Birds and Wildlife of Tanzania

Depart United States.

Arrive in Europe and connect with a flight to Kilimanjaro Airport. After arrival at the airport transfer to the lodge. The lodge is located within a 30-acre active coffee farm and close to Lake Duluti and offers great opportunities for birding. Meet this evening for dinner and program orientation.

After breakfast, we will depart for Arusha National Park for a full day excursion with picnic lunch. Including the migratory species - present from December to May - over 300 species have been recorded in this small park. Mt. Meru, at 14,980 ft, is the most prominent feature of this national park. The varied landscape includes forested mountain slopes, two ancient craters filled with swamps and lush savanna, and open savanna also known as the "Little Serengeti". Momella Lake is one of the best places in Tanzania to see waterbirds: flamingo, pelican, little grebe, a variety of heron, duck and wader are common. Augur buzzard, Verreaux's eagle and other cliff-associated raptors can often be seen flying above Ngurdoto Crater. Driving up the jeep track toward the climber's hut on Mt. Meru offers a nice altitudinal transect. Other routes will take us into thicker forests, where we will search for raptors such as Crowned Hawk-Eagle and African Goshawk, and colorful forest birds including Narina's and Bar-tailed trogons, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater and Hartlaub's Turaco. During our outings, we will also be looking for Colobus and Blue Monkeys, which this park is known for. We'll return to our lodge late in the afternoon.

Optional morning birding at the lodge grounds before breakfast. After breakfast, we'll begin our journey with a transfer to Tarangire National Park. Before we get well on our way, we'll make a stop at the Arusha Kilombero local market and experience the local lifestyle. En route there will be birding stops, especially in the drier Acacia woodland and scrubby areas. This roadside birding can often be very productive and may include sightings of Blue naped Mousebird, Von der Decken's Hornbill, White bellied Go away bird, Rosy patched Bushshrike, Eastern Violet backed Sunbird and Golden backed Weaver.

The Tarangire ecosystem is the third largest in Tanzania, sprawling over a vast 7,700 square miles. Seasonally, the park supports the second largest concentration of wildlife in Tanzania surpassed only by the Serengeti during peak migration. However, Tarangire is most famous for its huge numbers of African Elephants that congregate along the meandering Tarangire River. We will observe these massive pachyderms and their tender family interactions. Other mammals likely to be seen include the stately waterbuck, impala, comical warthog and giraffe. The Acacia woodland and Baobab studded grasslands also provide a home for a large number of avians, with the park total being well over 500 species. We will have the opportunity to look for African Hawk Eagle, the diminutive Pygmy Falcon, Double banded Courser, Red necked and Yellow necked Spurfowl, Black faced Sandgrouse, White bellied Bustard, Meyer's and Red bellied Parrots, Bare faced Go away bird, Red and yellow and D'Arnaud's Barbets, Mottled Spinetail, Spotted Palm Thrush, Banded Warbler and flocks of Northern Pied Babbler. Two major targets for the area are the East African endemics Ashy Starling and Yellow collared Lovebird. We will also visit the vast Silale Swamp which is excellent for waterfowl. Species to look out for will be African Openbill, Goliath Heron, Southern Pochard, Fulvous Whistling Duck, African Jacana and Long toed Lapwing. If we are fortunate we may spot a Black Coucal, or flush out a secretive African Crake. Night birding around our lodge can also be fruitful. Look out for Slender tailed and Freckled Nightjars and the diminutive African Scops Owl.

Before breakfast, we'll visit a local Maasai village to observe as members of the community go about their morning rituals. Transfer back to the lodge for breakfast. After breakfast, we'll say goodbye to Tarangire and start our drive to Manyara National Park which will take about 2 hours. Philip Briggs, author of the Bradt Guide to Tanzania describes the park as the country's finest birding site as it boasts over 400 species, 100 of which can be seen in a day even by casual birders. Lake Manyara National Park offers a wide variety of habitats, but two-thirds of the park is covered by the alkaline Lake Manyara when water levels are high. During dry season the lake is virtually non-existent. The alkaline shores of the lake are a good place to look for the widely distributed but quite erratic Greater Paint-Snipe. Another bird of special interest is the so-called Usambiro Barbet, currently considered a subspecies of D'Arnaud's Barbet. During our visit we will also be looking for Purple-crested Turaco, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, and Yellow-bellied Greenbul. Depending on water levels, we may find a variety of waterbirds, such as Yellow-billed and Marabou storks, Pink-backed Pelican, Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbill, and Black-headed Heron. In the late afternoon we'll continue with our drive to Ngorongoro Highlands passing through the steep escarpment of the Great Rift Valley.

