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The Tanzania Survival Expedition

By Tom Williams, winner of Channel 4’s Alone

Live with the Hadza hunter-gatherers, learn ancient bushcraft, and finish with a luxury safari.

From:

£5,250

Duration:

10 days

Date:

12 Jun 2027

Max People:

12

Min Age:

18+

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Step Into the Adventure

Our adventures follow a simple arc:
Learn → Survive → Celebrate.

Adventures that move you. That you reflect on forever. That you grow from. But above all are fun.

Learn

Seventy thousand years ago, our ancestors first walked out of Africa. Most scattered across the globe, adapting to new climates and building new civilisations. A few never left, and never stopped living the way all of us once did. The Hadza are still here. And for ten days, so will you be.

Survive

This is a genuine hands-on expedition into the remote Tanzanian savannah. Six days living alongside the Hadzabe: learning to start fire by friction, hunting with handmade bows, foraging wild plants, harvesting honey from ancient baobab trees, building traditional shelters and carving tools by hand. All of it shared around the campfire, in good company, over extraordinary food prepared by our camp chefs. Every element of this trip directly supports the community you are visiting.

Celebrate

When your time with the Hadza draws to a close, we shift gears entirely. First into the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact volcanic caldera on Earth creating an extraordinary amphitheatre with one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife anywhere on the planet. Then into Tarangire National Park, where vast herds of elephants move through open savannah and the landscape feels like the Africa you always imagined. Luxury lodges, outstanding food and game drives that match the scale of the wilderness around you.

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  • A boy in traditional clothing aims a bow and arrow outdoors during the Hadza Tribal Bushcraft Immersion & Luxury Safari.
  • A safari vehicle drives on a dirt road as four giraffes cross nearby under a partly cloudy sky during a Hadza Tribal.
  • Two zebras stand on a sandy area near a body of water, with a large flock of pink flamingos in the background—a scene.
  • Aerial view of a green savanna landscape with scattered trees, a winding river, and a large, flat-topped hill under a.

Key Facts

Location

Lake Eyasi + Tarangire + Ngorongoro, northern Tanzania.

Length

10 days / 9 nights.Tribal experience + safari finale.

Group Size

8-12 people. Small and respectful experience.

Who It’s For

Adventurers seeking cultural depth, ancient bushcraft, and wildlife spectacle in one trip.

remarkable Moments

Hunt with bows alongside the Hadza tribe.

Learn fire-starting, shelter-building, and bushcraft from true hunter-gatherers.

Go on safari in Tarangire: elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, buffalo.

Visit Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera.

Relax at a luxury safari lodge with pool after the wild.

The Day-by-Day

  • Day 1: Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport, transfer to your Arusha lodge, meet the group, and enjoy a welcome dinner and briefing.
  • Day 2: Drive to Lake Eyasi, stopping for lunch en route. Arrive to meet the Hadzabe and settle into camp. This afternoon, a first walk through the bush with the tribe, learning how they read the landscape, spotting tracks and tasting the first wild edibles. This evening, join them around the fire for your first taste of songs, stories and stars.
  • Day 3: Up before sunrise for Hunt #1, moving through the wilderness shoulder to shoulder, bows and arrows in hand, loyal dogs at our side, sometimes covering up to ten miles. Return to a well-earned brunch. This afternoon: bow and arrow making, spoon carving and friction fire, skills the Hadza make look far too easy. Evening around the fire under a canopy of stars.
  • Day 4: This morning we head to an arid lake bed to collect and refine the sap of the desert rose into poison for arrow tips. After brunch, we join the women, singing as we dig for tubers and forage for berries. Then a three-course dinner and an evening of dancing, song and philosophy with the Hadzabe.
  • Day 5: Hunt #2, and this time we’re listening for the honey guide bird. If it calls, we follow, climbing ancient baobab trees to harvest wild honey straight from the hive. Last time we pulled ten litres from a single tree. After brunch: an archery competition (prepare to be humbled), jewellery making with the women, and a gift exchange to close the evening.
  • Day 6: Today, you’re self-sufficient. With the Hadza women on hand to guide and help, you’ll build your own traditional shelter and forage the bush for baobab berries and wild edibles. Then it’s back to camp to fend for yourself: start a fire by friction (no matches, no lighters), purify your own water, and cook a goat leg we provide over the flames you made. Tonight you eat what you gathered and cooked, and sleep in the shelter you built, under the stars. You will feel like you have gone back in time.
  • Day 7: One final sunrise hunt with the Hadzabe before a farewell brunch and an emotional goodbye. Then transfer to a five-star lodge for hot showers and rest, before sundowners around the fire pit and a celebratory dinner.
  • Day 8: Explore the extraordinary Ngorongoro Crater, a vast volcanic caldera at 2,500 metres draped in rainforest and teeming with wildlife: rhinos, lions, hippos, hyenas and so much more. Afterwards we drive to your lodge inside Tarangire National Park, taking in a magical game drive as sunset approaches.
  • Day 9: After a night in your luxury tent surrounded by a chorus of open nature, spend the day on safari in Tarangire, where vast herds of elephants and giraffes roam through a dramatic landscape of baobabs and savannah. This afternoon we return to Arusha for a traditional farewell celebration dinner.
  • Day 10: Enjoy breakfast at the hotel before your airport transfer and onward flight.

This is the shape of the expedition, not a fixed timetable. The exact training days flex with the weather and conditions, that’s part of the adventure.

Is This For You? Is It Safe?

NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED

The first five days are survival-light, building your skills and confidence before the real test. It is a genuine challenge, and that is exactly the point: most people call it a reset like nothing else.

YOUR SAFETY COMES FIRST

Sites are handpicked to avoid real hazards, every instructor is wilderness-first-aid certified, we run on a system of informed consent, and you stay in contact with the team throughout.

CHANGED YOUR MIND?

A 7-day cool-off with a full refund, flexible rescheduling up to 90 days before departure, and our safety promise.

What’s Included

  • All activities mentioned
  • 5 catered nights with Hadza
  • Safari in Tarangire National Park
  • Safari in Ngorongoro Crater 
  • 2 nights in a luxury lodge (twin rooms – shared)
  • 2 nights in Arusha region (twin rooms – shared)
  • All meals
  • Unlimited alcoholic drinks camping with Hadza and during safari drives (does not safari camps)
  • Additional tribe visits (Masai & Tatoga) 
  • Airport collection and drop off

What’s Not Included

  • International flights
  • Visas, if required
  • Personal travel insurance
  • Personal kit. We will be sending you a more detailled version after booking.
  • Personal expenses
  • Alcholic drinks in safari lodges

More Trip Details

Live with the Hadza, one of the last true hunter-gatherer peoples on Earth, before closing the adventure in five-star safari luxury.

Seventy thousand years ago, our ancestors first walked out of Africa. Most scattered across the globe, adapting to new climates and building new civilisations. A few never left, and never stopped living the way all of us once did. The Hadza are still here. And for ten days, so will you be.

This is a genuine hands-on expedition into the remote Tanzanian savannah. Six days living alongside the Hadzabe: learning to start fire by friction, hunting with handmade bows, foraging wild plants, harvesting honey from ancient baobab trees, building traditional shelters and carving tools by hand. All of it shared around the campfire, in good company, over extraordinary food prepared by our camp chefs. Every element of this trip directly supports the community you are visiting.

When your time with the Hadza draws to a close, we shift gears entirely. First into the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact volcanic caldera on Earth creating an extraordinary amphitheater with one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife anywhere on the planet. Then into Tarangire National Park, where vast herds of elephants move through open savannah and the landscape feels like the Africa you always imagined. Luxury lodges, outstanding food and game drives that match the scale of the wilderness around you.

The Hadza Tribe

The Hadza, or Hadzabe, are one of the last true hunter-gatherer peoples on Earth and arguably the most important window into what humans actually are.

Living in the remote savannahs near Lake Eyasi, Tanzania, their way of life has remained virtually unchanged for over 10,000 years. They hunt with handmade bows, forage wild roots and berries, speak a unique click-based language found nowhere else on Earth, and share an almost mythical bond with the Greater Honeyguide bird. This wild animal actively leads them to hidden honey deep in the bush, one of the only known examples of true mutualistic communication between humans and a wild species.

But what makes the Hadza truly extraordinary goes beyond what they do. It is what they reveal about who we are.

Evolutionary anthropologists have long studied the Hadza as a living model of the social structure humans evolved within. They are radically egalitarian. No chiefs, no hierarchy, no land ownership, no accumulation. Food is shared without question. Every decision is collective. This is not a philosophy they have chosen. It is simply how humans lived for the vast majority of our existence.

Their daily life reflects this too. They walk up to ten miles before breakfast, eat only what they catch or forage, and sleep when the sun sets and wake when it rises. The result is a model of human health that stops researchers in their tracks: no obesity, no type 2 diabetes, no cardiovascular disease, and some of the most diverse gut microbiomes ever recorded. They are a living answer to what we look like when we eat and move the way we evolved to.

Perhaps most surprisingly, despite their reputation as hunters, they are among the warmest, most generous and most genuinely kind people you will ever encounter. Cruelty, hoarding and status-seeking are the aberrations of civilisation. The Hadza remind you that kindness may be the oldest human instinct of all.

To spend time with the Hadza is not just to witness another culture. It is to hold a mirror up to your own and understand our species completely differently.

Not For Everyone

The Hadzabe are some of the kindest and purest people we have ever encountered, but when it comes to hunting, they take almost everything they find, including small songbirds. Hyenas and snakes are the exception. For some guests this can be confronting, and that’s worth knowing before you come.

