8 Days Explore the Maasai & Hadzabe Cultures

We pick you up from Kilimanjaro airport when your flight arrives. We transfer to a 3-star Lodge in Arusha. Dinner and overnight in a lodge. (D). 

After breakfast, we head from Arusha to Mto Wa Mbu-village which is about two hours' drive. When we arrive in Mto Wa Mbu village, we continue to drive in the savanna until we reach our first Maasai boma (village). We set up a camp inside the Maasai boma. This is your new home for a few days.   You dine outside enjoying the great views of the East African Great Rift Valley which is one the geologic wonders of the world. Enjoy welcoming celebrations with a lot of dancing and singing with the Maasai warriors and women. After dinner, we gather around a campfire. (B,  L, D)

Today you have a full day to explore the fascinating Maasai culture. Maasai live in bomas which are kind of extended families numbering about 4-10 families normally. From our Maasai boma, you can see the Great Eastern Rift Valley. You can observe and participate in herding cattle, milking cows and other Maasai activities of their everyday life. Enjoy bush lunch and dinner in the Maasai boma. We stay overnight in a Maasai boma. (B, L, D)

After breakfast, you head to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The Ngorongoro Crater s the world’s largest intact caldera from a long-extinct volcano. Ngorongoro is home to about 26 000 wild creatures who live within the safety of the caldera walls. You can observe elephants, black rhinoceroses, leopards, buffalo, zebras, warthogs, gnu (wildebeests), Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, and the densest population of lions in the world. Enjoy a picnic lunch by the Hippo pool. We head back to our Maasai boma in Mto Wa Mbu for dinner and overnight. (B, picnic L, D)

Today we head to the Lake Eyasi to meet the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers. The drive is about 1,5 hours. Lake Eyasi is a seasonal shallow salt lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at the base of the Serengeti Plateau. For thousands of years, the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers have lived in Lake Eyasi. They are some of the last remaining hunter-gatherers on the Earth. The Hadzabe grow no food, raise no livestock, and live without rules or calendars. We join the Hadzabe to the deep bush and experience the real life of hunter-gatherers.  We set up a bush camp near Hadzabe's huts. Dinner and storytelling around a campfire in the wild bush. (B, L, D)

Before the sunrise, join the  Hadzabe on their early morning hunting trip. The Hadzabe use only an arrow and bows for hunting. They might gather some wild honey too depending on the honey bee season. We return to the bush camp for lunch. In the afternoon, we join the Hadzabe women when they go to gather plant tubers and Baobab fruits. You learn more about ancient Hadzabe beliefs, practices, and culture. The Hadzabe sing and tell stories every night at slow-burning Acasia fire. Enjoy your last bush dinner under the African sky full of stars and listen to the African nature's nocturnal sounds. (B, L, D)

After breakfast, we say goodbye to our Hadzabe hosts. We drive back to Lake Eaysi and you stay overnight in a lodge with stunning views over the Lake Eyasi that is a soda lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at the base of the Serengeti Plateau. Now you can have a warm shower and relax at the lodge or explore the Lake Eyasi on foot. You have a full-board in the lodge. (B, L, D)

After breakfast, we drive you back to Kilimanjaro airport when your flight departures. (B)