10 Days Ngorongoro Crater Safari

After breakfast, you'll depart from your Arusha accommodation and drive to the park.

Your visit to Arusha National Park is a flexible one, as you'll have three choices as to how you'd like to experience the park.

• Game Drive: You can embark on a half-day or full-day game drive through the park. Your drive will pass you past park landmarks such as the Momella Lakes and Ngurdoto Crater - sometimes known as 'Little Ngorongoro'.
• Canoe Safari: Available at extra cost, you'll trade the car for a canoe as you take a guided canoe safari out on the Momella Lakes to see bushbuck, giraffes, hippos, and buffalo.
• Walking Safari: Stretch your legs with a guided walking safari through the park. While on your walking safari, you can expect to see endless acres of forest, home to black and white colobus monkeys, zebras, buffalos, and a variety of antelopes. You will also have a chance to observe more than 400 bird species including the Crowned Eagle, Lanner Falcon, and Levaillants Cuckoo.

You can combine the above three options as you please, although the canoe safari and walking safari both attract an additional cost. 

You'll return to Arusha in the late afternoon with a head full of memories and a camera full of unforgettable photos

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Kibo Palace Hotel or Similar

You'll depart from Arusha after breakfast for the approximately two-three hours drive to Tarangire National Park. Along the way you'll pass bustling Maasai villages and the vast, open plains that have become synonymous with images of Africa.

Once you've entered Tarangire, you'll begin your game drive across a rich vista of endless golden savannah that surrounds the Tarangire River. The river itself runs throughout the year and is a vital source of water for the animals of the region during the dry season. Lined with acacia and Baobab trees, the river is regularly visited by the park's large elephant population as well as other herbivores such as zebras and antelopes.

A picnic lunch with a view of the river is a great way to take it all in, but you'll have to keep on your toes as the local monkey population does its best to separate you from your lunch!

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Paradise Wilderness Hotel or Similar

After breakfast we undertake another extensive game drive in the landscapes of Tarangire including the beautiful River Tarangire. This offers more wild game viewing possibilities and those that you might have missed yesterday. 

Driving through the park you'll also have the opportunity to see lions, leopards, cape buffalo, and a huge variety of antelopes. If you're particularly lucky, you might even see endangered animals such as the Greater Kudu or the Fringe-Eared Oryx.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Paradise Wilderness Hotel or Similar

After breakfast you'll enter Lake Manyara National Park. The park is truly a photographer's playground and offers some of the best game viewing in the world. You can expect to see many of Africa's most well-known animals, with the tree-climbing lions a particular treat. These proud predators lounge in acacia trees practically begging to be photographed.

Bird-watchers will find Lake Manyara is an absolute delight, with a huge variety of birds on display in the park. Even the novice can expect to be amazed by large flamingo flocks, circling birds of prey, and the brightly coloured lilac breasted roller.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Bougainvillea Safari Lodge or Similar

After breakfast we undertake another extensive game drive in the landscapes of Manyara National Park.

In addition to the lions, the national park is also home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world a fact that makes for interesting game viewing of large families of the primates

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Bougainvillea Lodge or Similar

Today we have another day filled with adventure in front of us. After breakfast you will bid farewell to the unique landscape of Karatu and set off for perhaps the famous nature park in the world: The Serengeti!

The road slowly climbs along several serpentine turns. Enjoy a last view onto Lake Natron before leaving the Rift Valley behind and continue via the village of Wasso to Northern Serengeti. You will enter the Serengeti in the afternoon – like the way in – this is not a short drive but you are sure to enjoy the unique views.

Tip

The best time to visit North Serengeti is July till October - if you travel during another time of year we will adjust the location of your overnight here. This will reduce the time available for a game drive.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Sounds of Silence Lodge or Similar

You'll spend your day driving through this distinct and beautiful region of the park in search of the Wildebeest Migration and the Big Five. As you stay a full day in the Northern part of Serengeti, the chance to see the river crossing of the wildebeests becomes bigger. Almost every day some of the wildebeests are crossing the river looking for new nutrients.  There are different crossing points and there might be multiple crossings in 1 day. Of course you will also need some luck - it is possible that the wildebeest will not cross during your stay. Your guide will be connected with a radio to hear from (or inform) other guides about the location of the crossing- so you will have the best possible chance of catching a crossing.

In the afternoon, you have the option to extend your game drive until sunset or participate in one of the optional activities available at your lodge. These often include nature walks or a sundowner at the lodge.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Sounds of Silence Lodge or Similar

After breakfast, we get right on the road back towards the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Our drive takes us back through the Serengeti via a different route, offering plenty of opportunities to spot the animals that eluded you on day two. As far as the eye can see, you’ll spot thousands upon thousands of animals in herds; wildebeests and zebras migrating together, tall and graceful giraffes, jumping antelopes and gazelles, the powerful African elephant and the most respected group of animals: the predators. You will have the chance to spot lean cheetahs and shy leopards, foraging hyenas, and last but not least, the king himself; the lion.

Once arrived in Ngorongoro Conservation Area you have the chance to visit an original Maasai Boma. The Maasai is the only tribe that is allowed to live inside this area

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge or Similar

After breakfast, you'll depart to Ngorongoro Crater; considered by some to be the Eighth Wonder of the World. When you get your first glimpse of this vast, verdant caldera from the panoramic viewpoint, you'll soon understand why it has earned such a lofty reputation.

Home to over 120 species of mammal including the fabled Big Five, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the most sought after safari destinations in the world. It's a particularly good place to see the endangered black rhinoceros enjoying a lonely meal out on the grass plains, as well as a place to see large numbers of hippopotamus enjoying the cool water.

From the comfort of your open-top vehicle, you'll be able to observe and photograph some of Africa's most recognizable faces. The crater is home to a large number of predators including lions, leopards, cheetahs, jackals, and hyenas, as well as a large population of wildebeest, zebras, antelope, cape buffalo, and more. It is truly one of Africa's premier safari destinations.

 After the thrills and excitement of the day, you will have a picnic lunch by the park's famous hippo pool before driving to hotel your overnight.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Overnight at Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge or Similar

After breakfast, start a journey back to Arusha where you will enjoy a farewell lunch at Arusha Coffee Lodge. Then you will be transferred to the airport

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch