A 13-Day Wildlife Safari To

Tanzania Safari March 4–17, 2019 with Mark Faherty Optional Extension to Kenya: March 17–22, 2019 Wildlife Crossing, Yellow-billed Storks ©Classic Escapes; Pool, © Tarangire Safari Lodge Tanzania/Kenya, Mar 4–22, 2019 with Mark Faherty Tour Overview The greatest wildlife spectacle on earth! Even if you have been there before, it “never gets old.” Our tour includes world-class birding and abundant wildlife views of the big mammals: elephant, Giraffe, zebra, African Lion, Leopard, and Cheetah in the famous national parks and of Arusha, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro (conservation area), and, of course, the Serengeti. Arusha National Park is a small but popular park with great birding and extinct volcanoes covered in thick forest. Tarangire National Park is famous for the many baobab trees and high elephant populations. Lake Manyara National Park is a comparatively compact area nestled beneath the cliffs of the Great Rift Valley with spring-fed forests, thick acacia bush, and a soda lake, which, at times, holds a large variety of waterbirds including flamingos, ibises, storks, and ducks. Ngorongoro is the largest unbroken volcanic caldera in the world, but also famous for the grasslands and lakes of the crater floor, where we may find the endangered Black Rhinoceros. The main tour ends in the Serengeti. A vast unspoiled, rolling savannah and woodlands, which hosts the most spectacular concentration of animals during migration and calving. Over one million Blue Wildebeests (along with hundreds of thousands of Thomson’s Gazelles and Common Zebras can be found in the huge park during February- March. A moderately paced tour with good-to-excellent accommodations (in lodges as well as tents). Birding and wildlife viewing will be from comfortable safari vehicles. Many of our days will start early, with birding and wildlife viewing, then break midday with more exploration in the afternoon. Climate will be mostly warm and dry, with cooler and possibly damper conditions at higher elevations. Leopard, by Karen O’Neill Natural History Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 2 Tanzania/Kenya, Mar 4–22, 2019 with Mark Faherty Day-to-Day Itinerary Day 0, Mar 4: Travel to Tanzania Depart from your home airport to begin travel to Arusha, Tanzania (meals aloft). Day 1, Mar 5: Arrive in Arusha Arrive in Arusha this evening, where we will be met by our local guide and transferred to the lodge. Because of the late arrival time, no meals are included today. Overnight: Rivertrees Country Inn | rivertrees.com | meals aloft Days 2-3, Mar 6–7: Arusha National Park and Mt. Meru Our birding adventure will begin in Arusha National Park. Although relatively small, this unusual park has three distinct zones: Ngurdoto Crater, often called the “mini Ngorongoro”; the shallow alkaline Momella Lakes, which are fed by underground streams; and the densely forested slopes of magnificent Mount Meru. There is an abundance of wildlife to be seen as we explore. Usually there are thousands of Lesser and Greater Flamingos and migrant birds at the Momella Lakes. We will watch for African Goshawk overhead and colorful birds, including Narina and Bar-tailed Trogon, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Hartlaub’s Turaco, and White-headed Barbet. On the following day, we’ll drive around Mt. Meru to the lark plains. These grasslands are home to the last 200 Beesley’s Larks on Earth, and we will search long and hard for this critically endangered Tanzanian endemic. Lots of other interesting species can be found: possibility of migrants like Spotted Flycatcher and Common Nightingale. Overnights: Rivertrees Country Inn | rivertrees.com | BLD Days 4-6, Mar 8–10: Tarangire National Park After breakfast, we’ll head to Tarangire National Park (under three-hour drive), the third largest national park in Tanzania. It is the vast number of baobab trees that first captures the eye as one enters Tarangire. The gently rolling countryside is dotted with these majestic trees, which seem to dwarf the animals that feed beneath them. Over 300 bird species have been recorded in Tarangire. Endemic bird species include Ashy Starling, Yellow-collared Lovebird, and the Rufous-tailed Weaver. Tarangire Safari Lodge is built on top of a high bluff with a breathtaking panorama. Below the lodge, we will see the area’s diverse wildlife accumulating around the Tarangire River, the local favorite watering spot. At the heart of the lodge are the impressively high thatched roofs of the lounge and dining room. The open-sided design allows an uninterrupted view of the landscape and wildlife below. 