Rift Valley Adventure - Family Holiday

This morning you cross the Great Rift Valley, one of the most dramatic features on earth. Stretching from the Dead Sea in Jordan to Mozambique in the south, it is up to 100km wide in places and hosts an enormous diversity of wildlife. Your journey takes you through the lands of the Masai - probably the best known tribe in Africa - and on to the famous Ngorongoro Crater. Ngorongoro is one of the most picturesque settings for observing wildlife and with about 30,000 resident animals, there is excellent game viewing here all year round. The photographic opportunities are unrivalled! You spend the afternoon in the crater in 4WD vehicles, accompanied by a local driver/guide(s). Encounters with animals are frequent in this Garden of Eden and there is a wide variety of game to be seen. Lake Magadi, the soda lake at the floor of the crater, is home to thousands of flamingos and nearby there is a pool where splashing hippo laze in the sunshine, watched by a profusion of water birds. This is also one of the best places to see the endangered black rhino. Leaving the crater you follow the road climbing steadily up its precipitous inner edge. You spend the night on the rim of the crater, from where vantage points offer magnificent views over and down into the caldera. Nights here can be particularly cold. (Driving time to Ngorongoro crater approx. 4 1/2 hours, excluding game drives)
Camp (CS) - 1 night (BLD)

Usually you search for game in the early morning and return to camp for breakfast before setting off again for the remainder of the day. You take a leisurely lunch in one of the park’s designated stopping areas, outside of which it is not permitted to leave your vehicle. The exact route today depends largely on where the best wildlife sightings are thought to be, though later in the afternoon you head towards the north east of the park to your night’s camp. Camp (CS) – 1 night (BLD)

This day is free for you to relax in the peaceful setting of the camp, explore the area or sample some of the optional activities on offer. If you like the idea of an outdoor spa, why not take a completely natural mudbath? The mud along the banks of Lake Natron is said to have therapeutic qualities – plus it is great fun and a perfect picture opportunity. You can swim in the natural pool or go for a hike up-river, which leads to beautiful waterfalls where you can take a shower. There are 2 waterfalls although if you choose to you can opt out of going on to the second one. This excursion will involve walking through some shallow water and if you carry on to the second waterfall, the walk becomes more challenging and in places you will have to navigate your way scrambling over rocks. A cool refreshing dip at the end makes a good reward though! (BLD)