9 Days 8 Nights Tanzania Wildlife Safari

Day 1:  Drive to Lake Manyara for an afternoon game drive (LD)

Drive approximately 3-4 hours from either Arusha or Moshi to Lake Manyara National Park with a picnic lunch enroute and afternoon game drive. Afterwards, continue to your safari lodge/camp for overnight.

Lake Manyara National Park, rimmed by the scenic 600-meter cliffs of the Rift Valley escarpment, protects a large alkaline lake and is home to a wildlife-rich savannah-forest mix. It makes an outstanding introduction to Africa’s wildlife, with elephants, wildebeest, giraffes, buffalo, zebra, impala, waterbuck, and waterbuck roaming the park in healthy numbers while lions are also present. Dik dik antelope and klipspringer call the rocky escarpment landscape home.  Huge troops of baboon’s frolic in the forest openings, with blue monkeys present on the forest edge. Manyara also features nearly 400 different species of birds, including crowned eagles, crested guinea fowl and the silvery cheeked hornbills among a host of water-related birds.

Meals included: Lunch, Dinner
Budget Accommodations: Migunga Forest Camp
Mid-Range Accommodations: Lake Burunge Tented Camp
Luxury Accommodations: Escarpment Luxury Lodge
Elite Accommodations: Lake Manyara Tree Lodge

Day 2: Drive to scenic Lake Natron, afternoon hike to waterfalls (BLD)

Following breakfast at the lodge, drive to scenic, surreal Lake Natron, a high-alkaline soda lake surrounded by gorgeous desert scenery and traditional Maasai hamlets. The driving distance between Lake Manyara and Lake Natron is approximately 3.5 hours. Arrive in time for lunch at the camp. Allow for some time to rest, and then enjoy an afternoon activity. One of the great benefits of a private safari like this is you can decide, with your guide, what you’d like to do. Please see Day 3 for details on recommended activities.

The best months to visit, temperature wise, can be June-July and December-January however the peak flamingo season, when the entire region’s population of flamingo come here to nest and are situated here in unreal numbers, is between August and October.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Lake Natron Halisi Camp

Day 3: Explore Lake Natron, morning Maasai Village, afternoon game drive (BLD)

Today enjoy a few activities around Lake Natron. Among the experiences on offer, include:

Canyon hike to the Waterfalls

This is a 20 to 30-minute guided hike one-way up a scenic rocky river gorge. Wearing your Chaco or Teva-style sandals, you will be scrambling and walking through the river (sometimes waist deep). It is an excellent swim in the river and under the pretty waterfalls for a nice cool-down from the hot sun.

See Flamingos

Lake Natron is uniquely outstanding for bird watching. You can walk from your camp or from the road out on the mud flats to the edge of the water. In the dry season, this may be a half-mile walk. Flamingos breed here August-October, creating a birding spectacle that rivals almost any, anywhere in the world. However, there will be some flamingos around all year. Endemic desert birds provide a wonderful bonus for the avid birdwatcher.

Scenic Drive

Full day scenic drive around the south and west side of Lake Natron. In this area, you can drive off road. There may be animals right around the camp, but it is still safe to walk around because there are no dangerous animals in this area.

Maasai Village

There are many authentic Masai villages in the area to visit.  Here you have a chance to get to know authentic Maasai families and see how real life is like for the locals. You can visit homes, and walk with them from boma to boma, meeting the children along the way, and even help them milk the cows.

Footprints of ancient man

Visit the impressive prehistoric human footprints in the nearby mud flats.

Sundowners

Join your guide and head to a nearby hill for 360-degree views of the surreal landscape and looming Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano (Mountain of God), Tanzania’s third highest peak.

Climb Ol Doinyo Lengai (extra cost)

A very difficult climb with lots of exposure. Contact us for details however we can arrange for a local mountain guide to steer you up the steep, loose scree slops.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Lake Natron Halisi Camp

Day 4: Drive to the Serengeti, afternoon game drive (BLD)

Drive to the Serengeti, via the wild Loliondo region. Continue on to your lodge/camp with game viewing along the way.

The fabulous Serengeti is a singular safari destination in Africa. The oldest and largest intact land-based ecosystem in the world, the Serengeti is celebrated for its wealth of leopard and lion. Serengeti, meaning ‘endless plains,’ is home to the largest annual overland migration of mammals in the world, with over a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelles along with a range of other antelope species gradually undergoing an over 800-km long trek seeking new grazing grounds.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget Accommodations: Robanda Tented Camp
Mid-Range Accommodations: Serengeti Kati Kati Tented Camp
Luxury Accommodations: Kubu Kubu Tented Camp
Elite Accommodations: Olakira Camp

Day 5: Serengeti, full day game drive (BLD)

Today enjoy a full-day game drive in the Serengeti or a morning and afternoon game drive with a break and rest in between back at your safari lodge. You also have the option too of a scenic hot-air balloon safari early this morning at extra cost. Today we’ll explore more of this remarkable wildlife reserve.

