From

£3069

£3799

16 Days including UK flights

Countries:Kenya, Tanzania

More info:From £2469 - £2649 excluding flights. Mimimum age 16.

“This combination camping and hotel safari holiday is an unparalleled opportunity to immerse yourself in the prolific game-viewing and incredible culture of East Africa”

Highlights

Hello. If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. Rosy & team.

01273 823 700 rosy@responsibletravel.com

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08 Jul 2017

£ 3069

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£ 3399

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Our top tip:

Pack light layers for the days and warmer layers for the evenings because the temperature can drop.

Trip type:

Small group tour. 4-18 adults (min. age 18) with a tour leader.

Activity level:

Leisurely.

Accomm:

9 nights basic camping, 4 nights hotel.

Solos:

Solo travellers welcome. Single rooms available with surcharge.

Meals:

All breakfasts, 9 lunches, 9 dinners.

Included:

Accommodation, all transport and listed activities, tour leader, flights (if booked).

Vouchers

Accepted

Holiday type

Small group holiday

Small group travel is not large group travel scaled down. It is modelled on independent travel – but with the advantage of a group leader to take care of the itinerary, accommodation and tickets, and dealing with the language. It’s easy to tick off the big sights independently – but finding those one-off experiences, local festivals, travelling markets and secret viewpoints is almost impossible for someone without the insider knowledge gained from years in the field. If you’re heading off on a gap year your, perhaps – but for those with a two-week holiday, a small group tour will save valuable planning time.

The leaders are not guides – they’re not there to shepherd you around. Instead, they’ll let you know which local restaurant serves great value food – without running the risk of travellers’ tummy. They’ll allow you to avoid hour-long queues at train stations and attractions.

We like to think of small group travel as the Goldilocks option. It is independent travel without the fuss, worry and bunk beds – and organised travel without the coaches. And it’s cheaper than a tailor made tour. It’s sits somewhere in the middle – and we think it’s just about right.

What are the main benefits?

Big experiences
Have big, life-enriching experiences that would be impossible to organise without lots of time and insider knowledge.

Simplicity
Make the most of your holiday time by letting someone else do the hard work and boring logistics!

Peace of mind
Small group tours take care of the security aspects – and provide a safety net should anything unexpected happen.

Who is it ideal for?

Travellers who are short of time
If you don’t have three months to spend exploring, small groups trips let you cover more ground in less time. Your days are not spent queuing for tickets or finding hotels – so you can squeeze more into your holiday.

Solo travellers who’d like company
Likeminded travel companions plus peace of mind for those travelling alone. Single supplements are usually available – providing privacy if you want it.

Less confident travellers
Stray from the tourist trail without worrying about getting lost, and meet local people without dealing with the language barrier.

Mythbuster

“I won’t get any privacy!”
Couples and friends have private rooms, and you can choose to eat alone or not. Single supplements give solo travellers their own room.

“There won’t be any free time”
Free mornings or afternoons let you explore on your own, or just relax.

“The accommodation will be basic”
Trips are as high or low end as you like. Though off the beaten track destinations won’t have luxury hotels, this is all part of the adventure.

“I won’t like the other travellers!”
Tour operators try to create groups with a similar demographic – age, families, activity levels... Chances are, you’ll even make new friends.

“Will we be following an umbrella?”
No.

Meet a group Leader

Name: Valerie Parkinson

Story: The first British woman to climb Manaslu, Valerie climbed Everest for her 50th birthday. She’s spent fourteen Christmas Days trekking to Everest Base Camp, and is involved insetting up Responsible Tourism initiatives in the Himalayas.

Meet a local guide

Name: Roshan Fernando

Story: Roshan has led over 130 trips – he adores showing travellers around Sri Lanka. He won the company Leader Award in 2010, but his career highlight was working on their Tsunami Project – which earned him a responsible tourism award.

“You have a campfire, you’re telling stores, people have a beer... and out of nowhere a zebra passed by. The lions brought down the zebra around 100m away.”

Learn more about this itinerary in Responsible Travel's interview with Peter Kiptoo a tour leader on this tripRead full interview

Responsible tourism

Responsible tourism: Kenya and Tanzania safari adventure

Environment

Accommodation & meals:
The majority of this trip is spent camping, therefore reducing our energy consumption and carbon footprint for the whole trip. Each tour has their own chef, dedicated to buying produce from local stalls and markets and making a range of traditional meals. Guests might have the chance to learn to make a regional specialty such as stew with ‘Ugali’ - a maize flour and water mixture with the consistency of dough; or ‘Pelau’, which is made from rice, spices and chopped meat.

