An early morning briefing at your Arusha hotel kick starts your safari, before we head off away from the main safari route of the Northern Circuit, to Tarangire National Park, a true hidden gem.
Highly underrated, yet bursting with a dense wildlife population, it won’t take you long to appreciate just why we love Tarangire. It’s a special park, virtually untouched, with far fewer visitors than the world famous Serengeti and Ngorongoro.
During the dry season (June to September) thousands of animals including elephant, buffalo, giraffe, wildebeest, kudu, and the rarely seen oryx migrate from the dry Maasai steppe to the Tarangire River in search of water. Lion, leopard and other predators follow, so be sure to be sure to charge your camera battery and empty your memory stick as some unique memories are waiting to be made. With impressive landscapes dominated by baobab trees, an enormous elephant population and over 550 varieties of bird, Tarangire offers secluded game viewing and loads of game – a winning combination in anyone's book!
From Tarangire, we head up through the beautiful highlands to the farm rich area of Karatu on the outer slopes of Ngorongoro crater, where we overnight at Bougainvillea Lodge or similar.
Lunch, dinner
Incredible and unforgettable, today is surely one you’ve been itching to tick off your African travel bucket list. One of the natural wonders of the world, the volcanic caldera of Ngorongoro Crater offers spectacular game viewing in the crater. We can almost guarantee you four of the Big Five will show up, as well as a rich variety of birds, all viewed against the splendid backdrop of the thickly forested crater walls. Our picnic lunch on the crater floor will forever remain a unique memory. Varied terrains and dramatic landscapes consisting of forest, grasslands and both freshwater and soda lakes make the Ngorongoro Crater a true marvel of creation.
Full board
Relax with three full days in the Serengeti, home to more than three million large mammals spread over vast endless plains. It is here that we may encounter the fascinating spectacle of the annual wildebeest migration, where one and a quarter million wildebeest trek in columns of up to forty kilometres long in search of grazing, drawing with them their predators and numerous other species of game.
From January to March the herds can largely be found birthing their young in the southern area around Ndutu, before proceeding north through the centre and Western Corridor during June and July, eventually splitting to the west and north as they continue their way toward the Mara River. August to October sees dramatic river crossings which can only be considered Africa’s “greatest leap of faith”, before the herds return south in November to repeat this amazing instinctive procession all over again.
Full board plus drinks (local beer, house wine and soft drinks)
Morning transfer to the Seronera/Ndutu for your optional flight back to Arusha – or return by road. If you are staying up North, a flight back from Kogatende airstrip is compulsory. It is an exceptionally scenic flight (weather dependent) across the sweeping expanse of the Rift Valley escarpments and the highlands of Ngorongoro.
If you are not flying out tonight, but overnighting in Arusha, we highly recommend heading out to Mosque Street. Here, you will find probably the best chicken in Africa. In every town there are a few gems - delightful places off the beaten track that give you a sense of the soul of the town. Khan's is undoubtedly one of the key attractions in Arusha, and while it's definitely been discovered, it's still the real deal. You may have heard of Khan's as "Chicken in the Ditch", "Chicken on the Bonnet", "Kuku on the Curb", "That place by Soko Kuu with the fantastic chicken" or "Zubeda Autospares by Day, Khan's Chicken BBQ by Night".
Tasty salads, Zanzibar pizzas, garlic naan, barbecued chicken, beef mishkaki and mutton shish kabob are all winners. Even the passion juice is top notch. But Khan's serves up more than an evening out - it's one place that will always remain a highlight of your trip to Arusha.
Breakfast, lunch
Domestic flight Serengeti to Arusha
