7 Days Tanzania Bird-Watching Safari

Arusha National Park – over 400 bird species including water birds in Momella Lakes.

After breakfast meet Field Crew in the morning at 8:00am. First stop is Arusha Town for any last minute purchases before you head off on safari. Here you will participate in a half day walking safari and a half day game drive.

The Arusha National Park and particularly the Momella Lakes offer gorgeous bird-watching opportunities. The national park is inhabited by over 400 different migrant and resident bird species. There will be much to see and hear during our time here. Stopping in the lush forest that grows along the edge of the ancient volcanic crater, we’ll look for the massive African Crowned Eagle, as well as Mountain Buzzard, African Green Pigeon, Hartlaub’s Turaco, Bar-tailed Trogon, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Moustached Green Tinkerbird, African Palm, Horus, Alpine, Mottled, Little, and Nyanza Swifts, Black Saw-wing, Olive Mountain (Placid), Stripe-faced, and Mountain Greenbuls, Waller’s, Kenrick’s, and with luck Abbott’s Starlings, and Eastern Double-collared Sunbird.

We’ll encounter a different set of birds in the more open areas of scrub and grassland, where Rufous-naped Lark, Pangani Longclaw, White-browed Scrub Robin, African Moustached and Cinnamon Bracken Warblers, Trilling and Siffling Cisticolas, and the very local Taveta Golden Weaver will all vie for our attention. The ancient volcanic craters have created wetlands that will be alive with Lesser Flamingos, and this is a reliable site for the normally elusive Greater Painted-snipe.

Into the Arusha National Park, where we’ll find ourselves among Masai Giraffe, Common Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Warthog, Guereza Colobus, Blue Monkey, and Olive Baboon. Hiding in the dappled shade of this magnificent evergreen hill forest we may also find a tiny woodland antelope, the secretive Suni, along with the bay-colored Harvey’s Red Duiker. If we are very lucky we may also catch sight of a Leopard or Serval. During evening drive back to Arusha city to Green Mountain Hotel for Dinner and Overnight.

• Meals: Breakfast-Lunch and Dinner.
• Accommodation: Green Mountain Hotel
• Guide: Professional English speaking guide

Tarangire National Park – Over 550 bird species

After tasty breakfast the tour will depart to Tarangire.The drier areas of the park are occupied by the Stocking-thighed Ostrich, the world’s largest bird, the Kori Bustard, the heaviest flying bird in the world, and smaller groups of hornbills... The Tarangire National Park with its various habitats and food sources is a park every bird-watcher most sees. In the Tarangire National Park you can also see the three endangered bird species of Tanzania: Rufous-tailed weaver, Ashy starling and Yellow-collared Lovebird. The swampy floodplains in Tarangire's southern and eastern part are important breeding grounds for the Eurasian migrants. Tarangire's woodlands are inhabited by Hoopoes, Hornbills, White-bellied Go-away-bird and Brown parrots.

This area is also inhabited by game birds such as Yellow-necked spurfowl, Helmeted Guineafowl and Crested Francolin. Commonly seen birds are also Lilac-breasted rolers, barbet and mousebirds, striped swallows and starlings, swifts, hammerkops, beef eaters, cordon bleus and owl’s plovers.The hills in the Tarangire National Park are the homelands of over 50 raptor species such as the Bateleur eagles, the Steppe Eagles (which migrate from Russia), the giant Lappet-faced Vultures and the tiny Pigmy Falcon.

For the best game viewing Tarangire is well known for its huge elephant population and baobab trees. It forms the centre of an annual migratory cycle that includes up to 3000 elephants, 25,000 wildebeest and 30,000 zebras. During early evening drive back to Karatu at Ngorongoro Forest Tented Lodge for Dinner and Overnight.

• Meals: Breakfast-Lunch and Dinner.
• Accommodation: Ngorongoro Forest Tented Lodge
• Guide: Professional English speaking guide

Lake Manyara National Park – Over 400 bird species including water birds

Lake Manyara National Park has over 400 bird species including water birds Eurasian migrant birds, acacia associated birds, raptors, and 3 endangered Tanzanian species: Rufous-tailed weaver, Ashy starlings and Black-collared Lovebird.Lake Manyara National Park and Lake Natron also offer great opportunities of Flamingo watching as they gather on the lake shore in flocks of ten thousands or even several hundred thousand.

