Spend eight days getting to know Tanzania on this varied safari, which includes flights from camp to camp to save time. You’ll start off at Lake Manyara, home to the famous tree-climbing lions and pink flamingoes. Next, you’ll head to the Serengeti, known not only for its high-season dramatic wildebeest crossings, but also for its impressive year-round wildlife. Finally, you’ll get to explore the Ngorongoro Crater, a wilderness Eden packed with creatures great and small.
Welcome to Tanzania! From Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will embark on a light-aircraft flight to Lake Manyara Airport. On arrival, you will be welcomed and make you way by road transfer to Lake Manyara Tree Lodge, cradled in the boughs of ancient mahogany trees. Settle in and let the adventure begin. While here, enjoy game drives as well as a leisurely bike ride through the nearby Mayoka community, where you can interact with the friendly, local people.
This morning and afternoon you will set off with your guide and tracker in an open 4×4 safari vehicle. Your guide will help you explore the many diverse habitats of the park, stopping on the lakeshore to watch the different bird species and look for pink flamingos. You will traverse a mosaic of acacia woodlands, grassy floodplains and tall forest in search of wildlife, including Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions and herds of elephant. You may also choose to go out on a night game drive to discover the nocturnal life of Africa’s predators.
This morning, wake early for your flight to Grumeti Airstrip in the Serengeti, followed by a short drive to reach Grumeti Serengeti Tented Camp. This picturesque area is known not only for its high-season dramatic wildebeest crossings and enormous Nile crocodiles, but also for its exceptional year-round wildlife. Freshen up with a swim in the pool overlooking the seasonal hippo pods, before heading out on a game drive.
With few other vehicles, this area will feel like your own private Serengeti. While the camp itself is sheltered in the riverside thickets and provides beautiful views of a river bend inhabited by hippo, game drives venture out into the wide-open plains, where guests can enjoy Serengeti landscapes in open 4×4 safari vehicles with canvas canopies. The area is particularly rich in predators, with massive lion prides and extensive clans of hyena – numbering up to a hundred – frequently spotted. The river also attracts large herds of buffalo and elephant, while the open plains are the ideal habitat for cheetah. Riverside drives are bound to spot the massive crocodiles that the area is renowned for, while birders will be amazed by the number of endemic species spotted throughout the area.
Today, if you choose, you could wake at the crack of dawn and take to the skies in on a hot-air balloon. Enjoy a bird’s-eye perspective of the landscape for an hour before you finish off with Champagne and a full English breakfast (additional cost). Alternatively, enjoy the day’s game-viewing activities and a leisurely lunch on the pool deck. Lounge in the comfortable interiors or find a spot on your shaded private deck to laze the afternoon away. End the day under an African star-studded sky around the crackling fire.
Rise and shine, enjoy breakfast and you’re off to Ngorongoro Crater on a light-aircraft flight, landing at Lake Manyara Airstrip. From here, you will embark on a road transfer to Ngorongoro Crater lodge, which is fit for a king and queen, on the very edge of the crater. Enjoy a sumptuous three-course dinner, in the dining area, from within a wine cellar or on a deck overlooking the crater.
As the lodge is situated on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, it takes some time to reach the crater’s floor for game drives, and after return to the lodge. As such, you’ll most likely be offered the choice of one morning or afternoon game drive per day. You will descend into the crater through a lush highland forest, with magnificent birdlife to be spotted among the different tree species. Once on the grassy crater floor, you may discover a large variety of grazing herbivores, as well as the predators that are attracted by this abundant supply of prey.
Enjoy breakfast and embark on a road transfer to Lake Manyara Airstrip for your light-aircraft flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward travel arrangements.
