Tanzania Signature Safari

After breakfast in Arusha, you will be driven to Tarangire National Park, the third largest national park in Tanzania. There will be many opportunities for game viewing as we drive through the park.  Stop for lunch at Tarangire Safari Lodge, then after lunch continues to South Western end of the park where the beautiful tented camp is located. Tarangire contains a range of ecosystems from grassland and woodlands in the north, to scrub and wetlands further south. The Tarangire river cuts through the park and empties into Lake Burunge in the west. Tarangire boasts one of the largest and most conspicuous elephant populations in East Africa. There are large family groups with many calves being born each year as the population continues to recover from the devastating effects of poaching in the eighties. You will see herds of elephants and experience close contact with the matriarchs, the babies, teenagers, and bulls. Your close contact will help you in understanding these incredible animals. Spend several hours surrounded by the herds and you cannot help but feel their wisdom. Tarangire is also known for its abundant baobab trees, most of which are over 400 years, old and the beautiful landscape

Overnight Tarangire Swala Tented Camp

After breakfast, we will drive to Lake Manyara National Park for a game drive and have a picnic lunch. While Manyara is one of the smallest parks, it is one of the most interesting.  Much of the northern part of the park is fed by underground water from the Ngorongoro Highlands and as a result is covered in dense forest vegetation, giving the appearance of a tropical jungle. This forest is ideal habitat for elephant, bushbuck, blue monkey, and huge troops of olive baboon. Some parts are dry bush land attracting zebra, impala and giraffe, while the lakeshore provides another habitat, perfect for flamingos and other shore birds. Our game drive will take us slowly south through the park and later in the afternoon proceed to Tloma Mountain Lodge.  We will have dinner and stay the night at the lodge.

Overnight at Lake Manyara Tree Lodge

We explore more of Manyara this morning on our way to Ngorongoro. Our drive takes us up the Rift Valley escarpment, where the views back over Lake Manyara and the floor of the Rift Valley are amazing. We continue through rolling farmland in the Mbulu Highlands, where we notice cool highland air. Further on, at the Ngorongoro Crater rim, we marvel at the beauty of this World Heritage site, before continuing to the luxurious Ngorongoro Crater Lodge where we have dinner and spend the night.

Overnight at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

In the early morning, we can often watch banks of cloud lift off the Crater as the sun penetrates an already magical setting. We descend more than 2,000 feet on steep tracks cut into the crater wall to reach the open plains of the Crater floor. The Ngorongoro Crater is undoubtedly the best place in Tanzania to view black rhino as well as large prides of lion that include magnificent black-manned males. It is also home to huge herds of wildebeest and zebra and many other plains game, such as Thomson's gazelle. An alkaline lake in the floor of the Crater provides a habitat for colorful flamingo and a variety of other water birds. Massive bull elephants feed in the swamps, some adorned with enormous tusks. In the mid-afternoon we ascend to the lodge, relax on our veranda and marvel at the view. We can soak in a hot bath, or walk around the lodge grounds.

Overnight at Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Today you will have a leisurely breakfast and then start the drive to Arusha through the Great Rift Valley, close to Lake Manyara and arrive in Arusha in time for lunch.  After lunch there will be time for shopping before the trip to the airport for your home bound flight