Kilimanjaro & treks
Kilimanjaro Airport, Arusha, Lake Eyasi, Ngorongoro highlands, Ngorongoro Crater, Layanai, Olmoti, Empakai, Lake Natron, Ol Doinyo Lengai
your journey
This is our longest walking trip: two weeks crossing northern Tanzania from the Hadzabe and Datoga country of Lake Eyasi, through the forests of the Ngorongoro highlands and around the crater rim, past Olmoti and Empakai, to Lake Natron and the summit of Ol Doinyo Lengai.
You walk with Maasai warrior guides while donkeys carry water, food and luggage, and a 4WD Land Cruiser follows with your driver guide, cook and camp. The first walking days cross the natural forest of the northern highlands to Pillar Wood Camp below Magaruti Mountain. You then walk the crater rim to Simba Campsite and spend a day on the Ngorongoro Crater floor before walking on to Layanai and Ilkiepusi.
From Olmoti you move to Empakai for a day on the crater floor, walk across the highlands to Acacia Camp, and drop into the Rift Valley for the Ngare Sero waterfalls and the flamingos of Lake Natron. A midnight start takes you to the summit of Ol Doinyo Lengai for sunrise before you return to Arusha.
Keen walkers with time to spare who want to see northern Tanzania properly on foot, with real cultural contact along the way. Expect many days of four to seven hours walking, simple camps with a campfire, and a hard final climb.
Parks visited
Lake Eyasi · Ngorongoro Crater · Lake Natron & Ol Doinyo Lengai · Empakai & Olmoti Craters
what makes it special
day by day
We meet you at Kilimanjaro International Airport and drive you to Mc Ellys Hotel in Arusha for the night on a bed-and-breakfast basis. Take the rest of the day to recover from your flight. Your guide will brief you on the two weeks ahead, from the cultural days at Lake Eyasi to the long walking days in the highlands, and check your boots and gear.
After breakfast you drive to Lake Eyasi, arriving at about 11 am, with lunch at 1 pm. In the afternoon you visit Datoga (Barabaig) families and see their daily life: the cattle coming home from grazing, the women milking, and the men slaughtering a goat and roasting it in the traditional way. After the barbecue and their traditional dancing, you drive to your bush camp for dinner by the campfire.
At 4 am you have a cup of coffee or tea and set off with a Hadzabe guide into the woodland around Lake Eyasi. You see how the Hadzabe hunt with bows, arrows and clubs, stalking monkeys and small antelopes, and how they gather wild fruit, roots and honey, the mainstay of their diet. Around 11 am you return to camp for brunch, then walk around Lake Eyasi until evening.
After breakfast you drive to the Ngorongoro gate, where your Maasai warrior guides and the donkeys, carrying water, food and luggage, are waiting. You walk for six to seven hours across the natural forest of the northern Ngorongoro highlands, with views back over the Lake Eyasi basin and plenty of plants, butterflies, birds and flowers. Tonight you camp on the rim with a campfire.
After breakfast you walk for another six to seven hours through the western Ngorongoro highlands, crossing more of the northern natural forest. There are hill walks and views, with a wide variety of trees, flowers, birds and butterflies. In the afternoon you reach Pillar Wood Camp, below Magaruti Mountain, for dinner around the campfire.
After breakfast you walk for about four hours along the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, with views down onto the crater floor, crossing acacia forest where you may see giraffes, buffaloes, Thomson's gazelles, zebras and elephants. You meet the vehicle on the way and drive about an hour to Simba Campsite on the crater rim for dinner and the night.
After an early breakfast you descend 610 metres to the Ngorongoro Crater floor for six hours of game viewing with a picnic lunch. Look for endangered black rhino, lions, elephants, zebras, buffaloes and wildebeest, and for flamingos and other birds on the soda lake. The grazers support lions and leopards, and hyenas and jackals are never far away. You return to the rim for the night.
After breakfast you set off with your Maasai warrior guides and the donkeys for six to seven hours on foot to Layanai, following elephant trails through the forest. Keep watch for elephants, buffaloes, small antelopes, monkeys and birds such as Jackson's widowbird and the golden-winged sunbird, among the wild flowers. You camp in the forest with a campfire.
After breakfast you walk with your Maasai guides and the donkeys for about four hours along the Ngorongoro rim to Ilkiepusi, watching for elephants, buffaloes, monkeys and birds, and have lunch at Ilkiepusi camp. After lunch you drive to Olmoti and walk for 45 minutes to the crater, with wide views over the highlands. Then you drive on to Empakai for the night.
After breakfast you walk down into Empakai Crater and around the crater floor, looking for flamingos and other water birds on the lake. Lunch is in the crater. On the way back up you may see monkeys, buffaloes and jackals. You climb back to the rim in the late afternoon for dinner and the night, with the lights of no town anywhere in sight.
After breakfast you walk for about five hours across the highlands, with wide views in every direction. Along the way you see small antelopes such as Thomson's gazelle and dik-dik and many kinds of birds, and you pass traditional Maasai bomas while your guide explains Maasai culture and daily life. You reach Acacia Camp in the late afternoon for dinner.
After breakfast you walk for an hour with your Maasai guides to the road and drive to Worldview Campsite for lunch. In the afternoon you drive to the foot of Ol Doinyo Lengai and walk up the Ngare Sero river to the waterfalls to swim in the deep pool. Later you drive to Lake Natron and walk by the shore to look for lesser flamingos. The lake is their most important breeding site in East Africa.
You wake around midnight, have a cup of coffee, collect your picnic box and drive to the start of the climb. Your Maasai guides lead you up the Mountain of God to reach the summit, 2,878 m, at about 5:30 am, in time for sunrise over the Serengeti plains, the Maasai plains, Kilimanjaro and Longido, and a look into the active crater. You walk down in about two hours, have lunch at Worldview Campsite and drive to Arusha.
After breakfast you head into Arusha town for a short tour and some shopping, a good chance to pick up coffee or crafts to take home. Then we drive you to Kilimanjaro International Airport or Arusha Airport for your flight. If your flight leaves late, tell us and we will plan the day around it so that you are not left waiting.
the price
Price on request
before you ask
Kilimanjaro needs no ropes or technical climbing skills, but it is a serious high-altitude trek. You walk for several hours a day on uneven ground, nights are cold, and summit night starts around midnight in thin air. Walking regularly on hills before you come, with a loaded daypack, is the best preparation.
We choose routes and itineraries with enough days on the mountain, and we follow the principle of climbing high and sleeping low. On the Machame route, for example, you take short walks above camp at Shira, Lava Tower, Karanga and Barafu before returning to sleep lower. Walk slowly, drink plenty of water and tell your guide straight away about any headache, nausea or dizziness.
Many climbers use acetazolamide (Diamox) to help with acclimatisation, but it is a prescription medicine and not right for everyone. Talk to your own doctor before the trip, especially about allergies and side effects, and tell your guide if you are taking it.
Kilimanjaro can be climbed all year, but the driest months are mid-January to mid-March and late June to October, which are also the busiest. The long rains from late March to early June bring wet trails and cloud, and we generally advise against climbing then unless you are experienced in those conditions. November brings short rains, often in the afternoon.
On our Kilimanjaro packages with hotel nights, you stay at our partner hotel, Weru Weru River Lodge near Moshi, or a similar hotel, on the night before and the night after the climb. Your guide holds the pre-climb briefing and gear check there.
You need good broken-in hiking boots, warm layers including a down jacket, waterproof jacket and trousers, gloves, a warm hat, a headtorch and a daypack. Tents, mats and all group and cooking equipment are provided. Your specialist will confirm what can be rented locally, including sleeping bags, and send you a full packing list.
It is the hardest part of the trip. The path is steep and loose, with sections where you use your hands on rock, and there is almost no shade once the sun is up, which is why the climb starts in the middle of the night. No mountaineering skills are needed, but you should be fit and comfortable on steep ground. Allow four to five hours up.
You walk on most days from Day 4 to Day 12, from about an hour to seven hours a day, with a crater game drive on Day 7 as a break. The longest days, six to seven hours, are in the highland forest and along the crater rim.
Enquire
Every AAA Express Adventure trip can be changed to suit you: the pace, the lodges, the number of days. Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and our team in Arusha will come back to you with a plan and a price.
Your journey
Price on request
14 days · 13 nights
also consider
10 days · 9 nights
Lake Eyasi · Ngorongoro Crater · Lake Natron & Ol Doinyo Lengai · Empakai & Olmoti Craters
Price on request
7 days · 6 nights
Ngorongoro Crater · Lake Natron & Ol Doinyo Lengai · Empakai & Olmoti Craters
Price on request
7 days · 6 nights
Ngorongoro Crater · Lake Natron & Ol Doinyo Lengai · Empakai & Olmoti Craters
Price on request
karibu
Call us on +255 784 281316, email sales@aaaexpressadventure.com or send an enquiry. Our team in Arusha will get back to you.
Price on request
Plan your trip
Enquiry about: 14-Day Tanzania Trekking Safari from Lake Eyasi to Ol Doinyo Lengai
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