Lake Manyara their feeding ground. Some of the birds you can see in the floodplains of Lake Manyara are Crowned Plover, Grey Crowned Crane, Fischer's Sparrow Lark, Two-banded courser and the Black-faced Sandgrouse.The bush clups on the edge of the floodplain is occupied by groups of Long-tailed fiscal, the rare Pangani Longclaw. The birds in the Lake Manyara forest are: Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Narina Trogon, Crowned Hornbill, Schalow's Turaco, Emerald Cuckoo, Crowned Eagle and ground dwelling Crested Guineafowl.

Lake Manyara you’ll be able to sport a large number of animal species and incredible bird life. Manyara has the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world, also include Buffalo, Elephant Wildebeest, Zebra, Waterbuck, Warthog, Impala and also Manyara health population lion are famous for their tree-climbing antics. During early evening drive back to Karatu at Ngorongoro Forest Tented Lodge for Dinner and Overnight.

• Meals: Breakfast-Lunch and Dinner.
• Accommodation: Ngorongoro Forest Tented Lodge
• Guide: Professional English speaking guide

After breakfast, the tour will depart for Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, you descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. Then heard to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species. Arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti national park. Early evening you’ll drive to Serengeti at Great Exploration Camps for Dinner and Overnight.

• Meals: Breakfast-Lunch and Dinner.
• Accommodation: Great Exploration Camps
• Guide: Professional English speaking guide

Serengeti National Park – Over 400 bird species

Another full day game drives in Serengeti. After breakfast game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, and which is good for possible lion, Thomson gazelle, topic, ostrich and cheetah sightings. The visitor’s centre not far from the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive. This nicely designed centre, offers some interesting wildlife displays as well as a gift shop selling information leaflets and maps of the area. The centre also has a shop where cold drinks and snacks can be purchased, as well as a picnic area and information trail up and around a nearby kopje.

Enjoy viewing over 500 species of birds including ostriches, secretary birds, different types of vultures and eagles, Egyptian geese, black headed herons, crowned cranes, Kori bustards and many more can also be found in the Serengeti National Park. Dinner and Overnight Great Exploration Camps.

• Meals: Breakfast-Lunch and Dinner.
• Accommodation: Great Exploration Camps
• Guide: Professional English speaking guide

Early in the morning game drive in Serengeti National Park and after depart to Ngorongoro Conservation area where you will have your lunch. You will arrival early afternoon where you will be able to visit one of Maasai Boma (If your Interested) to learn scenic culture from Maasai. Welcoming song and dancing from them will lead you to enjoy their culture at the moment before going to your lodge. Dinner and Overnight at Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge.

• Meals: Breakfast-Lunch and Dinner
• Accommodation: Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge
• Guide: Professional English speaking guide

After an early breakfast, you will descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife. Supported by a year round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro conservation Area supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park, is it’s dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. The annual migrants from Europe and Asia inhabit the Ngorongoro Crater between September. Among the migrant birds in this area you can see the Lesser Kestrel, the European swallow, European bee eater, the Northern Wheatear, European roller, Pallid Harrier, Caspian Lapwing and the Montagu's Harrier. Furthermore in the wet season you can see the Rosy-breasted Long claw and large flocks of European storks. On the bare grounds or sand tracks in the Ngorongoro Crater you can see nests of Ostiches, Kori bustards, Secretary birds, Grey crowned Cranes, the ground nestling Northern Anteater Chat, Rufous-napped Lark, Capped Whater, Fischer's Sparrow lark, Red capped Lark and the Grassland Pipit. The tree nestling birds of the Ngorongoro Crater are the Superb Starling, Rufous Tailed Weaver and the African White Backed Vulture. The Ngorongoro Crater is also inhabited by birds of prey such as: the Augur buzzard and the Long-crested eagle. After extensive game drive you'll drive back to Arusha to your hotel/pick up point.