8-Day Chase the Great Migration in Tanzania

Visit the Chagga village of Materuni with lush landscapes, thundering waterfalls and walks along banana and coffee fields which will leave you with everlasting impressions of the everyday life of the Chagga tribal people. Materuni is the last village before Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park. Walk to a waterfall and later return to the village for a delicious local lunch before the coffee experience. Here you will learn how coffee is being cultivated; dried, roasted and further processed.

Today you will drive to Tarangire National Park from Arusha for a game drive. Tarangire National 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 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.  Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. Around midday you will stop for a picnic lunch and then proceed with game drive until early evening when you will check out of the park and drive to Karatu town for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast we will drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descend over 600 meters into the crater for a game drive. The crater has a year round water supply and support herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque conservation area is its dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot.

Waking up with one of the best sunrises you have ever seen. Today you have a full day to explore Serengeti National Park. After breakfast we will begin our game drive in central Serengeti en route to northern Serengeti to follow the great migration around Lamai wedge on the border between the Serengeti and Masai Mara Game Reserve. In this area of kopjes there are a large number of cats as well as a long the Mara River, which attracts lots of wildlife.

You will have a full day to explore northern Serengeti and continue to search for the wildebeest migration, with luck you ight see the migration cross the Mara River (depending when you travel).

After breakfast you will have a leisure drive to Karatu town with  en route game drive from north Serengeti across the central area. Stop for a picnic lunch at Naabi Hills before checking out of the Serengeti for the drive along Ngorongoro highlands. Visit a Maasai village for a cultural tour before driving to Karatu town for dinner and overnight.

Today you enjoy a free morning. Later you will be transferred to Arusha for drop-off at the airport or hotel.