Tanzania – Empakaai Cultural Safari

BOOKINGS OPEN: 15 days small group safari to Kenya & Tanzania starts on 5 November

We are looking for 6 travelers ready to start intensive and exciting safari in Kenya and Tanzania:

– Start on 5th November in Nairobi

– Small group safari: 6 guests maximum

– 15 days in Kenya and Tanzania

– Extensions possible: beach time in Tiwi (Mombasa coast in Kenya) or in Zanzibar (Tanzania)

– Combination of camping, tented camps, budget hotels

– Five most beautiful National Parks of both countries: Lake Nakuru, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Amboseli. And many interesting places in between!

– Based on full board: a good cook will travel with us.

– Price starting at 2100 US Dollars, final price will be confirmed based on the final accommodation plan and included activities (all agreed with the group!)

Who would you like to join you on safari? Tell your friends and family, and we will be happy to welcome you to Kenya and Tanzania.

Are you ready for your dream safari in November? Drop us an email on empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com

And don’t forget to check our latest trip pictures on Empakaai Cultural Safari Instagram account @empakaai_cultural_safari

Memories for life

Every Empakaai Cultural Safari trip is special and unique, and our trip with Cindy, Fredrik, Carina and Patrik was all of that and even more. We opened up new destinations, such as Tsavo West National Park and Mombasa Coast. We saw wildlife in its pure and raw moments, when every detail of a cheetah hunt and capture was unfolding in front of us. We went through happy moments and challenging moments – and we admired the happy mood and the talent of Cindy, Fredrik, Carina and Patrik to enjoy every little detail and every nice moment. And we are now truly thankful to receive and share this wonderful review letter that we received from them:

” In May 2016, I received a new follower on Instagram – Empakaai Cultural Safari. I looked more closely at the profile and saw that Moses Nkapiani worked as a guide, especially in Kenya and Tanzania. Me and my husband have been in South Africa and Namibia before and we were interested to go back to Africa again, so I sent a message to Moses and asked him for advice – what he recommended? 10 days later, we had booked a flight to Nairobi and hired Moses as a guide! My husband’s brother and his wife also came with us.

Six months later, we landed in the early morning and fumbled out of the airport in a dark Nairobi. Outside I saw a tall and stately masai, with a red blanket over his shoulders. I recognized his face from Instagram – Moses!

Then a 16 days long adventure began and it has given us memories for life. We visited several of Kenya and Tanzania’s beautiful national parks – Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Amboseli and Tsavo West – and we got to experience so much. We saw a leopard with his prey in a tree, we saw two lions mate, a cheetah trap her prey and an impala which had just come into the world.
After we seen so many lion flocks that we lost count and seen our fourth leopard Moses found that we were very lucky and said; If you have an open heart luck comes to you. However, we believe that it had a lot to do with our guide. As masai, grown up in the bush, Moses have the right eyes!

And, it was not just us who were impressed by Moses. Another tour guide said; you know that Moses is one of Kenya’s best guides? And, another tourist who met Moses on a previous trip came up and said; you know you are lucky and pointed towards Moses.

We know that these statements aren’t a coincidence given everything Moses did for us and all the knowledge he possesses. Speaking of “If you have an open heart, luck comes to you”… of all people in the world, I managed to contact Moses. How lucky!
Now we have raised Moses to the skies (which he’s worth), but we should not forget the rest of the crew, Allan – our driver in Kenya, Tonkei – Moses son, Benjamin – our chef and our driver in Tanzania “The Jungle Master ‘. All the guys were superb!
And, then it is one more person who should have a lot of credit. Before the trip, we had contact with Moses colleague Olena and she was the one who made the whole trip possible. She was the one who answered all our questions and helped us put together a good program. Olena gave us a basic proposal, which we could rework together, according to our requests and our budget. Olena is incredibly helpful and is always quick to respond. She is super nice!

We can highly recommend a trip with Empakaai Cultural Safari. Everything was well organized and everyone took care of us in the best way. We experienced so much that it is impossible to describe everything. Besides all animal experiences, one of our best memories is our three nights in tents. The feeling of waking up in the African wilderness is both magical and powerful. During those nights, we also had our own chef who cooked good food for us. To camp a few nights is a must. Something else you can’t miss, is a visit to a Masai village and learn about their history and culture. It´s very interesting.

Take the chance to experience wonderful people, wildlife, other cultures, nature and feel life, real life! Asante sana Empakaai Cultural Safari!

Cindy, Fredrik, Carina and Patrik from Sweden”

Would like to know more about the trip of Cindy and family? Don’t wait too long with planning your own dream trip in Kenya and Tanzania – just go for it and we are here to help you!
Check our our Instagram profile for more inspiration and ideas (this button below will take you there):

Or drop us a quick email on empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com and we will be happy to discuss your plans with you! Welcome!

Tanzania, off the beaten path – Empakaai Crater

Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home to the world famous Ngorongoro crater, as well as many other beautiful places. The entire Conservation Area extends to the borders of Serengeti National Park on the west, reaches Lake Eyasi on the south and on the northern side it is crowned by the sacred mountain of Maasai, Ol Doinyo Lengai.

Very close to Oldoinyo Lengai the mother nature created yet another wonder. Empakaai Crater is a volcanic crater, so with its rich soils it gives life to lush green vegetation around its rim and on its slopes. At the bottom of the Empakaai Crater lies a beautiful lake that is shaped as a perfect oval almost the entire year round. The water here is rich in salt and minerals, and therefore cannot be used by humans. But it is a perfectly fine environment for flamingos and for buffaloes, who come to treat themselves to some grass and a lick of salt here.

There are Maasai villages on both sides of the Empakaai Crater. Maasai people cross by foot from one side to the other, on market days or when visiting family. Their paths are carved into the landscape, as they descend to the bottom, walk around the lake and ascend on the other side.

How do we reach Empakaai Crater?

The best way is to depart in the morning, not later than 8am, from a public campsite or a lodge next to Ngorongoro crater. We will make a short visit to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Headquarters to arrange our permits. And then we will start driving past the magnificent Ngorongoro crater, further north. On our way we will admire beautiful open valleys surrounded by green mountains. We will pass by traditional Maasai villages and see their cattle grazing on immense land, sometimes next to zebra. In one of the villages a local ranger will be waiting for us.

As we move closer to the Empakaai Crater, the open valleys will change into thick bush. And sometimes our vehicle will have to stop and wait until a herd of Maasai cows passes through and clears the way for us to continue our journey.

It takes about 50 km from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area headquarters to reach Empakaai Crater. Once arrived to the place where one of Maasai trails start, we will begin a descent of an overwhelming beauty, following the lead of the local Maasai ranger.

In the morning there will be clouds sitting along the crater rim. As we make our way down to the Empakaai Lake, the skies will be clearing. If we continue in a relaxed but steady pace, then it will be lunchtime by the time we are at the bottom. A good opportunity to enjoy a quick lunch and make a short walk along the lake line. Black sand, white salt, pink flamingos, green forest, blue skies, perfect oval of the lake – this is the world how it was created.

Empakaai Crater is a perfect starting point for a three days hiking trip to Oldoinyo Lengai. We will follow the Maasai trails and cross the Empakaai Crater, and from there continue to the sacred Oldoinyo Lengai.

We invite you to make this exciting trip with Empakaai Cultural Safari. After all, we chose to be named after the Empakaai Crater! So this place is very special for us and we are very proud to guide our guests there.

Want to start planning your trip to Empakaai Crater or to Oldoinyo Lengai? Just contact us on empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com

And on our Instagram account @empakaai_cultural_safari you will see more photos featuring Empakaai Crater. We appreciate your likes and follows 😉

Trip feedback: Our mentor in Africa

We are very thankful for this positive review to our guests Sara and Alberto, who traveled with us on a private trip in October 2016.

Thank you dear Sara and Alberto, it was a pleasure to travel with you, as you’ve been open, flexible and enjoying every moment!

“Hello everybody!

We wanted to contribute our part to a great company and share our opinion with people who are thinking about making a trip to Kenya and Tanzania.

We returned two weeks ago after spending 19 days in Kenya and Tanzania. Before doing this trip we were going crazy trying to find something that would fit our needs. Now we say – we have not only found it, but we are totally delighted, with the trip, with the experience and above all with people whom we met. Thanks to them we have been able to live this adventure.

It began with Olena as we contacted her before the trip. She explained every detail, responded instantly and began to make this a reality. Titus our driver and guide in Kenya, Stanley and Costa, our guide and cook in Tanzania, each and every one of them made our trip an unforgettable experience. And we will never forget the great Moses, our mentor in Africa. He has been our guide, our teacher. He was not afraid to roll up his sleeves and help us, with border procedures, maintaining our security, or making hundreds of miles to take us to the airport and say goodbye to us. We can only be very grateful.

For people who are thinking of traveling to these countries – first we thought to do the trip by ourselves, but after our experience we know that this was the best way. Empakaai Cultural Safari www.empakaaiculturalsafari.com is a small company. Moses is in charge of getting everything done with the help of people we mentioned. Our trip had a very tight price, which was important for us, and we got it adapted to our needs, itineraries, accommodations, etc.

All in all our trip exceeded our expectations. We learned about the culture, mixed with people and got to know these two great countries.

Sara and Alberto”

The original text is posted on the travel forum Los Viajeros (in Spanish language):

Empakaai cultural safari: Kenia, Tanzania, Zanzíbar

And here is the trip itinerary of Sara and Alberto:

Day 1: Nairobi to Lake Nakuru

Day 2: Lake Nakuru to Maasai Mara

Day 3 and Day 4: Maasai Mara

Day 5: Maasai Mara to Lake Naivasha

Day 6: Lake Naivasha to Amboseli

Day 7: Amboseli

Day 8: Amboseli (Kenya) to Karatu (Tanzania)

Day 9: Karatu to Serengeti

Day 10: Serengeti

Day 11: Serengeti to Ngorongoro

Day 12: Ngorongoro to Mto Wa Mbu

Day 13: Mto Wa Mbu – Arusha – Zanzibar

Day 14 – Day 19: Zanzibar

Want to start planning your own adventure to Africa, but don’t know where to start? Just contact us on empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com

And on our Instagram account you will always see fresh photo impressions from our recent trips: animals of Africa, landscapes, places to visit, accommodations, activities and special moments! Our Instagram: empakaai_cultural_safari

Trip feedback: “The safari drives, tours, accommodations… all was perfect!”

We are delighted to receive this warm review from our recent trip!

Nuria, Elisabet, Jordi and Oscar did a 10-day Kenya and Tanzania trip with us last August. And here is what they shared with us:

“If you are planning a custom trip to Kenia and Tanzania, Empakaai Cultural Safari is THE TOUR OPERATOR!

Are you looking for a local (Maasai) experienced flexible and very kind guide? Moses is THE GUIDE!

We are four people and our trip in Kenya and Tanzania with Moses lasted for ten days. We had nothing but excellence throughout the planning and execution of the trip, with a fantastic guide on the ground, his knowledge of the countries and seamless coordination between all the different aspects of the trip.

They planned and adjusted the itinerary and dates to our interests, budget and convenience. We were interested in animals (of course!), but also people and history. Moses got the pacing just right. The safari drives, tours, accommodations… all was perfect! The drivers and cook were excellent! And there is no better guide in those countries than Moses, surely!

We highly recommend this tour operator to anyone planning on going to Kenia and Tanzania.”

The route was intensive, but very exciting:

Day 1: Nairobi to Nakuru

Day 2: Nakuru to Maasai Mara

Day 3 and Day 4: Maasai Mara

Day 5: Maasai Mara to Musoma

Day 6: Musoma to Serengeti National Park

Day 7: Serengeti

Day 8: Serengeti to Ngorongoro

Day 9: Ngorongoro to Mto Wa Mbu

Day 10: Mto Wa Mbu to Arusha (and then flight to Zanzibar)

Would you like to plan a trip to Kenya and Tanzania? Please drop us an emails to empakaai.cultural.safari@gmail.com and we will take it from there! And don’t forget to check out our Instagram account @empakaai_cultural_safari