Page 1

Proposal

Tanzania & Zanzibar Karen Zuniga & Lisa Auslen

June 22 – July 06, 2015

We Don’t Tell Stories Better, We Tell Better Stories®

Page 2

Day By Day Itinerary

JUN 22: ARRIVAL KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA (Flight at 7:50 PM)

Today on arrival in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania clear customs and proceed to the exit where you are

met by the Big Five guide and given a private transfer to Lake Duluti Serena hotel.

The rest of the day is at leisure.

LAKE DULUTI SERENA HOTEL – Twin Room (D)

JUN 23: ARUSHA / MANYARA RANCH CONSERVANCY

Today you are given a private transfer from your hotel in Arusha to Manyara Ranch Conservancy

enroot visiting Lake Manyara with a packed lunch box.

You visit Lake Manyara which is at the foot of an escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. This

small park supports a surprising array of animals, including the largest concentration of elephants

in East Africa. You may spot one of the park’s famed tree-climbing lions that seek shade high in

the acacia branches. After the safari you are driven to Manyara Ranch Conservancy.

This is called the future of safaris in Tanzania, the Manyara Ranch, a 35,000 acre wildlife

conservancy situated in the corridor between Tarangire and Manyara National Park. Originally

established as a cattle ranch during Tanzania's colonial period, Manyara Ranch remains an

operating ranch with a relatively small herd of beef cattle and black-headed sheep. During 2000,

the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) obtained management and conservation rights to the

Page 3

ranch to protect these wildlife corridors. In so doing, they established a working relationship with

the Maasai, developing their community conservation projects and rehabilitating the ranch itself.

The ranch is held in Trust by the Tanzania Land Conservation Trust (TLCT) for the benefit of the

local communities and Tanzania

MANYARA RANCH CONSERVANCY – Tent on fully inclusive basis (B,L,D)

JUN 24: MANYARA RANCH CONSERVANCY

Today you are taken on a full day game drive into the Tarangire National Park. Depart overland

with a picnic lunch to Tarangire which is home to great herds of elephant. During the dry season

up to 300 can be found along the dry river bed, digging for underground streams. Migratory

wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland flock to the remaining pools. In

the rainy season, the animals spread out over 12,500 square miles. The swamps serve as host to

550 bird varieties. The park extends into two game-controlled areas so the wildlife can move

freely. After the safari you are driven back to Manyara Ranch.

MANYARA RANCH CONSERVANCY – Tent (B,L,D)

JUN 25: MANYARA RANCH CONSERVANCY

Today you can enjoy activities offered at the ranch. Your experience here will be like none other.

The conservancy provides guided game walks, day and night drives, visits to partner villages (in

an authentic setting) and activities including horse riding with big game, bush breakfast and

dinners and participative research activities to promote on-going conservation projects in

collaboration with AWF. There are several large dams on the ranch that attract and retain the

wildlife within the conservancy area. There is a significant resident population of wildlife

Page 4

including groups of large bull elephants, breeding herds of giraffe, many lesser kudu, wildebeest,

zebra, gazelle, oryx and eland. There are also predators, including lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena,

jackal and bat-eared foxes. For many years, wild dogs have denned on the ranch. The wildlife

populations are continually increasing by animals moving through the migratory corridors. There

is a large number of species of birds including many raptors on the ranch. Manyara Ranch has a

variety of habitats, which include open savannah, acacia woodland, bush and riverine forest.

These habitats support a large diversity of wildlife and birdlife.

MANYARA RANCH CONSERVANCY – Tent (B,L,D)

JUN 26: MANYARA RANCH CONSERVANCY / NGORONGORO CRATER

Today you are transferred from Manyara Ranch to the Ngorongoro Crater where you will check

into your lodge located adjacent to the famous Ngorongoro conservation area and within a 1500-

acre Arabica coffee estate.

Later this afternoon you set off with your Big Five driver guide as you descend to the crater floor

for an afternoon game drive in the crater.