Conservation:
The permit fee charged to see Nakuru National Park, the Masai Mara and Serengeti National Park goes directly towards the preservation of several endangered species and their fragile but beautiful environment. We hope to see flamingos, endangered white and black rhinos, lions, leopards, wildebeests, cheetah, hyena etc. By travelling with us, you ensure that rangers are paid a fair wage and have the provisions and personnel to protect themselves and wildlife against harmful poaching activity.

UK office:
It all starts at home so we have first worked at reducing our carbon footprint in our UK offices. Through energy conservation measures and recycling policies, we are proud to be actively reducing the waste produced and our impact on the environment. We support various projects all over the world to try and give something back to the places we visit.

Community

Community:
We employ local tour guides, drivers, porters and chefs and so all of these employment opportunities provide financial benefit for people in the community. Our guides are also keen to teach Swahili as a means of making a more genuine connection with people they meet on the trip.

Local Crafts & Culture:
In addition to purchasing supplies locally, tour guides encourage travellers to purchase goods and souvenirs from a local craft centre in Arusha. The project is run by a group of young people, who learn and perfect traditional craftsmanship in order to sell their wares and make a better living. The paintings and carvings are particularly special here and guides are careful to advise against the purchasing of endangered local hardwoods and animal materials. In Stone Town, Zanzibar, we carouse through the myriad of small alleys and markets and purchase spices as the area is known for this trade.

Group size:
This is a small group tour and so numbers do not exceed 18, meaning that local environments and the communities and variety of species (endangered and otherwise) that we encounter are not seriously impacted by our stay. This group size also allows us to travel with ease and therefore to stay at a number of unique, lesser known campsites and one hotel that would not usually benefit from tourism commerce due to its limited size.

12 Reviews of Kenya and Tanzania safari adventure

4 out of 5 stars

SHOW

Reviewed on 21 Feb 2014 by Eileen Emery

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The game viewing, especially seeing leopards and a cheetah! Camping in the middle of nowhere in the Serengeti

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Travel light, take a good camera. Be prepared for some long bumpy journeys, basic camping and facilities!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Yes, to some degree.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

A brilliant holiday, excellent game viewing, a great group of fellow travellers and staff, over all too quickly!!

Reviewed on 24 Aug 2014 by Sally Moir

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

seeing all the animals - going on safari is the best holiday we have ever had - the elephant orphanage was one of the highlights and is to be recommended. We are already planning another safari for a couple of years time. Seeing so much in a week was brilliant - even the long hours driving were memorable due to the sights and sounds of Kenya. Zanzibar is beautiful and worth a visit - people so very friendly

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

research, research, research and find the right safari for you. Get exact information/itineraries. check all prices and facts. They are expensive holidays and with so many variations to choose from, it is worth talking personally to operators, rather than relying on line.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

yes - Kenya and Zanzibar rely on tourism and a well managed holiday benefits all.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

The holiday was good - safaris are tiring so a week on Zanzibar was a wonderful way to relax. We had some initial teething problems with the travel company which did spoil the holiday a bit and we were disappointed that not everything went to plan. So hence more research and talking to operators next time.

Reviewed on 11 Mar 2013 by Lesley Halliday

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Camping on rim of Ngorgoro crater and seeing in crater black rhino and leopard. Awesome sunsets.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Read itinerary carefully and be prepared for long, dusty truck journeys fondly referred to as having an "African massage" as roads are very bumpy and more craters than hard road. Perhaps choose a holiday which centres at one place for 2-3 days and journey out from that centre.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

We shopped for food locally and brought in business for local people.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

I am glad that I did the holiday but would not recommend it as there was an awful lot of long distance travel. It would have helped to base ourselves at one place for 2-3 nights. Travelling to Tanga was a complete waste of time and would have been far better to fly to Zanzibar from Moshei and spend another day around Marangu or even in the Serengeti plain. Not enough time to write journal until the very end. Few laundry opportunities, could wash clothes but not enough time spent anywhere to dry them. Got quite adroit at drying "smalls" dotted around truck....

Reviewed on 21 Aug 2010 by Nick Walker

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

There were so many memorable and exciting parts of the holiday that I couldn't possibly list them all. The real highlights were seeing two cheetahs cross the road right in front of us, camping in the Serengeti, the 4x4 drive down into the Ngorongoro crater, the walking safari and the sunrise hot air balloon ride.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Bring plenty of Dollars with you it's tricky/expensive to get hold of them if you run out and there's pretty much nowhere that takes plastic. Don't forget your bug spray and to put it on! Space in the truck is fairly limited but you don't need too many clothes, you'll have opportunities to wash clothes most days, one of the campsites even has dry cleaning.
Remember to bring some warm clothes and a waterproof top.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

There were lots of benefits for the local community, almost all the day trips benefited either the local guides or the businesses we visited.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

10 out of 10! Absolutely superb holiday I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone, in fact if you're thinking about this trip stop and just book it. It was superbly organised the route was excellent with a real mix of wildlife and experiences on all the different game drives. The real thing that made the holiday though were the guides Often, JJ and our comedy chef extraodinaire Bernard. Often was the perfect group leader he was really well organised, responsible, funny and just an incredibly likable guy!

Reviewed on 09 Sep 2009 by Cathy Netto

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The balloon ride over the Serengeti. A bit a luxury compared to the camping.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Take lots of carrier bags/packing cells, to organise your clothes etc in the lockers, as it is hard to find stuff. A good quality combination padlock is also useful. Dont forget a pillow. Be prepared to muck in and get to know people.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

I think it tried to do that as much as possible

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Very good

Reviewed on 12 Nov 2008 by Elaine Gay

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Every thing about the holiday was truly memorable, the few days spent in the Serengeti were fantastic we were so lucky to see the Zebra and Wildebeest had returned the sight was indescribable it should be known as another Wonder of the World! The visit to the Crater was amazing.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Be prepared for a couple of long driving days and a couple of bumpy trips but I can assure you it is worth it.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Definitely the visit to the Coffee farm was a good example as it really was Fair Trade and Organic it was run entirely by local people in a cooperative. All the campsites used were kept clean and tidy. Local Guides were used on the visits.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

The holiday excelled all our expectations the team leader Chris did a fantastic job looking after us, Jonas the cook served us excellent food sometimes in not the easiest of conditions. There were 9 of us on the trip and every body got on so well.

Reviewed on 24 Sep 2007 by Jan Pennington

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Seeing the abundance of wildlife, so close at hand. Having wild animals pass by the tent at night was amazing.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Pack minimalistic, there is limited storage on the truck. Remember this is a camping holiday

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

I was disappointed that so many of the campsites had bars, I wanted to be more back the nature. The best campsite was at Sweetwater, completely in the wild with no facilities

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Very good, I was amazed at how much we covered during the trip. Our guide was excellent and so knowledgeable.

Reviewed on 24 Jul 2007 by Shirley Gurteen

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Seeing a cheetah right next to the truck and although it sounds macabre, watching 4 crocodiles tear a wildebeest apart.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Be prepared for 2 very long driving days, 10 hours each!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Local guides used when possible. When we visited local villages money was given to the village community. During all our travels and camping we left areas as we found them. However I was surprised that recycling plastic bottles does not seem to happen in East Africa.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Fantastic experience, wildlife, people, countryside, good company and new friends.

Reviewed on 02 Dec 2006 by Sonja Frenzel

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The elephant by the campground on Ngorongoro Crater (see pic); The starry sky over the Serengeti, combined with the roar of lions closeby.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Try to get more than two weeks.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Quite so.

4. Any other comments?

It has been highly appreciated by all participants that landcruisers were organized to take us into Serengeti, as we could not do it with our truck due to extensive rainfall. I'm sure I will travel again with responsibletravel.com / this operator.

Reviewed on 05 Aug 2006 by Mårten Wilkens

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Two very memorable aspects that come to mind instantly:
1- watching a cheetah on it's own game hunt in the Serengeti, and at another time devouring a gazelle, after which a jackal comes in for leftovers, and finally the last bits for the vultures. Darwinism at its most explicit!
2- enjoying drinks in front of our little campfire at a campsite on the Ngorongoro Crater rim at midnight, while the hyenas scavenge around meters aways from us.

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Make sure to bring an honestly WARM jacket, not just a windproof.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Yes, the company and the excursion was responsible in its use of resources.

Reviewed on 19 Nov 2005 by Ian and Lin Dolby

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Just got back from Kenya and Tanzania adventure and every day was brilliant. The most exciting part was seeing game in the raw. Elephant at the campsite, Leopard in a tree, Lions at rest by a rock. Birdlife plentiful

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Take a zoom lense for your camera and Binoculars. Read itinerary carefully!

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Local people did benefit directly, we had a meal for 2 at Zanzibar at a tiny beach front restaurant , the locals turned up especially for us. Impact environmentally was minimal, although locally there is a need for recycling.

4. Any other comments?

5 Star holiday. Guides excellent. Camping more fun than we thought.

Reviewed on 01 Oct 2005 by Caroline Twiston Plows

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

The Crater

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Take a better padded bed roll

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, and minimized impacts on the environment?

Yes - impressed also by hygiene within the truck and total lack of detritus at campsites. Didn't like the longdrop loos much.

4. Any other comments?

Two comments. We were lucky in that we were a small group. 20 people in the truck and both my son and I would have hated it. The other comment would be that I think you should warn the rather more senior passengers (53yrs +) such as myself about the 5:30 am starts and the state of the roads. Obviously I was not expecting the M25 but it was a bit of a bone shaker. That said, it was a fantastic trip, very much enjoyed and very well organised by Paul, Leigh and Francis. **** although my son would definitely make it a ***** star trip.