Experience Tanzania: Adventure, Culture, and Service in One Unforgettable Expedition

Spend three weeks in Tanzania with other 16- and 17-year-olds on an expedition combining wilderness travel, cultural immersion, and service work. You’ll backpack through Maasai grazing lands, stay with a local family, contribute to community projects, and witness wildlife in the Ngorongoro Crater—one of Africa’s Seven Natural Wonders. You’ll camp throughout, developing leadership and outdoor skills while pushing yourself in new ways.

Photo credit: James Kagambi

The expedition unfolds in three sections. During 7-10 days of backpacking through West Kilimanjaro or Kitumbeine, you’ll hike through villages while learning Kiswahili and Maasai phrases and meeting local people. The homestay and service section lasts 5-8 days—you’ll pair up with another student to live with a Tanzanian family. Each day you’ll meet your group and instructors to work on projects like constructing school rooms or teaching English to children, developing leadership skills like communication and organizing others toward shared goals. The final 2-3 days include a safari into the Ngorongoro Crater to observe elephants, lions, zebras, and wildebeest, plus cultural visits to Hadza and Datoga villages.

Photo credit: NOLS Archive

You’ll carry 45-55 pounds across varied terrain—forests, savannah, trails—and experience dramatic temperature swings from triple digits to freezing. You’ll travel through country inhabited by Cape buffalo, elephants, and lions.

You’ll return home with new perspectives, wilderness experience, and an understanding of what it means to serve communities different from your own.

Photo credit: Kellsie Forbes