10 Days Zanzibar Beach & Selous Safari with optional Diving from US$3,308.-pp sharing

Zanzibar and Mnemba Atoll burst with tropical marine life in crystal clear water and are considered a world top dive and snorkel destination. Enjoy culture, history, diving coral reefs and white sand beaches followed by an African safari in remote Tanzania.

Your safari camp is located high up on the banks of the Rufiji River where you can watch wildlife come to quench their thirst and the hippos send out their honks all night long. Search for lions and leopards in your customized open safari vehicle, explore by boat and on foot accompanied by an armed ranger.

This journey is like anything you have ever experienced before…!

Non-divers are welcome and will love this journey as well.

Best time: Oct/Nov are very best times for both diving and safari but other times good as well

Best Time for Diving: Although diving is possible year round you will find the best conditions Mid Feb to mid May and mid Oct to mid Dec

Best Time for Safari: July to November, June and December

Key
HB: Half Board- breakfast and dinner
FB+: Dinner, bed, breakfast, lunch and activities daily

Price

US$3,308.- Nov 1 to Dec 22, 2018

US$3,536.-  March and April 1-22, 2019

US$3,596.- July 2018 to end of Feb 22,2019, Nov through mid Dec 2019,

US$3,554.- June 2019

US$3,620.- July through Oct 2019

For dive package with 8 dives add US$450.-pp

Included

Accommodation and meals as per package, 2 daily safari activities (vehicle,  1 boat, 1 walking), all transfers and domestic flights to Zanzibar and Selous Game Reserve, laundry at safari lodge, National Park and Conservation fees,

Optional Dive Package: 8 dives including 1 Mnemba Atoll Dive (full day with lunch), 1 Leven Bank dive upcharge,  excluding gear rental

Excluded

International flight to Dar Es Salaam Tanzania; optional tours on Zanzibar, dive gear rental, visa, excess baggage,

Note: Daily departures, minimum 2 guests, Journey starts and ends at Dar Es Salaam Airport

Day 1:           The Z Hotel, Nungwi

The name Tanzania conjures up images of wildebeest stampeding across vast savannah, rain forests teeming with monkeys and birdlife, and great plains brimming with legions of game. All of these natural wonders and more are on offer in this exceptionally diverse African nation. Visitors typically visit Tanzania to partake in at least one of the four well known Tanzanian tourist experiences: a relaxing seaside vacation on the picturesque island paradise of Zanzibar, an underwater tour of some of the world’s most renowned dive sites around the gorgeous Spice Islands, a safari adventure in some of Africa’s most impressive game reserves, or a hiking excursion around Mount Kilimanjaro National Park. Whichever of these incredible holidays you choose, you will undoubtedly be welcomed by some fabulously friendly and peaceful inhabitants who, despite being divided into 120 different ethnic groups and cultures, live in harmony with one another and provide some of the most wonderfully exotic local cuisine you could imagine. With all of this diversity on offer, the most difficult part of your Tanzanian holiday experience is likely to be deciding where to go!

Nungwi

Once little more than a ramshackle fishing village, Nungwi has been transformed into one of Unguja island’s busiest beach destinations and its second most populated village after its capital, Stone Town. Situated at the island’s northernmost tip, Nungwi is blessed with some of Zanzibar’s most idyllic swimming beaches as the water surrounding this section of the island is fairly deep and mostly unaffected by the change of tides. The village is also renowned as a party hotspot with plenty of boisterous nightlife and a thriving social scene hosted by the village’s slew of hotels, bars, shops and restaurants. Spend your days diving, lazing on the spectacular beaches, floating in the idyllic turquoise waters or indulging in a massage. Then, as the sun sets, join an African dhow for an evening cruise in good old style.

Day Itinerary

Arrive in Dar Es Salaam and connect to Zanzibar where our representative will meet you for your transfer to your boutique hotel.

Overnight: The Z Hotel

This chic, boutique hotel situated in a vibrant spot on the corner of an idyllic beach in Nungwi, is located on the northern tip of Zanzibar. It blends elegant, contemporary design with traditional Zanzibari features to create a unique cool and relaxing environment.

Deluxe Garden View Double

Situated on the ground and 1st floors, our garden view rooms offer easy access to the pool and garden and just metres away from our steps down to the beautiful white beach. The balconies are perched just over our tropical garden.

