air balloon safari (children must be aged 6 or above). Slowly float above the wildlife-dotted plains as the sun illuminates the landscape with the day’s first rays, then travel into the heart of the wilderness for a champagne breakfast.

Following breakfast, you’ll embark on a half-day game drive to spot some of the Serengeti’s mighty cats, which include lions, leopards and cheetahs. Then return to the lodge in time for lunch at the Maji Bar and Terrace and an afternoon at leisure.

In the late afternoon, parents can unwind with a signature Kifaa massage at the on-site spa. It incorporates the use of a heated rungu (wooden baton) combined with a deep pressure massage using traditional Tanzanian baobab oil. Meanwhile, children can don an apron for a private cooking class with one of the resort’s chefs while learning how to cut cookies in the shape of their favourite animals.

Dinner will be served at Boma, the Four Seasons’ traditional African restaurant, accompanied by a Maasai dance performance.

Catch up on some much-needed sleep or a morning relaxing beside the pool while the kids are busy learning how to be a Maasai warrior. They’ll discover a range of bush skills, including how to make a fire and construct a toothbrush from a tree, as well as beading techniques and how the Maasai use plants as medicine.

In the afternoon, you may opt for another half-day game drive before a family dinner to celebrate your last evening in Tanzania.