Fitness

None of the activities are obligatory, including the morning hunts. That said, the hunts are among the most extraordinary experiences on the trip and we encourage everyone to give them a go. On some mornings you may cover six miles or more across steep and uneven terrain. A reasonable level of fitness will help you get the most from this experience.

Insects

In five days with the Hadzabe, not a single member of our group received a mosquito bite or was troubled by biting insects of any kind. We cannot advise you to skip antimalarials; always consult a medical professional. But we wanted to share our honest experience on the ground.

Weather

Temperatures are extremely agreeable. Expect cool nights and daytime highs of around 25°C, ideal conditions for being outdoors all day.

Possessions

Don’t bring anything – knives, weapons, valuables – that you do not wish to give to the Hadzabe. Possession is a loose concept here.

If you’re travelling from Europe, getting to Tanzania is surprisingly straightforward. There are direct flights from several major European cities to Kilimanjaro International Airport, which is the closest hub to Arusha. Tanzania is also well-connected to the Middle East and other parts of Africa, making it accessible from most global regions.

From the airport, it’s about a one-hour drive to Arusha, the bustling gateway to northern Tanzania’s wild landscapes. That’s where we meet. at a hotel in Arusha.

Google flights is our favourite flight search engine; however, we always recommend booking directly with the airline once you have found your flights as you will have a preferential cancellation policy and better upgrade potential.

Only 5-Star Reviews

Google logo in red, yellow, green, and blue on a black background.
    • “Every single person in the crew is amazing. The experience itself is the best adventure that you can have. You will come back a different person.”
      Smiling man in a light blue collared shirt, profile view.
      Diogo Barardo
    • “An absolutely incredible experience, so amazing to switch off from the world and go back to basics, with an amazing group of people and fantastic instructors.”
      Purple circle with white letter J
      Jenny Bomers
    • “A great way to get away from our daily lives and connect to nature, oneself and with great people!”
      Green circle with white letter P
      Peter Larg

All upcoming departures

7-Day Cool Off

Flexibility

Safety

FAQs

With the Hadza, you’ll sleep in your own tent with a comfy mattress. If you’d like, you’re also welcome to build and sleep in your own bushcraft shelter. You’ll share a twin room with another guest during the safari portion unless you select the single-room supplement.

Yes, we do cater for vegans. However, it’s essential to understand that the Hadza will continue hunting as part of their daily life which can be distressing to some guests. While we often share food with them, our accompanying chef prepares three delicious African meals a day over the fire. You’ll also join the Hadza on their hunts, and they may offer fresh meat from the day’s catch which we encourage guests to only eat at thier own discretion as we can not guarantee cooking standards.

In June, mosquito levels around the Hadza territory near Lake Eyasi are generally low. It’s the beginning of the dry season, so there’s less standing water for mosquitoes to breed in, which reduces bite risk and lowers the chance of malaria. However, as a precaution, antimalarials are recommended.

You will need to fly to Kilimanjaro (JRO) international airport with direct flights from Paris, Amsterdam and Qatar, amongst others.

During the safari portion of your adventure, you will see massive elephant herds, often seen wandering among ancient baobab trees. You may also spot lions, leopards, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, wildebeest, ostriches, and baboons. Tarangire is also a birdwatcher’s paradise, with over 500 bird species, including colourful lovebirds and massive kori bustards. If you’re lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of elusive animals like cheetahs or caracals.

During your time with the Hadzabe, you’ll learn essential bushcraft and survival skills from friction fire-starting (bow and hand drill), building natural shelters, sourcing and purifying water in the wild, and mastering foraging, animal tracking and hunting techniques using handmade bows and arrows. You’ll also gain insight into tracking wildlife, identifying edible plants, and understanding the Hadza’s deep, instinctive connection to the land. knowledge that’s as ancient as it is practical.

During dry season, when we go, daytime temperatures stay comfortably warm, between 24–28°C (75–82°F), perfect for exploring without overheating.

Nights, especially around Lake Eyasi, can cool down quickly to 10–15°C (50–59°F), so you’ll definitely feel the difference once the sun drops. Humidity is low, and rain is very unlikely during this time.

Tip: Bring layers. Breathable clothing for the warm days, and something warmer. like a fleece or light jacket. for the evenings. It’s all about adapting as the temperature shifts.

The level of the excursion and pace of the trip depends on the activities you want to be involved in, plenty of the expedition will be slower around the camp. However at sunrise we will join the Hadza for a hunt which can be hard to keep up even for the fittest of us. we will also take a few hikes. To make the most of your trip. We feel the fitter you are, the better (as with life as a whole.). So, several months before you leave, we will send you a few exercises you might choose to do to strengthen your lower back and legs.

Your guide for this adventure will be Tom Williams, the founder of Desert Island Survival and the winner of the TV series Alone UK. Learn more about Tom here. He will be joined by 4 local guides who will help as interpreters, cooks and all round super heros.

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