After breakfast we'll travel a short distance to the famous Gibb's Farm. The farm is nestled among forested slopes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and has lush vegetation on the property that attracts numerous bird species. Most common birds are sun birds, weavers, Turacos, Bulbuls, Tropical Boubou, Craws, and Sisticolas. A number of trails lead into the forest, and we'll have more birding possibilities at the forest edge. After treating ourselves to a delicious lunch all coming from Gibb's Farm's gardens, we'll start our trip back to our lodge. En route we will visit a local school and explore the village to learn more about the daily lives of the locals.

This morning we will travel to the world famous Serengeti National Park. En route we will stop at the well-known Olduvai Gorge, so named after the wild Sisal plant that grows in the gorge. As a result of massive geological activities over the eons, Oldupai provides a unique record of countless years of fossilized creatures and plants in a series of stratified rock layers. Most famous of all discoveries, which revolutionized thinking on hominid evolution, have been those of Australopithecine hominid remains found by the Leakey family. After an introductory lecture we have time to explore the very informative museum at the site which exhibits replicas of the hominid fossils and extinct animals that used to inhabit the region, ranging from River Elephant and Giant Swine to Short necked Giraffe. A bird walk around the site may yield a variety of arid country species such as the vocal Slate colored Boubou, Red fronted Tinkerbird, Rufous Chatterer, Kenya Sparrow, Vitelline Masked Weaver, beautiful Purple Grenadier and both White bellied and Southern Grosbeak Canaries. After lunch at the site, we'll continue traveling westward on the rutted dirt track across the vast, flat and seemingly endless Serengeti Plains, to spend three nights in one of the world's most renowned game reserves.

Extending for an incredible 5,790 square miles, the Serengeti is one of the world's largest natural sanctuaries. Despite the vast space, the amount of game that you can expect to see is still astounding. The Serengeti, meaning "Endless Plain" in Maasai, consists mostly of grasslands interspersed with Acacia woodlands and rocky outcrops. There is little permanent water in the park, which, combined with a fairly regular rainfall pattern, has resulted in the world famous wildebeest migration, when up to two million large wildebeests move between the Serengeti in Tanzania and Maasai Mara in Kenya. During our visit to the Serengeti we will explore the southern and central areas. We hope to see lazing prides of lions, leopards draped over large trees, aloof cheetahs resting on or near vantage points, skulking Spotted Hyenas, jackals and, if we are fortunate, the bizarre Bat-eared Fox. Several species of smaller cats such as caracal, serval or African Wild Cat may also be seen. Besides the wildebeest, the Serengeti supports huge populations of Common Zebra, African Buffalo, Maasai Giraffe, warthog, Thomson's and Grant's Gazelles, impala, topi, kongoni, Bohor Reedbuck, Eland and smaller numbers of African Elephant, hippopotamus, Rubber-nosed Kirk's Dik-dik, Oribi and Defassa Waterbuck.

