Day 1: Arusha – Tarangire National Park
In the morning you will be welcomed by your guide and after an approximately 2-hour drive you will reach the Tarangire National Park. As you enter the park, your guide will open the roof for a better viewing experience. Tarangire is home to the largest elephant herds in the north of Tanzania. Giraffes, buffaloes, lions, zebras, wildebeests as well as various antelopes and gazelles can also be spotted here. The landscape is made up of seasonal marshes and a seemingly endless tree savannah with its mighty baobab trees. After extensive game drives in the park, you will drive to your accommodation choice in the afternoon. Enjoy a beautiful sunset or relax in the cosy lounge area or mingle around the crackling campfire.
Day 2: Tarangire National Park – Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, you will travel via the cooler highlands towards the southern Serengeti and at midday you will reach the plains of the Serengeti National Park. This park is the largest in Tanzania and has a diversity of habitats and landscapes – short grass plains, savannah, thick bush, swamps and lakes. Bizarre rock formations called kopjes dot the grassy landscape where predators are often seen. The Serengeti is famous for the yearly migration when hundreds of thousands of wildebeests and zebras trek to find fresh grass and water. You will spend the night at the choice of accommodation inside of the park.
Day 3 - 4: Full Day at Serengeti National Park
The entire two full days is dedicated to game viewing in the Serengeti National Park. The areas that you visit will depend upon where the migrating herds are. Predators usually follow closely behind the trekking animals and include lions, leopards (in the acacia trees) and cheetahs. During the short rainy season in November and December the herds move from the hills in the north to the plains in the south. During the longer rainy season from April to June they return up north. As the migration is completely dependent on the yearly rainfalls, the location of the herds may vary from year to year but your guide will know where to locate the animals and where to see them best. You will spend another night at last night’s accommodation.
Options: You have option of doing Serengeti Balloon, doing balloon you will fly over Serengeti and get opportunity to view Serengeti from the air and see all animals from their hidden place where vehicle could not reach.
Day 5: Serengeti National park – Ngorongoro Highlands
After breakfast, continue to the Serengeti National Park. A brief visit en route to Olduvai Gorge which is often referred to as ‘The Cradle of Mankind’ and is one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world. Lunch at your accommodation. During Afternoon you will have nature hike around Ngorongoro Crater rim and highlands. Overnight at the choice of accommodation you requested.
Day 6: Full Day at Ngorongoro Crater – Overnight at Karatu/Mto wa Mbu
After breakfast, we will descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife for a half day’s safari tour. Supported by a year round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro National Park supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park is its dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. We will visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the southwestern corner, which is one of the main features of the crater. A large number of flamingos, hippos and other water birds can usually been seen here. Overnight at luxury tented lodge
Day 7: Karatu town to Lake Manyara National Park
In the morning you will travel from Karatu/Mto WA Mbu village to the small Lake Manyara National Park. Not only is this park a bird-lover’s paradise with over 400 species of birds, but is also home to primates such as baboons and blue monkeys and many herbivores, such as elephants, hippos, wildebeest, impalas and giraffes. You might even catch a glimpse of the more carnivorous inhabitants, such as leopards and lions. Through the pop-up roof of your safari vehicle you will see the landscape changing from lush acacia woodlands to grassy floodplains, where colonies of flamingos and other water fowls can be found on the alkaline Lake Manyara’s shoreline. After extensive game viewing you will leave the park and head to your accommodation choice around Ngorongoro Highlands. Enjoy a beautiful sunset and relax in the cosy lounge area or mingle around the crackling campfire.
Day 8: Mto wa Mbu Biking/Nature Hiking Tour– Arusha – Airport
After breakfast you will enjoy a 2-4hour mountain bike ride through the farming village of MtoWaMbu. On this ride you will visit local farms, schools, church, milling machine a local bar and enjoy the sights and sounds of this vibrant village. After the tour you will drive back to Arusha, upon arrival in Arusha we will sit for debriefing with the leader and customers while having a well prepared BBQ at our office garden waiting for the right time to drive you to the airport.
