Experiences & care
TARECO Environmental Volunteer Programme
Four weeks with TARECO — savanna to mangrove
A four-week placement. TARECO leads restoration on the Arusha and Manyara mainland, then mangrove and coastal work in Michamvi. MiGo runs the travel, rooms and welfare. This is not a safari.
Volunteers and university groups From $85 pp / night From $2,295 pp (27 nights)
The story of this trip
This is a working placement, not a guided visit with a tree-planting photo stop. TARECO (Tanzania Restore Ecosystem Organization, a Tanzanian NGO) runs the field sites, the community liaison and the technical training. MiGo Legacy Safaris runs the airport transfers, shared housing, meals and guest welfare. You work in two ecosystems: two weeks near Arusha and Manyara on clean cooking, nursery work and land restoration, then a flight to Zanzibar for mangrove replanting and coastal work at Michamvi. The capstone is a TARECO project that we name on your quote, such as a school garden, a village waste system or a nursery handover, if that site is receiving volunteers that month. We will not invent a project. Housing is a shared volunteer room or a homestay, named on your quote. An optional day at Tarangire or Ngorongoro on your rest day is bought as a park ticket and is not part of the placement fee.
What this safari is for
- TARECO field teams, not a one-hour tourist planting session
- Mainland restoration near Arusha and Manyara, then mangroves at Michamvi
- Fuel-efficient cookstoves and nursery work in week one
- A named capstone project, with a joint TARECO and MiGo certificate
- MiGo handles JRO, the Zanzibar flight, rooms and meals
Route map
Route
From Arusha to Michamvi.
Start: Arusha End: Michamvi
Tanzania
-
Start Arusha (Start)
-
Lake Manyara (Day 1) Land Cruiser
-
End Michamvi (Day 5) Flight
Week by week
This is a working route. We confirm the camps and pace on your quote, within 24 hours.
Arrive at JRO, then your Arusha or Manyara base
We collect you from Kilimanjaro Airport and take you to the shared rooms named on your quote. You meet TARECO field staff, who explain this month’s ecosystem priorities, what you may photograph only with permission, and how the stove and nursery days work. Then you sleep. You do not plant on the day you land.
Clean cooking and nursery work near Arusha or Manyara
You work with TARECO on fuel-efficient cookstoves and on the deforestation that follows from firewood and charcoal use. Tree-nursery work and first planting happen only on plots that are receiving volunteers that week. Community education is a conversation that the community asked for, not a lecture that we stage.
Land restoration and monitoring
You work at TARECO’s active restoration sites near Manyara: reforestation, soil conservation and the monitoring that they already run. You also join workshops on sustainable land use with the communities in the programme. There is no game-drive morning this week unless you paid for the rest-day add-on.
A rest day, with an optional park add-on
Use the day for laundry, sleep and a walk in town. A wildlife morning in a nearby park is a separate vehicle and park-fee line, and it is not part of the placement. If you skip it, the day stays empty on purpose.
Fly to Zanzibar for a Michamvi orientation
We use a scheduled flight when seats are available, and we will not sell a same-day road journey from Manyara to Michamvi. You check in near Michamvi. TARECO’s coastal team walks you through the tides, the nursery and the fishing villages where you will work. The evening is free.
Mangrove and marine conservation at Michamvi
You replant and monitor mangroves on the plot that has seedlings, and you help clean up the beach and shoreline. You also join education sessions with local fishing communities on practices that they have agreed to discuss. This is the longer version of the three-hour mangrove morning: you live next to the channels instead of visiting them from a beach hotel.
Capstone community project
TARECO names a defined project before the last week starts, for example a school garden, a village waste-management system or a mangrove-nursery handover, if that site is receiving a group. Measurable notes go into your records. We will not swap it for a nicer story on departure day.
Impact review and departure
You hold a final review with TARECO and MiGo, and you receive the joint certificate. We then transfer you to Zanzibar airport, or book the flight back to Kilimanjaro Airport that matches the ticket you already hold. If you have an international flight the same morning, leave some time to spare.
What’s included
- JRO pickup and the quoted Zanzibar transfer
- Shared volunteer housing or homestay as quoted (Arusha/Manyara, then Michamvi)
- Full board throughout the four weeks
- Local transport to TARECO field sites
- Full-time TARECO field supervision and training
- A TARECO project contribution on the invoice (about $150–$200)
- Joint completion certificate from TARECO and MiGo Legacy Safaris
What’s not included
- International flights
- Tanzania visa
- Drinks at lodges and camps
- Hot-air balloon safari
- Tips for guides and camp staff
- Travel insurance (you arrange it; we recommend it on every safari, and it is required for Kilimanjaro). We can add a medical policy to your quote on request
- Laundry
- Visa (we do not issue visas; please tell us whether you are entering as a volunteer or a tourist when you enquire)
- Tarangire or Ngorongoro on the rest day, unless the quote adds park fees and a vehicle
- A six-, eight- or twelve-week extension, unless TARECO has assigned it
- Personal work kit beyond what the field team issues
When to travel
June to October and January to February, when planting and nursery work are drier. The long rains (March to May) still run, and some plots are muddier. We tell you before you fly.
Why this route
Four weeks is the standard placement. The indicative price is $1,800 to $2,600 per volunteer, depending on the housing tier. About $150 to $200 of that is a contribution to a TARECO project and is already in the fee. University groups of four or more get a group rate on your quote. We quote six, eight or twelve weeks once TARECO assigns the extra project time.
Request a quote
From $85 pp / night. Season, lodge class and group size determine the final price. Or book and pay a deposit.
Not sure this is the right trip?
Tell us your dates and who is travelling and we will adjust this route or suggest a better fit. We reply within 24 hours.
Compare all safari packages See Tanzania safari costs Ask about this trip
Similar safaris
Serengeti-to-Sea Conservation Safari
Tarangire · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Zanzibar
A northern safari week told through the people who look after the parks, then a reef briefing in Zanzibar. Walks happen only where TANAPA or NCAA already run them.
From $360 pp / night
From $2,160 pp (6 nights)
View itinerary: Serengeti-to-Sea Conservation Safari Book and pay
Faith & Fellowship — Mainland and Zanzibar
Arusha · Stone Town · Nungwi or Paje
Fellowship in Arusha and a community morning, then Zanzibar: Stone Town’s mosques, the Old Fort and the Anglican Cathedral on the old slave-market site, a small service project and a beach day. For groups of eight or more.
From $215 pp / night
From $1,290 pp (6 nights)
View itinerary: Faith & Fellowship — Mainland and Zanzibar Book and pay
Environmental Education & Clean Cooking
Arusha · Manyara highlands · Lake Manyara · optional Serengeti
A six-day field week: fuel-efficient stoves near Arusha or Manyara, a mangrove or estuary classroom, solar or biogas, and an optional Serengeti day. For groups of ten or more.
From $155 pp / night
From $775 pp (5 nights)
View itinerary: Environmental Education & Clean Cooking Book and pay
MiGo Legacy Safaris · Nkoaranga Street, Arumeru, Arusha · +255 680 501 501 · [email protected] · MNRT 037503
