21 Days / 20 Nights

Upon arrival at Julius Nyerere International Airport, you will be met by your Sauti Africa Safaris representative and transferred privately to your hotel. After check-in, relax after your international journey and receive a detailed safari briefing from your guide regarding the upcoming cross-country expedition.

• Overnight Accommodation: Mediterraneo Hotel – Dar es Salaam
• Meal Plan: Bed & Breakfast

After breakfast, depart Dar es Salaam and drive south toward Nyerere National Park, formerly known as the Selous Game Reserve. This drive introduces you to the rural countryside of southern Tanzania as you leave the standard tourist track behind. Arrive at camp in time for lunch, followed by a relaxed afternoon boat safari for sundowner experience.

• Overnight Accommodation: Lemara Eco Camp
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Dedicate the entire day to tracking wildlife inside Nyerere National Park. Explore diverse habitats including riverine forests, hidden lakes, and open plains. Wildlife tracking focuses on elephants, lions, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, and hippos. With luck, you may encounter the rare African wild dog. You will spend the night at a camp on the opposite side of the park, creating a progressive flow to the wilderness exploration.

• Overnight Accommodation: Lemara Eco Camp
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Following breakfast, check out of camp and begin driving towards Mikumi National Park. Settle into your camp in time for a fresh lunch. Have the leisure to unpack and refresh, then head out for an evening game and catch that sunset.

• Overnight Accommodation: Camp Bastian – Mikumi
• Meal Plan: Full Board

After breakfast drive to Iringa town. Upon arriving enjoy an afternoon hot lunch, then have a simple excursion exploring Iringa town Museum, Isimila caves and other adventurous activities.

• Overnight Accommodation: Iringa Sunset Hotel
• Meal Plan: Full Board

After breakfast, enjoy a scenic 2-to-3-hour drive from Iringa down to Ruaha National Park, one of the country’s most impressive wildlife destinations. Ruaha is famous for its ancient landscapes, giant baobab trees, rocky hills, and dry riverbeds. Arrive at camp in time for lunch, followed by an introductory afternoon game drive tracking the massive elephant and predator populations along the Great Ruaha River channels.

• Overnight Accommodation: Africa Safari Tandala
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Enjoy extensive morning and afternoon game drives inside Ruaha National Park. The park sits uniquely in a biological transition zone where East African and Southern African wildlife species overlap. This provides incredible biodiversity, allowing you to track greater kudu, lesser kudu, sable antelope, roan antelope, lions, leopards, and wild dogs. Morning drives follow fresh tracks along the waterholes, while late afternoon drives capitalize on the golden lighting and predator movements.

• Overnight Accommodation: Africa Safari Tandala
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Spend another full day exploring the different tracking sectors of Ruaha. This extra day allows you to venture deeper into the remote areas of the park. During the dry season, wildlife gathers densely around the remaining river pools, creating powerful scenes of elephants digging for water and buffalo herds moving through the dust while predators watch from the shade. Enjoy the quiet atmosphere of a park completely free from mass tourism.

• Overnight Accommodation: Africa Safari Tandala
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Check out of camp after breakfast and drive towards Kitulo Highlands. Arrive at the park retreat early in the afternoon, and explore the park at your comfort and pace. You can have a botanical tour (December to April) or bird watching for curious bird lovers.

• Overnight Accommodation: Kitulo National Park Bandas
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Spend a relaxed day exploring the high-altitude grasslands and mountain views of Kitulo National Park. Known locally as the Garden of God, Kitulo is protected for its unique botanical richness, montane meadows, and endemic bird species. Enjoy a quiet morning walking safari accompanied by a park ranger to appreciate the mountain scenery and open valleys.

• Overnight Accommodation: Kitulo National Park Bandas
• Meal Plan: Full Board

After a relaxed breakfast, enjoy your final views of the mountain plateau before taking a short 3-hour drive down into the agricultural valley of Mbeya. This day is specifically arranged to break up the long distance comfortably before the journey west. Arrive at your lodge located on a working coffee estate in time for lunch. Spend the entire afternoon at your complete leisure relaxing in the gardens or resting in your room.

