TANZANIA

Our Homebase: Longido

Rift Valley, Maasai Villages, Longido Mountain

The families working with GOGI Abroad are excited to welcome visitors to their community. We live and work with a modern Maasai family and with a traditional Maasai family. Living in the village is the best way to truly experience the life and culture. You will see and experience things that most travelers staying in a hotel will never have the opportunity to.

Longido is about 2 hours 30 minutes from Kilimanjaro and 45 minutes to Arusha, which is around 45 minutes away. Arusha is a fertile area and is well suited to agricultural production.

Our homebase allows for excursions to nearby wildlife parks, including the Serengeti Plains, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, and Tarangire. Waterfalls and banana and coffee plantations await!

  • Sunset over a landscape with silhouetted trees, including an acacia tree, in warm orange and yellow colors.
  • Aerial view of clear turquoise ocean water with a small portion of land or reef at the bottom right corner.
  • Black and white photo of three elephants walking across grassland, with the largest elephant in the foreground and two smaller elephants behind.
  • Group of hikers walking along a lush green trail next to a tall, cascading waterfall in a dense tropical forest.
  • A giraffe walking in a dry savanna landscape at sunset, with scattered trees and a colorful sky.
  • Group of young people standing outdoors, wearing traditional red and orange plaid blankets, with a tree and brick wall in the background.

Beyond the Homebase

Safari Adventure & Maasai Boma

During a weekend excursion, experience the raw beauty of Tanzania as we embark on a safari adventure to the Ngorongoro Crater and live with a tribe at their boma. Giraffes, zebras, lions await as we enjoy a safari adventure.

Visiting the Ngorongoro Crater & Spending the Night in a Family Boma

From our homestay in Longido, we will travel to our host’s birthplace right outside the famous Ngorongoro Crater. Staying in the boma (traditional Maasai village dwelling),  participants will have the exceptional opportunity to fully engage with the Maasai. This is not a tourist attraction, unlike most places on the safari tours. We will cook, laugh, and experience daily life with our host’s  family. After our evening with the family, we will take a safari jeep tour into the Ngorongoro Crater known for world class wildlife viewing. Participants will spot lions, monkeys, and elephants and learn about the history of Maasai cattle herding and how it is incorporated into the African safari. This is a truly unique experience to fully integrate with the culture, not something that is created for tourism.

Gap Year in Tanzania

You will live with both modern and traditional Maasai in Longido and in the boma. Participants work side-by-side with the Maasai people of Tanzania. There are a variety of ways for you to get your hands dirty during your stay; from building a playground at a village school, to gathering water and milking goats, days will be full and fulfilling.

During a weekend excursion, you will experience the raw beauty of Tanzania as you embark on a safari adventure and live with a tribe at their boma. By continuing to go Outwards you will then discover the waterfalls near Mt. Kilimanjaro and experience sustainable practices of farming in the area. You will have the opportunity to attend a ceremony of some kind, such as a wedding or a boma gathering of singing and dancing.

A giraffe walking in a grassy savannah under a partly cloudy sky with scattered trees in the background.
Three smiling women sitting outdoors in a dry, rural area. The woman in the middle, with light skin and wearing a yellow t-shirt, is holding a smartphone. The women on each side are wearing traditional Maasai clothing, and one of them is wearing beaded jewelry. A water bottle and a mobile phone are on the ground near them.
A landscape with multiple lakes, grasslands, and distant mountains; elephants and other animals roaming near the water.
Two women holding a large, colorful, tie-dye blanket outdoors in a dry, wooded area. One woman is wearing a soccer jersey and a white cap, the other a white t-shirt and patterned shorts. Both are wearing yellow gloves.
Four people walking along a dirt path in a dry, grassy landscape with sparse trees and a large green mountain in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
Group of young people working together outdoors in a field, planting or digging in the soil, with mountains visible in the background.
Close-up of a woman wearing traditional beaded jewelry and a red garment, with a group of people sitting behind her, including a woman wearing a yellow T-shirt with a graphic and the text 'Outward Grow Inward' and a woman with a shaved head wrapped in an orange cloth.