9 Days Highlights of Tanzania Tour

Day 1: Fly Kilimanjaro to Tarangire View Lodge

See Elephants in Tarangire National Park.At Kilimanjaro International Airport, board a light aircraft bound to Tarangire National Park. On arrival in Tarangire, a guide from the camp will be there, ready to greet you and transfer you to the camp. Your safari begins on the three-hour drive into the camp, game viewing and stopping to take photos along the way.

On arrival to the camp, huge smiles will greet you from the colourfully dressed Maasai staff, who will show you around the camp and help you to settle in.

Your accommodation at the camp has commanding views across the park from your private balcony. The spacious room is nestled amongst the trees and elevated, totally open fronted and designed with your privacy and comfort in mind. Meet around the campfire for pre-dinner drinks and discuss the following day's activities. Enjoy a candlelit dinner marvelling at the variety of animals as they come down to the camp's waterhole to drink.

Day 2: Tarangire National Park View Lodge

sundownersWake to the aroma of fresh coffee and watch the sunrise as you venture out on an early morning game drive. Follow the Tarangire River and see the large herds of elephant that inhabit this area. Look into the trees to spot the lions languishing in their branches. As the park has a permanent water source there is game all year round. During the dry season, the wildlife becomes more prolific, seeking water and grazing as other areas of Northern Tanzania dries out. Take a picnic breakfast with you, and relax in the shade of a baobab, of which Tarangire has many, enjoying the scenery and wildlife all around you.

Return to camp for a delicious lunch and a refreshing swim in the pool. In the late afternoon set out again to watch the birdlife around the swamps, known for the largest selection of breeding birds anywhere in the world. Stop at Sunset Hill, sit and experience a magnificent African sunset, watching the vast sky streaked with orange and red. Sip on a cocktail as the day comes to a close and night draws in. Dine under the stars listening to the sounds of the bush.

Day 3: Ngorongoro Conservation Area View Lodge

horse riding NgorongoroSet out for an early nature walk before coming back to camp for a scrumptious breakfast buffet. Afterwards, set out on a game drive en route to the airstrip, taking a packed lunch with you. As you traverse Tarangire, take in the beautiful landscape filled with baobabs and game. At the airstrip, board your flight to Lake Manyara where you’ll be met by a guide ready for your transfer to Ngorongoro Conservation area and the next leg of your Tanzania Adventure.

In the late afternoon, you can go on a game drive around the rim of the crater. Alternatively, if you are feeling energetic go for an optional mountain bike ride or horse ride around the estate. If you prefer a more gentle option, a relaxing massage at the spa will help to relieve any sore or tired muscles.

In the evening snuggle down in front of the log burning fireplace, Ngorongoro is in the highlands and can get quite chilly in the evenings.

Day 4: Explore the Ngorongoro Crater View Lodge

Ngorongoro zebrasWake up in comfort and luxury, for an early breakfast and leave on a game drive down to the crater floor just as the morning mist starts to dissipate. The crater formed some 3 million years ago from a collapsed volcano, is a natural enclosure to a wide variety of African wildlife. Here you will be able to see rhino, buffalo, elephant, resident wildebeest and zebra. There is a large population of lions, and so a good chance of you finding a pride to photograph. Take a picnic lunch with you and spend the day marvelling at this piece of paradise.

Day 5: Explore Lake Manyara View Lodge

Lake Manyara viewToday can be spent exploring Lake Manyara National Park, which is part of the Great Rift Valley. Go on a game drive searching for the famous tree climbing lions. Take an exciting, tree top canopy walk. Where you can be at eye level with the tree canopy, birdlife and butterflies. Lake Manyara National Park has year-round game viewing opportunities, however, the best time is during the dry months of June to September when the animals are more concentrated around the water sources.

Day 6: Serengeti National Park View Lodge

Hippo pod After a leisurely breakfast set out for your flight to your next camp in the Serengeti. At the Serengeti airstrip, a guide will meet you and transfer you via a 40-minute drive to the camp.

The camp is next to the Grumeti River, which hosts rafts of wallowing hippos and large crocodiles. Thrill at the bellows and antics of the hippos, as you sit on your private deck. Relax in comfort; each tent has luxuriant soft furnishings, designed with restfulness in mind. Sink down onto a leather sofa and let the ambience and peacefulness, interspersed by sounds from the bush, lull you into an afternoon siesta.

Sit at the viewing platform and scan the awesome scenery of the river and rugged landscape beyond. Be surrounded by game and watch the ever-changing interactions, look for predators hiding in the longer grass at the edge of the mighty herds.

A blazing campfire and a choir of animal noises, coming from the African bush, will complement your al fresco dinner.

Day 7 & 8: Great Herds and Predators View Lodge

Spend the next two days exploring the vast plains of the Serengeti on full day game drives. Set out with a picnic breakfast and stay out all day, stopping for a packed delectable lunch in amongst the prolific game. Move from area to area or stay still and watch the mighty herds moving past you. All around there is movement as the herds continuously feed, keep a lookout for predators and move to the next clump of grass.

This highlights of Tanzania Tour, with such differing vistas and abundance of game, is a safari experience that will provide memories that will be long lasting. The sunrises, dawn chorus, meals in the bush, the herbivores the predators, the sundowners, sunsets and campfire stories are just a few of the highlights that will stay with you, long after you leave Africa.

Day 9: Kilimanjaro Airport

Relish your final game drive of this tour, leaving early with a packed breakfast and arriving back in camp for lunch. Or, take a relaxing breakfast in camp and spend time to viewing the game from the camps excellent viewpoints. After lunch, it’s sadly time to say goodbye to the bush and head to the airstrip for a mid-afternoon flight to Kilimanjaro Airport, where you continue with your onward travel arrangements.