Best of Tanzania Safari
Day 1 – Arusha
On your arrival into Arusha you will be met and transferred to the Arusha Coffee Lodge for the night. Having a relaxing afternoon and evening after your long flight will help prepare you for your Tanzania safari tomorrow.
Days 2 and 3 – Tarangire National Park
From Arusha you head to Tarangire National Park, home to huge herds of elephant and buffalo. Due to the park being slightly out of the way (in terms of the northern circuit) many people miss out on this jewel of a park. Good prides of lions, leopard and cheetah are regularly seen whilst on game drives in the park. Being further south, the park is a lot more arid than the northern parks and because of this the main Tarangire River is the lifeline for the animals.
Being based at one of the few camps inside the park allows guests the opportunity to do a walking safari. Here in Tarangine, getting out and walking is a highlight of the stay. Generally walking safaris are about the smaller aspects of the African bush that are missed when you are in the back of a game drive vehicle.
Camps in the park take guests on morning and afternoon game drives, night game drives, walking safaris and there is the option for a hot-air balloon safari (at additional cost).
Days 4 and 5 – Ngorongoro Crater
From Tarangire National Park you head to the highlands and one of the most famous wildlife places in the world, the Ngorongoro Crater. After an early breakfast you will descend the crater wall into the middle of the extinct volcano. It is only once you are down on the Ngorongoro Crater floor that you realise the paradise that lies down here. Completely surrounded by the crater walls, the Ngorongoro Crater is home to the big five. Large elephant bulls with impressive tusks roam the crater floor, herds of buffalo wallow in the lakes, rhino move through the grasslands, lion are always on the prowl and leopards hide out in the woodlands and cheetah are often seen hunting gazelle in the grasslands. The soda lakes are pink with flamingos and other water birds. This is truly a wildlife paradise.
Spend the day exploring the Ngorongoro Crater before heading back to the lodge for the night.
Days 6, 7 and 8 – Serengeti National Park
Depending on the time of the year will depend on where we suggest for you to stay inside the Serengeti National Park. The wildebeest migration is always moving as they follow the rains. Starting in the very south in December where they give birth, they move north through the western corridor reaching the norther Serengeti and Masai Mara around June, July and August time. They then start to move south through the Eastern corridor around September/October making their way back to the Ndutu section intime to give birth in December.
There are plenty camps throughout the park to choose from ranging from permanent lodges to luxury mobile camps and more rustic mobile camps. Activities here are mainly focussed around morning and afternoon game drives in search of the plentiful game. The Serengeti is typical East African open grassy plains that are home to large herds of herbivores including gazelle, elephant, buffalo, giraffe, topi, rhino and more. The Serengeti is also one of the best places in Africa for predators. Because of the plentiful prey species, lions, leopard and cheetah are regularly seen.
Days 9, 10, 11 and 12 – Pemba
From the Serengeti National Park, you will transfer to the closest airstrip for a flight to the tropical island of Pemba, off the coast of Dar es Salaam. Pemba is the more authentic, less crowded sister island to Zanzibar and is what Zanzibar used to be like before all the hotels, resorts and guest house sprung up on Zanzibar.
Even though there are only 3 luxury hotels to stay at on Pemba, there is plenty to do including spice tours, snorkeling trips, scuba diving, dhow sailing or simply relaxing on the powder white beaches.
