Tanzania

Day 1 - Day 2: En Route to Arusha

Fly to Arusha, Tanzania, arriving on the evening of day 2. Transfer to your hotel, where you may rest after your international flights.

Day 3: Tarangire National Park

Morning transfer to Tarangire, a lovely park notable for its large concentrations of elephant, zebra, wildebeest, eland and oryx. Tarangire is also famous for its many baobab trees, instantly recognizable with their massive trunks. Tarangire’s hills, rivers and swamps provide a variety of vegetation zones and habitats, which attract diverse mammals and birdlife (300 species). You’ll enjoy two game drives within Tarangire.

Day 4: Lake Manyara

This morning you will transfer to Lake Manyara National Park, stopping en route to visit Mto Wa Mbu village and Ganako secondary school to learn about the local culture. Set in the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara is a lush green park famous for its tree-climbing lions, large elephant herds, monkeys, hippos, and its incredible birdlife, including flamingos. Despite its small size, Lake Manyara offers a diversity of habitats including open grasslands with rocky outcrops, forests, and swamps, and the lake itself. Afternoon game drive.

Day 5 - Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater

Morning transfer to Ngorongoro Crater, stopping en route at Gibbs Farm, a former coffee plantation with lush gardens. You'll enjoy a guided nature walk and a meeting with Daniel Tewa, a local historian and storyteller. Then it's on to Ngorongoro Crater, a 2000-foot-deep caldera created by the collapse of an extinct volcano. Ngorongoro is a self-contained “Garden of Eden” which is home to some thirty thousand large mammals: zebra, wildebeest, elephant, black rhino, waterbuck, gazelle, eland, and hartebeest, as well as predators such as lion, hyena and jackal. Birdlife is also plentiful and varied. Ngorongoro is truly one of the great wildlife wonders of the world, and staying at Crater’s edge (two nights) will be one of the major highlights of your safari. You'll enjoy a full day of game drives in the crater (with picnic lunch) on day 6.

Day 7 - Day 8: Serengeti Nationak Park

On your way to Serengeti, you’ll enjoy a fascinating visit to Olduvai Gorge, the “cradle of mankind” where Dr. Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the earliest human fossils after 28 years of searching. You’ll then head to the world-renowned Serengeti, a 5,600 square mile park which offers perhaps the most spectacular array of wildlife on earth. During your two full days of exploration, you will likely see lion, leopard, cheetah, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, jackal, hippo, baboon, dik dik and many other animals. The Serengeti is the site of one of the greatest animal migrations in the world; however, resident populations of animals are plentiful and varied year-round. On your game drives, you will have excellent opportunities for observing and photographing these fascinating animals. You'll also meet with Masai villagers and, if you like, go hot air ballooning (optional)!

Day 9 - Day 10: Homeward Bound

One final game drive in the Serengeti before your flight to Arusha, where you will connect with your return international flight.