6-Day Tanzania Safari through Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara

Today, you will relax at the hotel and prepare for your safari starting the next day.

Dinner and overnight at Arusha Coffee Lodge: half board.

Pick up from Arusha and transfer to Lake Manyara National Park. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge, and after lunch, we head into Lake Manyara National Park for an afternoon game drive.

This national park is one of Tanzania's most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a massive but shallow soda lake covering two-thirds of the park, located at the foot of the Great Rift Valley's western escarpment. The park's varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa's largest concentrations of elephants, Lake Manyara's unique tree-climbing lions, as well as large flocks of flamingos attracted by the algae in the lake.

Dinner and overnight at Acacia Farm Lodge: full board.

After breakfast, we head towards Serengeti National Park via the beautiful high-lying farmland of Manyara and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa - Serengeti National Park - with its endless plains rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source in this area and therefore attracts wildlife representative of most of the Serengeti's species.

We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in Serengeti National Park.

Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Sanctuary Tented Camp: full board.

Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a hot air balloon over the Serengeti Plains, available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement. Float silently above the awakening bush while spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, across rivers and over numerous small villages.

After breakfast, we do a game viewing drive along the Sugar River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River and is good for possible lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich, and cheetah sightings. The Visitor Center close to the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites is well worth a visit after the morning game drive. This nicely designed centre offers interesting wildlife displays as well as a gift shop selling information leaflets and maps of the area. The centre also has a shop where cold drinks and snacks can be purchased, as well as a picnic area and information trail up and around a nearby cage. We will enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch at the centre in the shade of the giant acacia trees.

In the afternoon, we will follow the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Masai Kopjes and usually attracts a number of lions and some formidably large cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains. This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons, including lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink.

Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Sanctuary Tented Camp: full board.

After breakfast at the lodge, we depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We will stop over at Olduvai Gorge, boasting a history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here that the anthropologists Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of 'Nutcracker Man' and 'Handy Man', both very significant links in the chain of human evolution.

We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge, and after lunch, we will descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife on a half-day safari tour. Supported by a year-round water supply and fodder, Ngorongoro National Park supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big drawcard to this picturesque national park is its dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs, and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot.

We will visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the southwestern corner, which is one of the main features of the crater. A large number of flamingos, hippos, and other water birds can usually be seen here.

Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Ang'ata Tented Camp: full board.

Enjoy breakfast, after which we transfer back to Arusha. Upon arrival in Arusha, we will have lunch and then end our African safari adventure.

You will be taken to your hotel for dinner and overnight at the previous hotel.

Dinner and overnight at Arusha Coffee Lodge: half board.