Royal Tanzania Safari
8 Days / 7 Nights
Arusha / Lake Manyara / Ngorongoro Crater / Serengeti Park, Central & Western Corridor
Day 1: Arrival in Arusha, Tanzania
Arrive today in northern Tanzania, where unparalleled concentrations of wildlife reside within a 300-mile stretch of land reaching from Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro to its largest body of water, Lake Victoria. You are met at the airport and driven to your cottage-style hotel overlooking Lake Duluti. The balance of the day is at leisure in this tranquil retreat on the grounds of a colonial coffee plantation.
Overnight: Serena Mountain Village
Day 2: Arusha / Lake Manyara National Park
After a leisurely breakfast, depart with your private car and driver to your first safari destination. Check into your artful luxury lodge atop a towering cliff overlooking Lake Manyara. Enjoy an afternoon game drive in the sanctuary with its diversity of landscapes in a compact setting. Watch for flamingos, pelicans and storks on the lake, visit the hippo pools, and weave through a forest of giant fig and mahogany trees while keeping watch for elephant, monkey, waterbuck and the famous tree-climbing lion.
Overnight: Lake Manyara Serena Lodge (B,L,D)
Day 3: Lake Manyara / Ngorongoro Crater
Return to Lake Manyara Park for an early safari when the wildlife are most active. After lunch continue to another stunning location, your lodge on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater. Beautifully designed in African rondavel style that blends seamlessly with its environment, your lodge looks out on one of the most spectacular panoramas in Africa, viewed from extensive terraces and each room’s private balcony. Enjoy ‘sundowner’ cocktails and dinner around a cozy log fire, take in a Maasai cultural program, and watch for wildlife roaming through the surrounding montane forest.
Overnight: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge (B,L,D)
Day 4: Ngorongoro Crater
Set out with a picnic lunch for a thrilling safari in the Ngorongoro Crater. Formed from the collapse of an extinct volcano that would have rivaled Mt. Kilimanjaro in size and grandeur, the caldera’s 102-square-mile floor is now home to the densest concentration of wildlife in Africa. Watch for rhinoceros, hippo, elephant, warthog, predatory lion and hyena, and an array of plains game ranging from dik-dik to wildebeest, zebra and gazelles. At the lowest spot in the Crater, Lake Magadi is often filled with water birds, particularly flamingos. Don’t be surprised to see red-robed Maasai herding their cattle and goats in the crater as they have for centuries.
Overnight: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge (B,L,D)
Day 5: Ngorongoro / Olduvai Gorge / Serengeti National Park
Travel today to the world-famous Serengeti National Park, stopping en route at Olduvai Gorge, site of the Leakey family’s renowned archaeological discoveries. Game-view all the way to your luxury lodge, a showcase of African art beautifully set on a ridge overlooking the central Seronera Valley. Millions of animals and birds thrive in the park’s sprawling savannahs and hilly woodlands, including the largest concentration of plains animals in the world. This is also the site of the massive annual migration of wildebeest and zebra, but at all times of year the resident populations of animals are excellent. This afternoon enjoy a classic game run in search of the large prides of lion, and teeming herds of antelope, buffalo and wildebeest.
Overnight: Serengeti Serena Lodge (B,L,D)
Day 6: Central Serengeti
Explore an ever-changing landscape of kopjes, gallery forests, and water holes on your morning and afternoon game drives in the Serengeti. Search for rare leopard and cheetah, wild dog and African cat, big herds of buffalo, giraffe, eland, topi, reedbuck, waterbuck and impala, and countless small mammals and unique birds. Between outings return to your lodge for lunch and leisure time to swim, take a guided nature walk, or meet local Maasai people in their village. You also have the option to forego your morning game drive for an optional hot air balloon safari, ending with a champagne breakfast on the plain.
Overnight: Serengeti Serena Lodge (B,L,D)
Day 7: Serengeti Western Corridor
The excitement builds as you venture from the Central Serengeti to the secluded Western Corridor. Watch for wildlife in the riverine forest including leopard, black and white colobus monkey, and the famous giant crocodile of the Grumeti River, including the permanent waters at Kirawira. In season, vast processions of migratory wildebeest lunge across these waters in a dramatic, life-and-death display. There are also hippo to observe and a profusion of birds. Arrive at your exclusive camp in this exciting location. Dine under starlight and let the distant cricket chirps and lions’ roars lull you to sleep under canvas in the style of ‘Old Africa’.
Overnight: Kirawira Tented Camp (B,L,D)
Day 8: Serengeti / Arusha
Arise in paradise and have a leisurely breakfast before departing to the airstrip. Fly back to Arusha with a birds’ eye view of your safari locales. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before your transfer back to the airport for your departure flight back home.