Tanzania Geography Adventure: The Great Rift Valley, Ecosystems & Expanding Populations
Expedition Focus
The Green Light Ventures Geography Expedition could be one of the most exciting and rewarding destinations for a geography field trip. Located on the edge of the stunning Great Rift Valley Escarpment, this expedition takes you to a region where alkaline lakes, waterfalls, national parks and reserves collide with rapid human and agricultural development. It’s a journey through living geography, packed with diverse, active case studies that you’ll explore firsthand.
Throughout this adventure, you’ll delve into the complex relationship between people and wildlife, gaining insight into the ongoing conflicts and the inspiring projects working to resolve them. You’ll get hands-on experience of rural life in Tanzania, learning about local farming practices and agricultural systems that shape everyday life.
You’ll explore how wildlife and humans interact—how they compete for space, how populations shift, and how landscapes change. You’ll see how the Great Rift Valley creates a variety of unique habitats and plays a key role in shaping the biodiversity of the region.
As part of the expedition, you’ll actively contribute to solutions. You’ll take part in a community-based tree planting project, planting your own trees to support local schools and conservation groups, while helping to offset your Expedition’s carbon footprint and enhance wildlife habitats.
You’ll also gain a deep understanding of the Maasai tribe, one of the world’s most sustainable communities, and see how they are adapting to the pressures of growing populations and environmental change.
This Expedition is more than just a trip, it’s an opportunity to experience real-world geography, develop fieldwork skills, and come away with a deeper understanding of global challenges and the power of local action.
Expedition Highlights
Wildlife Conservation and Surveying
Manyara Ranch Wildlife Management Area: Work with the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to study wildlife management practices and learn about their conservation efforts and resolve wildlife/human conflicts.
Lake Manyara: Dive into the ecology of this alkaline lake and examine its human interactions with the village of Mto Wa Mbu.
Tree Planting through Project Plant: Support Local communities in reforesting and planting trees.
Great Rift Valley: Investigate the diverse habitats of this unique landscape and analyse the complexities of human-wildlife conflicts.
Tarangire National Park: Immerse yourself in the rich biodiversity of this renowned park, nicknamed ‘Elephants’ Paradise’
Adventure and Culture
Maasai Cultural Experience: Spent time in a traditional Maasai village, learn all about this incredible tribe and their sustainable way of living.
Bushcraft and Survival Skills: Learn Bushcraft and Survival skills from Maasai warriors as well as Green Light Ventures very own survival specialists.
Waterfall Jungle trek: Trek up through the jungles of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment to the hidden Waterfalls.
Sustainability tours: Venture out on various sustainability tours to rural farms and agricultural industries and learn about sustainable living.
Bespoke!
Your Expedition is bespoke! We tailor-make your Itinerary to suit your needs and reach your goals and targets. There are also many options for you to tailor your Expedition to enhance your curriculum. The first thing we do, once you have shown interest in joining us, is have a face-to-face meeting to discuss what you want your itinerary to look like. As we run every part of your Expedition, we are able to create an adventure that is perfect for your school/group.
Get in touch for more on how we can do this.
Create Your Group’s Itinerary
Expedition Duration
Select Your Additional Adventures
Bespoke Your Safari
Classic 14 Day Itinerary
We’ll work closely with you to create a bespoke itinerary tailored to your group. See below for our classic itinerary to give you an idea of what to expect.
Geography Expedition
Full itinerary
Included Experiences
Additional Experiences
Accommodation Ideal For Your Group
What’s Not Included?
Flights
Travel Insurance
Visas
Additional Safaris or Adventures
What’s Included?
Pre-departure support pack
Pre-departure meetings and briefings
Fundraising support and ideas
Support from U.K. staff
Qualified Expedition Leader
First aid trained staff
Full transportation in-country
Three meals a day and plenty of water
Accommodation
Project contributions
Standard one-day Safari to Tarangire National Park
Excursions (e.g. Hike to waterfalls; Bushcraft and survival skills session, Etc)
24-Hour emergency backup Crisis Response Team
Full Risk assessments, emergency evacuation plans and procedures
Comprehensive Travel Insurance
Financially secured expeditions (Financial Insolvency Insurance) and payment plans
Price
Geography Expedition
£1,950 per person.
