Tanzania Cheetah Safari

6 Days / 5 Nights

Ngorongoro Crater / Serengeti / Lake Manyara

DAY 1, Thursday:  Arusha / Ngorongoro Crater

You met by the Simba representative on your arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport. After meet and greet you proceed to Ngorongoro Crater.  The Great Rift escarpment begins closing in as the road ascends to the slopes of Mt. Ngorongoro, then passes along the crater rim to your luxury lodge perched 2000 feet over the crater floor.  Relish your stay at one of the best locations in Africa, with its rich artistic décor, superb views, and flowing split-level spaciousness centered around a cozy hearth.
Overnight:  Ngorongoro Serena or Sopa Lodge (D)

DAY 2, Friday:  Ngorongoro Crater

Set out early with a picnic lunch for your safari on the crater floor, a self-contained ecosystem teeming with wildlife on a flat, open terrain with few places to hide.  This is one of the best places in Africa to view large carnivores and although populations of individual species fluctuate over time, cheetah can usually be spotted.  Set your sights on seeing rhinoceros and nearly every other type of animal found in East Africa except giraffes, due to the sparsity of their favored acacia trees in the crater.
Overnight:  Ngorongoro Serena or Sopa Lodge  (BLD)

DAY 3, Saturday:  Ngorongoro / Olduvai / Serengeti

After breakfast, prepare for a day of game viewing en route to your luxury lodge in the heart of Serengeti National Park.  Stop en route at Olduvai Gorge to see fossils and artifacts of our human ancestors and skeletons of many extinct animals who shared their world.  Proceed into the Serengeti for more of the best game viewing in Africa.  Keep watch for cheetah, active by day but sometimes difficult to spot lying low in the grassland.  During the late afternoon the Seronera area is a good place to watch for cheetah hunting.  Or you may find them perched on a termite mound searching the plain for prey, or teaching their young to hunt by bringing them weakened small animals.
Overnight:  Serengeti Serena or Sopa Lodge  (BLD)

DAY 4, Sunday:  Serengeti National Park

On your full day Serengeti safari, experience the best of African big game viewing.  Arise before daylight to be out among the wildlife at their most active time of day.  Search the rock kopjes for lion, the riverine forests for leopard, the natural springs for hippo, and the savannah for species of plains game found nowhere else in the world.  From December to June, migrating herds of wildebeest and zebra add well over a million animals to the park’s wildlife population. But throughout the year the Serengeti abounds with all manner of large animals some 3 million strong, and some 500 species of birds.
Overnight:  Serengeti Serena or Sopa Lodge  (BLD)

DAY 5, Monday:  Serengeti / Lake Manyara

Begin the day with one more Serengeti game-drive, or an optional hot air balloon safari followed by a champagne brunch.  Later, depart overland to your hotel on the edge of the Great Rift escarpment, with spectacular views of Lake Manyara shining like a mirage in the afternoon heat.  Take an afternoon drive through the diverse habitats of the compact Lake Manyara Park.  Look for the famous tree-climbing lions, as well as cheetah, leopard, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, monkey, and colorful flamingos and other birds.
Overnight:  Lake Manyara Serena Lodge  (BLD)

DAY 6, Tuesday:  Lake Manyara / Arusha / Depart

Your Tanzania Cheetah Safari draws to a close as you make your way back to Arusha, where lunch is included at a typical local restaurant.  (BL)