$2,828 to $3,654 pp (USD)
2 travelers on Start dateArrival
Arrival
Day 1
Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport and Transfer to Your Lodge
Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport and Transfer to Your Lodge
Our driver meets you at the arrivals exit of Kilimanjaro International Airport with a name board and drives you to Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge, about an hour away. The lodge’s main house, built in 1905, is one of the oldest family homes in the Arusha area, with long colonial verandas overlooking a spring-fed forest lake. If you arrive early, walk the forest trails around the grounds: black-and-white colobus and Sykes’ monkeys move through the canopy, and more than 200 bird species have been recorded here, from fish eagles to hornbills. Dinner and overnight at Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge.
- Main Destination:
- Arusha (City)
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 2
Tarangire's Elephants and Baobabs
Tarangire's Elephants and Baobabs
After breakfast, your private guide collects you for the drive to Tarangire National Park (about 3 hours). In the dry months, the Tarangire River is the only reliable water for many kilometres around, so elephants gather here in some of the largest herds in northern Tanzania – unafraid of vehicles, they often walk right past the Land Cruiser. Lions follow the zebras, buffaloes and antelopes that come down to drink, and centuries-old baobabs give the park a landscape unlike anywhere else on the northern circuit. After a picnic lunch in the park and an afternoon game drive, continue to Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge on a hilltop near Karatu (about 1.5 hours). Bread from the lodge’s own bakery, cheese from its farm and a fire in the main house end the day. Dinner and overnight at Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge.
- Main Destination:
- Tarangire National Park
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge
Wildlife in Tarangire NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 3
Quiet Morning at Ngorongoro Crater & Drive to Serengeti
Quiet Morning at Ngorongoro Crater & Drive to Serengeti
An early start, around 6:30, puts you on the crater floor in the quiet morning hours, before most vehicles arrive. The drive from the lodge to the crater floor takes about 1 hr 30 mins. As you drive along the forested crater wall, the 2-million-year-old caldera opens up below. Lions, buffaloes, elephants and zebras live here year-round, and this is one of the few places in Tanzania where you may see the endangered black rhino. In the afternoon, climb out of the crater and drive across the Ngorongoro Highlands into the Serengeti (about 3.5-4 hours). Dinner and overnight at Sound of Silence, a tented camp in the central Serengeti.
- Main Destination:
- Ngorongoro Crater
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Sound of Silence Tented Camp
Wildlife in Ngorongoro Crater
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 4
A Full Day in Seronera
A Full Day in Seronera
A full day in Seronera, the heart of the Serengeti, with a picnic lunch out on the plains, or a hot lunch at your camp to split the long day into two game-drives. Seronera has water all year round, so its resident wildlife stays whatever the season: lions on the granite kopjes, cheetahs scanning the grasslands, leopards resting in the trees along the Seronera River, and the chance of a serval or caracal. With the whole day ahead, there is no rush: your guide can wait at a sighting as long as it takes or follow a lead across the plains. Back at camp, zebras and antelopes may be seen grazing close to the tents, which stand on raised wooden platforms. Dinner and overnight at Sound of Silence.
- Main Destination:
- Central Serengeti National Park
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Sound of Silence Tented Camp
Wildlife in Serengeti NP
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 5
Last Game Drive and a Bush Flight to Zanzibar
Last Game Drive and a Bush Flight to Zanzibar
After breakfast, set out for a last game drive around Seronera on the way to the airstrip, where you board the late-morning light-aircraft flight to Zanzibar. From the window, the Serengeti plains give way to the Indian Ocean coast – and you skip a full day of driving back to Arusha. Pack light: the luggage allowance is 20 kg per person in a soft bag, including the 5 kg carry-on. On arrival, our driver meets you at Zanzibar Airport and transfers you to Alladin Zanzibar. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.
For lunch on this day, your Serengeti lodge prepares a packed meal to have right before your departure to Zanzibar or while flying. Extra lunch can be booked at your Zanzibar hotel directly.
- Main Destination:
- Central Serengeti National Park
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Alladin Zanzibar
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 6
Zanzibar Day by the Ocean
Zanzibar Day by the Ocean
A day with nothing on the schedule. After four early safari starts, sleep in, take a long breakfast and spend the day between the beach and the hotel spa. Zanzibar’s coast has a strong tidal rhythm: at low tide the sea can retreat far from the shore, exposing sandbanks and rock pools, and at high tide it returns right up to the beach, so it is worth checking the tide times for the best hours to swim. If you’d like to be out on the water, a traditional wooden dhow at sunset is a calm way to end the first day on the island.
- Main Destination:
- Zanzibar Island (Tanzania Beaches)
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Alladin Zanzibar
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 7
Zanzibar Day by the Ocean
Zanzibar Day by the Ocean
A free day by the ocean. Matemwe is the closest beach to Mnemba Atoll, which lies just offshore and is one of Zanzibar’s best places for snorkelling, so if you’d like to see the reef, this is the day we recommend for it. Boat trips to the atoll leave directly from the hotel beach; the water around Mnemba is clear, with coral, turtles and reef fish, and dolphins are sometimes seen on the way, though sightings are never guaranteed. Back on shore, the afternoon is yours for the beach, the pool or the 24-hour gym.
- Main Destination:
- Zanzibar Island (Tanzania Beaches)
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Alladin Zanzibar
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 8
Zanzibar Day by the Ocean
Zanzibar Day by the Ocean
The last full day on the island. If you’d like to see more of Zanzibar, we recommend a day in Stone Town, the island’s old quarter and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, about an hour’s drive away. Its narrow lanes show centuries of Swahili, Arab, Indian and European influence, best seen in the carved wooden doors of the old merchant houses. On the way, a spice farm is worth a stop: Zanzibar has been called the Spice Island since it became one of the world’s main sources of cloves, and you can see nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper growing and taste them fresh. Or simply spend one more slow day by the sea.
- Main Destination:
- Zanzibar Island (Tanzania Beaches)
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- Alladin Zanzibar
- Meals & Drinks:
Day 9
Departure from Zanzibar
Departure from Zanzibar
Breakfast is included on your last morning, so there is time for one more slow meal by the ocean before you leave. Standard check-out is at 10:00. If your flight is later in the day and you would like to keep your room longer, let us know in advance and we will arrange a late check-out with the hotel, subject to availability and at extra cost. Our driver collects you from the hotel and takes you to Zanzibar Airport. The pick-up time depends on your flight: for international departures, plan to leave the hotel about 4 hours before take-off; for domestic flights, about 3 hours before.
- Main Destination:
- No major destination visited
- Activities:
- Accommodation:
- No accommodation (End of tour)
- Meals & Drinks:
