Program

Day 1: Arrival in Arusha

Pick-up from airport or bus terminal and transfer to the hotel. Meeting of the group, presentation of the program and group dinner. Overnight at a uniquely designed and owner-managed lodge just a few minutes from Arusha town, situated in private grounds within a quiet residential area known as Sekei, with views of Mt. Meru (the 5th highest mountain in Africa, at 4,655 m). Pool and comfortable lounge with an excellent bar and dinner menu, complemented by staff who are friendly and attentive. (D: dinner)

Notes: When you arrive at Empakai, there will be 4 staff present, including 1 driver/camp-hand, 2 cooks, and the Maasai trekking guide, there to greet you. For the walk to Empakai Crater floor, you will carry your own picnic lunch box in your daypacks, to enjoy at the lakeside. Bottled mineral water is optional for each person (10 liters per person for the entire trip is recommended).

Camping details: The camp at Empakai includes: 2m x 2m dome sleeping tents with bed frames, 3” foam mattresses, sleeping bags with fleece liners, pillows with pillow cases. Dining is in a mountain mess tent, with dining tables & backed chairs. 1 toilet tent and 1 shower tent is provided for up to 7 pax. At 8+ pax, there are 2 toilet tents and 2 shower tents. Large bath towels are provided.

Day 2: Hike from Empakai crater to the Rift Valley

We depart from our camp around 10am. Donkeys will carry your light bag (for one night only), plus the sleeping bags and sleeping pads to the next campsite. The walk leads us upwards along the crater rim, then steeply downward steeply on a foot trail along a ridge looking out over the highlands to the north. The top of Ol Doinyo Lengai juts into the sky, its steep slopes piercing the horizon created by the highlands atop the Rift Valley Escarpment wall. Along the road we pass Maassai women walking to the crater rim with donkeys in search of long grass to cut for their cows, and for roofing for their bomas (huts). We walk down into the small village of Nayobi, a center of trading 'center'for the local community. We continue on a cattle trail downward into scrub-woodland and groves of yellow barked Acacia (Fever Trees). The private campsite is set under yellow-barked acacia trees, with a stunning view of the top of Lengai. You arrive at about 3pm to the campsite for snacks and drinks. (B, L, D).
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Notes: The Maasai trekking guide carries a VHF hand-held radio for emergency contact uses. You will carry your own picnic lunch box in your daypacks, to eat en route.
Camping details: The camp at Acacia Camp includes: mountain sleeping tents with ridge-rest mattresses (2 per pax), sleeping bags with fleece liners, pillows with pillow cases. Dining is in a mountain mess tent, with aluminum roll-up dining tables & aluminum backed chairs. 1 open-topped toilet tent is provided for up to 7 pax. At 8+ pax, there are 2 toilet tents. Wash basins with warm water and a large face cloth are provided for each guest.

Day 3: Hike into the Rift Valley to Lake Natron and the base of Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano

After breakfast, set off early, we continue our trek into the Rift Valley: First, we follow the edge of the escarpment wall. Lake Natron shimmers in front of us, while the massive stratovolcano Lengai is close by on our right, a deep chasm of air between the steep escarpment walls and the steep slopes of Lengai. The trail turns sharply downward along an ancient trading route to the foot of Lengai… (for centuries the Maasai on the lower plains have traded their goods with the Maasai in the highlands).
We stop midway along the trail to eat lunch in the shade of a canyon. The temperatures grow quite hot, and areas of shade are oases from the heat. Once we reach the base of the escarpment, we'll be picked up and driven over to our camp (ca. 45 min drive). Down near the lakeshore, we camp in a private bush campsite at an undisturbed place in a completely wild, natural environment, and completely exclusive to the group. (B, L, D).

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Notes: You will carry your own picnic lunch box in your daypacks, to enjoy en route. You trek to the bottom of the escarpment, where at the pickup point, the passenger vehicle(s) will meet you and take you to the your private campsite.

Camping details: The camp at Natron includes: 2m x 2m dome sleeping tents with framed beds, 3” foam mattresses, sleeping bags, pillows with pillow cases. Dining is under a dining tarp, with dining tables & backed chairs. 1 shower tent is provided for up to 7 pax. At 8+ pax, there are 2 shower tents. Large bath towels are provided. We cannot set up our toilet tent(s) at this campsite as there are public toilets here.

Day 4: Full day at Lake Natron

For those of you who've climbed Lengai during the night, you will likely want to rest in camp (you will arrive back in camp at about 11am). For those who have not climbed, we do a short hike (about 30-45 minutes) up into the gorge to visit the Engare Sero waterfall, to marvel at the beauty of these falls, or go for a swim! Lunch at camp, then in the late afternoon, drive to the exceptional Lake Natron, to walk along the lake, and to witness the “salt-works”, an age-old practice of extracting magadi (the dried alkaline crust) from the lake-bed. The magadi is used for medicine and as a nutritional supplement for cows and goats, as well as in cooking local cuisine. It speeds up the process of cooking marahagwe (beans) from 1.5 hours down to 30 minutes! It is also used in primitive glass-making. Return to camp for a scrumptious dinner. Overnight at Lake Natron Camp. (B, L, D).

Day 5: Back to Arusha

After breakfast, drive back to Arusha, via Engaruka and Mto wa Mbu villages, along the base of the Rift Valley Escarpment. The drive back to Arusha is 6 hours. (B)

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Note: we can arrange accommodation in Arusha at a place of your choice and budget, or transfers to other destinations.

