$2,635 to $3,188 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateArrival
Arrival
Day 1
Scenic Drive to Manyara Escarpment & Rest at Safari Lodge
Scenic Drive to Manyara Escarpment & Rest at Safari Lodge
Your first day is a transfer to your lodge near Lake Manyara, with the rest of the day at your own pace. This works well whether you're arriving from Arusha, Moshi, or either of the area's two airports – or coming directly from a Kilimanjaro climb. Pick-up times are flexible.
If you're flying into Tanzania on this day, flights landing by 12:00 PM give enough time to reach the lodge comfortably – the drive can take up to four hours. For later arrivals, a hotel closer to the airport is worth considering. Your manager can help arrange whichever works better.
- Main Destination:
- Karatu (Town)
- Accommodation:
- Mawe Mawe Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 2
Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater
An early start gets you into the crater before the morning light fades. The trail leads you through the forest, with a viewpoint stop at the rim before the caldera floor opens up below.
The crater holds one of the highest concentrations of wildlife per square kilometre on the continent – elephant, buffalo, zebra, lion and a small resident population of black rhino, all within a single enclosed landscape. Cheetah are present too, though less predictable. The permanent water and grazing keep most animals here year-round, which gives the day a particular reliability.
A mid-morning stop at Lake Magadi is worth the pause – hippos surface near the shore, and yellow-billed kites tend to take an interest in any food left unattended. The crater has held UNESCO World Heritage status since 1979.
- Main Destination:
- Ngorongoro Crater
- Accommodation:
- Sound of Silence Tented Camp
Wildlife in Ngorongoro Crater
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 3
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park
Few places in Africa concentrate this much wildlife in one landscape. Seronera sits at the heart of the Serengeti, where the river of the same name runs year-round and the grass stays green long after the surrounding plains have turned dry. Resident lions live here in numbers that anchor the largest population on the continent. Leopards are seen regularly in the yellow-barked acacias along the riverbank, drowsing through the heat of the day in the high branches. Beyond the river, the open plains stretch in every direction: wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and the predators that follow them. UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981 – a designation that, in this case, feels like an understatement. There's a reason this landscape has held people's attention for a century, and it tends to make itself clear within the first hour.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park
- Accommodation:
- Sound of Silence Tented Camp
Wildlife in Serengeti NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 4
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park
A second day in Seronera opens up what the first one only begins to cover. The central Serengeti is large enough that no single drive exhausts it, and your guide will move through different sections – following sightings, reading the landscape, adjusting as the day unfolds. Leopard are regularly seen in the riverine acacias. Serval and caracal are here too, though they require patience and time – which a full day allows for. The search is part of what the Serengeti does best.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park
- Accommodation:
- Sound of Silence Tented Camp
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 5
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park
Your final morning in the central Serengeti. The kopjes – granite outcrops rising from the plain – are worth time today: lion and leopard use them as resting points and vantage spots, and the light on the rock in the early hours is good for photography. Simba Rock, one of the more recognisable formations in Seronera, is said to have inspired a scene in The Lion King – though the landscape itself needs no such reference to hold your attention.
The plains shift daily. What was still yesterday moves today, and the drives rarely repeat themselves.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park
- Accommodation:
- Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 6
Transfer to Airport
Transfer to Airport
Our driver will pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to the airport in time for your flight. Standard hotel check-out time is 10:00 AM.
If you require a late check-out, please let us know at the time of booking – we will be happy to request it in advance (subject to availability and possible extra charges).
If you are not flying out on this day and have other plans, please inform us when booking. We can customize your program according to your schedule.
- Main Destination:
- No major destination visited
- Accommodation:
- No accommodation (End of tour)
- Meals & Drinks:
