Super Luxury SafarisSuper Luxury Safaris
5 day itinerary

5 Day Mererani Tanzanite & Mineral Research Safari

A private geology-led safari to Mererani, the only place on Earth tanzanite is found, plus the ruby and garnet ground nearby — mine visits, a gemstone workshop, and an honest look at how Tanzania's other minerals are found.

From $11,800 per personFinal quote depends on travel dates, lodge choice and group size.

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Route map

From start to finish

Starts in Arusha and ends in Arusha.

Start: Arusha End: Arusha

Tanzania

  1. Start Arusha (Day 1)
  2. Mererani (Day 2) Land Cruiser
  3. Arusha (Day 2) Land Cruiser
  4. Mererani (Day 3) Land Cruiser
  5. End Arusha (Day 3-5) Land Cruiser

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Digital itinerary

Day by day

Every package has a shareable digital itinerary: overnight notes, the route, and a print-ready PDF view.

  1. Day 1 Arusha — Tanzanite Experience Museum and geology briefing in Arusha
  2. Day 2 Mererani — the tanzanite mine in Arusha
  3. Day 3 Gemstone workshop and the Mirerani Mineral Market in Arusha
  4. Day 4 Kitwai or Lemshuku — rubies and garnets in Arusha
  5. Day 5 Arusha departure

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Lodge Safaris Luxury Safaris Research & Conservation Safaris

Tanzanite exists in exactly one place on the planet: a narrow strip of the Mererani Hills, an hour or so from Arusha, on the shoulder of Kilimanjaro. This itinerary is built around that fact — and around the wider, honest story of how Tanzania’s mineral wealth is actually found, mined and sold, from a working underground tanzanite shaft to a gemstone-cutter’s workbench to the ruby ground further east.

A private vehicle and an Arusha-based Super Luxury Safaris’ Guide travel with you throughout, joined by a local geologist-guide for the technical days. You will go underground at a small working mine with a proper safety briefing, meet the people who cut and grade what comes out of it, and get a clear-eyed geology briefing on the rest of the country’s mineral map — including the large industrial gold and diamond operations that, unlike Mererani, simply do not let visitors in.

A tanzanite crystal from the Merelani Tanzanite Deposit, Mererani Hills — the only source of tanzanite on Earth

Day 1: Arusha — Tanzanite Experience Museum and geology briefing

Rough tanzanite as it comes out of the ground at Mererani, before cutting

A private collection in Arusha, then a Tanzanite Experience Museum visit covering the gem’s 1967 discovery on these hills and how vanadium-rich metamorphic rock produced a stone found nowhere else.

An afternoon geology briefing from your local geologist-guide, mapping Tanzania’s wider mineral story — the Lake Victoria goldfields around Geita, the Williamson diamond mine at Mwadui near Shinyanga, and the country’s coal and nickel ground — so you understand what you will and will not physically see on this itinerary before you go underground tomorrow.

Overnight in Arusha.

Day 2: Mererani — the tanzanite mine

Miners working an active tanzanite tunnel in the Mererani Hills

A drive to Mererani, a safety briefing, and a guided underground visit to a small working mine: narrow tunnels, headlamps, and miners who dig this seam for a living explaining how a stone is spotted, freed and brought to the surface.

Lunch with the mining community, then time at the Mererani mine gate meeting the miners themselves before the drive back.

Overnight in Arusha.

Day 3: Gemstone workshop and the Mirerani Mineral Market

A gemstone cutter bringing out the colour in a rough tanzanite stone

A cutting and polishing workshop where a lapidary walks you through turning a dull, brownish rough stone into the trichroic blue-violet gem tanzanite is known for — including why the colour usually needs heat to appear at all.

An afternoon at the Mirerani Mineral Market, where sorting, grading and pricing happen in real time, and time with the miners and traders who work it.

Overnight in Arusha.

Day 4: Kitwai or Lemshuku — rubies and garnets

Cutting and polishing gemstones by hand, northern Tanzania

A full-day extension to whichever gemstone ground is open and worth the drive on your dates: Kitwai, known for its ruby market, or Lemshuku, known for garnet — both a further look at the “other” minerals of northern Tanzania beyond tanzanite.

A spare half-day is held here in case rain or road conditions move the plan; if the extension is not viable on your dates, this becomes a second, deeper day at the Mererani market and workshop instead.

Overnight in Arusha.

Day 5: Arusha departure

Arusha Clock Tower, the road home

A closing debrief on everything you have seen — from a single-locality gem to the industrial mines you only heard about — before your onward flight, which ends the safari.

The package

What is included — and what is not

Two separate lists, so you can see what the itinerary price covers before you request a quote.

Covered

Included in this itinerary

In the package price, for the dates and lodge or camp class on your quote.

  • Mererani mine-site visit fee, safety briefing and protective gear (helmet and headlamp) for the guided underground viewing.
  • Tanzanite Experience Museum and Mirerani Mineral Market entry.
  • A private vehicle and Arusha-based Super Luxury Safaris' Guide throughout, plus a local geologist-guide for the mine and gemstone-market days.
  • Lodge or hotel nights as confirmed on your quote.
  • A contribution to a Mererani mining-community safety and education initiative, included in the price.
  • Bottled water in the vehicle.
  • Hotel or airport collection in Arusha or at Kilimanjaro International Airport, and the return drop-off.
  • All meals (full board) at the lodges or hotels named on your itinerary.
  • An evening of live music and traditional dance performances, arranged for your dates.

You arrange these

Not included

Budget separately, or ask us to add them to your proposal.

  • International flights
  • Airport taxes and visa or eTA fees
  • Alcoholic drinks and any specialty dining not named on your quote
  • Tips and gratuities
  • Items of a personal nature, laundry and souvenirs
  • Travel insurance
  • Optional extras such as a hot-air balloon, Maasai village visit or spa, unless added to the quote
  • Any tanzanite, ruby or other gemstone you choose to purchase at the mineral market

When to travel

Season and routing

Runs year-round; the Mererani mine visit and gemstone market are working sites every week of the year. The one weather-sensitive day is the Kitwai or Lemshuku gemstone extension, where a heavy-rain day can slow the dirt roads — we hold the spare afternoon on day 4 for exactly that.

Before you book

Practical notes

  • You go underground at a small, active tanzanite mine in the Mererani Hills with a safety briefing, helmet and headlamp. This is the real, working mine — not a museum reconstruction — so expect tight tunnels, low light and genuine dust; it is not suitable for anyone with claustrophobia, mobility limits or a heart or breathing condition.
  • Mererani is the only source of tanzanite on Earth, but Tanzania's other big mineral stories — the Lake Victoria goldfields around Geita, and the Williamson diamond mine at Mwadui — are large industrial operations with no public visitor programme. We cover them honestly through your geologist-guide's briefing and, where the itinerary allows, a stop at a gemstone market that trades their output, rather than promise a mine gate we cannot get you through.
  • The day 4 extension to Kitwai (rubies) or Lemshuku (garnets) adds real driving time — Kitwai is roughly 3 hours each way from Mererani — so we run it as a full day, not an add-on afternoon, and confirm which locality is open and worth the drive closer to your dates.
  • This is a private safari with mine and market access built in, not a scheduled tour group programme — you keep your own vehicle, guide and pace throughout.

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