TANZANIA HIGHLIGHTS

Tour Description

Serengeti National Park is a World Heritage Site teeming with wildlife: over 2 million ungulates, 4000 lions, 1000 leopard, 550 cheetahs and some 500 bird species inhabit an area close to 15,000 square kilometers in size. Join us on a safari and explore the endless Serengeti plains dotted with trees and kopjes from which majestic lions control their kingdom; gaze upon the Great Migration in awe or find an elusive leopard in a riverine forest. Or perhaps see everything from a bird’s-eye view and soar over the plains at sunrise during a hot air balloon safari. Accommodation options come in every price range – the sound of lions roaring at night is complimentary.

On the other side Ngorongoro Crater safari is usually combined with a safari in neighboring Serengeti National Park. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area protects the volcanically formed Crater Highlands, which are dotted with deep volcanic craters of which the best known, Ngorongoro, is the world’s largest intact caldera and a natural wildlife reserve with few peers. Ngorongoro safari tours offer your best chance in Tanzania of spotting all the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and black rhino) in one game drive. The crater is also notable for the spectacular scenic combination of the verdant plains of the lake-studded crater floor and imposing 600m-/1,968ft-high cliffs that enclose it on all sides.

Tour Itinerary

DAY 1:

ARUSHA

Arrive into Arusha’s Kilimanjaro Airport.

You will be met by our team outside customs and immigration halls.

Transferred to the hotel, check-in and overnight stay. (BB)

DAY 2:

ARUSHA / LAKE MANYARA (135KM – 02H30)
Breakfast and departure to the Lake Manyara Region.

From whichever direction you approach Manyara, the first view is spectacular. From the east, the Rift Valley wall rises several hundred metres to form an impressive backdrop to the lake. From the west, if one is perched at the top of the escarpment, the park lies far below, with a long green strip of water that glistens in the sunlight. The vegetation around the lake’s shores is surprisingly varied and comprises mostly forest, acacia woodland and open grassland. The park covers an area of 330 sq km of which about 230 sq km is the lake itself. You can always find hippo in the Simba River, elephant in the forests and a resident herd of Cape buffalo on the open plains at Mahali Pa Nyati, which means, ‘the place of the buffalo’ in Swahili. In addition, there are approximately 400 species of birds and with some luck you might see tree-climbing lions.

Arrive at the Lodge , check-in and lunch.
Afternoon game drive in the Lake Manyara National Park.
Dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 3:

LAKE MANYARA / SERENGETI (250 Km – 05h00)

After breakfast, we depart for the Serengeti National park.

Arrive at the Lodge. Check-in and lunch.

Afternoon game drive in the park , dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 4:

SERENGETI

Full day game drive in this park that is rich in wildlife.

In the local vernacular, Serengeti means ‘the endless plains that go up to the sky’. And they do just that. It is therefore easy to understand why this is the most popular and spectacular of all game parks in East Africa. Covering 14,765 sq km, one of the striking features of this park is the series of large granite outcrops that dominate the vast plains, making it very different to the Masai Mara. Every year, after the south’s short November rains, wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, eland, topi and hartebeest gather in their thousands on the Serengeti’s southern plains and the Ngorongoro Highlands. Then, around April, they head towards the western corridor of the Serengeti, where many overflow into the Masai Mara around July/August. They remain here until late October/November, when Tanzania’s new rains prompt the move south again, towards Lake Ndutu and Lagaja. This yearly phenomenon also affects the lives of hundreds of thousands of other species, who rely on the migratory herds for their survival. These include predators, gazelles, birds and lowly insects, not to mention the grasses and trees that are fertilised by droppings.

All meals and overnight at the lodge.

DAY 5:

SERENGETI/NGORONGORO (200km – 04h00)

After breakfast, depart for Ngorongoro with a game drive en- route. While on the way, you will visit Olduvai Gorge archaeological site where in 1959, Mary Leakey an archaeologist discovered Zinjanthropus, a humanoid aged 1,600,000 years.

Picnic lunch. Continue to Ngorongoro.

Check-in, dinner and overnight stay at the lodge.

DAY 6:

NGORONGORO

After breakfast, go on a full day crate tour using 4×4 vehicles with picnic lunch. (MAXIMUM 6 HOURS ALLOWED)

One of the wonders of the world, it is difficult to give a fair description to the enormity and beauty of the Crater.

There is no comparison, if only the Garden of Eden!

A steep wall of thick forest surrounds the circumference, which looks like a natural amphitheatre 260 km2 in size.

An incredible ecosystem consisting of grasslands, swamps, lakes, rivers, woodlands, forests and an arid area of shifting dunes exists here, and thus the crater is able to sustain a vast resident population of game including elephant, buffalo, lion, hippo, wildebeest, gazelle, leopard, black Rhino, monkeys and hyena.

Return to the lodge before nightfall for dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 7:

NGORONGORO/TARANGIRE

Breakfast and departure to the Tarangire National Park.

Arrive at the Lodge. Check-in. Lunch. Afternoon game drive in the park. Dinner and overnight stay.

DAY 8:

TARANGIRE/ARUSHA

Early morning game drive and breakfast. Depart for Arusha. Lunch in town at a local restaurant and afternoon transferred to the Arusha or Kilimanjaro Airport for your return international flight or extensions to Zanzibar.