Tanzania Safari Drive

Ten nights from Kilimanjaro to Ngorongoro and Zanzibar, self-guided in convoy, in a Land Cruiser with rooftop tents.

Sleeping in a rooftop tent on a Land Cruiser is the particular appeal here, and it is not roughing it: the vehicles come with two two-person tents, full camping equipment, a local guide, an operator guide and a private chef for the group.

Two nights near Arusha open it in a Bauhaus-style villa. A one-day hike on Kilimanjaro follows, climbing the Marangu route through tropical rainforest among giant ferns, calling birds and colobus monkeys to 2,700 metres, which is still the humid green zone rather than the barren heights. The overland leg then runs to Ngorongoro, where a 600-metre-deep volcanic crater holds its own enclosed ecosystem, with lions, zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, hippo and, with luck, black rhino on the crater floor. February puts the western side around Ndutu in its calving season, with the herds and the big cats following them constantly on the move. Zanzibar closes it: white sand, spice-scented air, Stone Town’s layered architecture, red colobus monkeys, and a sunset catamaran on the last evening.

Two nights in the villa, three in the rooftop tents, one in a safari tented camp, three at an oceanfront Zanzibar resort and one in Stone Town are included, with five days of Land Cruiser rental, the Kilimanjaro hike, two Ngorongoro safari days with a qualified guide and the catamaran cruise. Mid-February is the departure. No wildlife sighting can be promised, the black rhino least of all. The operator’s page gives ten nights against the nine recorded here.