About this tour

The highlands of Ngorongoro are home to some of the world's most spectacular sights: misty forests and rolling hills, ancient craters and the red blazes of Maasai who inhabit this beautiful land. The trek begins at the rim of remote Empakai Crater, a forested crater with an emerald green lake at its bottom. The first day's hike is around the lake at the Empakai crater floor, then the next day the trek begins in earnest, from Empakai Crater downwards into the highland meadows to a small Maasai village called Nayobi. We spend the night camping in an Acacia grove atop the Rift Valley escarpment, with magnificent views of Oldony'o Lengai, the 'Maasai Mountain of God'. On the third day we continue down the Rift Valley escarpment wall to the base of Lengai, where we camp for two nights in an area called 'Engare Sero', meaning “endless water” in Kimaa, the language of the Maasai. There is a clear, cool waterfall emanating from a fissure in the escarpment wall, and year-round a clear river flows into the barren, parched plain surrounding Lengai. That evening there is an option to hike Lengai (an active volcano). The last day we hike into the Engare Sero Gorge, to the  waterfall, and later walk the shores of Lake Natron, a giant alkaline lake in the Rift Valley chain of soda lakes.

Additional information

Arrival / international flights to Tanzania:

The tour starts and ends in Arusha, a friendly, mid-sized town that is the main starting point for excursions in the area. Convenient airports to fly to are:

-Kilimanjaro International (JRO) (30 miles or 1-1,5 hr minibus ride to Arusha)
-Nairobi (NBO) (5 hours minibus ride to Arusha, involves an easy border crossing and an extra night in Nairobi on the return travel)
-Dar-es-Salaam (DES) (9 hour bus ride to Arusha, or domestic Air Tanzania flight to Kilimanjaro International).

On request, we will be happy to help you with your individual travel arrangements, including transfers and possibly necessary accommodation e.g. in Nairobi; depending on your departure airport, we can offer to find airfare for you at very competetive rates. Please contact us!

Equipment:

Clothing: Please take different kinds of clothing: during transfers in jeeps, as well as during the trekking through the highlands, light and comfortable clothing is recommended. To protect you from the dust, a scarf or head-shawl is very useful. For trekking etappes, climbing Lengai as well as exploring the active areas in the crater of Lengai volcano, you are required to wear sturdy leather boots that well cover your ankles. You will need different layers of clothing to adjust to the changing circumstances.

Checklist: Here below you will find the list of the most important items you should bring along for this tour:

- 1 warm fleece jacket
- 1 rain/wind jacket shell
- 1 pair trekking boots (medium weight, waterproof)
- 1 pair of camp shoes
- 1 sun hat
- 1 pair UV-blocking sunglasses

Other:

- Personal documents (passport, flight ticket, pocket money, insurance certificates etc. as well as fotocopies of these stored in a secure place)
- 1 soft (no hard frame or wheels) duffel bag (porters will carry)
- 1 daypack
- Plastic bags of different sizes (to protect clothes against rain)
- 1 head lamp or torch (with extra batteries and light bulb)
- 2 One-liter water bottles, or substitute with hydration pack
- Sun block. We suggest the highest possible SPF rating
- Water purification tablets / or filter/pump.  We recommend tablets as the best and most fool-proof way to purify water.
- 2 bandanas (for dust)
- Water shoes
- Swimsuit

- First Aid Kit
- Personal medicines

Accommodation:

Accommodation is based on double room or tent occupancy. For details, please look at the notes on the itinerary above.

• Camping at Empakai (day 1): Special (private) campsite inside NCA, no facilities

• Camping at Elerai Forest, Acacia Camp (day 2): Special (private) campsite as per agreement with Nayobi village, no facilities

• Camping at Lake Natron Bush Campsite (Days 3 and 4): Improvised camp at an undisturbed place in a wild, natural environment, completely exclusive to the group, as per arrangement with Ngare Sero village.

Eating & Drinking:

All meals are included during this tour: breakfast, lunch(-box) and dinner. Our cooking staff knows how to surprise you with wonderful local and international dishes. All eating and cooking equipment is provided for. If you are vegetarian or have any other specific nutrition needs, please inform us in advance, so we can prepare us accordingly!

Tour character & physical condition:

The trek is suitable for people of many ages and abilities, but minimum age recommended is 10 years. The daily trekking time ranges from 4 to 6 hours, and trekkers are only required to carry a daypack. Donkeys carry the loads from Empakai to Lengai. Accommodations are in mountain tents with sleeping bags and ridge-rest sleeping pads. Meals are eaten in lighted mess tents with backed chairs, around a camp table. Toilet tent(s), (with sturdy metal framed proper toilet seat(s)) are used at Empakai and Acacia camps. At Lake Natron, toilet and shower facilities are provided. We send along our own cooks to prepare all the meals, and everyone can expect expertly prepared, delicious food.

The trek up Oldony'o Lengai is a serious physical challenge, suitable only for those who are prepared to hike up steep slopes (about 40 to 45%), ascending over 6,000 feet of elevation (almost 2,000 mt.). We use VHF radios for emergency communication (with a vehicle we keep at the base of the mountain during a trek), and use a mountain rope in case needed. We also supply energy food for the trek. (lots of energy is needed!)