13th - 15th May, 2023
ITINERARY
The EAPCE’23 Post Conference Excursion to the Northern Circuit will be conducted for three days from 12th to 14th May, 2023. The excursion route will pass through the Neogene Lake Beds and older extrusive rocks that contain olivine basalts and volcanic tuffs in the Eastern branch of the East African Rift System. The delegates will be able to view the Gregory Rift System, the Engaruka Crater, Oldonyo Lengai Mountain (Mountain of God), Lake Natron, the Olduvai Gorge (the locality of the Human Ancestor - Australopithecus boisei), the Shifting Sands, the famous Ngorongoro Crater and the Tarangire National Park.
The trip will also offer an opportunity to view an extensive exposure of the East African Rift System (EARS) which is one of the famous geological wonders of the world, a place where the earth's diverging tectonic forces are presently trying to create new plates.
On 12th May, 2023 the delegates will be picked from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Arusha for the night at Kibo Palace Hotel.
Day 1: 13th May, 2023
The delegates will have breakfast at the Kibo Palace Hotel, then drive from Arusha City to Makuyuni town where the delegates will have a far view of the Gregory Rift and the Manyara Lake. At this location, the delegates will closely view the exposed Oolitic and fossiliferous Limestone outcrops (Lake Beds). At Mto wa Mbu, delegates will have a close view of the Gregory rift escarpment.
Thereafter, the delegates will drive parallel along the plane of Gregory border fault to Engaruka. On the way, the delegates will be able to see the older volcanic rocks (basalts) and younger pyroclastic materials (ashes, tuffs and agglomerate). The delegates will stop at Engaruka Crater (Shimo la Mungu) where the stratigraphic succession of volcanic ashes are exposed. Few kilometers ahead, delegates will have a close view of the active Oldonyo Lengai Mountain (“The Mountain of God”), a mountain of Carbonatite volcanic composition.
The delegates will have a picnic lunch near Masamburai village and drive to Lake Natron to view a large group of Flamingos around the lake and view the Engare Sero Hominid footprints prior to driving back to Lake Manyara Serena Hotel for a night.
Day 2: 14th MAY, 2023
Delegates will have breakfast at Lake Manyara Serena Hotel, then drive to Oldupai Gorge, a very important site for anthropological history. It is a famous area for the fossils of early human evolution. At this area, delegates will see the skull and bones of earlier humankind and a very well preserved oldest sediment succession ranging from 2.1 Ma to 600,000 years ago.
The delegates will also have an opportunity to see the magical shifting sands and have an experience of cultural aspects of life styles in the wild with wild animals and the traditional houses from Maasai tribe at the Maasai Boma area.
On the way back, delegates will have a Game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater which is one of the seven world heritage sites. The delegates will have an opportunity to learn its geological evolution and be able to see the occurrences of both Salt and fresh water lake environments and Volcanic rocks within the Crater (Figure 8). Also, the delegates will see different wild animals grazing with Maasai domestic cows.
Delegates will have a picnic lunch inside the Crater near the fresh water Lake then drive outside the Crater along the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and spend a night at Ngorongoro Crater Serena Hotel.
Day 3: 15th MAY, 2023
This is the last day of the field excursion. The delegates will have breakfast at Ngorongoro Crater Serena Hotel and head to Tarangire National Park where they will see the giant baobab trees, different bird species and plenty of wild animals such as elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, antelopes, gazelles, buffaloes, zebras and warthogs. The delegates will then drive straight to Kilimanjaro International Airport for departure in the evening.
Fees:
US$ 1,200 per person non – residents,
US$ 1,000 per person for East African residents
Includes meals, transport, accommodation and park entry fees. Final Fees to be confirmed based on the applicable fees during the period of May 2023.
Contact:
Mr. Partick Kabwe,
Petroleum Geologist,
Tanzania Petroleum Development
Corporation
P.O. Box 2774, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel: +255 763 588290
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.