6 Days Northern Tanzania Safari

Day 1: Arusha – Lake Manyara National Park:
After safari briefing leave at 0830 hrs pick up from your hotel in Arusha town and drive on tarmac road 130km to Lake Manyara National Park with packed lunch for game drives. The Lake occupies large area of the park, the forest start just when you cross the park gate along the base of the Great Rift Valley and hot spring to the west of the park. The park is home to Tree climbing Lion, Buffalo, Giraffe, Hippo, troops of Baboons, also Flamingo bird Ostrich, Egyptian Geese and more After your picnic lunch proceed with afternoon game drives, late afternoon drive to your Lake Manyara Wildlife Camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 2: Lake Manyara – Serengeti National Park:
After breakfast we head towards the Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We head to the central Park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the Park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species.
We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti National Park. Dinner and overnight in the Ikoma Tented Camp

Day 3: Serengeti National Park:
Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement). Floating silently above the awakening bush, while spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, across rivers and over numerous small villages.

We do an after breakfast game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, and which is good for possible Lion, Thomson gazelle, Topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings. The Visitor Centre close to the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public Campsites is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive. This nicely designed centre offers some interesting wildlife displays as well as a gift shop selling information leaflets and maps of the area. The centre also has a shop where cold drinks and snacks can be purchased, as well as a picnic area and information trail up and around a nearby kopje. We will enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch at the centre in the shade of the giant acacia trees.

In the afternoon we will follow the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, which usually attract a number of Lion and some formidably large Cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains. This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons – including lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink!

Dinner and overnight in Ikoma Tented Camp.

Day 4: Serengeti Plain – Ngorongoro Crater:
After breakfast at the lodge do we depart to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We will stopover at Olduvai Gorge, boasting with a history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here, that the anthropologists Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of ‘Nutcracker Man’ and ‘Handy Man’, both very significant links in the chain of human evolution. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and after lunch we will descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife for a half day’s safari tour. Supported by a year round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro National Park supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park, is it’s dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. We will visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the South-western corner, which is one of the main features of the crater. A large number of flamingos, hippos and other water birds can usually been seen here. Dinner and overnight at the Rhino Lodge

Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater – Tarangire National Park:
After breakfast we depart for the Tarangire National Park. The Park runs along the line of the Tarangire River and is mainly made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. Its natural vegetation mainly consists of Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the South. Both the river and the swamps act like a magnet for wild animals, during Tanzania’s dry season. The Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. This African National Park is also home to three rare species of animals – the Greater Kudu, the Fringed-eared Oryx, as well as a few Ashy Starlings. After a picnic lunch we do an afternoon game drive. Dinner and overnight at Roika Tente Camp

Day 6: Tarangire National Park – Arusha:
We enjoy an early morning game drive in the Tarangire National Park, followed by breakfast at the lodge/Camp. We will then transfer back to Arusha.