3 Days Hadzabe & Lake Eyasi
Ngorongoro Crater · Lake Manyara National Park
Duration
3 days / 2 nights
Starts
Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO)
Ends
Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO)
Safari style
Mid-range
Group
Private — your own vehicle and guide
Best time
June to October, and late January to March
Safari overview
This is the trip for people who want Tanzania to be about more than animals.
The Hadzabe live around Lake Eyasi and still hunt with bow and arrow. A visit means joining a hunting party at first light and walking with them — fast, uphill, through thorn — and it is not a performance staged for visitors. It is genuinely strenuous and genuinely uncomfortable at moments, which is precisely why it is worth doing.
The Datoga nearby are pastoralists and blacksmiths who forge the Hadzabe’s arrowheads from scrap metal, and the trade between the two groups is centuries old.
We work with specific families who set their own terms and keep the fee, and we will tell you exactly what that arrangement is before you go. Then a crater morning, because you are passing it.
- Lake Eyasi — 260 km, 4 hours 30
- Karatu — 100 km, 2 hours after the morning
- Arusha or the airport — 240 km, Crater morning, then 4 hours
Safari highlights
Day by day
Every day below can be moved, lengthened or dropped. This is how we would run it.
West from Arusha through Mto wa Mbu and up past the Ngorongoro highlands, then down into the Rift to Lake Eyasi — a shallow soda lake in hot, dry, thorn-scrub country that looks like nowhere else on the circuit.
An afternoon walk by the lake, then an early night. Tomorrow starts before light.
- Transfer via Mto wa Mbu
- Afternoon walk by the lake
- Briefing on the morning’s protocol
- Drive
- 260 km
- Travel time
- 4 hours 30
- Overnight
- Lake Eyasi
- Meals
- Lunch, Dinner
Tonight · Lodge · Classic
You leave in the dark and meet the hunting party as it gets light. Then you walk — properly, at their pace, for two or three hours. They hunt birds and small game with bows they made themselves, and they are extraordinarily good at it.
Afterwards, the Datoga: a smallholding where arrowheads and jewellery are forged from scrap over a goatskin bellows, and where the trade between the two peoples becomes obvious.
Then east and up to the highlands at Karatu for the night.
- Dawn hunt on foot with a Hadzabe family
- Datoga blacksmiths and their forge
- Transfer to the Ngorongoro highlands
- Drive
- 100 km
- Travel time
- 2 hours after the morning
- Overnight
- Karatu
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Tonight · Lodge · Classic
Or a similar camp of the same standard, such as Marera Valley Lodge, depending on availability.
On the descent road at opening for a full morning on the crater floor — lion, hyena, hippo, elephant, thousands of plains game, and a chance of black rhino at distance.
Out in the early afternoon and east to Arusha or the airport.
- Full morning on the crater floor
- Picnic lunch at the hippo pool
- Transfer to Arusha or the airport
- Drive
- 240 km
- Travel time
- Crater morning, then 4 hours
- Overnight
- Arusha or the airport
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch
Where you stay
These are the camps we would book. If any are full on your dates we substitute something of the same standard — and we tell you what changed and why.
Prices
| Season | Solo | 2–3 guests | 4–5 guests | 6+ guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low season 01 April – 31 May The long rains. Lowest prices, greenest landscape, some camps closed. | US$1,215 | US$975 | US$835 | US$768 |
| Shoulder season 01 March – 31 March Also 01 November – 19 December. | US$1,325 | US$1,065 | US$910 | US$835 |
| High season 01 June – 30 June Also 01 January – 28 February and the month of October. | US$1,445 | US$1,160 | US$995 | US$915 |
| Peak season 01 July – 30 September Also 20 December – 02 January. Book nine to twelve months ahead. | US$1,555 | US$1,250 | US$1,070 | US$985 |
All prices are per person sharing, in USD.
Supplements & child rates
| Single supplement For guests travelling alone or wanting a room to themselves. | US$260 per stay |
|---|---|
| Child sharing with two adults Children under 3 travel free of our costs; park fees may still apply. Ages 3–11 | US$555 per person |
| Room upgrade — luxury tier Upgrade the safari camps to the next comfort level throughout. | US$325 per person |
What is and is not included
Included
- Private 4×4 Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof and a guaranteed window seat
- Professional English-speaking Tanzanian driver-guide throughout
- All national park and conservation area entry fees
- All accommodation as listed, or a camp of the same standard
- All meals on safari, on a full-board basis
- Drinking water in the vehicle throughout
- Airport meet-and-greet and all ground transfers
- Unlimited game drives within park operating hours
- All government taxes and levies
- Emergency evacuation cover (Flying Doctors) for the safari days
- 24-hour contact with our Arusha office for the whole trip
Not included
- International flights to and from Tanzania
- Tanzanian visa — currently obtained on arrival or online in advance
- Travel and medical insurance, which we require you to hold
- Tips for your guide and camp staff
- Alcoholic and soft drinks unless stated
- Laundry, telephone and other personal expenses
- Optional activities such as balloon flights and cultural visits
- Anything not specifically listed under what is included
Worth adding
Maasai community visit
A morning with a Maasai family, arranged directly and paid directly.
Questions we get asked
Yes. You have your own vehicle, your own guide and your own schedule. We do not put unrelated guests together unless you specifically ask us to, in order to share costs.
That is rather the point. Every itinerary on this site is a starting draft. Add nights, drop a park, change the comfort level, start from Zanzibar instead — tell us what you want and we will rebuild it and re-cost it.
A Toyota Land Cruiser adapted for safari: pop-up roof, charging points, a cool box, and enough space that nobody sits in a middle seat. Windows open fully on both sides.
For July to September, nine to twelve months if you want the better camps. For the green season, three to four months is usually enough. We can occasionally do much shorter notice — ask.
It is customary but not compulsory. As a guide, most guests give their driver-guide around US$20–30 per vehicle per day, and leave something in the camp staff box.
It can be, and often is. The difference is whether the community is a partner or a photo opportunity. We work with a small number of specific families who set their own terms and receive the fee directly, and we will tell you what that fee is if you ask. If the arrangement ever stops being one they are happy with, we stop running it.
Harder than people expect. Two to three hours at the pace of men who are actually hunting, over rough ground, starting before dawn. Reasonable fitness required; we suggest ten and up for children.
Yes, and it is understood as part of the arrangement — but ask first, as you would anywhere. Your guide will tell you when it is and is not appropriate.
Request this safari
Tell us your travel dates and group size. We will adjust the itinerary and send you an exact quote.
You might also consider
- Great Migration
5 Days Serengeti Migration Safari
Ndutu or Northern Serengeti · Ngorongoro
- Family-friendly
6 Days Tanzania Safari
Arusha › Tarangire › 2 nights Central Serengeti › Ngorongoro
6 Days Tanzania Honeymoon Safari
Arusha › Tarangire › 2 nights Central Serengeti › Ngorongoro