In 1892, a German explorer was the first European to record seeing the crater. Certainly one of

the world’s most remarkable natural wonders, the crater’s steep unbroken rim drops some 2,000

feet to the basin that encompasses 102 square miles. This may have been one of the world’s

tallest mountains until about two million years ago, when a volcano exploded, collapsing it into

this massive crater. Today, Maasai pastoralists and their grazing cattle and goats share this stage

with 30,000 animals – lions, elephants, rhinos, wildebeest, flocks of flamingos and so much more.

After the crater tour you are transferred back to your lodge for the night.

GIBBS FARM - (B,L,D)

Page 5

JUN 27: NGORONGORO CRATER

Today’s focus is the crater floor, reached by driving a rocky track down the steep side. Game

viewing here is excellent throughout the year. You come startlingly close to some of the crater’s

lions. Amid dramatic landscapes dotted with buffalo, zebra, reedbuck and rhinos, you relish

every morsel of your picnic lunch. Large numbers of flamingos hang out around the lake in the

bottom of the crater. After the full day tour you return to your lodge in the late afternoon.

GIBBS FARM - (B,L,D)

JUN 28: NGORONGORO CRATER / SERENGETI

Early this morning you will set off with packed lunches as you drive to the Serengeti. Enroot you

visit Olduvai Gorge Museum, before you continue your drive to the Serengeti, Africa’s most

famous park without equal in its primitive natural beauty, it’s liberating open space and its

fantastic abundance of plains game. During migration, vast numbers of animals stretch to the

horizon in long slender columns. They face fierce obstacles from voracious predators to

treacherous river crossings. As the great migration makes its way across the expansive Serengeti

plains, Hundreds of thousands of mostly wildebeest and zebra move in columns snaking to the

horizon. And, predators are always nearby.

On arrival you are transferred to your mobile camp which rests at the heart of prime wildlife

theaters on the Serengeti, where game viewing is best during the migration. You will experience

daily game drives combine with safari luncheons, lantern-lit bush suppers and unforgettable

conversations.

SANCTUARY RETREATS MOBILE CAMP – Tent on fully inclusive basis (B,L,D)

Page 6

JUN 29 & 30: SERENGETI

Few things equal the thrill of sharing these wide, open spaces with antelope, giraffe, wildebeest,

cheetah, elephant, leopard, buffalo, zebra, warthog, hippo and crocodile. Watch the extraordinary

interplay between species, such as hyenas hovering just out of reach of lions. Bird watching

enthusiasts can scout for some of the 500 species here.

After awakening in the heart of the wilderness in your tent – surrounded by Edwardian-era

accents that evoke the classic safari camps of a century ago, your safari guide shares fascinating

insights about the African bush on your early morning game drive, as you observe the struggle of

species to survive in the "circle of life" within the Serengeti National Park. Later, after lunch and

another game drive, as the setting sun streaks the Tanzanian sky – a classic African safari doesn't

get any better than this!

SANCTUARY RETREATS MOBILE CAMP – Tent (B,L,D)

JUL 01: SERENGETI / ARUSHA / ZANZIBAR

Today you are given a private transfer from your camp to the Seronera airstrip for your 10:35 AM

flight to Arusha, on arrival in Arusha you are met and assisted to connect your schedule 12:15

PM, flight to Zanzibar. (B)

Page 7

ZANZIBAR EXTENSION

JUL 01: ARRIVAL ZANZIBAR

Today on arrival in Zanzibar you are met and transferred to your beach hotel for 5 nights.

BREEZES BEACH CLUB – Standard Room on Bed and breakfast basis

JUL 02, 03, 04 & 05: ZANZIBAR

Free day at leisure

BREEZES BEACH CLUB - Standard Room (B)

JUL 06: ZANZIBAR / DAR ES SALAAM (Late afternoon flight)

DAR ES SALAAM / HOME (Flight at 11:05 PM)

Today you are transferred from Zanzibar back to Dar es Salaam on a schedule flight. On arrival

you are met and assisted to connect your onward flight home.

