Beyond the game drive
Activities
Balloon flights, walking safaris, culture and the coast
Add to your safari
Safari activities and experiences
Game drives are only part of the story. Add a sunrise balloon flight, a walk with a ranger, an evening by the fire or a morning with a local community to any safari. Everything here is private, led by our own guides or trusted local partners, and arranged around your itinerary.
By area:
Hot air balloon over the Serengeti
Lift off at dawn and drift low over the plains as the sun comes up, then land for a bush breakfast. Flights run in the central, southern and northern Serengeti.
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Bush dinner under the stars
A private dinner set out on the plains around a campfire, with lanterns overhead and the calls of lions and hyenas in the distance.
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Hot air balloon over Tarangire
A sunrise flight over the Tarangire River, its giant baobabs and the elephant herds, with views across the Maasai Steppe.
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Walking safari in Tarangire
Leave the vehicle behind and walk with an armed ranger, reading tracks, dung and termite mounds and noticing the small things a game drive passes by.
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Night game drive at Lake Manyara
Lake Manyara is one of the parks where guided night drives are permitted. With a spotlight, look for genets, bushbabies, hippos grazing on land and the occasional leopard.
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Mto wa Mbu village and bike ride
Cycle with a local guide through banana groves and rice fields, meet farmers and woodcarvers, and share a home-cooked lunch in this lively market town below the Rift Valley wall.
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Coffee farm and highlands lunch
Follow the coffee from bush to cup on a farm in the Ngorongoro highlands: picking, pulping and roasting, then a long lunch made with produce from the garden.
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Empakaai Crater hike
Hike with a ranger down the forested walls of Empakaai Crater to the soda lake on its floor, often fringed with flamingos, with views to Ol Doinyo Lengai.
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Hadzabe and Datoga visit
Join one of the last hunter-gatherer communities in Africa on an early-morning foraging walk, then visit Datoga blacksmiths who forge arrowheads by hand.
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Maasai village visit
Be welcomed into a Maasai homestead with song and the jumping dance, see inside a traditional home and learn about cattle, beadwork and fire-making.
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Walk with Maasai warriors
Walk the plains north of Arusha with young Maasai warriors, learning the plants, tracks and traditions of their land, then share lunch at a boma.
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Ol Doinyo Lengai night climb
Climb through the night to the crater of the Maasai’s Mountain of God, an active volcano, for sunrise over Lake Natron and the Rift Valley.
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Flamingo walk and Engare Sero waterfall
Walk the southern shore to the feeding flamingos with a Maasai guide, then wade up a narrow gorge to a waterfall.
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Walking safari in Arusha National Park
Walk with an armed ranger among giraffe, buffalo and zebra on the lower slopes of Mount Meru, one of the few parks in the north where walking is easy to arrange.
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Canoeing on the Momella Lakes
Paddle across Small Momella Lake in Arusha National Park, with waterbirds and flamingos around you and giraffe browsing on the shore.
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Kilimanjaro helicopter flight
A scenic flight around the summit of Africa’s highest mountain, over its glaciers, ash cone and rainforest.
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Kilimanjaro day hike
Walk through the rainforest on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro for a taste of the mountain without the full climb.
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Materuni waterfalls and coffee
A walk through Chagga farmland to a tall waterfall on Kilimanjaro’s foothills, then a hands-on coffee session in the village.
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Chemka hot springs
Swim in clear, warm spring water shaded by fig trees, a relaxing break between safari and mountain.
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Horseback riding safari
Ride among zebra, giraffe and wildebeest on the plains near Kilimanjaro, a quiet and close way to see wildlife.
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Snorkelling at Mnemba
Take a boat to the reefs around Mnemba Atoll for coral, turtles and tropical fish, often with dolphins on the way out.
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Sunset dhow cruise
Sail out on a traditional wooden dhow as the sun sets over the Indian Ocean, with drinks and music on board.
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Stone Town and spice farm
A guided walk through the alleys, markets and carved doors of UNESCO-listed Stone Town, then a spice farm to taste cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon fresh from the plant.
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Jozani Forest and red colobus
Walk the forest trails and mangrove boardwalk of Jozani, home to the Zanzibar red colobus, a monkey found nowhere else on earth.
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Want to add an activity?
Most activities can be added to any safari, and many are best booked early, especially balloon flights in high season. Tell us what appeals and we will fit it into your itinerary at the right time of day and in the right place.
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