Tanzania Wild Wonders (July-Oct)

Upon arrival at the Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be met and transferred to the Mt. Meru Game Lodge, or similar, for your overnight.

After breakfast and a safari briefing, transfer to the airport for your flight to the Serengeti. On arrival, your guide will be waiting at the airstrip with your safari vehicle. You will have two full days to explore the Serengeti, the most famous National Park in Africa. Your driver-guide will choose your route based on his extensive knowledge of the park and local conditions. Your trip might include tracking cheetah through the Gol Kopjes, hunting (with cameras) leopard along the Seronera River, viewing the hippos at Retima or exploring the Masai paintings at Moru Kopjes. Dinner and overnights at Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp, or similar, for two nights. (2B,2L,2D)

Enjoy a final game drive through the Serengeti en route to Ngorongoro. You will also stop at Olduvai Gorge to visit the site where Mary and Louis Leakey first discovered the remains of Zinjanthropus Bosei, a distant ancestor of man believed to be 1.8 million years old, Australopithecus Bosei, the ‘Nutcracker Man’, a species that became extinct about 1 million years ago and fossilized foot prints that date back 3.6 million years. After lunch, you will descend down the 2000-ft walls of the crater, a World Heritage Site, and home to nearly 25,000 animals, for a game drive. Here you have a very real chance of spotting the big five: lion, elephant, endangered black rhino, buffalo, and leopard, plus countless other African mammal species. Return to the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge, perched on the jagged rim of the crater, or the Ngorongoro Farm House. Situated it the Ngorongoro highlands, facing the Oldeani Volcano, Ngorongoro Farm House is only minutes from the Ngorongoro Lolduare gate. Three separate and intimate camps of 9 comfortable bungalows, have been attractively built with the style of an old colonial farm and rustically decorated with local materials. The lodge is on a 500 acre working coffee, vegetable, and flower farm on the outer slopes of the crater. Enjoy excellent home-made cuisine prepared using the dairy and fresh vegetables produced by the farm, all year long. (B,L,D)

Enjoy another day in the Ngorongoro Crater, allowing more time to explore, in detail, this fascinating wildlife amphitheater. This caldera, formed from a sunken volcano, hosts a unique cross-section of eco-systems, from soda lake to savannah, and is home to almost every major species of African mammal. Your presence does not threaten the wildlife making, allowing you an exhilarating proximity to the game you will rarely encounter elsewhere. Return to the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge or the Ngorongoro Farm House. (B,L,D)

Drive through the forested slopes of the Ngorongoro Highlands and the coffee plantations of Karatu en route to Lake Manyara. Have lunch at the lodge before visiting Lake Manyara National Park, which was immortalized in Hemingway’s “Green Hills of Africa” and represents a habitat distinct from other areas you will be visiting. An afternoon game drive will allow you to explore the ground-water forest, rich in birds and monkeys, and the acacia woodlands that border the soda lake. You will also visit the hippo pool from where the breathtaking sunset across the Great Rift Valley and the pink mantle of flamingos that swathe Lake Manyara. Dinner and overnight at the Kirurumu Tented Lodge or the Lake Manyara Serena Lodge, both are set high on the edge of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment, with marvelous panoramic views over Lake Manyara, the Rift floor, and Mt. Losimingori. (B,L,D)

After breakfast, drive to Tarangire National Park. This is the classic Africa of lore with shimmering acacia stands, old baobab trees, and herds of elephant. Enjoy a game drive through the park, en-route to the Tarangire Safari Lodge, beautifully sited on a bluff over-looking the Tarangire River. After lunch at the lodge, spend the rest of the afternoon and two full days game viewing, and exploring the park. In the dry-season of July-October, Tarangire National Park surpasses the Serengeti in terms of animal concentration as big herds begin to congregate around the permanent water of the Tarangire River. It is not uncommon to see herds of 50+ elephant as well as many other mammal species including the rare Kudu and Oryx. The park is also noted for its prolific bird life and the occasional sighting of cheetah and the rare African Hunting Dog. Dinner and overnight, for three nights, at the Kitoki Camp, Oliver’s Camp, or similar. (3B,3L,3D)

Enjoy a final morning safari en route back to Arusha. Transfer back to the Mt. Meru Game Lodge for lunch and a day room. You will have time to relax before your late afternoon transfer back to the Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight home, or extend your stay with a visit to the exotic Zanzibar Island. (B,L)