8-Day Comfort Mara River and Great Migration Experience

Your All Wheels Experience safari guide will pick you up from your accommodation after breakfast. Today, you’ll head to the iconic Tarangire National Park, a scenic two-and-a-half-hour drive on good roads. Named after the Tarangire River, this “river of warthogs” is a lifeline for wildlife during the dry season. The park is renowned for its majestic elephant families, often seen gathering by the river, along with giraffes, bushbucks, and hartebeest. Predators such as lions and leopards are frequently spotted here, tracking the abundant prey. Tarangire also boasts the highest number of breeding bird species in the world, and you’ll marvel at the towering, ancient baobab trees, some over a thousand years old.

You’ll enjoy lunch at a picnic site in the park. After an exciting day of wildlife exploration, you will drive to your accommodation in Karatu for a relaxing evening.

After breakfast, you will drive up into the cooler regions of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There will be a chance to stop and see the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater. You will then transit through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the Serengeti, entering the park’s south.

The Serengeti is genuinely spectacular! It is famous for its vast open grasslands, allowing excellent wildlife sightings. The Serengeti boasts an abundance of wildlife, such as impalas, buffaloes, crocodiles, and hippos. In addition to the iconic landscapes, you have a good chance of encountering predators, and you may see lions, cheetahs, and leopards. After your game drive, you will head towards your accommodation in time for dinner.

After breakfast, you’ll embark on a thrilling journey through the Serengeti, heading toward the northern region, with plenty of breathtaking stops along the way! While the Serengeti is teeming with wildlife year-round, it’s most famous for the spectacular annual Great Migration. Vast herds of wildebeest, zebras, and antelopes move in search of fresh grazing, creating one of nature’s most awe-inspiring spectacles. The location of the migration shifts throughout the year, but during this season, it typically unfolds in the Northern Serengeti, offering you an unforgettable experience.

Your overnight stay will be in a comfortable, mid-range seasonal tented camp, perfectly positioned to immerse you in the heart of the action.

The northern Serengeti offers a strikingly different landscape, featuring rolling hills, riverine forests, vast plains, and rugged rocky outcrops. Cutting through this diverse terrain is the mighty Mara River, the stage for the breathtaking river crossings during the Great Migration. Here, over two million wildebeest, along with hundreds of thousands of zebra and antelope, brave the perilous journey across the river in search of fresh grazing. As if the river’s currents weren’t enough, Nile crocodiles lie in wait, turning the crossing into a dramatic spectacle. On the opposite bank, lions, hyenas, leopards, and cheetahs await their opportunity for a feast, making this one of the most thrilling wildlife encounters you’ll ever witness!

After breakfast, you’ll begin your journey back to the Central Serengeti, enjoying an en route game drive. As you make your way, you may wish to continue tracking the migrating herds before bidding farewell to this extraordinary region. The Serengeti is full of surprises, and every day brings new wildlife encounters and exciting discoveries, ensuring there’s always more to explore in this incredible landscape.

This morning, you’ll leisurely wind your way back through the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, encountering even more wildlife along the journey. It’s common to spot giraffes gracefully traversing the lush slopes. At around 10:00AM, you’ll arrive at the breathtaking Ngorongoro Crater, a hidden world encircled by towering volcanic walls. This ancient caldera, formed millions of years ago, shelters a pristine wilderness of savannahs, acacia woodlands, and shimmering lakes. As you descend into the crater, you’ll find yourself surrounded by vast herds of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and a remarkable variety of bird species. Ngorongoro offers one of the best chances to spot the rare black rhino roaming the open plains. After an exhilarating afternoon game drive, you’ll head to your accommodation in Karatu for a well-deserved rest.

This morning, you’ll journey to Lake Manyara National Park, your final stop on this incredible safari adventure! Although small in size, Manyara offers diverse landscapes just 120km west of Arusha. The park is both compact (one of the narrowest in Africa) and awe-inspiring, with the Great Rift Escarpment towering over its western boundary. Its namesake, Lake Manyara, is a shallow salt lake that floods and recedes with the seasons, attracting thousands of wading birds, including flamingos and over 500 other species. As you explore, you may spot baboons and elephants in the dense evergreen forest and keep an eye out for the famous tree-climbing lions.

After enjoying a picnic lunch inside the park, you’ll be dropped off at your chosen location—whether it’s Arusha, Kilimanjaro International Airport, or Arusha Airport. We hope your adventure with All Wheels Experience has been nothing short of extraordinary!