8-Day Special Tanzania Luxury Lodge Safari Tour – Tarangire NP, Lake Manyara NP, Serengeti NP, & Ngorongoro Crater Tour

Non-game-viewing travel time: 2½ hours

Pick up from Arusha and transfer to Lake Manyara National Park. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and after lunch we head into the Lake Manyara National Park for an afternoon game drive.

This 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), located 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, as well as large flocks of flamingos attracted by the algae in the lake.

Dinner and overnight at Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge / Lake Manyara Hotel or any of similar.

-          Main Destination: Lake Manyara National Park

-          Accommodation: Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge { http://www.serenahotels.com/serenalakemanyara/default-en.html} - Luxury lodge located just outside Lake Manyara NP

-          Meals & Drinks: Lunch & dinner (Breakfast not included)

-          Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Non-game-viewing travel time: 6 hours

After breakfast, 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 richest wildlife habitats in the park, 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.

Dinner and overnight stay in the Seronera area; Serengeti Serena Lodge/Serengeti Sopa Lodge.

-          Main Destination: Serengeti National Park

-          Accommodation: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge { https://www.serenahotels.com/serenaserengeti/en/default.html} - Luxury lodge located in or near the park

-          Meals & Drinks: All meals included

-          Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement).

We do an after breakfast game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, best for view of the lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings as you enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch under the shade of the giant acacia trees.

In the afternoon, we follow Kopjes Circuit, an-anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, which usually attract a number of lion and some formidably large cobras.

Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains.

This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons – lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink!

Dinner and overnight Serengeti Serena Lodge/Serengeti Sopa Lodge.

-          Main Destination: Serengeti National Park

-          Accommodation: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge{ https://www.serenahotels.com/serenaserengeti/en/default.html} - Luxury lodge located in or near the park

-          Meals & Drinks: All meals included

-          Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement).

We do an after breakfast game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, best for view of the lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings as you enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch under the shade of the giant acacia trees.

In the afternoon, we follow Kopjes Circuit, an-anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, which usually attract a number of lion and some formidably large cobras.

Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains.

This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons – lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink!

Dinner and overnight Serengeti Serena Lodge/Serengeti Sopa Lodge.

-          Main Destination: Serengeti National Park

-          Accommodation: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge{ https://www.serenahotels.com/serenaserengeti/en/default.html} - Luxury lodge located in or near the park

-          Meals & Drinks: All meals included

-          Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Non-game-viewing travel time: 4 hours

Morning game viewing drives then return to the lodge for breakfast, after breakfast at the lodge, we depart to Ngorongoro Conservation area. We will stopover at Olduvai Gorge, boasting a history dating back to the dawn of time.

It was here that the anthropologist Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of the 'Nutcracker Man’ and ‘Handy Man’, both very significant links in the chain of human evolution.

We arrive in time for a late lunch at the lodge and spend the afternoon at leisure.

Dinner and overnight as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested on the crater rim, no accommodation available inside the crater.

-          Main Destination: Ngorongoro Highlands

-          Accommodation: Ngorongoro Crater Serena lodge{ https://www.serenahotels.com/serenangorongoro/en/default.html} - Luxury lodge located on the crater rim of Ngorongoro Crater

-          Meals & Drinks: All meals included

Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

After breakfast, we descend 600m into this magnificent crater for a full-day game drive. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most densely crowded African wildlife areas in the world and is home to an estimated 30,000 animals including some of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhino. Supported by a year-round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro National Park supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park is its huge population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard. We will enjoy a picnic lunch on the crater floor.

Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro crater Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp.

-          Main Destination: Ngorongoro Crater

-          Accommodation:  Ngorongoro Crater Serena lodge{ https://www.serenahotels.com/serenangorongoro/en/default.html}   - Luxury tented camp located on the crater rim of Ngorongoro Crater

-          Meals & Drinks: All meals included

-          Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Non-game-viewing travel time: 3½ hours

After breakfast, we departed for the Tarangire National Park. The 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 mainly 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. The Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa.

This African National Park is also home to three rare species of animals – the Greater Kudu, the Fringe-eared Oryx, as well as a few Ashy Starlings.

After a picnic lunch, we do an afternoon game drive.

Dinner and overnight Tarangire Balloon Safari Lodge or similar.

-          Main Destination: Ngorongoro Crater

-          Accommodation: Tarangire Balloon Safari Lodge { http://www.madahotels.com/balloon-camp-tarangire#/} - Luxury Tented lodge located inside Tarangire NP

-          Meals & Drinks: All meals included

-          Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Non-game-viewing travel time: 2 hours

We enjoy an early morning game drive in the Tarangire National Park, followed by breakfast at the lodge. We will then transfer back to Arusha.

Upon arrival in Arusha, we will have lunch and then we will end our Wildrace African safari adventure.

End of tour

Additional accommodation can be arranged for an extra cost.