10 Day Tanzania Highlight Safari
Serengeti is easily Tanzania’s most famous national park, and it’s also the largest, at 14,763 square kilometres of protected area that borders Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Park. Its far-reaching plains of endless grass, tinged with the twisted shadows of acacia trees, have made it the quintessential image of a wild and untarnished Africa. Its large stone kopjes are home to rich ecosystems, and the sheer magnitude and scale of life that the plains support is staggering. Large prides of lions laze easily in the long grasses, plentiful families of elephants feed on acacia bark and trump to each other across the plains, and giraffes, gazelles, monkeys, eland, and the whole range of African wildlife is in awe-inspiring numbers.
The annual wildebeest migration through the Serengeti and the Masai Mara attract visitors from around the world, who flock to the open plains to witness the largest mass movement of land mammals on the planet. More than a million animals make the seasonal journey to fresh pasture to the north, then the south, after the biannual rains. The sound of their thundering hooves, raising massive clouds of thick red dust, has become one of the legends of the Serengeti plains. The entire ecosystem thrives from the annual migration, from the lions and birds of prey that gorge themselves on the weak and the faltering to the gamut of hungry crocodiles that lie in patient wait at each river crossing for their annual feed.
Itinerary
Days 1-2: Arusha, Tanzania
Depart by overnight flight to Arusha and transfer to your lodge.
Mountain Village Lodge
Day 3: Arusha / Tarangire National Park
Today you visit a lush coffee plantation near Arusha and sample some of its robust brews. After lunch, drive to Tarangire National Park, renowned for its large elephant population. Tarangire Sopa Lodge B L D
Day 4: Tarangire National Park
Second only to the Ngorongoro Crater in its density of Tanzanian wildlife, Tarangire is home to large herds of wildebeest and zebra. Bird watching is exceptional as well, and you may spot a bateleur or martial eagle soaring overhead. Tarangire Sopa Lodge B L D
Day 5: Tarangire / Lake Manyara National Park / Ngorongoro Crater
Driving along the Great Rift Valley, stop for a picnic lunch in Lake Manyara National Park, amply populated by lion, elephant and hippo. Later, continue to Ngorongoro Crater, formed by the collapse of an extinct volcano, where your lodge offers spectacular views across this natural amphitheater. Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge B L D
Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater
After breakfast, depart on an exploration of the short-grass plains of the Crater floor. Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge B L D
Day 7: Ngorongoro Crater / Serengeti National Park
Leaving the Crater, drive via the Olduvai Gorge, famous for archaeological finds made by the Leakey family, to the legendary Serengeti National Park, a vast savannah that supports the largest concentration of plains game in the world. This afternoon set off on your first game drive in the park. Famed throughout Africa and around the world, Serengeti National Park's 10,000 square miles support a variety of animal species: lion, leopard, hyena, cheetah, giraffe, topi and many others. Serengeti Sopa Lodge B L D
Day 8: Serengeti National Park
Spend a full day exploring the rolling plains of the Serengeti on early morning and afternoon game drives in search of the large predators and the gentle herbivores on which they feed. Serengeti Sopa Lodge B L D
Day 9: Serengeti / Arusha / USA or Canada
Fly to Arusha and have use of a dayroom until your evening international flight.
Mountain Village (dayroom) B L
Day 10:
Connect with homebound flight.
