8-Day Tanzania Holistic Safari

In the morning, we will drive from the hotel to Arusha National Park. The park has an incredible variety of fauna and flora, which cannot fail to impress. Hollywood also chose this region to film the movie ‘Hatari’ in which Hardy Kruger starred alongside the legendary John Wayne. Your day trip will include a visit to the Ngurdoto Crater while buffalo, waterbuck, giraffe, warthog, zebra and baboon can be seen all year round as well as many different bird species. At the Momella Gate, an armed ranger will be waiting to accompany you on a walking safari that will give you the chance to experience the wildlife up close. Only a few other national parks in Tanzania give you such an opportunity and it is something that should not be missed. Lunch will be taken at a picnic place and in the afternoon we will continue exploring by vehicle. After plenty of time allocated for you to observe the wildlife, we will drive back to Arusha.

Accommodation at Planet Lodge (FB)

After breakfast, we drive to Tarangire National Park, second only to Ngorongoro Conservation Area in terms of concentrations of wildlife. The park lies to the south of the large open grasslands of southern Maasailand and is named after the Tarangire River, which provides permanent water for wildlife in the park. It is an easy drive by good tarmac road from Arusha, passing open plains and great views of Kilimanjaro and Mt Meru along the way. Herds of migratory wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and buffalo gather along the marshy shores of Lake Natron. These pools are shared by flocks of birds including green wood hoopoes, fisher lovebirds, tallis herons, white bellied go-away birds and giant kingfishers. Resident lions, giraffes and elephants are common at Tarangire National Park.

Accommodation at Tarangire Safari Lodge or similar (FB)

After breakfast at the lodge, we head towards the Serengeti National Park via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the park’s richest wildlife habitats featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species. We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti National Park.

Accommodation at Nyati Tented Camp or similar (FB)

Today is dedicated to a full day game drive along the Northern Serengeti plains, home to elusive lions, leopards, elephants, cheetah, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, wild dog, gazelles and crocodiles among others. The Serengeti is famed for its incredible wildlife, stunning views and the annual migration of over 1.5 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras. In this frenzied bout of territorial conquests and mating, witness the survival of the fittest as these animals plunge through crocodile-infested waters. The wildebeest will birth more than 8,000 calves daily before the 1,000 km (600 mile) pilgrimage begins again.

Accommodation at Nyati Tented Camp or similar (FB)

We view game as we drive southeast up into the magnificent Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Stop over at Olduvai Gorge with a picnic lunch en route. The Olduvai Gorge cuts through rock beds layered in time sequence from 2 million years ago to the present and it is here where humanoid bones have been found dating back to over 1.75 million years including a direct ancestor of modern man. Fossil foot prints (over three million years old) have also been found here and are the most ancient footprints yet discovered. There is an excellent site museum where you can explore the diggings with a guide and it is also a great place to view birds such as the purple grenadier, red and yellow barbet, speckle fronted weaver and slaty colored boubou. We spend the night at the Rhino Lodge at the crater rim.

Accommodation at Rhino Lodge or similar (FB)

After breakfast, we descend into the crater for a half day crater tour with packed lunch. A visit to the Ngorongoro Crater, which is often called ‘Africa’s Eden’ and the ‘8th Natural Wonder of the World,’ is a truly memorable experience. Located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCAA), the Ngorongoro Crater was formed some 2.5 million years ago from a volcanic mountain sinking due to inactivity, which was initially thought to be higher than Tanzania’s famous Kilimanjaro. Continue on a game drive en route to Lake Manyara National Park for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation at Eileen’s Tree or similar (FB)

After breakfast and with a picnic lunch in hand, we head into Lake Manyara National Park for a morning game drive. The national park is one of Tanzania’s most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a massive, but shallow soda lake (covering two-thirds of the park), at the foot of the Great Rift Valley’s western escarpment. The park’s varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa’s largest concentrations of elephants, Lake Manyara’s unique tree-climbing lions (rare), as well as large flocks of flamingos attracted by the algae in the lake. After the game drive we travel back to Arusha where we will end our African safari adventure.

Note: Accommodation for tonight is not inclusive in the program. If you would like us to book one (or more) nights in Arusha, please let us know.