Included

Half Board

Day 2,3,4,5, 6:           The Z Hotel, Nungwi

Day Itinerary

Non Divers:

Spend the day relaxing or visit Stone Town or take optional tours:

Stone Town

Stone Town is the old city and cultural heart of Zanzibar and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Famous for its winding alleys, bustling bazaars, sultan’s palace, mosques, House of Wonders, Portuguese fort and gardens and the extravagant merchants’ houses with their remarkably ornate doors. Stone Town is home to 51 mosques, 6 Hindu Temples, a Catholic and an Anglican Cathedral.

Optional Day Itinerary – extra charge depending on your choice

The Spice tour  is a 3 hours guided tour. Guests will get opportunity to discover a lot of things including tropical fruits, spices and herbs, and some rare species of different plants. Guests should expect to see spices including Zanzibar’s cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, cardamom, curry, pepper, tamarind, ginger, menthol and many other spices and herbs brought by the sultans of Oman across the Indian Ocean. Our guides will give you the detailed descriptions of what the various plants are used for, though not all of them are for food, others used for medicine.

Jozani Forest tour  is a half day guided tour. The forest is also known as jozani chwaka bay national park. This forest holds the rare Red Colobus Monkeys that can not be seen anywhere else in the world.

Tourists will start in the natural forest whereby the smaller trees and bushes make several sub-canopies under the highest canopy. However this attraction (natural forest) and the nature walk are just options to our guests.

You will also walk through a nature trail (nature walk) in the forest, which is a habitat for many animal species and mainly the Red Colobus Monkeys.

Prison Island tour is a half day tour. Prison island is also known as Changuu island, the name “prison island” came after this unique island was used by some sultans of Zanzibar to detain the recalcitrant slaves. It is about 25 to 30 minutes boat ride (motorized).

While you are on this Island, you will be able to swim, snorkeling and take pictures with giant tortoises. During snorkeling you may  see colorful school of tropical fish eg black snapper, orangelined triggerfish, spotted garfish, barracuda, longfin bannerfish, emperor angelfish, rabbit fish, clown triggerfish, bluestripe snapper etc ..

Stone Town City Tour

Stone Town is an atmospheric and mystical town is the cultural and historical heart of Zanzibar. It was constructed from coral stone during the 19th and 20th century. It was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. Get to know the town, see historical sites and architecture, visit a local market place, the old slave market memorial and church, and the old sultan’s palace.

Stone Town is a very lively place where you’ll find a mixture of Arabic, African, Indian and European cultures living comfortably together. As you walk through the labyrinth of streets too narrow for cars to pass, you can see mosques, churches and temples side to side.

Divers: Dive the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean for the next couple days.

By far our most popular dive site is the spectacular Mnemba Island where you will head one of the days for a full day outing with lunch.

For dive sites closer to the island, we do half day trips on a dhow and schedule these to coincide with the incoming tide or as close to high slack tide as possible. This of course means that departure times vary through the month.

Our special trips for advanced divers to Big Wall (Mnemba Atoll) and Leven Bank are done by speed boat and again we need to time these to take advantage of the best tide conditions.

Included

Half Board

Day 7:           Rufiji River Camp, Selous Game Reserve

Selous Game Reserve

The remote and little-visited Selous Game Reserve covers more than 5% of Tanzania’s total area and  is the largest of its kind in Africa. At an unbelievable 55,000 sq km it is almost twice the size of Belgium and four times larger than the famous Serengeti in the North. The landscape here has remained almost as it was before tourism began and the massive park has only a few accommodation options.
The Great Rufiji River and its tributaries are the lifeblood of the reserve, creating a network of forests and woodlands around the lagoons, sandbanks and lakes with tall palm trees adding to the scenic splendour. Because of its size and remoteness, the reserve has over 2,100 species of plants, 350 species of birds, 60,000 elephant, 108,000 buffalos and an estimated 1,300 of the worlds’ roughly 4,000 remaining rare wild dogs, giving guests an opportunity to glimpse all of these exotic animals in true unspoilt wilderness.  Boating, walking safaris  are all available in the Selous.

Day Itinerary

This morning transfer to the airport for your flight into the African bush. Transfer to your safari lodge in time for your first safari this afternoon.

Overnight: Rufiji River Camp

Rufiji River Camp is located on the banks of the Rufiji river, in a point where the ample and tranquil river is animated by many and different species of animals.
The tented camp, situated in the heart of the reserve, is environmentally friendly and each tent is equipped with private bathroom and a veranda facing the river.
There is a constant flow of animals coming down to drink at the river offering a permanent show to visitors of the camp. The water is usually full of hundreds of hippos as well as groups of crocodiles that laze in the sun on the sandbanks in the river.
A structure in the central part of the camp hosts the restaurant, bar and library, all with a view of the river and the sunset.

Included

Full Board and Activities

Day 8:           Rufiji River Camp, Selous Game Reserve

Day Itinerary

Rise early with the animals and search for them under the guidance of your ranger in your open safari vehicle, or the brave might search for wildlife on foot. You will be guided by a professional armed ranger for this once in a lifetime adventure. Boating safaris available as well to see hippos and crocs.

Included

Full Board and Activities

Day 9:           Rufiji River Camp, Selous Game Reserve

Explore the African bush during your morning and afternoon safari.

Included

Full Board and Activities

Day 10:        Departure

Day Itinerary

Observe wildlife on the drive to the airstrip where your bush plane is waiting for you to give you an incredible birds-eye-view of Africa on the way to Dar Es Salaam. Careful looking will reveal elephants, herds of buffalo and even giraffe sticking their heads above the acacia trees.

———————————–

ZANZIBAR DIVE SITES

Here is a brief description of the best dive sites Zanzibar has to offer…

• Mnemba – Wattabommi (6-30m): Sandy slope with fringing plate coral, white tips, green turtles, large groupers.
• Mnemba – Kichwani (6-40m): A wall of corals home to a vast array of marine life. Schooling fish feed in the shallow waters while larger predatory fish can be seen out in the blue.
• Mnemba – Big Wall (14-40m): Northern edge of Mnemba Atoll is almost a kilometer long, best visibility, lobsters, white tips, turtles.
• Leons Wall (12-40m): The edge of the inner reef. Leon’s Wall is a vertical drop covered in a plethora of soft corals and encrusting sponges. Lionfish, schools of snappers, and the elusive leaf fish can all be seen along the wall.
• Misoli (12-40m): Large coral island which can be circumvented on the dive. very diverse coral and lots of nudibranches.
• Kichafi (12-18m): A very healthy reef with vast expanses of plate corals. The large sandy area adjacent to the site also makes this an excellent training ground for all courses.
• Haji (10-18m): A submerged coral ridge attracts an abundance of marine life and sports a vast array of hard coral formations. There are numerous Crocodile fish and Nudibranchs to be found here.
• Mbwangawa (12-18m): An eclectic mix of life, including lobster sheltering beneath plate corals and frequent encounters with cuttlefish. The chance to see turtles also makes this a very popular dive site.
• Ametatu (6-12m): Sister reef to Chakatuni, small coral bommies hosting a wide variety of marine life of all sizes and colours.
• Chakatuni (12-18m): Hard corals in the open sea, seen best at slack tide. Attracts a wide range of marine life.
• Shanes Reef (12-16m): This weird and wonderful dive offers the best array of macro life around. Flying gurnards frogfish and Mauritius scorpion fish make this site a photographers dream.
• Hunga (12-18m): A wall that drops down to 45m with cascading plate coral flowing into the deep. Lionfish, large rays and a passing point for dolphins and pelagic species.
• Nankivell (12-18m): Can only be dived on specific tides this large area of coral has a great variety of reef fish, lobsters and the occasional small reef shark.
• Kendwa Reef (5-10m): Suitable for both divers and snorkelers, this site is a great nursery full of vibrant juveniles hiding amongst the corals.
• Mwana na Mwana (2-12m): Soft and hard coral bommies with glass fish sheltering in the crevices. Frogfish have been spotted here, and often green turtles stop by to take advantage of the cleaning service.
• Tumbatu – Haunted wall (2-15m): A small eerie looking wall with beautiful soft corals sheltering nudibranchs and leaf fish, with inquisitive bat fish cruising past.
• Renco Bommi (7-14m): A huge coral bommi coming up from the sand, with an explosion of marine life. Leaf fish, Octopus, and the colorful Mantis shrimps are a common site here. An ideal dive site for the less experienced.
• Leven Bank (14-40m): An Exciting must do dive spot for experienced divers only. Spectacular dive, often in strong currents in the Pemba Channel with great visibility, but can only be dived on certain tides. Amazing mid-channel pinnacle, topped with coral and sandy patches, the walls drop down to over 160m. The pinnacle attracts some large pelagic fish from the open ocean, such as sharks, manta rays, whale sharks and big game fish. The pinnacle itself is home to things from huge Honeycomb moray eels to colorful nudibranchs. Dolphins are often seen playing in this area.

There are a few shore dives off Nungwi, which cater to beginner divers and nigh divers. Here, it is likely you will see lionfish, trumpet fish, and honeycomb moray eels. On night dives, divers often see Spanish Dancers, Octopus, Lobsters and Moray Eels on night dives