3 Overnights: Tarangire Safari Lodge | www.tarangiresafarilodge.com | BLD Natural History Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 3 Tanzania/Kenya, Mar 4–22, 2019 with Mark Faherty Day 7, Mar 11: Lake Manyara National Park and Karatu Lake Manyara, by Karen O’Neill In the morning, we’ll head for Lake Manyara National Park, an ornithological paradise with over 350 species of birds. We’ll see Verreaux's Eagle, a variety of vultures, storks, swifts, and swallows winging their way atop the spectacular cliffs overlooking the lake. Lake Manyara, at 3,150 feet, varies in salinity levels with wetter and drier climate cycles, and at times it is replete with shorebirds. We will look for Yellow-billed and Marabou Stork, Pink-backed Pelican, Sacred Ibis, African Spoonbill, and Black-headed Heron, among others! South of the groundwater forest, acacia woodland and open grassland are frequented by an elusive tree- climbing group of African Lions—the signature of this park. After enjoying a picnic lunch, we’ll drive to Karatu and Plantation Lodge. Overnight: Plantation Lodge | http://www.plantation-lodge.com | BLD Natural History Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 4 Tanzania/Kenya, Mar 4–22, 2019 with Mark Faherty Day 8, Mar 12: Ngorongoro Crater Abdim's Stork, by Dave Larson Today, we’ll explore Ngorongoro Crater, a World Heritage Site, which is an extinct volcano and the largest unbroken caldera in the world. The crater (1,800 feet deep and 102 square miles) is a microcosm of East African scenery with abundant wildlife—more than 25,000 larger animals, mostly zebra and wildebeest. Over the years, the floor of this crater has become mostly savannah (grassland) and there’s also a soda lake whose size changes depending on the rains, which are the lifeline of this amazing land. The lake hosts colorful flamingos and a variety of other waterbirds—more than 100 species of birds are found here, but not in the Serengeti. Common Ostrich, Gray Crowned-crane, and Kori Bustard are joined seasonally by migrant flocks of White and Abdim's Stork. A mainly resident population of Blue Wildebeest, African Buffalo, Thomson’s and Grant’s Gazelle, Common Zebra, and Eland are well distributed across the savannah, as are the accompanying predators—especially African Lions and Spotted Hyenas. A major goal will be close views of some of the Black Rhinoceros that survive here. We’ll enjoy a sumptuous picnic lunch before resuming our wildlife viewing. Return to the lodge in the afternoon. Overnight: Plantation Lodge | http://www.plantation-lodge.com | BLD Day 9, Mar 13: Oldupai Gorge and Serengeti National Park—Southern Sector Today’s drive will take us to the legendary Oldupai Gorge. The two-hour drive to the gorge is breathtaking— passing through a spectacular mix of savannah grassland and volcanic hills, where red-robed Maasai graze their cattle, before it drops steeply down into the gorge itself. Natural History Travel | massaudubon.org/travel | [email protected] | 800-289-9504 5 Tanzania/Kenya, Mar 4–22, 2019 with Mark Faherty Oldupai is one of the world’s most important paleoanthropological locations. This is where, in 1959, Mary and Louis Leakey found fossil evidence of the 1.7-million-year-old Australopithecus boisei and Homo habilis. Thousands of stone tools, some of which were used by Homo habilis, have been found at Olduvai. In addition to the remarkable human fossils, prehistoric elephant, giant horned sheep, and enormous ostrich fossils have been found here. Extinct species unearthed include three-toed horses and giant antelope. Since the Leakeys first began searching the area for clues to our distant past, more than 60 hominid remains have been excavated, belonging to four different hominids, showing the gradual increase in brain size and in the complexity of their stone tools. The gorge itself is a very steep-sided ravine roughly 30 miles long and 295 feet deep. It resembles a small Grand Canyon with exposed strata of different layers where the deposits of rich fossil fauna, hominid remains, and stone tools were found. The gray lines are volcanic tuffs and eruptions are used to estimate the age of the fossils. We’ll visit the museum that contains a cast of the 3.7-million-year-old footsteps of Australopithecus afarensis preserved in solidified volcanic ash, found at nearby Laetoli by Mary Leakey in 1979. Outside the museum, a Tanzanian guide will explain the geological features of the gorge and the work of the Leakeys. Then, it’s off to Serengeti National Park (3,646,500 acres), the jewel in the crown of Tanzania’s protected areas with over 3 million large mammals roaming its plains. It lies between Ngorongoro and Lake Victoria and adjoins Kenya's Masai Mara. Our four-hour drive will be broken up by wildlife viewing along the way. Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the Masai Mara National Reserve across the border in Kenya protect the greatest and most varied collection of terrestrial wildlife on earth, and is one of the last great migratory systems still intact. Our luxury mobile tented camp is strategically placed in the best locations for game viewing and following the herds of the migration, which will be in this area at this time of year.

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