Travel by road to Legendary Lodge
Accommodation Set in lush tropical gardens on a working coffee farm just outside Arusha, the Legendary Lodge features ten beautiful garden cottages and two family cottages, each with an inspiring view of Mount Meru from its own private veranda.
Designed with a unique blend of colonial heritage and electic accents from local artisans and craftsmen, the cottages offer king sized beds, a separate lounge with fireplace and ensuite bathrooms with bath tubs and refreshing showers.
Meals are served in the gracious Old Farmhouse, while the Legendary Therapies Spa offers rejuvenating treatments in the elegant therapy room or in the privacy of the guest cottages. Gym, sauna and swimming pool are located at a nearby Members Club.
The Lodge is located on the western outskirts of Arusha, Arusha Airport is only 15 minutes’ drive from Legendary Lodge.
Arusha has grown quite rapidly in the past few years and is now home to some 650’000 people. Most visitors spend one night here after arriving on their international flight before beginning their safari the next day. Kilimanjaro International Airport is located approximately one hours’ drive from Arusha on the road to Moshi. The closest safari area is Arusha National Park, which is only a short distance away but we hardly visit the park due to a lack of animal. Arusha National Park’s most famous landmark is Mount Meru, a dormant volcano that rises more than 4500 m out of the ground in the west. The Ngurdoto Crater is located on the other side of the park, and the Momella Lakes sit between.
Travel by road to Chem Chem
Accommodation Chem Chem Safari Lodge offers eight stylishly elegant suites, each with a spacious bedroom, en-suite bathroom and outdoor shower. The earthy tones, stone floors and natural materials used throughout merge to create an inherently organic and harmonious whole.
The walls are adorned with spectacular black & white photographs of Tanzania and the rooms are so beautiful that guests could quite easily spend the whole day indoors. The outdoor area features an additional small lounge with a day bed where guests can simply lay back, relax and read a book.
Each room is protected by several shade-giving trees and positioned a good distance from the next to ensure maximum privacy. Wooden walkways lead out from the main building before turning into pathways made of large pebbles, which guests must follow to reach their respective room. Please request a room close to the main building if you are unsteady on your feet.
The main building itself sits in a romantic palm grove. The curio shop can be found near the entrance from where a wooden walkway leads into the lounge, the dining wing and the library. Here the view opens out over the plain to the front of the lodge and to the well-frequented water hole. The best view of all, however, can seen from a kind of platform integrated into the building, which allows visitors to take in Lake Manyara and from where the silhouette of the Great Rift Valley can be made out through the haze of the African heat.
Chem Chem also features a spa and swimming pool. The pool is tucked away in a private corner of the lodge and is truly beautiful – well worth the short walk.
Chem Chem's portfolio also includes: Little Chem Chem & Forest Chem Chem
Tarangire National Park is located on the other side of the road, the entrance gate to which can be reached in approximately 30 minutes. However, Chem Chem guests often prefer to do game drives in the private concession of Little Chem Chem which borders Tarangire National Park.
Today, the area is widely known for its large buffalo population that moves in and out of Tarangire. The presence of Lake Burunge in the WMA attracts the migration of water birds such as greater and lesser flamingoes and a range of ducks and shore birds. The Chem Chem camps provide access to Lake Manyara, Lake Burunge and Tarangire National Park. It is one of the few places in Tanzania where guests have access to a private area. You can get very close to wildlife as off-roading is permitted in the private concession, as well as night drives and walking safaris.
You can expect to see the Big-5 and during the dry months from July to October and some of the highest concentration of wildlife of any park in Tanzania.
The comfortable Toyota LandCruiser 4 x 4 vehicles usually have six seats, a fridge with drinking water and a socket for charging camera equipment. The roof can be opened for game viewing - the classic safari in Tanzania.
The northern gate of Manyara National Park is located 120 km west of Arusha close to the village Mto wa Mbu. If you like we may stop here for a walk to discover a bit of the local village life.
