Horseback Riding in Tanzania

Serengeti Migration Ride

Overview

This safari explores the Ngorongoro Conservation Area of the wider Serengeti Ecosystem. It is an incredible opportunity to indulge in your sense of adventure and get truly off the beaten track with riding in some of the most untouched parts of the Serengeti.

We have timed this trip to give you the best chance of seeing the migration of the wildebeest and zebra from the Masai Mara back to the grassy plains of the Serengeti. Since the movement of the herds is dependent upon rainfall you need to be prepared to visit the migration by vehicle if the areas around the campsite are dry.

The rainstorms can be quite localized on the rolling plains of this vast expanse of Africa. You will come across Masai herding their flocks to water in age old hand dug wells. There will also be an opportunity to visit the Olduvai Gorge, the site of Mary Leakey’s discovery of Zinj, one of the very early hominids. With a comfortable camp moved ahead by your support team, and accompanied by great horses, this is sure to be a unique and unforgettable experience.

The first night is spent at a comfortable lodge near Arusha. On safari you move between 3 different fly camps in the greater Serengeti ecosystem. These camps consist of spacious tents with mosquito netting, beds and linens, long drop loo and bucket shower.

The food is of high standard, with professionally trained bush chefs. It is good wholesome home cooking in a mix of local and international styles.

  • Overview:
    The horses are all purpose trained safari horses, with a mix of local breeds and thoroughbreds. All horses are given lots of love, care and attention, resulting in good characters and strong personalities, which allows a perfect fit with each rider. English saddles and cavalry saddles are available.
  • Horse Breeds:
    Thoroughbred crosses
  • Trip Pace:
    Challenging
  • Tack:
    English saddles
  • Weight limit:
    90 kg / 198 lb

Kilimanjaro International Airport

Trip Itinerary

Please note this is only an outline, with day-by-day arrangements open to variation by your guides at their discretion as the movement of game, weather or other local conditions require.

Day 1

Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport to be collected and driven forty minutes to the night’s accommodation at a comfortable lodge to prepare for the start of safari the next morning.

Day 2

After breakfast drive for ten minutes down the road to catch a late morning flight to Ndutu airstrip in the southern Serengeti. After the flight, depending on where you fly in, anything between 2-4 hours drive, depending on routing (you may be flown over the Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara or Tarangire National Park, a wonderful
opportunity to see these iconic sites from the air), you will be met by a safari vehicle at Ndutu. A short wait whilst you are checked-in at the Ngorongoro Conservation area registration post, then set off driving, past impressive rocky outcrops known as “kopjes,” river courses and across the Serengeti’s famous short grass plains. Prime grazing area for migrating wildebeest during the early months of the year, with luck (always dependent on the weather!) the plains may be thick with wildebeest which arrive in their thousands after the rains to make the most of the fresh grass. The plains are also the wildebeests’ favored birthing spot – it is one of nature’s miracles that females delay giving birth until the rains and grass arrive in an effort to ensure their newly born young get the best start in life, a chance to build their strength on lush new grass before setting off on the long march north to Kenya’s Mara plains. About 2- 4 hours in all, you eventually arrive at the spot chosen for the first camp in the shade of a lovely flat-topped acacia. Meet the team of support staff, settle into your tents and a welcome lunch in the shade of the mess tent. Then, a short siesta, before meeting the horses and their grooms, and time allowing, an evening ride to try them. Return to camp at sun set for hot showers, drinks by the campfire and
your first dinner together in the bush, before tomorrow when the adventure
really starts

Day 3

Wake up at about 7am for tea and breakfast in camp, before mounting up at about 8am. Depending on the weather and movement of game, you might ride out for a long morning today, returning to camp for lunch and another ride or game drive in the late afternoon – or you might head out for a full day ride, meeting the backup team for a lunch out in the bush. Either way you should have a good chance of seeing the gathering herds of wildebeest, as well as giraffe browsing in the acacia scrub, zebra and perhaps predators, such as the hyena and jackal. Dinner and night in camp.

Day 4

Today could be your first move to a new camp. An early wakeup at dawn gives you time to pack up before breakfast, then mount up to a new destination. You’ll ride through areas that have rarely been visited on a horse, perhaps passing Masai herdsmen or their small settlements, where the tribesmen live off the land as they have for centuries. After about 4 hrs of riding, meet the support team for al alfresco lunch in the bush and time to rest in the heat of the day, before heading off again to reach the new camp by tea time. It will be set up before your arrival, and is planned to be spectacularly situated in the middle of the vast open plains, where at peak migration time, the air will be filled with the braying of wildebeest. A cup of tea or a cold beer when you arrive in camp, followed by hot showers and dinner, listening to the sounds of the bush.

Day 5

From today through Day 8 explore the region, riding across the open plains, into grassy valleys dotted with picturesque granite outcrops, swathes of whistling thorn and typically East African acacia trees. The route and your arrangements each day will vary with the weather and movement of game, but your guide will plan to ride to at least one more camp so you can discover another new area. On one of the afternoons or mornings the horses will be given a rest as you travel by vehicle to visit Olduvai Museum, one of the most important paleoanthropological sits in the world. The museum includes fossils and artifacts of our human ancestors and skeletons of many extinct animals who shared their world. Throughout the safari will will cross by horseback the Olduvai gorge, considered the “cradle of humankind.”

Day 8

At one point during the safari (weather allowing) you will spend the night in a lightweight fly camp, sleeping under mosquito nets. This morning you jump into the vehicles (there will be a game drive with a picnic lunch on route, crossing the short grass plains and looking out for cats such as cheetah, lion and leopard which thrive here, as well as elephant and the flamingo which gather on the area’s soda lakes. Later in the afternoon you will reach the fly camp in time for sundowners followed by dinner under the stars.

Day 9

An early wake-up call to say farewell to the horses and crew. The drive this morning will be up the Ngorongoro highlands and breakfast will be on route overlooking the world famous Ngorongoro Crater. After checking out at the gate you head to the African galleria, a great place to buy anything from arts, tanzanite or just a small Tanzanian gift. Shortly after you head to the Manyara Airstrip followed by a 40 minutes flight back towards Arusha, thereafter vehicle transfer back to Kilimanjaro International Airport for onward flights. If you are flying out late in the day and wish to book a dayroom please let us know and we will book this in advance.

Itinerary Addendum

This itinerary is flexible and changes may occur at the guide's discretion due to weather, movement of game and other unforeseen circumstance.

Trip Map

Trip Dates & Pricing

Departure Dates

Trip Starts
Trip Ends
Jan 8, 2024
Jan 16, 2024
Jan 20, 2024
Jan 28, 2024
Feb 3, 2024
Feb 11, 2024
Feb 13, 2024
Feb 21, 2024
Feb 24, 2024
Mar 3, 2024
Mar 9, 2024
Mar 17, 2024
Mar 20, 2024
Mar 28, 2024

Pricing & Options

  • Base Price
  • $8,660

  • Single Supplement
  • $640Not required if willing to share

Pricing & Options

  • Base Price
  • $8,660

  • Single Supplement
  • $640Not required if willing to share
Additional Pricing Information:
A 50% deposit is required for this ride.  Price includes all transfers, camping and park entrance fees.


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Contact Megan Barrett

My horse had a good strong walk, was comfortable and fit: perfect. Long gallops were a blast. While camping, the Milky way overhead was a halo on our piece of heaven. I wouldn't change a single moment of our adventure.

George Richardson, 2014