The Best of Tanzania Safari
Arrival in Arusha
Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Transfer to your hotel. Arusha City, located in the northern highlands of Tanzania, beneath the twin peaks of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro, is the safari capital of the country. Guests embarking on the popular northern safari circuit all stop here to prepare for their journeys into the African bush. Established by the Germans as a centre for colonial administration in the early 20th century, today Arusha is one of the country’s most prosperous towns and a major centre of Tanzanian diplomacy and international relations – lending it its nickname, the ‘Geneva of Africa’. Overnight at Olerai Lodge.
Lake Manyara National Park
Breakfast at the Lodge. Drive to Lake Manyara, arriving with plenty of time for game-drive. Lunch taken as picnic lunch. Located beneath the cliffs of the Manyara Escarpment, on the edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is famous for its large alkaline soda lake which is home to the pink flamingo, yellow-billed stork and heron. If you are lucky, you may get chance to see the tree climbing lions, which are unique to this national park. Watch out for some fun antics from the local baboon population; Lake Manyara is believed to have the largest number of these primates in the World! Dinner and overnight at Bougainvillea Safari Lodge.
Ngorongoro Crater
Breakfast at the lodge. Drive to Ngorongoro Crater for half day (5 hours) crater tour. Picnic lunch. The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest unbroken caldera in the world – surrounded by very steep walls, giving it the appearance of a natural amphitheatre. – and home to up to 30,000 animals, almost half being wildebeest and zebra. The crater is also one of the few places in East Africa where visitors can be certain of seeing black rhino. Countless flamingoes form a pink blanket over the soda lake while more than 100 species of birds not found in the Serengeti have been spotted. The crater which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area – bounded by Lake Eyasi in the southwest and the Gol Mountains in the north and includes the Olduvai Gorge. Afternoon continue to Central Serengeti National Park for dinner and overnight at Serengeti Bush Luxury Camp.
Serengeti NP
You can have a relaxed breakfast and depart for game drives around 9:00 AM with packed lunch or you can depart at 6:00 AM on an early morning game drive. Later return to accommodation for breakfast and relax for a bit before proceeding for another game drive. Return back to the camp for lunch. Relax a bit at the camp. Continue with game viewing drive in the evening. Serengeti offers some of the most exciting game viewing –great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, as well as thousands of eland, topi, hartebeest, impala and Grant’s gazelle. Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Bush Luxury Camp.
Serengeti NP
You can have a relaxed breakfast and depart for game drives around 9:00 AM with packed lunch or you can depart at 6:00 AM on an early morning game drive. Later return to accommodation for breakfast and relax for a bit before proceeding for another game drive. Return back to the camp for lunch. Relax a bit at the camp. Continue with game viewing drive in the evening. Serengeti offers some of the most exciting game viewing –great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, as well as thousands of eland, topi, hartebeest, impala and Grant’s gazelle. Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Bush Luxury Camp.
Day 6 – Karatu Area
Early start, tea and coffee will be served at the camp, thereafter, proceed on a pre-dawn game viewing drive returning to your camp for a full breakfast. Continue on a game viewing drive in Serengeti NP. Mid -afternoon depart on a scenic drive through Ngorongoro Conservation Area, arriving in Karatu in the evening. Dinner and overnight at Country Lodge.
Tarangire NP
Breakfast at the lodge. Drive to Tarangire NP with packed lunch. Lunch inside the park. Tarangire offers some amazing chances of catching Tanzania’s wildlife! During your game drive, stay on the lookout for gazelles, elephants, leopards, cheetahs, olive baboons, lions, and much more! Be on the lookout for incredible bird varieties like yellow-collared lovebirds, hammerkops, plovers, and more! Seeing God’s diverse creation within their natural habitat is nothing short of breathtaking. Dinner and overnight at Sangaiwe Tented Lodge.
Mkomazi NP
After breakfast, drive to Mkomazi National Park with picnic lunch. Its landscape is a classic arid area, you find old baobab trees, rocky hills, savannah forests with umbrella acacias and flat grassland valleys. Mkomazi’s wildlife is thinly populated and also quite skittish. You can spot giraffes, antelopes, small kudu, impala and Grant gazelles. They share the park with elephants, buffalo and numerous predators, including lion, leopard and cheetah. And with some luck you can also spot other animals like dik diks, zebras, oryx, wildebeests, eland and topi on a game drive. The highlight is a heavily protected, fenced area in the park: the Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary! The rhinos here make up nearly 30% of the total black rhinoceros population in Tanzania. There is no better way to see them. Dinner and overnight at Babus Camp.
Mkomazi NP
After breakfast drive you'll go for a guided walking safari and thereafter full day of game viewing taking a packed lunch to maximize your time. Most of the animals that you'll see are endangered species, particularly the black rhino and wild dog along with several bird species. After an exciting day wildlife viewing, you’ll drive back to the camp in the evening. Dinner and overnight at Babus Camp.
Departure
Breakfast at the lodge. Drive back to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your outbound flight (an extension to Zanzibar possible on request)
