6 Days Memorable Wildlife Safari in Tanzania

After breakfast follows a short briefing, then drive to the Tarangire National Park. We enjoy our two-hour journey which takes us westward from Arusha. On the route perhaps see Masai herdsmen herding their cattle for pastures before you get to Tarangire.

Game Watching in Tarangire:

You are in Tarangire National Park with its endless tree savannah including the impressive baobab trees and seasonal marshes. The home to the largest elephant herds in northern Tanzania. In addition to elephants, you are also likely to spot giraffes, buffaloes, lions, zebras, gnus, and other types of antelopes and gazelles.

Upon arrival at the park, your guide will open the roof of the vehicle and the extensive wildlife viewing will begin. Lunch will be taken at a picnic spot and in the afternoon, you will get to see more of this amazing and beautiful park. It’s in the afternoon when wildlife are going to search for water and grassing and hunting for dinner. You may be lucky to see herds of elephants, gnus, and zebras grazing grasses on the ground while the giraffe uprooting upper green branches from acacia trees. Make sure your camera battery is fully charged for your beautiful shots.

Accommodation:

In the late afternoon, you will arrive at the lodge for Dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, you will be driving across the Rift Valley, passing through Mto Wa Mbu and Karatu, in the cooler regions of the crater highlands. You will enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and stop for a short look into the crater from a viewing point. Continuing your journey around the crater, you will descend the other side, enjoying your free “African massage” on the bumpy road, passing Maasai villages on your way to the Serengeti National Park.

Game Watching in Serengeti:

At the Naabi Hill entrance gate, you can walk to a viewpoint with spectacular views across the plains of the Serengeti savannah. You will then continue towards the Seronera Area in the central part of the Serengeti for the late afternoon game drive. The park offers a multitude of wildlife including the Big Five – lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino, and leopard.

December to Late March:

After the small rainy season in November, you will typically see these herds moving through the central area of the Serengeti to the plains in the south while some may be giving birth (calving) in Ndutu area. Although fluctuations in rainfall, this timetable can of course change, resulting in the animals migrating during different times and routes but often December to March herds are in these areas of Ndutu and southern Serengeti. Your guide will try his utmost to find the animals and will make sure that you can see them from the best spot in the national park. Naturally, the migration also attracts predators and with luck you might see a kill in action, or may be chasing. Serengeti national park is huge and this fact makes wildebeests migration unpredictable but Serengeti is so superb with lots to see. Here you are going to see the big five animals, cheetah, hippopotamus, zebra, warthog, monkeys, and other small animals.

June to Late September:

After the big rainy season in April and May, you will typically see these herds moving through the central area of the Serengeti to the North. Although fluctuations in rainfall, this timetable can of course change, resulting in the animals migrating during different times and routes but often July to August herds are in the Northern area of Serengeti. Your guide will try his utmost to find the animals and will make sure that you can see them from the best spot in the national park. Naturally, the migration also attracts predators and with luck you might see a kill in action, or may be chasing. Around this duration you may be lucky to witness wildebeests ‘gnu’ migrants moving toward to and fro. Wildebeests move in search of green pastures which are growing after rain. Serengeti has different rain bubbles which makes wildebeests and zebra to migrate tailed by predators who are making tail for prey. Serengeti national park is huge and this reason sometimes makes wildebeests migration unpredictable although Serengeti is rich with lots to see. Out of migrants, here you may be lucky to see the big five animals, cheetah, hippopotamus, zebra, warthog, monkeys plus other small animals.

To mention, December to March and June to September do not confuse, wildlife are plenty in Serengeti yearly. The only reasons we make grouping on above durations, it is only because wildebeests are predictable and no rain in Serengeti.

After game watching, you will drive to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation:

At evening you will arrive for dinner and overnight at your lodge.

Meals:

Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner and drinking water.

Serengeti National Park – Ngorongoro Conservation Area Enroute Drive

After a morning game drive and lunch, this afternoon we will head south-east towards Ngorongoro, a distance 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 art 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.

Safari in Serengeti National Park

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 overflows year-round, so there is always something of interest to observe. Wildlife visits the river to drink and its bank for green pastures and prey. Several game drives here might reveal lions in sizeable prides, hippo or herds of elephants - whose populations in the park have risen in recent times.

Depending on your interest and time, we may opt 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 Bernhard Grzimek and the Frankfurt Zoological Society who had the foresighted vision of preserving the Serengeti’s eco-system. Even at the center, you may well find wildlife: populations of hyrax and mongoose, as well as many small bird species.

After lunch, we head south-east towards Ngorongoro. If it has not already struck you with its vastness, Serengeti’s ‘endless plains’ will 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.

Accommodation

Your lodge is situated at the best spot to Ngorongoro crater not far from the crater-rim, you may be visited zebra, elephants, hyena and small animals who live nearby. Enjoy your delicious hot dinner - and fall asleep, dreaming of the day’s highlights.

Meal Plan

Breakfast will be enjoyed at your lodge. Lunch will be a nutritious and balanced meal, enjoyed at Serengeti. Your evening meal will be a full, cooked dinner created by our chef and his team at the campsite, all gears provided by us.

Safari in Ngorongoro Crater

From our accommodation, we set off after breakfast, around 6am departure to reach the rim and then descend into the vast crater itself. At one side there’s the Lerai Forest, classic mountain forest landscape with almost tropical characteristics. This is good elephant country, so keep your eyes peeled. By the side of the nearby swampland is what is sometimes called the ‘elephant graveyard’ as the mighty male tuskers at the end of their lives come to chew on the soft, swampland grasses once their teeth have failed them.

The crater has a population of around 120 lions, with well-defined territories; 15,000 wildebeest, 9,000 zebra, 400 hyenas, and around 50 black rhino. Many wildebeest and other herd animals are resident, benefiting from the many sources of year-round waters and are boosted by some migrators in season. Buffalo, Thomson’s gazelle and eland are also present in numbers. Hippos can be found in pools and swampland and highland birdlife is colourful and plentiful around the waters. Flamingos can often be seen in Lake Magadi, which occupies part of the crater floor.

Journey: Ngorongoro – Arusha

After our morning visit to the incomparable crater – see below - and then lunch, we will have a 3-hour journey. Like nothing else on Earth, the stunning crater of Ngorongoro is a unique home for many, many species of Tanzania’s wildlife. With some luck, you may even see a black rhino here.

Accommodation:

Breakfast is served at your accommodation at Ngorongoro. Lunch will be prepared by the accommodation in Arusha after your game-drive.

Arusha hotel/lodge HB; with dinner and breakfast included.