Prime grazing area for migrating wildebeest during the early months of the year, with luck (always dependant on the weather!) the plains may be thick with wildebeest which arrive in their thousands after the rains to make the most of the fresh grass. The plains are also the wildebeests’ favoured birthing spot - it is one of nature’s miracles that females delay giving birth until the rains and grass arrive in an effort to ensure their newly born young get the best start in life, a chance to build their strength on lush new grass before setting off on the long march north to Kenya’s Mara plains.
Please be aware of that the ride below is for strong intermediate riders only and that each itinerary is subject to change due to movement of game and whether conditions. The routes are designed for the best possibilities of viewing wildlife and follow suitable terrain for horses. If the itinerary would change prior to the safari, this would only be for the safety and to the benefit of the journey on horseback.
Safari Day 1
Arrive Kilimanjaro International Airport where you will be met and transferred around 30 minutes to the Polo grounds for the first night, a comfortable permanent camp. Meet up with the rest of the group and dinner will take place in the polo clubhouse.
Safari Day 2
An early start to catch a morning charter flight to Ndutu airstrip in the southern Serengeti. After the flight, depending on where you fly in, anything between 2-4 hours drive, depending on routing (you may be flown over the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manayara or Tarangire National Park, a wonderful opportunity to see these iconic sites from the air), you will be met by a safari vehicle at Ndutu. A short wait whilst you are checked-in at the National Park registration post, then set off driving through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park, past impressive rocky outcrops known as “kopjes , river courses and across the Serengeti’s famous ‘short grass plains’.
Leave the National Park and NCA and after a drive of about 2 -4 hours in all, eventually arrive at the spot chosen for the first camp in the shade of a lovely flat topped acacia. Meet the team of support staff, settle into your tents and a welcome lunch in the shade of the mess tent. Then, a short siesta, before meeting the horses and their grooms, and time allowing, an evening ride to try them. Return to camp at sun set for hot showers, drinks by the campfire and your first dinner together in the bush, before tomorrow when the adventure really starts!
Safari Day 3
Woken at about 7am with tea or coffee brought to your tent, then breakfast in the mess tent before heading to the horses to mount up at around 8am. Depending on the weather and movement of game, you might ride out for a long morning today returning to camp for lunch and another ride or a game drive in the late afternoon - or you might head out for a full day ride, meeting the back-up team for lunch out in the bush. Either way you should have a good chance of seeing the gathering herds of wildebeest for which the area is famous, as well as giraffe browsing in the acacia scrub, zebra and perhaps predators such as hyena and jackal. Dinner and night in camp.
Safari Day 4
Today might be the first moving day. An early wake up at dawn gives you time to pack up before breakfast, then mount up to set off to a new camp, riding through areas that have rarely been visited on a horse, perhaps passing Maasai herdsmen or their small settlements, where tribesmen live off the land as they have done for centuries. After about 4 hours riding, meet the back-up crew for an al- fresco lunch in the bush and time to rest in the heat of the day, before heading off again, aiming to reach the new camp by tea time. Set up ahead by the back-up, tonight’s camp might be spectacularly situated in the middle of the vast open plains, where, at peak migration time, the air will be filled with the braying and mesmerizing grunts of wildebeest. A cup of tea or a cold beer when you arrive in camp, followed by hot showers & dinner, listening to the sounds of the bush.
Safari Day 5- 8
Four more days to explore, riding across the open plains, into grassy valleys dotted with picturesque granite outcrops, swathes of whistling thorn and typically East African flat toped acacia trees. The route and arrangements each day will vary with the weather and movement of game but your guide will aim to ride to at least one more camp so you can discover another new area and you may (weather allowing) also be able to spend a night in a lightweight fly camp, sleeping under mosquito nets. One day there will also be a long game drive with a picnic or BBQ lunch, into the Serengeti National Park itself crossing the short grass plains and looking out for cats such as cheetah, lion and leopard which thrive here, as well as elephant and the flamingo which gather on the area’s soda lakes. Dinner, with a chance to chat through the next day’s plans, and 4 nights in camp.
Safari Day 9
An early wake-up call to say farewell to the horses and crew. The drive this morning will be up the Ngorongoro highlands and breakfast will be on route overlooking the world famous Ngorongoro Crater. After checking out at the gate you head to the African galleria, a great place to buy anything from arts, tanzanite or just a small Tanzanian gift. Shortly after you head to the Manyara Airstrip followed by a 40 minutes flight back to the estate. Thereafter vehicle transfer back to Kilimanjaro International Airport for onward flights.
The adventure has come to its end and reality is waiting around the corner. Safari ends...for this time
NOTE - Please note that although this is an example of the itinerary planned it is only an example and day-by-day arrangements, camp locations and routes will be varied by your guide in her absolute discretion according to the weather, game movements or if other local conditions require. This is left to the experience and discretion of your guide.
