4-Day Eastern Circuit: Mkomazi & Saadani

On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport you are met by a member of the Gip Adventure team and driven south-east to Same, a small town in the Kilimanjaro region between the Pare Mountains and the plains of Mkomazi.

Your lodge in Same is easy to reach and wonderfully tranquil, with warm, caring staff and reliable service. Short walks and time to take in the views can be arranged in the early evening.

Fall asleep to a free lullaby of chirping crickets and the calls of the night that remind you exactly where you are. Lunch, dinner and overnight in Same.

After breakfast at around 08:00, you drive to Mkomazi National Park, a refuge for two highly endangered species, the black rhino and the African wild dog. Mkomazi National Park, the southern extension of Kenya's Tsavo West, covers 3,234 km² and forms part of one of East Africa's most important savannah ecosystems. Nestled between Mount Kilimanjaro, Tsavo West and the Pare and Usambara Mountains, it is dry acacia–commiphora country where fringe-eared oryx, gerenuk and lesser kudu – rare elsewhere in Tanzania – are found among 78 mammal species, along with more than 400 species of birds.

Game drive through the park and visit the Mkomazi rhino sanctuary, enjoying a picnic lunch along the way. Drive slowly – our golden rule here is that thickets hold secrets, and the slower you go the more birds you will spot.

After a short afternoon game drive, continue to the coast and your resort in Tanga, with its comfortable deluxe rooms and suites and a swimming pool to relax beside. Dinner and overnight in Tanga.

After a warm breakfast at around 08:00, you drive south to Saadani National Park for a full day's excursion. Covering 1,062 km², Saadani is the only wildlife park in East Africa with an Indian Ocean beachfront – the place where the bush meets the beach – and one of very few in Africa where big game has been seen on the sand.

Take a boat trip on the mangrove-lined Wami River to look for crocodiles, hippos and birds such as the mangrove kingfisher and lesser flamingo, and visit the Mafui sandbank (boat trip subject to booking), Mbuyu Maria and Madete beach, the breeding ground of green sea turtles. Along the way your guide shares the story of the park, the Wami River and the Indian Ocean.

After a picnic lunch, enjoy a short game drive in search of buffalo, eland, greater kudu, sable antelope, hartebeest, wildebeest and warthog, then return to Tanga for dinner and the night.

After a warm breakfast at your resort in Tanga, you are transferred either back to Kilimanjaro International Airport or onwards to Dar es Salaam, according to your onward plans.

Our services end here, with memories of rhinos, wild dogs and a beach where the bush meets the ocean.