Itinerary
- Day 1
Arusha
You'll arrive in Arusha anytime that works for you. If you're flying into Kilimanjaro International Airport, expect about 75 minutes to reach the hotel. There's a welcome meeting at 4pm if you want to attend, plus optional dinner with the group. The lodge serves food throughout the day until 11pm. If you get there early, the local markets and natural history museum are worth checking out, or you can relax by the pool and walk through the gardens.
Optional Activities
- Explore Arusha city - local food, craft markets and natural history museum
- Dinner with tour group
- Pool and garden relaxation at lodge
Landmarks/POIs Arusha Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) - Day 2
Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park
This morning you'll travel southwest toward Lake Manyara National Park, passing through local villages and markets along the way. After lunch and some downtime at the lodge overlooking the floodplains, you'll set out on your first game drive. The park sits at the bottom of the Great Rift Valley and has forests, acacia woodlands, grassy plains, plus over 400 bird species. You'll head back to the lodge for a sundowner beer where you can watch the sunset across the plains.
- Meals
- Lunch (At lodge with views over the floodplains), Dinner
Included Activities
- Game drive in Lake Manyara National Park
- Sundowner at lodge
Landmarks/POIs Lake Manyara National Park Great Rift Valley - Day 3
Lake Manyara to Serengeti National Park
Today is a long travel day heading to the Serengeti. You'll drive around the rim of Ngorongoro Crater and through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, passing Masai homesteads before reaching Olduvai Gorge. After your packed lunch, you'll tour the museum where the Leakeys discovered important early human remains and learn from a local guide about the gorge's role in human evolution. Later you'll enter the Serengeti at Naabi Hill Gate, traveling slowly through the plains to reach your canvas tents at Seronera camp in the heart of the park.
- Meals
- Lunch (Packed lunch in the courtyard of Olduvai Gorge visitor centre), Dinner
Included Activities
- Visit Olduvai Gorge visitor centre and museum with local guide explanation
- Game viewing drive through Serengeti National Park
Landmarks/POIs Ngorongoro Crater Olduvai Gorge Serengeti National Park Naabi Hill Gate - Day 4
Serengeti National Park
You'll spend the full day exploring the Serengeti, Tanzania's oldest and greatest national park covering almost 15,000 square kilometers. The park is famous for its annual migration and you'll travel through different habitats from dry savannahs to lush grasses and mud pools, watching for lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, buffalo and over 500 bird species. You'll bring a packed lunch with you, and timing depends on where wildlife is that day. Back at camp, you'll enjoy a local beer around the bonfire as the sun sets.
- Meals
- Lunch (Packed lunch (timing and location depend on wildlife movements)), Dinner
Included Activities
- Full day game drive in Serengeti National Park
- Evening bonfire with local beer
Landmarks/POIs Serengeti National Park - Day 5
Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
An early morning game drive takes you through the Serengeti as you head back toward Naabi Hill Gate, then into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. You'll pass settlements where Masai people herd livestock and work the land. By late morning you'll arrive at your accommodation, a working coffee plantation with beautiful gardens and colonial-style buildings. The afternoon is free to relax or join an optional late afternoon walking tour of the plantation with a local villager who can share about their life and the produce grown here.
- Meals
- Lunch, Dinner
Included Activities
- Early morning game drive from Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Optional Activities
- Late afternoon walking tour of coffee plantation with local villager
Landmarks/POIs Ngorongoro Conservation Area - Day 6
Ngorongoro Crater
You'll start very early to drive to Ngorongoro Crater and descend down a steep track that drops 600 meters to the crater floor. This natural landscape is home to the Big Five - elephants, lions, cheetahs, buffalo and rhinos - plus the perennial marshes are full of birdlife. After your half-day game drive exploring the crater, you'll return to the farmhouse for lunch. The afternoon is yours to relax and recover from the early start.
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch
Included Activities
- Half-day game drive in Ngorongoro Crater
Landmarks/POIs Ngorongoro Crater - Day 7
Ngorongoro to Tarangire National Park
You'll continue into Tarangire National Park where the most striking feature is the old baobab trees with massive silvery trunks. The park has the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti and is home to Tanzania's largest elephant populations, with over 300 elephants digging for water in the riverbeds during dry season. You'll also find the shy fringed-eared oryx and gerenuk antelope here, not seen in other parks. An afternoon game drive precedes dinner and a traditional meal at camp.
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Traditional evening meal)
Included Activities
- Afternoon game drive in Tarangire National Park
Landmarks/POIs Tarangire National Park - Day 8
Tarangire to Arusha / Departure
You'll leave Tarangire this morning and drive four hours to Arusha for a lunch break. After eating, you'll head to Kilimanjaro International Airport where your tour ends. The earliest your flight can depart is 5pm.
- Meals
- Breakfast, Lunch (Lunch break in Arusha)
Landmarks/POIs Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO)
