Tanzania Kilimanjaro

Karibu sana, welcome! Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, located between Arusha and Moshi, you’ll be transferred to your hotel in Arusha. As you drive into town, you'll notice the scenic views of Mount Meru standing tall in the background, and on clear days, even the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro might appear on the horizon. Arusha is considered the safari capital of Tanzania and serves as the gateway to some of Africa’s most famous national parks. It lies at an elevation of about 1,400 meters above sea level, giving it a pleasant year-round climate, warm during the day and cool at night. With a population of around 500,000 people, Arusha is a vibrant mix of cultures, markets, and history. Depending on your arrival time, you may have the chance to explore a bit of the town, relax at the hotel, or simply rest and recover from your journey before the adventure truly begins tomorrow. Arusha is considered the safari capital of Tanzania and serves as the gateway to some of Africa’s most famous national parks. It lies at an elevation of about 1,400 meters above sea level, giving it a pleasant year-round climate, warm during the day and cool at night. With a population of around 500,000 people, Arusha is a vibrant mix of cultures, markets, and history. Depending on your arrival time, you may have the chance to explore a bit of the town, relax at the hotel, or simply rest and recover from your journey before the adventure truly begins tomorrow.

After inspection of the bikes and strapping everything, the riding adventure begins! It will be busy getting out of town but once on the main road, there will be very little traffic left. It will be an easy asphalt ride to Lake Babati – long, windy road, where you have the time to soak in the first impressions of the countries landscape and roadside life. Passing Lake Manyara, Lake Burungi, the first Masaai Manyattas. You can arrive around lunch time Babati.

Today it is mostly gravel! You will ride along mountain ridges, wind through the hills, and pass rural villages – with spectacular views over lakes and countryside. The lake village is a small town, you stay in a simple hotel, the ‘best around Ruhengeri is tour destination for the day. Every now and then the road is very bad. At the top of the lake we turn off the trail and ride alongside the many volcanoes of the Volcanoes National Park. This gives way for spectacular scenery.

Just after our hotel, there is the option to visit the village of the Hadza tribe. This is a unique tribe and since the San in Namibia have lost this part of their culture, the Hadza are the only original hunting tribe left in Africa. You can see how they live and let them teach us how to hunt in the wild. They speak their own unique language with the very distinguished clicking sound. It is impressive to see how their culture has survived and how they have lived for many generations. There are some exciting single trails as well to explore, whilst the car will follow another route: You continue our ride north over a wide gravel road. It is a bumpy dusty ride but with nice views over the farm fields. Then we hit the Tarmac and have coffee/ lunch. After 40 km to the east, you branch off from Mto Wa Mbu and drive into the plains of Lake Natron region. On the west side you will see the outside wall of the Ngorogoro crater. Depending on time, there are some fun adventurous rides possible through bushy lands and over open grass fields. Look out for Zebra’s and other wildlife along the way!

This morning you have the option to visit Lake Natron. It has stunning scenery, and famous as a key breeding ground for flamingos. The lake has high levels of salinity and alkalinity due to the minerals that flow into it from the surrounding hills, making it so caustic that just a few species of fish can survive in it. After lunch you continue your way to Longido. From the dry plains it turns into more wilderness. Watch out for the zebras on the way and spot giraffes moving through the bushes. You stay in a simple family run guesthouse. There is an option to visit a community project on women empowerment: http://www.projectembo.org.

The morning starts with an adventurous ride through a dusty but beautiful area. You drive along the edge of Enduimet Conservancy. There is the option to do a motorbike game drive and cut part of the route. After hitting the tarmac, we are at the foot of the Kilimanjaro. We follow the ring road around the highest of African mountains. It is only a few km tarmac, before it becomes gravel again and hillier. You climb up the edge of the mountain. This road will touch the Kenyan border a few times. Kibo is the Maasai Name for the top of the Kilimanjaro Mountain. On the North side of the mountain, we will meet tarmac again, and then it is an 80 km winding and curvy road through villages and forest. You will stay in a comfortable hotel to refresh yourself from the dusty day.

You start the morning with some asphalt and gravel roads and head to the Para Mountains. Quickly we get off the main roads and leave urbanisation. We will follow dirt tracks through the hills. You head to the Kenya border again, reaching lake Jipe. It is a swampy lake, and it is very remote. You probably will do a picknick along the way, before continuing to Same. There you will stay in a nice hotel surrounded with green.

Same is not far from the Mkomazi National Park. This park is connected to Tsavo National Park on the Kenyan side of the border. Mkomazi is famous for its Rhino populations. You can use this day to take a safari in this park. Since it is out of the way for most tourists, there will not be as many safari cars around.

You follow a beautiful track through the eastern Para mountains. You pass the Mkomazi National Park on our left side and may see some wildlife at the roadside. You follow a dirt track through the bushes and past a dammed lake. You pass small Masaai settlements and a few small towns. The route will climb up the hills with stunning views and some tricky bends.

In this beautiful place you will have a rest day. You can just relax or go on a few hours trekking with a local guide to see the small villages and the dense Shagavo forest. Perhaps you spot a Usambara chameleon but for sure monkeys along the way. There is also an option to go for a short ride in the surrounding mountains. Or just chill and enjoy the views.

Today you will drive into the interiors of northern Tanzania. You descend from the Ushambara mountains on to the main tarmac road. You will ride on it for just a brief moment and branch off at Hedaru town. Have a small break and ensure your tank is full! From there it is dusty, dry and desolate countryside. The wide gravel roads cut through the bushy plains. This is Masaai land, this is cattle land. There are plenty of options to go off-track and explore the other sides of the main gravel road. You will stay in a small crossroad town in a simple guesthouse.

Today the road is gravel all the way to Arusha. But you will see the landscape change, the surface change: from yellow and grey sand and bush land to red earth and green fields. You head north and slowly you get closer to the Tarangire National Park, on your left. You can spot zebra’s, ostriches, deer. Cattle land changes into agricultural plots. After the lunch at Terat the route becomes more populated, and once you hit the tarmac again, you are in urbanized Arusha. You return to the hotel you started.