Premier Tanzania Safari - 9 Days

Unless your arrival time yesterday allowed time for your safari briefing, then this will take place after breakfast. We will provide you with all the essential information, before we set off westwards then south to our first safari destination, Tarangire National Park, where we have our lunch before our afternoon game drive.

Our two-hour (120km) journey first takes us westwards from Arusha. Along the route, your eyes will be opened to all the colours and character of Tanzania: perhaps some Maasai herdsmen driving their flocks of goats to new pastures. You’ll get to know your driver-guide, amazed at his depth of knowledge as he effortlessly answers all your questions.

Your afternoon game drive in Tarangire, with its incredible diversity, massive baobab trees and herds of elephants.

Tarangire is huge. As you stand at the park gate and look south, it stretches as far as the eye can see. Known as the ‘Elephant Playground,’ this phenomenal park contains huge herds of these mighty mammals. But Tarangire is also home to buffalo, lion, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle and the park can rival Serengeti for sheer animal densities. What might you see today? Perhaps a solitary male lion stretched out beneath a tree, perhaps a trio of male cheetah enjoying some lazy bonding-time in the sun. Maybe some graceful Grant’s gazelle or zebra bounding away from the road or a couple of giraffe munching happily from the choicest acacia branches. For Tarangire specialities, look out for kudu and oryx.

Here as in other parks, it pays not to ignore the small animals. It’s so easy to be mesmerized by the power and majesty of an elephant or the elegance of the giraffe. Ask your guide to find you an agama lizard, especially a male one who changes colour in front of you according to the temperature! Or a hyrax, known as pimpi, an insignificant-looking creature of around 30cm in length…who astonishingly is related to elephant!

Not many trees will pass you by without something of avian interest catching your eye. A memorable flash of colour might be a lilac-breasted roller or blue-eared starling. Ostrich are plentiful and it’s hard not to chuckle at the sighting of the well-named, studious-looking secretary bird as it awkwardly pads across the grasslands.

The park is also famous for its splendid baobab trees, rolling savannah and acacia woodland. It can be dusty – wear a scarf over your mouth – but this is a minor inconvenience for sighting wildlife in such abundance.

Situated on top of an imposing escarpment, the solar-powered Lemala Mpingo Ridge Tented Lodge looks down onto the Tarangire River, with its tents strategically positioned to take advantage of the spectacular views.

The principal building here is composed of indoor and outdoor dining areas for enjoying the excellent camp cuisine, as well as bar and lounge. Even better: there is a swimming pool and spa, welcome facilities on hot days. Tents are all en-suite and guests will also benefit from the decks and outside lounges which are great for an afternoon siesta.

And all around is Tarangire, that great blend of landscapes: woodlands, riverine. Savannah and much more. Welcome to Lemala Mpingo Ridge Tented Lodge!

Breakfast will be provided by Gran Melia Arusha. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the hotel for you to take out on safari. Your evening meal will be a full, cooked dinner at the Lemala Mpingo Ridge Lodge.

The chance to get close to the wildlife on a morning walking safari will surely stay in your memory for ever. After our lunch, we will climb aboard our vehicle to explore the many wonders of this diverse park.

Up close and personal: that could be the motto for a walking safari, and Tarangire is a fantastic location to leave the comfort of your safari vehicle and enjoy the landscape on foot. With a Park Ranger for safety and accompanied by your expert driver-guide, you will be amazed at how much more you can learn from a couple of hours walking in the bush. The great unknown, of course, is what you will see…and who you might meet! Your senses are challenged and heightened, with unfamiliar sounds and smells meeting you throughout your journey. You’ll find out about animal tracks and dung, learn what to do if you get too close to a grazing elephant and discover who lives in those emblematic, strange-shaped termite mounds (and it’s not just termites, far from it!) Being this close to nature may be a whole new experience for you, but the memories will stay with you forever – of that we are sure.

You may have thought that you have seen all that Tarangire has to offer, but you will certainly enjoy some new experiences as we explore the park further in our afternoon game-drive.

