Itinerary
Day 1 TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
This morning you will leave Arusha after breakfast and drive southwest through Masai steppe land to Tarangire National Park. You will spend the rest of the day game viewing in Tarangire, viewing some of Tanzania’s largest populations of elephant and enjoying the diverse scenery, including the dramatic baobab trees that are so typical of the park. This park boasts a high concentration of animals, including elephant, zebra, eland, and wildebeest, and plenty of predators. In the evening you will drive to your overnight tented camp/lodge for dinner. (B, L, D).(B, L, D) Overnight: Lodge or Camp at Tarangire
Day 2 TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
You will spend another full day in Tarangire National Park, viewing some of Tanzania’s largest populations of elephants and enjoying the diverse scenery, including the dramatic baobab trees that are so typical of the park. Your concentration will be game viewing at Esilalei Swamp area and along Tarangire River, a favorite watering place, which attracts impressive numbers and variety of animals. The park hosts an enormous variety of birds, more than 500 species. In the evening you will return to the lodge or camp for dinner. (B, L, D) Overnight: Lodge or Camp at Tarangire
Day 3 LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK
Today you will leave early in the morning after breakfast and drive to Lake Manyara National Park. Despite the park’s small size, the park’s vegetation is diverse, ranging from savanna to marshes and acacia woodland, enabling it to support a remarkable variety of habitat. In addition to a striking setting and peaceful surroundings, Lake Manyara’s main attractions are its superb birdlife, its tree climbing Lions, and its Hippos, which you can observe at a closer range here than at most other places. To the east of the park is the alkaline Lake Manyara, which at certain times of the year hosts tens of thousands of Flamingos, as well as a diversity of other birdlife. You will leave the park in the evening and drive to your overnight lodge/camp for dinner. (B, L, D) Overnight: Lodge/Camp at Lake Manyara
Day 4 OLDUVAI GORGE & SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK – CENTRAL
Today you will leave after leisurely breakfast and drive to Serengeti National Park. You will stop at Oldupai Gorge, site of Louis and Mary Leakey’s famous discoveries of man’s ancient ancestors, the Zinjanthropus Bosei. You will take tour of the site and the museum. If interested, this will be a good time to visit and interact with Masai people that leave around the gorge. Visit to the Masai village is an optional activity which costs extra fee of US$ 50 per group and the fee is paid directly to the village elder upon arrival to the village. This visit will give you an opportunity to learn and explore traditions, culture and survival strategies of the Masai people. They will performing their traditional dances and if interested you can join in the dance to add something to your adventure resume! After the tour, you will take picnic lunch and after lunch you will proceed with your drive to southern Serengeti while game viewing on the way to your next overnight lodge/camp located in central Serengeti. (B, L, D)Overnight: Lodge or Camp in Central Serengeti
Day 5 FULL DAY IN SERENGETI – TRACKING THE GREAT MIGRATION OF WILDEBEESTS & ZEBRAS
Today you will leave after breakfast in the morning for sunrise game drive when animals are very active grazing on the grasslands and the predators are busy hunting. You will spend the morning game viewing in central Serengeti and Seronera River Valley, an area rich with wildlife all year round and a common place to find Leopards and other big cats like Lions and Cheetahs. After lunch you will make your way to the western corridor as you follow the great migration of wildebeests and the big number of predators hunting them as they migrate. In the evening you will drive to the lodge for dinner. (B, L, D) Overnight: Lodge or Camp in Western Serengeti
Day 6 SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK – WESTERN – TRACKING THE GREAT MIGRATION OF WILDEBEESTS & ZEBRAS
Today you will leave after breakfast and spend the day in the western corridor along the Grumeti River. We will spend the day following the great migration of about 1.5 millions Wildebeests and 500,000 Zebras migrating through the Serengeti Ecosystem. In the evening, you will return to the lodge or camp for dinner. (B, L, D)(B, L, D) Overnight: Lodge or Camp in Western Serengeti
Day 7 HALF DAY IN SERENGETI & TRANSFER TO NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA
Today you will leave after leisurely breakfast and spend the morning game viewing as you make your way out of Serengeti. You will enter Ngorongoro Conservation Area where you will continue game viewing as you make your way to your overnight lodge/camp located on the rim of Ngorongoro main crater with spectacular views of the crater floor. (B, L, D) Overnight: Lodge or Camp on Ngorongoro Crater Rim
Day 8 NGORONGORO MAIN CRATER GAME VIEWING
You will wake up early in the morning and drive down the Ngorongoro crater where you will spend full day exploring Ngorongoro crater which is a World Heritage Site and home to nearly 25,000 animals, giving you a very real chance of spotting the big five: lion, elephant, endangered black rhino, buffalo and leopard plus countless other African mammal species. You will witness the magnificent array of habitats, each with its own unique wildlife and flora. You will take time out to stretch your legs and enjoy a picnic lunch at Ngoitokitok Springs watching the hippos jostle for position in the water. After lunch you will proceed with game viewing and leave the crater floor in the late afternoon to drive to your next overnight lodge in the Karatu area, a region known for its coffee plantations, sugar cane and rice fields. (B, L, D) Overnight: Lodge or Camp around Karatu
Day 9 DRIVE BACK TO ARUSHA
After leisurely breakfast, you will drive back to Arusha through small towns of Karatu and Mto wa Mbu. You will take few stops at curio and souvenirs shops which are beautifully decorated and full of high authentic artworks, sculptures, antiques, fabrics and textiles from Tanzania. You will arrive in Arusha in the mid-afternoon. (B, L)