The Expedition
Tanzania is renowned for its incredible wildlife, but its diverse cultures and welcoming people are equally fascinating. Though the Maasai are perhaps the most widely recognized tribal group, Tanzania is home to more than 120 ethnicities. Immerse yourself in village life, and discover how tribal communities have interacted with their environment for centuries. From vibrant villages to open savanna plains, examine the challenges of preserving Tanzania's prized wildlife and cultural traditions through an On Assignment project of your choice — Photography, Culture & Arts, or Wildlife & Conservation.
VILLAGE IN NORTHERN TANZANIA
8 days. We'll settle into a small agricultural village in a rural area near Mount Kilimanjaro and spend a week getting acquainted with Tanzania and our group. Learn firsthand about Ujamaa, the uniquely African concept of interdependent community developed by Tanzania's first president, Julius Nyerere. Break into exploration teams to plan projects and interact with community groups, artisans, and village youth. Visit young children in an orphanage, play sports with Tanzanian kids, or tutor English at the local school. Join community leaders and educators in programs promoting education, good nutrition, and HIV/AIDS awareness. Learn about music and dance from local youths, practice batik, and participate in lively discussions of politics and social issues. We'll also give back to the community by lending a hand with the construction of a classroom or teacher housing at the village school.
MAASAI TRIBAL LANDS
2 days. Set up camp in Maasai tribal lands in the Oldonyo Sambu Wilderness Area, and enjoy a rare chance to experience life within this fascinating tribe. Dressed in brightly colored robes and adorned with intricate beaded jewelry, the Maasai welcome our group into their daily lives. Warriors guide us on hikes through their ancestral hunting grounds with traditional spears and clubs in hand. Accept a special invitation to visit a boma settlement, a group of traditional mud huts ringed by thorns to keep predatory animals away from the livestock at night. Witness drumming and jumping contests. Learn how these nomadic herders are adapting to the modern world. School days here are structured in two shifts so that children — some as young as three or four — can tend cattle half the day before switching with their siblings.
WILDLIFE SAFARI AND OLDUVAI GORGE
5 days. We'll pick up camp and move to a site among the baobab trees deep in magnificent Tarangire National Park. Get up close to lions, zebras, cheetahs, elephants, baboons, and jackals in their natural habitat. With our professionally trained guides, discuss natural selection, animal behavior, and the wildlife management challenges facing the people of Tanzania. Continue to the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the best game-viewing spots in the world. This volcanic caldera contains almost 30,000 animals at any given time. Spot lions, zebras, giraffes, wildebeests, and even black rhinoceroses from the safety of our safari jeep.
After stopping at flamingo-fringed Lake Manyara National Park for more game viewing, we'll travel on to Olduvai Gorge. In the early 1960s, during an archaeological excavation here sponsored by National Geographic, Louis and Mary Leakey discovered fossils of Homo habilis, one of the earliest members of the human genus. At Olduvai Gorge, learn about key discoveries the Leakey family has made, and spend the night near Olduvai at a camp on the edge of the vast plains of the Serengeti.
VILLAGE IN NORTHERN TANZANIA
2 days. Return to the village to make our presentations to the group and have a farewell celebration before flying home.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Document your exploration of Tanzania in photographs. Capture images of market-bound trucks heaped with bananas, Maasai children nestled up against their mothers' backs, or a lioness tending her cubs.
CULTURE & ARTS: Delve into the lives of traditional hunters, warriors, and herders. Drive cows and goats with young, local children. Visit a Maasai elder and his many wives and children in a boma. Talk to young warriors about initiation rites and tests of bravery. Witness the ways that cell phones and transportation are encroaching on traditional tribal dynamics.
WILDLIFE & CONSERVATION: Investigate local and national efforts to conserve and manage Tanzania's incredible wildlife. Meet rangers-in-training at a wildlife management school. Talk with park administrators and officials from a game-hunting safari company. Weigh the need for resource management and antipoaching laws against the economic needs of local people.