Enjoy another day of exploration. There will certainly be an array of superb birds to keep you very busy for the time spent exploring the park. Star birds include several East African endemics: Grey-crested Helmetshrike, Red-throated Tit, Steel-blue Whydah and the highly localized Karamoja Apalis. Other specialties are Grey-breasted Spurfowl, Fischer's Lovebird, Rufous-tailed Weaver, the localized race of D'Arnaud's Barbet (sometimes split as Usambiro Barbet) and Athi Short-toed Lark. These birds can be found together with a host of other species such as the magnificent Saddle-billed Stork, up to six species of vulture, the grotesque Marabou Stork, stately Secretary Bird, Bateleur, Chestnut-bellied and Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, Kori Bustard, coveys of Coqui Francolin, White-bellied Bustard, Temminck's Courser, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Red-fronted Barbet, Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill, the whimsical Southern Ground Hornbill, Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Black-lored Babbler, Taita and Grey-backed Fiscals, Magpie Shrike, Hildebrandt's Starling, both species of oxpecker, Silverbird, the cute Buff-bellied Warbler, aptly named Beautiful Sunbird, Grey-capped Social Weaver, Blue-capped Cordon-bleu, Black-faced Waxbill and, if you are fortunate, Grey-headed Silverbill. Not only is this a great place in which to find game and birds, but the wide green-gold savannas, dotted with thorn trees, also make it ideal for photography. The Serengeti is ravishingly beautiful and offers long, undisturbed views and utterly dramatic panoramas.

After an early breakfast, we will check out and leave our camp for a last game drive. Later in the morning, we'll strike out towards the vast Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA). En route we will stop for a picnic lunch. NCA is a 3,200 square mile World Heritage Site protecting Earth's largest intact volcanic caldera (100 square miles) and one of the world's most scenically breathtaking natural areas. What's more, the crater is also home to one of the planet's densest populations of large mammals. Our lodge is nestled on the edge of the crater rim with spectacular views of the crater itself. The forests that cloak the rim of this iconic site are home to a variety of Afro montane forest birds. You may find Hildebrandt's Francolin, Schalow's Turaco, the elusive Brown backed Woodpecker, beautiful Cinnamon chested Bee eater, Mountain Greenbul, Brown headed Apalis, Brown Warbler, skulking Cinnamon Bracken Warbler, and busy flocks of Montane White eye, dazzling Tacazze, Golden winged and Eastern Double collared Sunbirds. From the lodge we are able to gaze down at the Ngorongoro Crater below and watch distant elephants and herds of antelope and buffalo moving over the plains.

After an early breakfast, descend 1,970 feet to the Ngorongoro Crater floor. The crater is prime "Big Five" territory and a photographer's dream. Most of the animals are extremely relaxed and habituated to the presence of human admirers. The high crater walls, usually cloaked in a pure white frosting of clouds, make for dramatic backdrops to animal photographs. In addition, the crater floor provides a mini example of a complete African ecosystem with forests, lakes, grasslands, swamps and rivers. Between 25,000 and 30,000 large animals reside in the crater and great concentrations of Blue Wildebeest and Common Zebra are supplemented by smaller numbers of African Elephant, African Buffalo, the highly sought after Black Rhinoceros, hippopotamus, Eland and Thomson's and Grant's Gazelles. The crater reputably boasts the world's highest concentration of predators including lion, cheetah, leopard, serval, Bat eared Fox, Spotted Hyena and Golden and Black backed Jackal. The birding is equally rewarding; we can expect to find many of the picture book species that make Africa so famous. Pink rafts of Greater and Lesser Flamingos on Lake Magadi, Common Ostrich striding over the grasslands, regal Kori Bustard (the world's heaviest flying bird), the elegant Grey crowned Crane and good numbers of raptors including the unique Secretary Bird, Bateleur and Martial Eagle. Among the many other species that we may encounter, we hope to see the uncommon Shelley's Francolin, Black bellied Bustard, Dusky Turtle Dove, White headed Barbet, Pectoral patch Cisticola, comical Anteater Chat, Black crowned Tchagra, the striking Rosy throated Longclaw, Fan tailed Widowbird and the skittish African Quailfinch, the latter probably more easily seen here than anywhere else. In the evening, we ascend to our lodge on the scenic crater rim and at dusk will attempt to track down the Montane Nightjar.

After a leisurely morning, we will transfer to Arusha. Before arriving at our hotel, we will pay a visit to a local home to enjoy a family-hosted lunch. Transfer to our hotel for day room accommodations. You will be able to rest, finish packing luggage, or freshen up before catching your night flight to the U.S. Before leaving for the airport, enjoy a light snack at the hotel, then check out at 6 p.m. Transfer to the Kilimanjaro International Airport and check in for overnight flight to the U.S.

Arrive home.