The varied terrain could in itself be considered a wonder, with riverine woodlands and grasslands, acacia and baobab. Amazingly, some 550 bird species have been recorded here, and it won’t be long before an air-bound blaze of colour alerts you to something interesting. You might recognise an ostrich or a stork, but if you can’t identify the smaller species, there’s no need to worry – that is what your expert driver-guide is here for!

The birds are exotic and so are the names: what about the ‘white-bellied go-away bird’ or the ‘Madagascar bee-eater’ for example? But of course, we will also see plenty more large mammals this afternoon.

After your afternoon game drive, your driver will return you safely for another relaxing night at your Tarangire accommodation (see above). It’s time for a drink, time to chill out… and time for a sleep.

Breakfast is enjoyed at the Lemala Mpingo Ridge Lodge. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the lodge for you to take out on safari. Your dinner will be a delicious meal at the Lemala Mpingo Ridge Lodge.

With Serengeti as our destination, and with the wonders of Tarangire still fresh in your mind, we set out to the north and west for our 7- hour (344km) journey. On the journey, you can quiz your driver-guide about all aspects of Tanzanian culture, traditions, tribes and of course wildlife. Treat him as an ‘encyclopedia on legs’ – he will rarely disappoint with his answers! In no time, you too will feel like an expert, even before you reach the awesome Serengeti plains. On arrival, we will enjoy our lunch before taking an afternoon game drive.

Here’s a National Park which will offer you a whole variety of wildlife surprises over the next few days, but perhaps today’s highlight – certainly for first-time visitors – will simply be the Serengeti terrain itself. The sheer vastness, as the plains roll away in front of you into eternity, will leave you with a sense of awe.

At last! Serengeti, the incomparable wonder of Tanzania, will be the stage for the natural animal theatrics which will be performed over the next few days. Your afternoon game drive here combines the known with the unknown, the certainty that you will be amazed with the uncertainty of exactly what you will see and when. Changing light, a changing cast of animal actors, ensuring that at every turn there is a new experience. Snap off some memorable photos, but don’t forget to simply take a deep breath and enjoy nature in its real-time, raw beauty.

Situated around 45km north of Central Serengeti, where Tanzania’s wonderful wildlife wander free, the Melia Serengeti Lodge offers a superb retreat for those enjoying their safari adventures.

The lodge is perfectly located next to a watering hole, so wildlife visitors are very common here! The lodge buildings are located on differing levels, giving great views over the surrounding Serengeti plains. You can relax on your private balcony, taking a drink and watching the world pass by (slowly) before enjoying a visit to the lodge spa for some pre-dinner pampering.

All rooms are modern, beautifully appointed and with outdoor space to make the most of the stunning views.

Breakfast will be provided by your Lemala Mpingo Ridge Lodge. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the lodge for you to take out on safari. Your evening meal will be a full, cooked dinner at the Melia Serengeti Lodge.

Today, we set off from our accommodation to again explore the Serengeti and all its magic. Wildlife is abundant: sometimes you may think it has come to find you, rather than the other way around. Today’s highlight is unknown, as the animals don’t publish their schedule (!) What we see also depends on the season, but this area is where bushland meets grassland, a favorite spot for big cats looking for prey. Cheetah, leopard and lions are all possibilities today.

Today is a full day of discovery, a chance to enjoy the varied landscapes of the Central Serengeti. The Seronera River weaves its way through this area, providing waters for all species of wildlife. You will also see the distinctive rocky outcrops, the famous kopjes which characterize the Serengeti landscape. Lunch will be an unforgettable experience, enjoyed in the middle of the bush. Everything here varies with the seasons, but in May, November and December migrating herds join the already rich population of resident animals which live here year-round. (In the rainy season, the landscape turns black with hundreds of thousands of wildebeest – a simply incredible sight.)

After your day of thrilling game drives, your driver will return you safely for another relaxing night at your Serengeti accommodation (see above). Drink, relax, dine and sleep, all out in the wilderness of the Serengeti. What could be better?

Breakfast is enjoyed at the Melia Serengeti Lodge. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the lodge for you to take out on safari. Your dinner will be a delicious meal at the Melia Serengeti Lodge.

