$3,795 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateArrival
Arrival
Day 1
Arusha – Welcome to Tanzania
Arusha – Welcome to Tanzania
Karibu Tanzania! Your safari begins the moment you step off the aircraft at Kilimanjaro International Airport, where your personal driver-guide will be waiting to welcome you with a smile and a cold towel to wash away the journey's dust. From here, it is a scenic drive of roughly 45 minutes to an hour into Arusha, the gateway city to Tanzania's northern safari circuit, with Mount Meru's distinctive silhouette rising in the background for much of the route.
Arusha is far more than a stopover – it is a vibrant, fast-moving city with bustling markets, aromatic coffee plantations on its outskirts, and a long history as the meeting point for travellers heading into the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Kilimanjaro. After check-in, the remainder of the day is yours to relax, settle into safari mode and shake off any travel fatigue beside the pool.
- Main Destination:
- Arusha (City)
- Accommodation:
- Under the Shade Safari Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 2
Lake Manyara National Park
Lake Manyara National Park
After breakfast, you will set off west towards the Great Rift Valley, descending through farmland and forested hills before arriving at the gates of Lake Manyara National Park – a compact but remarkably diverse reserve squeezed between the soda lake itself and the dramatic 600-metre escarpment of the Rift Valley wall.
Lake Manyara is one of Tanzania's most underrated parks, and for good reason: within its modest boundaries you will find dense groundwater forest alive with troops of blue monkeys and olive baboons, open grasslands grazed by zebra, giraffe and impala, and the shallow, mineral-rich lake itself, which can attract thousands of flamingos and other waterbirds when conditions are right.
The park is world-famous for its population of tree-climbing lions – a behaviour rarely seen elsewhere in Africa – and for its large, relaxed herds of elephant, which often wander right alongside the safari vehicles as they move between the forest and the lakeshore.
- Main Destination:
- Lake Manyara National Park
- Accommodation:
- Farm of Dreams Lodge
Wildlife in Lake Manyara NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 3
Into the Serengeti – The Plains Await
Into the Serengeti – The Plains Await
This morning you set off for the Serengeti, one of the most celebrated wildlife destinations on Earth. The route climbs up onto the rim of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where you will pause to take in an unforgettable first view down into the crater itself before continuing west across the short-grass plains toward Naabi Hill, the gateway to Serengeti National Park.
As the landscape opens out into the famous endless plains, it quickly becomes clear why the Serengeti – a Maasai word often translated as ‘the place where the land runs on forever’ – has captured the imagination of travellers for generations. This UNESCO World Heritage Site and Africa's most famous national park is renowned for its sheer scale, its golden grasslands punctuated by rocky kopjes and iconic flat-topped acacia trees, and its extraordinary concentration of wildlife.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park
- Accommodation:
- Baobab Serengeti Camp
Wildlife in Serengeti NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 4
Exploring the Serengeti
Exploring the Serengeti
A full day of game viewing led by your expert guide. The park's vast size and varied habitats from open plains to riverine woodland and rocky outcrops mean that every drive brings new scenery and new possibilities, and your guide will tailor the day's route around recent sightings and your particular interests.
The Serengeti ecosystem is renowned for hosting one of the largest and most diverse predator populations in Africa, alongside vast herds of plains game. Sightings of lion prides, leopard resting in the shade of riverine trees, and cheetah scanning the horizon from a termite mound are all part of the magic here and with patience, a predator hunt is always a possibility.
If your visit coincides with the Great Migration, you may also witness one of nature's most extraordinary spectacles thousands of wildebeest and zebra moving across the plains with dramatic river crossings a possibility depending on the time of year and the herds' movements.
- Main Destination:
- Serengeti National Park
- Accommodation:
- Baobab Serengeti Camp
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 5
Ngorongoro Crater – Africa's Eden
Ngorongoro Crater – Africa's Eden
This morning you leave the Serengeti behind and head back towards the Ngorongoro Conservation Area for one of the most extraordinary days of your safari. The Ngorongoro Crater – often described as Africa's Eden – is widely recognised as one of Africa's Seven Natural Wonders.
Formed around two to three million years ago when a large volcano collapsed in on itself, the crater is the world's largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera, with walls rising roughly 600 metres above a floor that spans somewhere in the region of 250 square kilometres.
Your guided descent onto the crater floor offers some of the most reliable wildlife viewing anywhere in Tanzania. You can encounter the endangered black rhino, large prides of lion, clans of spotted hyena, huge old elephant bulls with impressively long tusks, Lake Magadi, flocks of flamingo and other waterbirds.
- Main Destination:
- Ngorongoro Crater
- Accommodation:
- Farm of Dreams Lodge
Wildlife in Ngorongoro Crater
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 6
Tarangire National Park – Land of Giants and Baobabs
Tarangire National Park – Land of Giants and Baobabs
Today's drive takes you south to Tarangire National Park – a true hidden gem of the northern circuit, and a wonderful change of scenery after the open plains of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Tarangire is instantly recognisable for its ancient, swollen baobab trees, whose distinctive silhouettes against the sky give the park a fairy-tale, almost prehistoric feel.
The park takes its name from the Tarangire River, which forms the lifeline of the ecosystem during the dry season, drawing in some of the largest elephant herds found anywhere in Tanzania – family groups numbering in the dozens are a common sight along the riverbanks. Beyond elephants, Tarangire is also superb for birdlife, with several hundred species recorded across the wider ecosystem, including striking residents such as the yellow-collared lovebird and the colourful lilac-breasted roller.
- Main Destination:
- Tarangire National Park
- Accommodation:
- Malkia Trees Lodge
Wildlife in Tarangire NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 7
Departure – Until Next Time
Departure – Until Next Time
Your Tanzanian safari draws to a close today, but not before one last chance to soak in the surroundings. Depending on your departure flight time, you may have a final relaxed morning at the lodge, or even a short activity before setting off.
From Tarangire, it is approximately a two to two-and-a-half hour drive back towards Arusha and on to Kilimanjaro International Airport.
We hope this journey has given you a true taste of why northern Tanzania is considered one of the world's finest safari destinations and we look forward to welcoming you back for your next African adventure.
- Main Destination:
- Arusha (City)
- Accommodation:
- No accommodation (End of tour)
- Meals & Drinks:
