Spotlight on…. A Week in Western Tanzania

Western Tanzania is often overlooked in favour of the more famous and accessible parks of the North, but you could be missing out on the most exclusive safari experience of a lifetime.  Offering variety and vast numbers of game increases predator activity as well as the open sided vehicles used in the West in contrast to the closed sided used in the North.  Western parks are huge and receive far fewer visitor numbers than their Northern counterparts giving you that exclusive game viewing experience.

Here at The Luxury Safari Company our hearts lie with the old fashioned rustic charm of Chada Katavi, a safari as it used to be and the ‘out of this world’ uniqueness of Greystoke Mahale, a corner of the earth that has to be seen to be believed.

Both Mahale & Katavi are spectacularly remote and well over 500kms from Arusha which makes access challenging. But with shared charter flights for guests staying at Chada Katavi and/or Greystoke Mahale costs can be minimised and both camps made more accessible. To manage the flight distances involved and keep costs to a minimum for guests, a limited number of stops are covered en route from Arusha to the west which aim to serve the most popular itinerary combinations.

Few safaris offer the diversity, remoteness and quality of experience of a week between Chada Katavi and Greystoke Mahale and to showcase this we are offering ‘A Week in Western Tanzania’ an itinerary put together to ensure clients experience all these two fabulous camps have to offer for just £6400 per person. This itinerary would include 4 nights all inclusive at Chada Katavi including all airstrip transfers, camp activities, internal flights, game drives and game fees followed by 3 nights at Greystoke Mahale all inclusive incorporating all boat transfers, internal flights, activities and fees.

Chada Katavi

Located In the heart of Katavi National Park, Western Tanzania. Under a canopy of acacia and tamarind trees, on a peninsula overlooking the wide Chada Plain. Your first four nights will be spent at Chada Katavi, offering six spacious safari tents with large shade net windows to let in lots of light and cool breezes. En-suite bathrooms with traditional safari style bucket showers, and eco- flush toilets. Hot and cold water available on demand. Activities on offer include: Game drives in open 4WD vehicles, night drives, fly camping under the stars, outstanding birding and viewing of big mammals and daily walking safaris. Highlights at Chada Katavi include:

*Its timelessness, little has changed here since safaris were first pioneered, this is about getting out in the wilds without the crowds.

*Katavi offers us the freedom to set out on foot and sleep under a starry sky with only a mosquito net tent between us and the vast African plains.

*Elephants and a host of other wildlife moves right through Chada during the dry season. We are only visitors in this land of big game.· Every dry season hundreds of hippos jostle over territory and dozens of crocodiles converge to aestivate.

As far as season go, June is green and lush after the long rains, and this is one of the best times of the year to visit. July to October starts to dry out, the rivers and pools are drying up concentrating the game in certain areas which makes for amazing sightings. The daily temperatures get hotter.

Greystoke Mahale

Winner of 2017’s Best Location in Africa award, no roads exist to get you to your next lodge so after a breathtakingly scenic flight and unique boat transfer (with light meal supplied) you will arrive at the impossible remote yet life changing Greystoke Mahale where you will spend the next three nights. Perched on the edge of the second deepest lake in the world and backed by forests where wild chimpanzees roam free – the chimps are one of the main reasons to visit Mahale and no one knows them like your Greystoke guides, their characters, politics and society. As well as the chimpanzees, the forest that surrounds Greystoke is also home to many fascinating species form redtailed monkeys to leopard and endemic cichlids. Lake Tanganyika provides Greystoke with the canvas for an abundance of activities, it is refreshing on a hot day, as well as offering fabulous fishing possibilities, boat trips and hippo spotting not to mention the freshest sashimi you will ever taste.

For more details or to take advantage of this offer please contact us.