Southern Tanzania Wilderness

You arrive in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city and commercial capital on the Indian Ocean coast. Once you've checked in to your hotel and had time to freshen up, an afternoon city tour takes you through the crowded lanes of Kariakoo Market and down to the historic harbour, where wooden dhows still come and go. The day ends with a fresh seafood dinner at a waterfront restaurant as the sun sets over the water. Tonight is at your hotel in Dar es Salaam, with dinner included.

After breakfast you drive south-west to Nyerere National Park, formerly the Selous Game Reserve and one of Africa's largest protected areas. You check in to a riverside lodge and have lunch. In the afternoon you board a boat on the Rufiji River. It's a quiet, low-level way to watch wildlife: hippo pods, Nile crocodiles basking on the banks and plenty of waterbirds along the edges, with the late light falling on the riverbanks. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included, and this is the first of two nights at the lodge.

The morning starts on foot. An armed ranger leads a walking safari through the bush, and seeing the park at walking pace makes you notice tracks, birds and smaller details you'd miss from a vehicle. Nyerere is one of the best places in Africa to look for endangered African wild dogs, so your guide keeps an eye out for packs. In the afternoon you head out on a game drive, focusing on the hippo-filled oxbow lakes and the woodland where predators hunt. You spend a second night at the riverside lodge. All meals are included.

Today you transfer to Ruaha National Park. We recommend an internal flight for this leg, because it covers the distance quickly and gives you a view over the miombo woodland on the way. After you arrive and settle into your safari camp, you head out on an afternoon game drive along the Great Ruaha River. Elephants and predators concentrate along this river, which makes it a good first look at the park. This is the first of three nights at the camp, with breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

You spend the whole day on game drives through Ruaha, morning and afternoon, crossing rugged country studded with baobabs. Ruaha holds large numbers of elephants and one of the healthiest lion populations on the continent. It's also remote, so you'll often have a sighting to yourselves instead of sharing it with a line of vehicles. Your guide decides the route on the day, based on what's been moving. You return to your safari camp for the second night, with all meals included.

The day begins with a guided walking safari. You learn to track animals by their spoor and read the signs that tell you what passed through overnight. After lunch you drive along the Great Ruaha River, the lifeline of the park, where predators lie in wait for animals coming to drink. Lion prides, leopards and hyenas are regularly seen along this stretch, though sightings are never certain. It's your third and last night at the safari camp, with breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

You leave Ruaha for Mikumi National Park, which borders the northern edge of the Nyerere ecosystem. The transfer can be by internal flight or overland through remote southern Tanzania, and our team will advise which works better for your dates. Mikumi is easy to reach yet holds plenty of wildlife. In the afternoon you take a game drive on the Mkata Floodplain, open grassland where buffalo herds and lions are commonly spotted. This is the first of two nights in Mikumi, with breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

A full day in Mikumi covers both its grassland and its woodland. The Mkata Floodplain looks a lot like the Serengeti, with herds of buffalo, wildebeest and zebra, and there's a chance of lions and wild dogs nearby. You stop at the hippo pools along the Mkata River, then explore the miombo woodland on the park's edges. Elephants, giraffes and sable antelope are found in this part of the park. Tonight is your second and final night in Mikumi, with all meals included.

After breakfast you drive back to Dar es Salaam on the main highway, which takes about five hours. The road passes the Uluguru Mountains and runs through green farmland, so you see a lot of everyday rural Tanzania on the way. Lunch is included en route. In Dar es Salaam you're taken to Julius Nyerere International Airport for your onward flight. If your flight is the next day, ask us to add a night in the city.