Day 1 – Arusha/Moshi – Lake Manyara

Non-game-viewing travel time: 2½ hoursDistance: 130 km

Pick up from Arusha and transfer to Lake Manyara National Park. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and after lunch, we head into the Lake Manyara National Park for an afternoon game drive. This national park is one of Tanzania’s most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a massive but shallow soda lake (covering two-thirds of the park), located at the foot of the Great Rift Valley’s western escarpment. The park’s varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa’s largest concentrations of elephants, Lake Manyara’s unique tree-climbing lions, as well as large flocks of flamingos attracted by the algae in the lake.

Dinner and overnight at Fanaka Public Campsite.

Day 2 – Lake Manyara – Serengeti Plains

Non-game-viewing travel time: 6 hoursDistance: 205 km

After breakfast, we head towards the Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species. We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti National Park.

Dinner and overnight in the Seronera Public Campsite.

Day 3 – Serengeti Plains

Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement). Floating silently above the awakening bush, while spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, across rivers and over numerous small villages.

We do an after breakfast game viewing drives along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, and which is good for possible lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich, and cheetah sightings. The visitor’s center not far from the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive. This nicely designed center offers some interesting wildlife displays as well as a gift shop selling information leaflets and maps of the area. The center also has a shop where cold drinks and snacks can be purchased, as well as a picnic area and information trail up and around a nearby kopje. We will enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch at the center in the shade of the giant acacia trees.

In the afternoon we will follow the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, which usually attract a number of lions and some formidably large cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains. This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons – including lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink!

Dinner and overnight in the Seronera Public Campsite.

Day 4 – Serengeti Plains – Ngorongoro crater

Non-game-viewing travel time: 4 hoursDistance: 145 km

After breakfast at the lodge do we depart to the Ngorongoro Conservation area? We will stopover at Olduvai Gorge, boasting a history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here, that the anthropologists Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of the Nutcracker Man’ and ‘Handy Man’, both very significant links in the chain of human evolution.

We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and spend the afternoon at leisure.

Dinner and overnight at Simba Public Campsite.

Day 5 – Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast, we descend 600m into this magnificent crater for a full-day game drive. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most densely crowded African wildlife areas in the world and is home to an estimated 30,000 animals including some of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhino. 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 huge population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs, and the ever-elusive leopard. We will enjoy a picnic lunch on the crater floor.

Dinner and overnight at Fanaka Public Campsite.

Day 6 – Ngorongoro Crater – Tarangire National Park

Non-game-viewing travel time: 3½ hoursDistance: 155 km

After breakfast, we depart for the Tarangire National Park. The park runs along the line of the Tarangire River and is mainly made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. Its natural vegetation mainly consists of Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the south. Both the river and the swamps act like a magnet for wild animals, during Tanzania’s dry season. The Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. This African National Park is also home to three rare species of animals – the Greater Kudu, the Fringed-eared Oryx, as well as a few Ashy Starlings. After a picnic lunch, we do an afternoon game drive.

Dinner and overnight in the Tarangire National Park Public Campsite.

Day 7 – Tarangire National Park – Arusha

Non-game-viewing travel time: 2 hoursDistance:120 km

We enjoy breakfast at the lodge and then transfer back to Arusha. Upon arrival in Arusha will we have lunch and then we will end our African safari adventure. The group should tip the guide around $20 a day. You will be taken to your hotel, which ends our safari services.