Kilimanjaro Elephant Ride

Wake up calls with tea and coffee, breakfast is served anytime from early hours. After breakfast the drive is about thirty minutes to Arusha National Park gate. Here the horses will be waiting, ready to be mounted and shortly after you ride into one of the most beautiful parks in East Africa. Here the vegetation will change dramatically, from open grassland to rainforest. With good chances of seeing, buffaloes and giraffes. Elephants and leopards are present however harder to spot along with rare species such as Suni, Red Duiker, the magnificent Hartlaub's turaco, colobus monkey and the endless bird life. 

The feeling is magical as you enter into the big canopy forests. Lunch will be set on route, with time for a small siesta. After lunch the ride continues through leopard country and as we head towards our night stop, we will pass by Margarete Trappe’s old house. 

The legendary lady known and remem bered as the Iron lady from the first world war. “If, as children, we were thrilled by Buffalo Bill we should have been still more spellbound by Mrs. Trappe’s adventures, the adventures of the fearless woman with her two legendary horses, Comet and Diamond , and her two inseparable Alsatians. Like a phantom she would suddenly appear, like a phantom she would vanish; as intimate with wild beasts as though they were tame.” These are some of the tales about Margarete who’s old riding paths this horse safari follows through the holy forests of the park. Arrive to camp, based on the foot of Mt Meru in time for showers and sundowners then dinner under the stars.

This morning you will hopefully wake up to the very talkative Colobus monkeys. Breakfast is served and shortly thereafter we mount, and directions are taken towards the area where the film Hatari was filmed, starring John Wayne. 

Thereafter halfway into the morning ride we start the climb (on horseback), some will be done on horseback and some on foot, aiming to reach a viewpoint, that if clear has one of the best views of Mt Kilimanjaro, here we will dismount our horses and instead mount a car and drive the last, steepest part in vehicles. You drive passed the “Fig Tree Arch”, a massive fig tree arch. The drive continues until we reach lunch, beautifully located next to a waterfall. We are now on about 2000 meters above sea level.

After lunch we start heading back towards the horses, we then ride back down to camp and after returning to camp, there will be an option to jump into the vehicles (or relax in camp) and go visit the Momella lakes, hoping to see some hippos and beautiful water birds. Sundowners at the lakes before heading back to camp for showers and dinner.

You wake up with the sun and a big breakfast is served. This morning you will hop into the vehicles and drive out of Arusha National Park, the drive will take about 2 ½ hours and is eastbound heading towards Mount Kilimanjaro and leaving Mount Meru behind us like a shadow. Later this morning you will find the horses waiting for you in the bush (they would have been trucked here the evening before). 

The ride is amongst Tanzanian farmland and the Massai steppe, its scenic with many cultural interactions as the rides goes along. We will try to cover as much ground as possible. 

The lunch is served under a big acacia, sometimes near to a dam where the Massai’s water their cattle and we our horses. You will have a good 3 - hour ’s stop for lunch, with time for a siesta to regain some strength. The afternoon ride continues across opened plains, making sure to reach our night stop before the sun hits the horizon at a new camp location.

Early wake up with coffee and tea before a bush breakfast is served. The day will be spent tracking the biggest land living mammal, the elephants. The terrain differs from thick scrublands to acacia woodland. Today we will return to camp for lunch and head out for another ride in the afternoon. Before sunset, we return to camp to enjoy another night in this remote and remarkable place on earth.

Early wake up calls followed by an English breakfast. Everyone mounts their companion and the safari starts heading towards the so-called Seven Sisters. After have crossed the seven hills (seven sisters) we ride through Sinya Village and continue towards lunch, served under a shady tree. 

The terrain varies from opened grassland to beautiful canopy forests. The day offers good chance of seeing plains game such as zebras, giraffes and wildebeests but most important is the presence of the shy antelope, the Gerenuk that we will keep an eye for as we ride along. 

The night is spent at an astonishing place, hopefully the night is clear and you will get the feeling being watched by four powerful mountains, Mt Meru, Namanga, Longido and the most legendary of all, Mt Kilimanjaro.

Wake up with the sun, taking directions for the Kenyan border. This day will be spent tracking the footsteps of the biggest land living mammal, the elephant. Hopefully we have good luck tracking and get the chance to see these giants from the back of a horse. 

The night will be spent overlooking the pans with its plains game on constant alert for predators. Hopefully this night is clear, as apart from the view of the mountains within this area, the night sky is a mind-blowing site.