On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport you will be met by Our Team and drive in a 4×4 vehicle for the drive to Lake Manyara, enjoying the first glimpse of Tanzania as you go. Arrive at the Lake Manyara Hotel in late afternoon – a simple, basic but comfortable hotel with the best location in the area, perched on the edge of the escarpment with amazing views over the lake. Settle in to your en suite room then enjoy dinner and overnight.
This morning sees your first game drive of the safari in Lake Manyara National Park, home to hippos, elephants, flamingos, plains game and the famous tree-climbing lions that reside here. The landscape is a mixture of dense forest, small open plains and lush water-side grasses, a feast for herbivores such as buffalo. Return to the hotel for lunch, then begin the long drive north to the world renowned Serengeti National Park, arriving in time for dinner and overnight at Seronera Wildlife Lodge – one of the first to be built in the park and so occupying a prime position amongst the rocky outcrops. Rooms are basic but comfortable. A spectacular full day game drive with Picnic lunch in the Serengeti today, seeking out the big cats, rhino, buffalo, giraffe and many others that habituate the vast open plains of this huge park which borders the Maasai Mara in its northeast corner. The sheer scale and seemingly endless horizon in this part of Africa is simply spellbinding.
After breakfast, return south out of the park for a morning visit to the archaeological marvel of Olduvai Gorge, the discovery site of some of the earliest ever humanoid remains. Continue to Ngorongoro Crater, one of nature’s true wonders – its collapsed volcanic crater is 12 miles in diameter and 2,000 feet deep. The fertile soil and lake attract a huge range of wildlife, and your afternoon crater tour will seek to uncover them amongst the floor’s forests, grasses and plains. Dinner and overnight is spent at Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, magnificently sited on the rim of the crater, all 75 rooms offering stunning views.
Drive back to Arusha for lunch then to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward journey.