Price based on the Classic itinerary, 14-day Expedition, group size of 15 or more
Bespoke price will vary depending on the group size, expedition duration, and the additional experiences you choose to include.
What to Expect
Tanzania is wonderfully unique and offers beauty and mystique like no other. It has so much to offer in its wealth of diversity in wildlife, culture, history and geography. Tanzania boasts some of the best National parks for spotting game and has the largest concentration of animals per square km in the world. Home to 162 tribal groups, including the colourful Maasai, there is no shortage of cultural diversity. The Great Rift Valley cuts through the country, giving life to many wonderful geographical features such as the flamingo-filled Lakes of Manyara and Natron and to Ngorongoro Crater, the largest of its type in the world and one of the top parks for spotting the ‘Big 5’. The snow caps of Kilimanjaro, the tallest free-standing mountain in the world, confirm your sense that you are truly in a special place.
Tanzania gained independence from the British in 1961 and has continued to remain a very stable country. Despite all the peace and beauty, Tanzania has almost 70% of its population living below the poverty line. Poverty is highest in rural areas, resulting in malnutrition, primarily in women and children. Education, although now free, is still basic, lacking facilities in most schools, and parents still have to find the funds to support this, as well as school meals and equipment. Often schools don’t contain much more than a classroom, benches, black blackboard and fewer educational resources than we are used to.
Practical Projects and Partners
Your efforts will contribute towards elevating poverty and improving education, empowering communities and individuals. We have several sustainable projects that Green Light Ventures and its communities are invested in. Throughout your Expedition, you are likely to invest in the majority, if not all the projects that we oversee.
Project Plant
Project Plant is the project we ask all our volunteers and groups to be part of due to its powerful action. Not only will you enhance wildlife, improve the climate, provide an income and empower Maasai women, but you will also offset your entire expeditions carbon footprint.
Project Wild
Project Wild focuses on the education and importance of wildlife. We are lucky to operate in an area with a large population and a hugely diverse range of animal species, in which we want to do our best in protecting and conserving.
We partner with local conservation charities such as the African Wildlife Foundation and educate the group on important wildlife surveying techniques and mammal identification. We then go and put this training into practice and conduct various large mammal surveying practices in local wildlife reserves.
The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) operates in an important wild corridor between Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks. This area is hugely important for humans and wildlife alike. The AWF does fantastic work protecting the wildlife in the area, as well as providing solutions for community needs within the Reserve. The local AWF and reserve team educate our volunteers and students on practical wildlife conservation, surveying techniques, as well as human/wildlife conflict resolutions. This is an incredible place to learn about real-life, cutting-edge conservation in real time.
Group Safety & Information
Green Light Ventures is committed to giving you the best possible experience we can. We intend to inspire you and help you acquire a wealth of new skills, knowledge and ideas.
We have years of experience working with Tanzanian communities as well as working with international volunteers. We know what makes your experience memorable, safe and enjoyable.
“An unforgettable experience! The itinerary which GLV put together was perfect. The activities ranged from those with a strong biological basis to community based ones and these were interweaved were recreational ones. The balance was excellent. I was particularly delighted that all of the activities were forged together with the underlying theme of sustainability. The organisation of the entire trip was spectacular with GLV always on hand and massively flexible to make minor changes when needed. So many of my students reflected that this was a trip of a lifetime and they are absolutely correct when saying this. If you are considering a trip to Tanzania with your students, there is only one person to work with – Dom from GLV. I recommend it highly!”
“Our sixth form trip to Tanzania was absolutely incredible, and so much of that responsibility came down to Dom. He organised the most spectacular itinerary, with an amazing array of biological and cultural experiences, all balanced with time for rest and lots of fun and all differentiated to suit our group’s needs. When out in Tanzania, Dom was a reassuring, approachable, knowledgeable, supportive and fun presence for the students, and we had complete faith that we were all in the safest hands with him. Dom’s experience and guidance facilitated a trip of a lifetime for not just our students, but staff too.”
“GLV was a brilliant throughout our trip to Tanzania. He planned a superb itinerary that gave us wonderful insights into Tanzanian culture, society and wildlife and was proactive whenever our group needed assistance. I came away from the trip inspired by the experiences I had. I couldn’t recommend GLV more for a trip for their professionalism, affability and knowledge.”
