Day 1: Saturday
When travelling (flying) they strongly suggest you wear/carry on you your running shoes - these are crucial for your race, and you do not want to risk losing them in the hold. Make sure you have your yellow fever certificate with you - whilst it probably won't be asked for on arrival in Tanzania, when you return home it may be requested.

Check in at the Air Tanzania counter, Johannesburg International Airport at 10:15 latest. Depart on flight TC 7913 at 12:15, arriving at Kilimanjaro International Airport at 17:00 (local time).

On arrival you will be met and transferred to the Keys Hotel or similar, Moshi (+-1 hour/1 hour 30 minutes drive). Stay here for 2 nights on a bed and continental breakfast basis.

The Keys Hotel is located in Moshi, at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. The hotel is privately run, and has a pool, lively pub and dining area, as well as a covered patio. There are approximately 20 rooms. The New Keys Hotel is slightly smaller, and also has private garden, pool and bar/restaurant area.

Tonight will be a Marathon briefing and you are requested to attend.

Day 2: Sunday
Mount Kilimanjaro Marathon 2004 - race day.

Overnight at the Keys Hotel on a bed and continental breakfast basis

Day 3: Monday
You will be collected from the hotel this morning and transferred to Arusha (+-1 hour 30 minutes drive) for the start of your safari. Depart at 14:00 with your driver/guide to Lake Manyara.

Lake Manyara is a shallow alkaline lake at the base of a cliff face that is part of the western Rift Valley wall, popular for its tree-climbing lions and famous for large flocks of flamingos often seen along the lakeshore. In the tall trees of the ground water forest you may see monkeys leaping from branch to branch and on the slope of the escarpment, elephants may stand in the shade of the baobab tree. In the acacia woodlands lions have been spotted lying draped along the branches of umbrella trees and hippos wallow in the pools along the lake shore. The large variety of mammals, reptiles and birds in the Park and the different types of vegetation, all within a small area, make Lake Manyara a diverse and particularly memorable place to visit.

Overnight - Manyara Serena Lodge / Lake Manyara Hotel located on the escarpment with spectacular views down across the lowland areas of the Great Rift Valley.

Day 4: Tuesday
After breakfast depart on a morning tour of Lake Manyara National Park. Return to the lodge for lunch. After lunch drive to Ngorongoro for dinner and overnight. Overnight - Ngorongoro Serena / Sopa / Wildlife Lodge.

Ngorongoro Crater is one of the natural wonders of the world. A large volcanic caldera, with an area of 259 square kilometres, it contains a huge variety of game and birds and - is often referred to as a microcosm of Africa with its dramatic weather changes and varied terrains consisting of forest, grasslands and both freshwater and soda lakes.

Day 5: Wednesday
After breakfast you descend steadily down the steep 610 metre sides of the crater from your lodge on the crater rim. A day's game viewing in the crater is almost guaranteed to turn up four of the Big Five, as well as zebra, gazelle, warthog and a rich variety of birds, all viewed against the backdrop of the thickly forested crater walls. Return to the lodge in the late afternoon for dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro.

Day 6: Thursday
Depart after breakfast with a picnic lunch and drive via Olduvai Gorge, viewing game en route to the Serengeti. It is at Olduvai Gorge where, in 1959, Mary Leakey made her groundbreaking discovery of a hominid (human-like) skull dating back 1.8 million years. Since then other hominid species, possibly your early ancestors, have been found in the area dating as far back as 3.7 million years. The whole area is often referred to as the 'cradle of mankind'.

Dinner and overnight - Serengeti Serena/Sopa/Seronera Wildlife Lodge.

There is the opportunity to take a balloon safari (additional cost - pre-booking required) to float over the Serengeti and close to game from the air. It's rather expensive, but is an incredible experience. Subject to availability and weather. Price USD 399 per person.

Day 7: Friday
In the morning a game drive followed by lunch. In the afternoon another game drive. Dinner and overnight at your Serengeti Lodge.

The Serengeti is unequalled for its beauty and contains more than three million large mammals spread over the vast endless plains. It is here, at certain times of the year, that you may encounter the breathtaking spectacle of the annual wildebeest migration, where one and a quarter million wildebeest trek in columns of up to forty kilometres long in search of grazing, drawing with them their predators and numerous other species of game. From January to March the herds can largely be found in the southern area, proceeding north through the Western Corridor during June and July before entering Kenya's Masai Mara. They return south in November to repeat this amazing instinctive procession all over again.

Day 8: Saturday
Breakfast at leisure and proceed to Seronera airstrip for your flight to Kilimanjaro via Arusha. Afternoon departure Kilimanjaro on Air Tanzania at 14:20, arriving in Dar at 15:20.

On arrival in Dar es Salaam you will be transferred to the Holiday Inn for overnight accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis.

Day 9: Sunday
Transfer from the Holiday Inn to Dar es Salaam International Airport for your return flight on Air Tanzania departing at 10:50 to Johannesburg, arriving at 14:35.