Serengeti – The Endless Plains

DAY 1: LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

Depart after breakfast and drive across the Great Rift Valley to Lake Manyara National Park for a full day game drive. Although only 205 sq. miles in size this enchanting park is noted for its beauty and incredibly lush acacia forest of giant fig and mahogany trees, which are home to troops of baboons and blue monkeys. The park is also home to a large numbers of buffalos, giraffes, elephants, impalas and a Hippo lake, where large numbers of hippos usually gather. Well known for its birds (over 400 different species), Lake Manyara is one of the few places where you’ll be able to see the Ground Hornbill and the Crested Eagle. This park has become famous for the the climbing lions and the flamingos in the lake shore. The landscapes of this park are absolutely stunning, very different from the Serengeti for example. The game drives are done along the shore of the lake, providing incredible views of giraffes and buffalos in the foreground with the lake, flamingos and flat plains in the horizon. Great photo opportunities! In the afternoon, return to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.

DAY 2: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

Today you’re off to the famous Serengeti National Park, home of the Great Migration. Your drive today is spectacular as you drive up the crater highlands, stopping at the rim for a birds-eye view of the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater. Continuing on, as you crest the hillside, spread out before you, as far as the eyes can see, is the vast Serengeti. Serengeti mean “endless plains” in Kiswahili and this 6,900 sq. mile (18,000 sq. km) park is inhabited by more than 2 million large animals including more than a million wildebeest, hundreds of thousands of plains zebras, and Thomson’s gazelles. Large predators including lions, cheetahs, and hyenas are drawn to the area by this abundance of prey which migrate throughout the park. Many smaller animals like rock hyrax, bat eared foxes, mongoose, honey badger, jackals, monkeys, baboons and African hares also inhabit the area along with nearly 500 species of birds.

On the way into the Serengeti, option to stop at the famous Oldupai Gorge, where Dr. Louis and Mary Leakey made their discovery of the first man that walked the earth. After attending a short lecture describing the archeological digs and geology of the gorge, you’ll have time to visit the small museum.

After lunch, afternoon game drive en-route to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.

DAY 3: SERENGETI - NGORONGORO

Today you will wake up very early to do an early morning safari before breakfast, to spot the animals when they are more active and also to have a fantastic sun rise in front of you. The sunrise in the African Savannah is one of the most beautiful experiences one can have. Dinner and overnight.

DAY 4: NGORONGORO CRATER

Very early in the morning, descend down to the crater floor for a day of wildlife viewing in one of the most incredible places on Earth. After a stop for a picnic lunch near the hippo lake, and more wildlife viewing in the afternoon, drive up the steep road out of the crater and return to Arusha.