A remote island in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria, Rubondo offers an incredibly unique adventure experience in a pristine sub-tropical ecosystem where elephants and chimpanzees roam wild. This safari gives you the opportunity to combine a safari in the Serengeti with a chimpanzee encounter.
You can book the trip as is, or combine with a safari extension in Ngorongoro Crater, or a gorilla extension in Rwanda for example.
Arrive at Kilimanjaro airport, pass customs and transit to the domestic terminal on time for the flight to Serengeti Central. Depending on your flight times, you might require a pre-night in Arusha, contact us for options.
Arrive at the airstrip and meet with the camp safari guide for the transfer. Relax at camp before the afternoon game drive and back for dinner and night. You will stay 3 nights at Dunia, including all your meals, selected beverages and the shared scheduled game drives. Chat to your guide to plan your days, you might enjoy an early morning drive and back at camp for lunch and a siesta before the afternoon game viewing; or pack a picnic lunch and enjoy a full day game viewing on the Serengeti Plains.
The camp is ideally placed to explore three excellent game viewing areas: Seronera, the Moru Kopjes and the southern Serengeti plains. The Seronera River is a gathering place for lots of wildlife, providing ample opportunity for spotting predators in action.The Moru Kopjes are a cluster of old granite boulders, favoured by big cats that like to use them as lookout points. You might even spot the rare black rhino.
Twice per year, this area sees millions of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles passing through on their constant migration around the Serengeti and Kenya’s Masai Mara. If you’re lucky, you won’t even need to leave camp to watch the vast herds grazing.
Includes & Excludes
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Drinks: Local brands included
Activities: Included
Transport: Included
Day 4-6
Lake Victoria, Tanzania
After breakfast, transfer to the airstrip for the flight to Rubondo. Arrive at the airstrip, meet by the camp guide...
After breakfast, transfer to the airstrip for the flight to Rubondo.
Arrive at the airstrip, meet by the camp guide and transfer via a meandering drive to the camp. Rubondo is a very remote and special place, your home away from home for the next 3x nights, including all your meals, scheduled daily activities and we have included 2 chimpanzees trekking permits. Your guide will chat with you to plan your days, depending on your preferences and the chimp's movements.
Located in the southwest of the massive Lake Victoria, Rubondo Island is 26 km long and 10 km at its widest point, mostly covered in pristine forest. Rubondo Island Camp is on the beach, overlooking the water. A stay on Rubondo is the experience of a lifetime. Besides a handful of park wardens, researchers and the camp staff, the island is uninhabited by humans and has been set aside as a refuge for endangered chimpanzees and other animals.
One of the most unique offerings of Rubondo Island Camp is the opportunity to experience Professor Bernhard Grzimek's Noah’s Ark Project. In association with Frankfurt Zoological Society, Grzimek brought endangered species to Rubondo over 1966 - 1969 including 16 west African chimpanzee. Experience a guided trek into the pristine tropical forest to track the primates. On average, 92 percent of visitors manage to see chimpanzee during their habituation experience.
Includes & Excludes
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Drinks: Local brands included
Activities: Included
Transport: Included
Day 7
End of Itinerary
Last morning at Rubondo and transfer to the airstrip after breakfast. Your return flight to Kilimanjaro is included (via Seronera)....
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Day 7
End of Itinerary
Last morning at Rubondo and transfer to the airstrip after breakfast. Your return flight to Kilimanjaro is included (via Seronera). You can also extend the safari with a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater or a gorilla trekking in neighboring Rwanda.
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FAQs about Serengeti Safari and Chimpanzee Encounters
Tanzania has plenty of different accommodation options from self-catering to luxury hotels. The best way to book accommodation in Tanzania is with Discover Africa safaris.
There are many places to watch the wildebeest migration and all the drama it draws, but we recommend the Mara River, the plains of the Masai Mara National Park, and the Ndutu Plains of Tanzania's Serengeti.
In Tanzania's Serengeti, the migration usually lasts for 9 months. During August, September, and October, it is most active in Kenya's Masai Mara.
Basically, the animals follow the rains because they want to find green grass. Wildebeest take advantage of the strong seasonal conditions by spending the rainy season on the plains in the south-east and the dry season in the woodlands in the north-west.
Safari lodges have guest rooms similar to a hotel with en-suite bathrooms. They are comfortably furnished with facilities normally associated with a hotel rooms, except your rooms are normally set in beautiful wilderness settings, with nature and wildlife around.
Tented lodges have rooms which are tents on a platform and with a roof and also have en-suite facilities with showers, flush toilets and hot water. Basically all the amenities of a hotel room, except canvas walls and roof.
The boutique lodges and camps can be very stylish and smart in terms of design and decor, often with very spacious rooms and even going so far in some cases as having plunge pools for each room.
Eco-camps and smaller tented camps have insect-proof tents with en-suite facilities including a safari shower and flush toilet. They give a more authentic safari experience but the tents are comfortably furnished with proper beds and you don’t need to bring your own sleeping bag! The emphasis is usually on having excellent guides and great wildlife viewing away from the crowds. Guests often eat together and people travelling alone usually say that they found the atmosphere friendly and enjoyed meeting other like-minded travellers around the campfire in the evening or at dinner.
The Adventure Camps are a budget option with guests bringing their own sleeping bags and towels. Accommodation is in small dome tented with a mattress on the floor. Each tent has its own nearby cubicle with a flush toilet, safari shower, and wash basin. The Adventure Camps are suitable only for those who don’t mind “real camping” and can put with some degree of “roughing it”. Apart from the accommodation in simple dome tents, the meals and the guiding are the same standards as the higher quality camps and game drives are in 4x4 safari vehicles. For those on a limited budget, the Adventure Camps are a good alternative to the big tourist lodges and minibus tours for those for whom the safari experience is more important than hotel accommodation.
The official language in Tanzania is Swahili but there are hundreds of other local dialects.
English is the second official language and the country's commercial language. It is also the main teaching language used for all higher education institutions.
You will find that the majority of the people that you come in contact with are fluent in English and have a surprisingly good command of the language.
A Grumeti safari is rewarding throughout the year. However, the best time to visit Grumeti Game Reserve is during the migration months of June and July - when massive herds of wildebeest arrive to cross the crocodile-infested Grumeti River on their way back to Kenya’s Masai Mara.
For many, the post-migration months of September and October are seen as the best time to visit the Grumeti Reserves - large herds of zebra and wildebeest remain in the area along with elephant, topi and Thomson’s gazelle. However, it's also easy to spot predators moving through the short grass.
The best time to see the wildebeest migration is in August as the herds cross the Nile crocodile-infested Mara River, crossing an international border between Kenya and Tanzania.
The dry season months of June through to November are the best times to visit the Tarangire National Park, as most of the animals will head towards the Tarangire River to remain hydrated, providing travellers with excellent game viewing opportunities.