The crucial characteristics of the Serengeti ecosystem have changed little in over a million years. Serengeti’s boundless plains are sprinkled with wooded hills, towering termite mounds, rocky kopjes and rivers lined with acacia trees. Big cats and a huge host of grazing animals roam freely, but here you also can see other unique species like mongoose, hyrax, warthog, bat-eared fox, jackals, bushbabies, monkeys, baboons, and much more.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget Accommodations: Robanda Tented Camp
Mid-Range Accommodations: Serengeti Kati Kati Tented Camp
Luxury Accommodations: Kubu Kubu Tented Camp
Elite Accommodations: Olakira Camp

Day 6: Drive Serengeti to Ngorongoro, game drive en route, optional Olduvai Gorge (BLD)

This morning, drive from your Serengeti safari lodge to the lush Ngorongoro highlands enjoying a game drive enroute. Along the way, you will have the option to visit Olduvai Gorge.

The Olduvai Gorge delivers substantial evidence of the earliest signs of humankind, with rare hominid footprints preserved in solid rock from 3,600,000 years ago.

The Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest caldera measuring nearly 2,000 feet in depth while covering 250-square kilometers in area.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Rhino Lodge
Mid-Range/Luxury Accommodations: Acacia Farm Lodge
Luxury Accommodations: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
Elite Accommodations: The Manor at Ngorongoro

Day 7: Ngorongoro Crater, half day game drive (BLD)

Wake early and join your guide for a sunrise game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater. Due to official park regulations, game drives are limited to about 6 hours, but this gives us plenty of time to take in the sweeping scenery and impressive wildlife found here. The Crater is akin to a fishbowl of classic African wildlife, with herds of giraffe, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, and a variety of antelopes calling the Crater floor home. Huge elephants dot the distance while rhino still graze freely here. We suggest enjoying a picnic lunch inside the Crater, and enjoy the hippo pool, where we also usually find a load of interesting wetland bird species too. Return to your Crater area lodge and enjoy a little down time to relax.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Rhino Lodge
Mid-Range/Luxury Accommodations: Acacia Farm Lodge
Luxury Accommodations: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge
Elite Accommodations: The Manor at Ngorongoro

Day 8: Tarangire OR Hiking/biking/culture OR Bushman tribe in Lake Eyasi (BLD)

Today, you have several options. Please let us know which one you’d prefer.

Option # 1: Tarangire National Park
From June through early November, we’d recommend you travel this morning to Tarangire National Park, arriving in time for a picnic lunch in the field and an afternoon game drive. Between June and early November, the park provides spectacular elephant viewing, with masses of elephants converging along the park’s namesake, the Tarangire River. The park is famous for large prides of lion and a variety of rare mammals not regularly seen elsewhere on the northern circuit, species like wild dogs, fringe-eared oryx, and the long-necked gerenuk. Hartebeest and huge eland crowd around the waterholes at this time. Gigantic baobabs rise up from the rich savannah, adding to the experience. With Option 1, you’d travel to and overnight in the Tarangire area. There are lodges for every budget in the region here.

Option #2: Hiking/biking near Mto Wa Mbu, visit local medical clinic and orphanage
From around December through mid-March you may consider adding another night in the Crater area to enjoy something close by and more active, like a Crater rim walk, or a biking excursion in the highlands, or perhaps something cultural, like a local village visit, etc. essentially local explorations of the pastoral highlands and higher altitude forest found here. Your guide can help with suggestions and we can also help you pre-plan an activity.

Option #3: Travel to Lake Eyasi and visit the Bushman tribe
This is an excellent choice for cultural enthusiasts seeking to see more of Tanzania’s amazing living heritage. Here you can walk with bushpeople as they hunt and visit a pastoral Datoga village. While there is no awesome wildlife here, bird-watching can be highly rewarding. If you choose Option 3, we’ll arrange an overnight at lake Eyasi, which has a several fine lodges (mid-range and luxury) to choose from.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Budget Accommodations: Whistling Thorn Tented Camp
Mid-Range Accommodations: Sangaiwe Tented Lodge
Luxury Accommodations: Tarangire River Camp
Elite Accommodations: Tarangire Treetops

Day 9: Tarangire game drive, return to Moshi/Arusha (BL)

This morning, we will drive into Tarangire National Park for a morning game drive and enjoy the classic African scenery and tremendous wildlife found here much of the year. In the afternoon, we’ll return to Arusha via Mto Wa Mbu, with options, at no extra cost, at your request, for a drop off at Kilimanjaro Airport for an evening flight home or to Arusha/Moshi, if you are climbing Kilimanjaro the next day.

Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch