Pick up from your hotel in Arusha at 08h00 and begin your journey to Tarangire National Park. Along the route, your eyes will be opened to all the colours and character of Tanzania: perhaps some Maasai herdsmen driving their flocks of goats to new pastures. You’ll get to know your driver-guide, amazed at his depth of knowledge as he effortlessly answers all your questions. Tarangire is known as the ‘Elephant Playground,’ this phenomenal park contains huge herds of these mighty mammals. But Tarangire is also home to buffalo, lion, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle and the park can rival Serengeti for sheer animal densities. What might you see today? Perhaps a solitary male lion stretched out beneath a tree, perhaps a trio of male cheetah enjoying some lazy bonding-time in the sun. Maybe some graceful Grant’s gazelle or zebra bound away from the road or a couple of giraffe munching happily from the choicest acacia branches. For Tarangire specialties, look out for kudu and oryx. Here as in other parks, it pays not to ignore the small animals. It’s so easy to be mesmerized by the power and majesty of an elephant or the elegance of the giraffe. Ask your guide to find you an agama lizard, especially a male one who changes colour in front of you according to the temperature! Or a hyrax, known as pimpi, an insignificant-looking creature of around 30cm in length…who astonishingly is related to the elephant! Not many trees will pass you by without something of avian interest catching your eye. A memorable flash of colour might be a lilac-breasted roller or blue-eared starling. Ostrich are plentiful and it’s hard not to chuckle at the sighting of the well-named, studious-looking secretary bird as it awkwardly pads across the grasslands. The park is also famous for its splendid baobab trees, rolling savannah and acacia woodland. It can be dusty – wear a scarf over your mouth - but this is a minor inconvenience for sighting wildlife in such abundance. After extensive game drive leave the park to your accommodation set near Lake Manyara for dinner and overnight.

Main Destination: Tarangire National Park

Accommodation: Manyara Safari Lodge,

Meals & Drinks: Lunch & Dinner Included

After breakfast, we set off for our next destination and travel via the cooler highlands passing through Ngorongoro Conservation Area en-route game drive to Serengeti National park. On arrival, we take lunch and have an afternoon game drive. As you make your way into the Seronera region, you will begin to notice the hilly and broken terrain altering into plain grasslands. In Seronera one must really look out for the many lion prides that thrive in this region. The interactions and survival of these lion prides provide an excellent game viewing experience all year round. Here’s a National Park which will offer you a whole variety of wildlife surprises over the next few days, but perhaps today’s highlight – certainly for first-time visitors - will simply be the Serengeti terrain itself. The sheer vastness, as the plains roll away in front of you into eternity, will leave you with a sense of awe. This park is the largest in Tanzania and has a diversity of habitats and landscapes – short grass plains, savannah, thick bush, swamps and lakes. Bizarre rock formations called kopjes dot the grassy landscape where predators are often seen. The Serengeti is famous for the yearly migration when hundreds of thousands of wildebeests and zebras trek to find fresh grass and water.

Main Destination: Serengeti National Park

Accommodation: Embalakai Authentic Camp Serengeti,

Meals & Drinks: All Meals Included

Today you will have another chance this morning to marvel at the Serengeti game drives with its sunrise through central Serengeti. Leave the camp early morning with breakfast box for an early morning game drive in the Serengeti to where the big herds are located; you might spot lots of nocturnal animal coming back after a long night of hunting or a group of lionesses planning a hunt or a hard of buffalo lazily grazing before getting hot. After lunch, you head south toward Ngorongoro Conservation Area to your accommodation set on the crater-rim. Once you arrive you will admire the incredible view of the Ngorongoro Crater, dinner and overnight stay. Ensure you get some good rest and recharge yourself for the following day tour.

Main Destination: Serengeti National Park

Accommodation: Embalakai Authentic Camp Ngorongoro,

Meals & Drinks: All Meals Included

This morning after early breakfast then descend into the vast crater itself. The stunning crater of Ngorongoro is a unique home for many, many species of Tanzania’s wildlife. With some luck, you may even see a black rhino here. At one side there’s the Lerai Forest, classic mountain forest landscape with almost tropical characteristics. This is good elephant country, so keep your eyes peeled. By the side of the nearby swampland is what is sometimes called the ‘elephant graveyard’ as the mighty male tuskers at the end of their lives come to chew on the soft, swampland grasses once their teeth have failed them. The crater has a population of around 120 lions, with well-defined territories; 15,000 wildebeest, 9,000 zebra, 400 hyenas, and around 50 black rhino. Many wildebeest and other herd animals are resident, benefiting from the many sources of year-round waters and are boosted by some migratory in season. Buffalo, Thomson’s gazelle and eland are also present in numbers. Hippos can be found in pools and swampland and highland birdlife is colourful and plentiful around the waters. Flamingos can often be seen in Lake Magadi, which occupies part of the crater floor. The eventful day come to an end when ascending the crater wall and drive back to Arusha, drop off at your hotel of choice.

Main Destination: Ngorongoro Crater