Again, our highlight is waiting to reveal itself. But do look out for the magnificent sight of the world’s heaviest bird capable of flight, the Kori Bustard. The avian equivalent of a lumbering cargo plane, it can weigh up to 15kg and has a wingspan of nearly three metres! We will explore the park with game drives before and after our lunch.

With its informative visitor centre, the Seronera area of Central Serengeti is the national park’s most popular area. And it is very popular with the wildlife, too. The Seronera river enjoys year-round waterflow, so there is always something of interest to observe. Several game drives can be undertaken here and might reveal lions in sizeable prides, hippo or herds of elephants, whose populations in the park have risen in recent times. Depending on animal movements and sightings, we may choose to call in at the Serengeti Visitor Centre, where there is an excellent explanation of the park’s eco-system and a chance to understand the history of conservation in this area. In particular, you will find out about the work of the Frankfurt Zoological Society and of Bernhard Grzimek who had the foresight and vision of preserving the Serengeti’s eco-system. Even at this center, you may well find wildlife: populations of hyrax and mongoose, as well as many small bird species.

After your day of thrilling game drives, your driver will return you safely for another relaxing night at your Serengeti accommodation (see above).

After your day of thrilling game drives, your driver will return you safely for another relaxing night at your Serengeti accommodation (see above).

After a morning game drive and lunch, this afternoon we will head south-east towards Ngorongoro, a journey of 145km which will take us around 3 ½ hours.

Today, we will get our first sight of the spectacular, incomparable Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera and the heart of the Conservation Area of the same name. But before that, we have another morning game drive in amazing Serengeti, marveling at its animal inhabitants. Another day of adventure, another day to enjoy the wildlife.

After our morning game drive, perhaps trying to find any animal that has – until now – been elusive enough to evade your eagle-eyed driver-guide, we head south-east towards Ngorongoro. If it has not already struck you with its vastness, Serengeti’s ‘endless plains’ will certainly now make a deep impression on you as we take the long, straight road which passes Simba Kopjes (famous from ‘The Lion King’) to reach Naabi Hill Gate, close to the divide between Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Here you can gather information at the gate’s visitor center, clamber up the hill for superb views back over the plains, or look out for a colorful agama lizard among the rocks.

With only fifteen luxury suites, the exclusive Ngorongoro Lion’s Paw Camp is truly an intimate choice, perfectly located on the east side of the famous Ngorongoro Crater where the black rhinos roam. This tented camp is just a ten-minute drive from the floor of the crater, which is one of the world’s most incredible settings for wildlife-spotting.

The private suites enjoy superb views down into the crater and vistas across to the stunning highlands that characterize this area. You can kick back with a cool drink from the bar and soak up the camp’s unique atmosphere. The surrounding lands are home to the Maasai peoples, one of Tanzania’s most famous tribes.

After breakfast, we drive to the trailhead on the rim of Empakaai Crater, a 3-hour journey (80km). We will walk down to the crater lake to see flamingos, then back up the path to the vehicle for our hamper lunch, before returning in the late afternoon to camp.

The view from the rim of Empakaai Crater, down to the crater lake with its population of flamingos, is justifiably regarded as one of the finest in Africa.

From our safari camp, we set off after breakfast, an early departure to pick up our armed park ranger and then reach the Empakaai Crater rim. From there, we walk down to the crater lake, keeping our eyes peeled for points of natural interest along the way. In the background, you will see some of Tanzania’s many volcanoes. The crater lake here is around 80 metres deep, much deeper than the lake in Ngorongoro. This is a peaceful place, with chatter of the flamingos and the distant clatter of cowbells often being the only sounds to disturb the silence.

After your walking safari, you will return to your Ngorongoro accommodation (see above) for some relaxation, your evening meal and a welcome sleep.

Breakfast is enjoyed at the Ngorongoro Lions Paw Camp. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, also provided by the camp for you to take out on your trek and enjoyed after trekking. Your dinner will be a delicious meal at the Ngorongoro Lions Paw Camp.