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Tanzania: Ultimate Wildlife Safari and Time with Maasai & Hadzabe Communities, led by Biologist Ken Clifton

Open gallery

February 2 - 14, 2025

Group Size: About 10 -16

Overview

This trip combines unique cultural interaction with local tribes and other Tanzanians, with the ultimate wildlife safari experience. Offering a balanced blend of activities, locations, and accommodations, and capitalizing on a long-standing relationship with our student overseas study program partner, Dorobo Safaris, we have created a not-to-be-missed adventure.

We will have guided nature walks and hikes with local Maasai guides. Animal enthusiasts will be thrilled by world-class wildlife viewing. Culture lovers will be enriched by connecting with local Tanzanians. We will travel with expert safari guides in rugged Land Cruisers over a variety of terrain, including a fair share of off-roading.

Our accommodations put you in the heart of the wilderness for four nights in rustic Doboro tent camps, two nights at a Serengeti tented camp, and six nights in comfortable lodges. Alumni, parents, and friends, we hope you will join us for this once in a lifetime experience - there’s something for everyone!

Highlights include:

World-class wildlife viewing in Tarangire National Park and the Serengeti.
Experience the 12‑mile wide Ngorongoro Crater. This World Heritage Site is a unique conservation area enclosed within a prehistoric caldera.
Explore the Yaeda Valley - home to the Hadza hunter gatherer people; we’ll learn from them through natural history walks and conversation.
Oldonyo Sambu conservation area - providing travelers the opportunity to learn about local culture, history, and conservation efforts.
Learn about Tanzania’s natural history from L&C biologist and seasoned Tanzania traveler, Ken Clifton.
Spectacular stargazing in the southern sky.

Arriving to Tanzania

Participants select and book their own flights arriving to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) by February 2, 2025. Please plan to arrive no later than 9pm local time. Airport transfer to our lodging for the night will be provided.

Itinerary

Sunday, February 2nd

Plan your flight for an arrival to Kilimanjaro airport. On arrival you will be privately transferred to your lodge for the night.

One Night Rivertrees Country Inn

Monday, February 3rd

Leisurely breakfast then guided nature walk in the gardens and forest. Chance to see blue monkeys, the rarer black and white colobus monkey, and an amazing array of birds. Depart for Arusha by about 11am, and head straight to the western side of town and the Olasiti area where Dorobo Safaris (our hosts) is based. Check in to the Kahawa Lodge with lunch at the lodge. Afternoon walk to the Dorobo premises – overview and question and answer session with Ken Clifton and Dorobo at one of the Petersons Houses. Return to the Kahawa House for dinner with some of the founders of Dorobo Safaris, staff, and guides

One Night Kahawa House

Tuesday & Wednesday, February 4th and 5th

Make your way from Arusha to Manyara Ecosystem - Private Concession staying in Private Dorobo Mobile Camp about 2 hours from Arusha. Enjoy a game drive into camp where lunch will be served. Meet your Maasai local hosts during your time there. Some of you can go for a walk in the area and others can choose to go for wildlife drives in the safari car. Your time here is very flexible and you can plan each day with the guides. Two Full days for Manyara Activities

Night drives are a fun activity you all can enjoy one of the nights.

Two Nights Dorobo Mobile (Manyara Private Concession)

Thursday & Friday, February 6th and 7th

Travel the short distance to Tarangire National Park arriving at the Tarangire Safari Lodge for a late lunch. Afternoon wildlife viewing.

Full day for wildlife viewing excursions in Tarangire and for enjoying the views.

Two Nights Tarangire Safari Lodge

Saturday & Sunday, February 8th and 9th

Drive through the Great Rift Valley to the Yaeda Valley home to the Hadzabe Hunter Gatherers

One full day dedicated to Hadza Activities Again you can split into groups that would like to walk further and others that can use the vehicle to get around to the settlements and other activity sites.

Two Nights Dorobo Mobile Camp Two Nights (Yaeda)

Monday, February 10th

Drive to the town of Karatu, located just outside the Ngorongoro. Arrive mid-afternoon to the lodge for some down to relax and catch up after days of camping.

One Night The Plantation Lodge

Tuesday, February 11th

Early start and straight into Ngorongoro Crater the crater for a full day safari with picnic lunch.

One Night Ngorongoro Lions Paw Camp

Wednesday & Thursday, February 12th and 13th

Make your way into the Southern Serengeti area by lunch and then to the lodge. Wildlife viewing as you drive and a further excursion in the afternoon. Full days dedicated to the Ndutu area in search of the great migration which traditionally in February should be dispersed throughout this area. It is also the time when the wildebeest calving spectacle should be happening. .

Two Nights Ndutu Wilderness Camp

Friday, February 14th

Catch the scheduled flight from Ndutu Airstrip departing at 9:40 and arriving at 12:10 - dayrooms at the Kahawa House and chance for some shopping before heading to the airport for your international flights.

Meals

Price includes all meals from your arrival on February 2nd until our departure on 14th. Daily snacks will be provided as well.

Accomodations

Riverstree Country Inn

Kahawa House

Dorobo Mobile Tent Camps

Tarangire Safari Lodge

Dorobo Mobile Tent Camps

The Plantation Lodge

Ngorongoro Lions Paw Lodge

Nyikani Ndutu Migration Tented Camp

Register Now!

Cost

Deposit:

+ $2,000 per person (non-refundable)

+ Final Deposits due August 30, 2024 or until capacity is reached.

Total Cost:

+ Double Occupancy

$8,995 per person ($2,000 deposit plus final payment of $6,995).

+ Single Occupancy

$9,995 per person (($2,000 deposit plus final payment of $7,995).

+ Suggested Gratuity: $250 per person

+ Airfare is not included.

Balance Payment due by September 20, 2024

Travel Insurance
We strongly recommend travel insurance for all Lewis & Clark trips.

Academic Leader:

Ken Clifton, Biologist & Faculty Emeritus

Dr. Ken Clifton taught biology at Lewis & Clark for more than twenty years. He is a seasoned veteran of L&C study abroad programs and has led six semester-long programs to East Africa. Ken is an intrepid world traveler who has lived and studied outside the US for extended periods of time. As a post-doctoral researcher, he and his wife, Lisa, maintained a tent camp in Kenya’s Maasai Mara for several years, an experience that forged an enduring love of the landscapes, animals, and people of the region. Ken’s favorite place to be is outdoors. He is an accomplished birder, with nearly 1700 species on his life list, and also enjoys nature photography and fishing.

Ken’s expertise lies at the interface between animal behavior and ecology. He is particularly interested in how food availability and predation pressure shape the evolution of social behaviors. In addition to his years of studying East African habitats, Ken has spent many thousands of hours underwater and explored many of the planet’s coral reefs. Perhaps around the campfire he will regale us with tales of how he became unexpectedly famous for discovering the sex lives of seaweeds! Ken retired in May, 2023. Ken led our Tanzania trips in 2019 & 2023, as well as Antarctica in 2022..

Need more information?
Please do not hesitate to contact Andrew McPheeters at mcpheete@lclark.edu, or cal (503) 841-7657.

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