End of Travel Arrangements

Page 8

Included In The Tour Cost: Hotel accommodations as indicated in the itinerary including all taxes and service charges

Meals as indicated in the itinerary (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)

Soft drinks, house wines, local brand spirits and beers at Manyara Ranch Conservancy, Gibbs

Farm and Sanctuary Retreats Mobile camp.

Guided walks and night drives at Manyara Ranch Conservancy

Laundry at Manyara Ranch, Gibbs Farm and Sanctuary Retreats Mobile Camp

All ground transportation and excursions as indicated, by private safari vehicles (All safari

activities at Manyara Ranch are on a shared basis)

English speaking guides for all transfers and naturalist guide for all game viewing activities

Entrance fees to all game parks and nature reserves

Bottle water in the safari vehicle

Internal flights in Tanzania as mentioned in the itinerary

Baggage handling

Comprehensive assortment of pre-tour planning materials and amenities;

Big Five’s 24-hour White Glove Service® guest assistance;

Not Included In The Tour Cost: International flights from the US to Kilimanjaro and from Dar es Salaam back

Meals not mentioned in the itinerary

Airport Taxes

Passport and visa fees (A visa is needed for Tanzania)

Travel insurance

Excess baggage charges

Items of a personal nature such as gratuities for guides, all alcoholic and other beverages,

telephone calls and laundry

Notes: A visa if required for Tanzania, you can also get your visa on arrival at the airport.

Page 9

The Big Five Edge

At Big Five, you are working with one of the most experienced groups in the travel industry. Our

Destination Specialists receive 900+ hours of in-destination and in-office training annually; and have a

combined average 17 years’ experience in travel.

Big Five is in the top one percent of luxury tour operators to place on Travel+Leisure magazine’s

A-List. Big Five’s Destination Specialists have appeared on the A-List of top travel professionals from

2009 to 2014. This list validates the value of experience. This recognition is achieved by going through

unbiased questioning and itinerary planning, and it is not based on voting by magazine subscribers.

White Glove Service® Guest Assistance Big Five provides a personal experience that begins with a live person answering each call

promptly during business hours. Our 24-hour White Glove Service® guest assistance desk is

manned by a team of specialists available 365 days from anywhere in the world. WGS® is your:

Personal concierge service for anything from dinner reservations to hard-to-get

special event tickets

Assistant to relay messages to family and friends, to help arrange private air charters and

other details

Emergency specialist who is there to tackle any emergency situation from lost luggage to

stolen passports to emergency medical assistance

Information kiosk for all the latest news, weather, airline delays; whatever information

you need to make your journey run more smoothly

Organizer who can coordinate special events such as a birthday or anniversary dinner,

flowers or gifts

Our Destination Specialists combine creativity with their impressive knowledge to

customize clients’ journeys to meet each guest’s interests, whether that is honeymoon

couples, families or special interest groups.

Page 10

Big Five guests benefit from our partnerships with properties and suppliers who have

strong sustainable ethics built into their operations, which assures each guest will

experience the best a destination has to offer. As part of our commitment, we employ

local professional guides and drivers in each destination; and we support local initiatives

dedicated to cultural preservation and habitat conservation.

This Proposed Itinerary was prepared on June 8, 2015 and is subject to the General Terms

& Conditions of a Big Five Tours & Expeditions program (included in our Booking

Forms kit). Unless advised otherwise, no reservations are held. To enable us to initiate

reservations and request confirmations from our suppliers, please forward the required

deposit or full payment as applicable. The quoted prices are only valid provided proposed

services and accommodations are available at time of reservations. Rates may change due

to (but not limited to) changes in travel dates, itinerary routing, number of passengers,

accommodations, room categories, tour services, flight arrangements, etc. Please note

that Big Five will provide up to three proposals on a complimentary basis. After the third

proposal, a deposit will be required in order to proceed.