The park is renowned for its good concentration of elephant and tree climbing lion. It is also home to large herds of buffalo, giraffe, hippo and antelope. The area is also home to a conspicuous number of olive baboons, which gather in groups of up to several hundred. The flamingos on the lake, of course, provide a fascinating spectacle, and with over 400 species, it is also a birding enthusiast’s dream.
Accommodation
Perched high on the Ngorongoro Crater Rim, Entamanu Ngorongor offers sensational views of the crater floor. It consists of Entamanu Ngorongoro with seven rooms and Entamanu Private with four rooms. The two camps are right next to each other, but each has its own main building and they are run separately.
Entamanu's cottages are built elevated on wooden platforms. All rooms have en-suite bathrooms with dressing rooms, a large bedroom and a long terrace with seating. Heating is available for the colder days. Please remember that the lodge is located at an altitude of 2,200m and weather can be chilly. Two of the rooms are family rooms with two en-suite bedrooms each.
Access to the crater is via Seneto Descent, about a 30min drive from the lodge and another 30min drive down to the crater floor. The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera with 19km in diameter and walls 600m high. Its floor covers 260 square kilometres and acts like a natural zoo, providing food for a high resident animal population.
The crater is well known for its high concentration of predators. Powerful lion prides and their archenemy, the hyena, are permanently at home here, and can often be seen snatching prey from each other. With a bit of luck, it’s also possible to spot cheetah and leopard, or even one of the rare rhino. There is a small number of elephant here too, but not a single giraffe in sight, perhaps because the journey to the crater is too difficult for them. With this in mind, it is quite amazing then that several hippos live here! The crater is diverse and forms a closed ecosystem comprising grassy plains, wooded areas (such as the Lerai Forest), various marshlands, natural springs and Lake Magadi at its centre, which supports flamingo and pelican.
The Ngorongoro Crater is a three-hour drive from Arusha. The road leads through the Serengeti via the Karatu Highlands to the rim of the crater. There are three entrances in and out of the crater, which are partly very steep and difficult to access in a vehicle. There are no places to stay within the crater itself, but there are some lodges situated on the rim, the cheapest option, however, is to drive back to the Karatu region. The abundance of wildlife and the crater’s natural beauty attracts a large number of tourists. This can lead to the crater being overrun by vehicles – which means you will be disappointed if you’re looking for a solitary experience. Nevertheless, it is still well worth a visit as it can be quite spectacular during off-peak hours.
It is thought that a huge volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself some two or three million years ago. The massive emission of ash settled in a thick and densely compacted layer over the southern Serengeti, stopping any trees from growing. The undulating grass plains of the Serengeti are a result of the volcanic activity of the Ngorongoro and its neighbouring volcanoes, Olmoti, Empakaai and Ol Doinyo Lengai.
The Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic caldera with 19km in diameter and walls 600m high. Its floor covers 260 square kilometres and acts like a natural zoo, providing food for a high resident animal population.
The mineral-rich crater floor is covered with nutritious grass and attracts large herds of animals. Up to 25’000 mammals, primarily herbivores can be found at any one time in the Ngorongoro Crater. The list includes wildebeest, eland, hartebeest, zebra, gazelle, buffalo, rhinos and warthog. Moors and forests provide food for hippo, elephant, baboon, waterbuck and bushbuck. Big cat such as lion, cheetah, leopard and serval find rich pickings here. Large packs of hyena also roam the crater, hunting or pinching the prey of other predators.
Travel by road to One Nature Nyaruswiga
The dusty gravel road leads primarily to the west where the vast plains of the Serengeti extend to the horizon. After two hours of brave driving, you arrive at Naabi Hill Gate where some bureaucracy needs to be sorted. After a short time we leave the main road and follow small paths across the endless grassy plains to your next camp.
Accommodation One Nature Nyaruswiga offers fourteen luxury tents with en-suite bathroom, lounge and large bedroom. The rooms are very comfortable and tastefully decorated. Two of the rooms are family rooms with two separate en-suite bedrooms and a shared living area. All tents have a wooden floor and an outside deck with seating area.
