7-Day Tanzania Wildlife Safari with Serengeti Balloon Ride Option

• Pick up from Arusha and transfer to Lake Manyara National Park.

• Arrive in time for lunch at the lodge.

• After lunch, 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 that covers two-thirds of the park and lies 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, tree-climbing lions, and large flocks of flamingos drawn to the algae in the lake.

Dinner and overnight as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.

Non-game-viewing travel time: 2½ hours.
Distance: 130 km.

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

• Leaving the highlands behind, descend into the heart of wild Africa - Serengeti National Park - with its endless plains stretching into the distance as far as the eye can see. Continue to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park. It features the Seronera River, a valuable water source that attracts wildlife representative of many of Serengeti's species.

• Arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in Serengeti National Park.

Dinner and overnight stay in the lodge as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.

Non-game-viewing travel time: 6 hours.
Distance: 205 km.

• Be one of the few fortunate people to glide in a hot air balloon over the Serengeti Plains, spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa across rivers and over numerous small villages.

• After breakfast, enjoy game viewing along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River and offers possible sightings of lions, Thomson gazelles, topi, ostriches and cheetahs.

• The Visitor's Centre, not far from the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites, is worth a visit after the morning's game drive. This nicely designed centre offers some interesting wildlife sightings, 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, along with a picnic area and an information trail up and around a nearby kopje. Enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch at the centre in the shade of the giant acacia trees.

• In the afternoon, follow the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes and usually attracts a number of lions and some formidably large cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops scattered across the plains, many of which are miniature ecosystems that provide 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.

Dinner and overnight stay in the lodge as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.

• After breakfast at the lodge, leave for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

• Stop at Olduvai Gorge, boasting a history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here that the anthropologists Dr Luis and Dr Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of the 'Nutcracker Man' and 'Handy Man', both very significant links in the chain of human evolution.

• Arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and spend the afternoon at leisure.

Dinner and overnight stay as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested on the crater rim. No accommodation is available inside the crater.

Non-game-viewing travel time: 4 hours.
Distance: 145 km.

• After breakfast, descend 600 m into this magnificent crater for a full-day game drive. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most densely crowded African wildlife areas in the world and is home to an estimated 30,000 animals, including some of Tanzania's last remaining black rhino. Ngorongoro National Park supports a vast variety of animals, including herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo and giant African elephants. Another major draw of this picturesque national park is its huge population of predators, including lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard.

• Enjoy a picnic lunch on the crater floor.

Dinner and overnight stay as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested on the crater rim. No accommodation is available inside the crater.

• After breakfast, leave for Tarangire National Park. The park runs along the Tarangire River and is mainly made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. Its natural vegetation mainly consists of acacia woodland and giant African baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the south. Both the river and the swamps act like a magnet for wild animals during Tanzania's dry season.

• After a picnic lunch, go for an afternoon game drive.

Dinner and overnight stay in the Tarangire National Park area, as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.

Non-game-viewing travel time: 3½ hours.
Distance: 155 km.

• Enjoy an early morning game drive in Tarangire National Park, followed by breakfast at the lodge.

• Then, transfer back to Arusha.

• Reach Arusha and have lunch.

• Later, you will be taken to your hotel.

End of tour.

Non-game-viewing travel time: 2 hours.
Distance: 120 km.