SOUTHERN CIRCUIT TANZANIA HIGHLIGHTS

On arrival at Julius Nyerere International Airport you will take a taxi to your hotel at Ramada encore where you will check in and have a rest. In the evening you can step out of your hotel and have dinner in the local restaurants and enjoy the local cuisines.

Early in the morning after breakfast you will meet our driver cum guide who will introduce Himself and give you a brief introduction talk about the ‘do’s and don’ts’ while on a safari. After the little chitchat, you will start your journey to Mikumi. You will stop at Nashera Hotel Morogoro for Lunch then you will proceed to Mikumi for a late afternoon game drive. In the evening, you will drive to Mikumi Wildlife Camp for dinner and overnight.

Full day game drive of Mikumi national park with an option for lunch boxes OR lunch at the Camp. Dinner and overnight at Mikumi Wildlife Camp.
Mikumi National Park abuts the northern border of Africa’s biggest game reserve – the Selous – and is transected by the surfaced road between Dar es Salaam and Mbeya. It is thus the most accessible part of a 75,000 square kilometer (47,000 square mile) tract of wilderness that stretches east almost as far as the Indian Ocean.
The open horizons and abundant wildlife of the Mkata Floodplain, the popular centerpiece of Mikumi, draw frequent comparisons to the more famous Serengeti Plains.
Lions survey their grassy kingdom – and the zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo herds that migrate across it – from the flattened tops of termite mounds, or sometimes, during the rains, from perches high in the trees. Giraffes forage in the isolated acacia stands that fringe the Mkata River, islets of shade favored also by Mikumi elephants.

After breakfast you will drive to Selous Game reserve. The drive will pass through Tanzania’s most beautiful Landscapes, At Morogoro, on your left side you will see the Uluguru Arc Mountains overlooking green agricultural farms. Rising over 2600m, the spectacular Uluguru Mountains contain some of the most luxuriant indigenous rainforests in the country. The Uluguru Mountains are part of the Eastern Arc range and are named after the Luguru tribe, a matrilineal tribe that farm on its verdant slopes. The area has some of the oldest forest in Africa, and because the ecosystem has remained undisturbed by climactic and geographical changes for an estimated 25 million years. Arrive in the evening at Selous River Camp for dinner and overnight.

Enjoy a full day game drive in the vast lands of Selous. To be able to move about freely and quietly, the guide will be ready to show you another dimension of African wildlife. They will explain everything on the way and update you with any possible news of the wild. In the evening, you will go for a Boat ride up the Great Rufiji River, stay to watch the sun drop. In the evening, drive to Selous River Camp for dinner and overnight.

Selous Game Reserve: Embracing 54,000 square km of Southwestern Tanzania, Selous Game Reserve is one of the largest protected wilderness reserve on the African continent, three times larger than the Serengeti and twice the size of Belgium. Named after the legendary 19th century explorer and hunter Frederick Courtney Selous, the reserve was founded by the German colonial administration in 1905. It was later expanded to include traditional elephant migration routes and accommodate the vast herds of buffalo that roam this remote, untouched corner of Africa.

Another early day starts with beautiful birdsongs tunes waking you up. Go for a morning walk with armed ranger returning for a late breakfast. After breakfast, go for a full day game drive of Selous. In the evening, return to Selous River Camp (http://www.selousrivercamp.com/) for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast heard towards Udzungwa National Park. In the evening go for a village/ biking tour returning for dinner and overnight at Udzungwa Falls lodge.
Located in Southern Highlands of Tanzania and within the Eastern Arc range, the Udzungwa Mountain is an immaculate forest-cloaked wilderness whose 1900 square kilometers are among the most bio diverse on earth. Vervet monkeys play high in the forest canopy, and small forest antelope can be viewed at the right time of day. Botanical diversity is exceptional, and the park is host to a large number of endangered bird species. Views from the peaks of the mountains, towards the Selous Game Reserve and the distant Indian Ocean coast, are incredible and well worth the effort. The Udzungwa Mountains offer you the opportunity to view several species of primates and endangered birds in a beautiful African rain forest. Five distinct trails cover the forests and mountain peaks within the park, and offer varying levels of difficulty for everyone from novices to experienced trekkers. Better yet, there are no roads through the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, so hikers have the area all to themselves.

In the Morning after breakfast Proceed to Ruaha, passing alongside the Great Ruaha River and the Udzungwa escarpment all the way up the Kitonga Gorge. Arrive at Ruaha in the evening for dinner and overnight at Ruaha Hill top lodge.

After breakfast enter the Ruaha National park for a full day game drive with a Picnic Lunch. You will drive towards the Mwayembe Springs, through thick comiphora / combretum woodland, and the rocky hills of Kinyatupa, home to the elusive Lesser Kudu. You continue on, to the open floodplains which surround the springs, where, if we are lucky, you may find Cheetah. We pause for a while at the springs, to watch the constant stream of wildlife come to water, before continuing on your way to join the Mwagusi. You will pass through a grove of ‘Wild Fig’ trees then through ‘Jackleberry’ woodland and on past the sight of the first headquarters built in the Park in 1964. It will be approaching noon so you will proceed onwards to a picnic area for lunch.
After lunch proceed with the game drive till down, as you follow a track along the escarpment foothills, across some tributaries to rejoin the Mwagusi upstream. You will pass through ‘Sausage’ and ‘Rain’ tree woodland, an area particularly good for leopard, and a favorite haunt of the Mbagi pride of Lion. With drink in hand, and a breathtaking view over the wide river, you stop to watch the sun drop behind ‘Palm’ trees. In the evening, you will drive back to Ruaha Hill top lodge.
Covering a conservation area of 10,300 square km in the south-west of the country the Ruaha national sprawls within and along the Great Rift Valley, covering a unique transition zone where the eastern and southern species of both fauna and flora meet against a dramatic topographical backdrop. This is also one of the few Tanzanian parks where sightings of the rarer antelopes, such as the Sable, the Roan and both lesser & Greater Kudu, are a probability rather than a possibility.
The proliferation of plains game in the park also ensures that the larger predators – leopard and large prides of lion – are unusually active. The bird life too is unparalleled with some 530 species recorded.