The main area includes a large lounge with bar, dining tent, boutique and pool with deck chairs for the relaxed moments. The Astral Observation Deck is equipped with a two meter high telescope that delivers a very impressive view of the African sky.
We recall Bernhard Grzimek’s television series and his descriptions of the wildlife paradise that is the Serengeti. The endless grassy plains are deeply impressive and the Serengeti is without doubt one of the most attractive safari destinations in the world.If you’re in the right place at the right time, it is possible to experience the huge herds of wildebeest (up to two million), with some half-a-million zebra and a couple of hundred thousand Thompson’s gazelle, impala etc… in tow – accompanied by a couple of hungry lion, hyena and cheetah. The spectacle reaches its pinnacle in the north of the Serengeti, when the herds cross the Mara River.
The Serengeti ecosystem includes the actual national park (approx. 15’000 km²) and the bordering protected areas; chief among them is the Maswa Game Reserve in the southwest, the Grumeti and Ikorongo game reserves in the northwest, the Maasai Mara in the north, and Loliondo and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the east. The plains in the south comprise for the most part treeless flatlands that stretch out to the horizon. Typically, the plains of the Serengeti are punctuated by tree-covered granite outcrops known as ‘kopjes’, which provide the perfect resting place and observation post for predators. The northern part of the Serengeti is hillier with more vegetation.
The majority of guests travel to the camps that are located in the area where the migrating animals happen to be. If you wish to be alone, then look for a camp where the migration is NOT currently passing through, or combine several camps. There is an abundance of wildlife everywhere, mainly cheetah, hyena, jackal, lion and leopard, which are somewhat more difficult to find. In addition to wildebeest and zebra, there is a good concentration of topi, Grant and Thompson’s gazelle, eland and kudu etc… Elephant and buffalo are also present, but not in great numbers. Rhino also live in the Serengeti, but are naturally very shy creatures and therefore difficult to find.
Travel by road to One Nature Mara River
The north of the Serengeti is more hilly and there are more trees. You will spot more and more zebras and wildebeest the further north we drive - with a bit of luck you may suddenly find yourself surrounded by thousands of animals spread over the endless hills. Small black dots as far as the eye can see!
Accommodation
Each of the seven villas at One Nature Mara River offers unobstructed views of the magnificent Serengeti, allowing guests to observe any passing animals from the comfort of their guest bedrooms or private veranda.
All rooms have en-suite bathrooms, both indoor and outdoor shower, a freestanding copper bathtub, solar-powered air conditioner, a private heated pool with sunbeds, an outdoor lounge area, an in-room wood-burning fire stove, mini bar, fridge and personalized butler service. Sliding panoramic glass windows open to extensive outdoor living and dining areas.
One of the seven villas is a two-bedroom family villa with ample 291m² space for up to six guests. A large living & dinging area separates the two en-suite bedrooms. Large outside decks, the heated swimming pool and a boma area complement this unique villa.
The main area accommodates restaurant, bar, lounge and also includes a gym, a photography room and a trading post for unique finds.
Flight to Arusha
Basic Information
Individual trip with private guide and private 4x4 vehicle for Arusha - Manyara - Ngorongoro - Serengeti. Activities in these areas will be conducted on a private basis with your own guide and vehicle.
Duration 10 nights. Min 2 guests. Minimum age 8 years. Weight limit of luggage 20 kg. Luggage in one soft bag only.
Includes all transfers from Arusha to the hotels/camps to Arusha
- Legendary Lodge: Double Room. Dinner, breakfast.
- Chem Chem: Double Room. All meals, drinks (except premier brands), laundry service, private vehicle / guide provided by the lodge.
- Entamanu Ngorongoro: Double Room. All meals, drinks (except premier brands), laundry service.
- One Nature Nyaruswiga: Double Room. All meals, drinks (except premier brands), laundry service.
- One Nature Mara River: Double Room. All meals, drinks (except premier brands), laundry service.
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