• Overnight Accommodation: Utengule Coffee Lodge – Mbeya
• Meal Plan: Full Board

After breakfast, head out by driving from Mbeya towards to the remote shoreline of Lake Tanganyika, one of the oldest and deepest freshwater lakes in the world. Arrive and check in at your lakeshore lodge. Your entire afternoon and evening are reserved for pure relaxation, rest in your room, walk on the beach, or watch the sunset over the water with a cold drink.

• Overnight Accommodation: Kipili Lake Shore Lodge
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Enjoy a completely relaxed day along the calm shoreline of Lake Tanganyika. This day balances the expedition segments with complete rest, allowing you to recover your energy before entering the deep western wilderness. You can choose to swim in the clear waters, relax on the beach, or opt for low-intensity kayaking, snorkeling, or a walk through the nearby fishing village.

• Overnight Accommodation: Kipili Lake Shore Lodge
• Meal Plan: Full Board

After breakfast, leave the lake and take a 4.5-hour drive north into Katavi National Park, one of Africa’s most isolated and untouched safari destinations. Katavi is raw, wild, and deeply authentic. Arrive at your safari camp in time for a fresh lunch, followed by a relaxed afternoon game drive along the edges of the wide seasonal floodplains and woodland boundaries.

• Overnight Accommodation: Katavi Wildlife Camp
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Spend the day tracking wildlife across Katavi’s massive floodplains, river channels, and woodlands. During the dry season, wildlife gathers densely around the shrinking water sources, creating dramatic wildlife scenes. Track enormous buffalo herds numbering in the thousands, along with elephants, lions, and leopards. Katavi is highly unique because it remains uncrowded, giving you a private safari experience far from commercial routes.

• Overnight Accommodation: Katavi Wildlife Camp
• Meal Plan: Full Board

A second full day in Katavi allows you to venture deeper into the remote corners of the park. Follow seasonal animal movements along the dried riverbanks and spend time photographing the famous hippo pools, where hundreds of hippos’ pack tightly together alongside giant Nile crocodiles. Enjoy the absolute silence of an authentic wilderness visited by very few travelers.

• Overnight Accommodation: Katavi Wildlife Camp
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Head out and drive towards Kigoma, a historic town resting on the edge of Lake Tanganyika. Arrive at your hotel early in the afternoon. After checking into your room, the rest of the day is yours at complete leisure to rest, take a hot shower, and enjoy dinner overlooking the lake.

• Overnight Accommodation: Kigoma Hilltop Lodge
• Meal Plan: Full Board

After breakfast, transfer to the public pier and board a private motorboat for a scenic 1.5-to-2-hour cruise heading north along the coast of Lake Tanganyika to Gombe Stream National Park. Gombe is a small, protected rainforest park where steep forested mountains meet the clear lake waters. Famous globally for the chimpanzee behavioral research pioneered by Dr. Jane Goodall, you will check into the park quarters and enjoy a relaxed afternoon orientation forest walk.

• Overnight Accommodation: Gombe National Park Bandas
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Spend the day trekking wild chimpanzees along the forested mountain trails of Gombe. Guided by professional park trackers, the experience is deeply memorable as you track primate calls through the canopy, observe their social behaviors, and learn about the park’s long-standing conservation history. You can also walk to the Kakombe Waterfall or climb up to the scenic viewpoints overlooking the lake.

• Please note: Primate contact regulations require all guests to wear medical face masks during proximity to chimpanzees.
• Overnight Accommodation: Gombe National Park Bandas
• Meal Plan: Full Board

Enjoy your final morning listening to the sounds of the rainforest before boarding your private lake boat transfer back to Kigoma. Arrive at your hotel in the afternoon. The remainder of the day is completely open for rest and preparation ahead of your domestic flight connections the following morning.

• Overnight Accommodation: Kigoma Hilltop Lodge
• Meal Plan: Full Board

After breakfast, transfer privately to the local Kigoma Airport for your scheduled domestic flight connection. You can choose to route your flight back to Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam or straight to Kilimanjaro International Airport near Arusha, depending entirely on your outbound international flight schedule.

• Meal Plan: Breakfast