8-Day Tanzania Wildlife Safari with Serengeti and Ngorongoro

• Arrive anytime at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), where a safari driver will be waiting to pick you up and transfer you to Arusha and Moivaro Coffee Lodge. The rest of the day is at leisure.

• Stay at Moivaro Coffee Lodge, beautifully located on the coffee farms and a perfect place to prepare for your adventure.

• Gather at the hotel for a pre-safari briefing and an equipment check. The guide will also confirm that you have the appropriate mandatory medical coverage and travel insurance.

Dinner and overnight at Moivaro Coffee Lodge: Half board.

• Depart from Moivaro Coffee Lodge.

• Travel through Arusha National Park, where you can view herds of buffalo in the spectacular Ngurdoto Crater, the flamingos of the Momela Lakes, and the imposing peak of rugged Mount Meru. Arusha National Park houses a variety of wildlife, including giraffe, zebra, colobus monkeys, leopards, and hyenas, within its small but bustling 53 square miles of natural habitats.

• Enjoy a picnic lunch while gazing at the rolling hills and wooded savannahs of this national treasure.

• At the end of the day, return to your lodge in Arusha.

Dinner and overnight at Moivaro Coffee Lodge: Half board.

• Today, drive to Tarangire National Park for excellent game viewing. Tarangire is a small park that offers some excellent sights. Generally, in the dry season, Tarangire comes alive as wildlife and birdlife congregate on the Tarangire River, which is a permanent source of water.

• Spend the night in a lodge beautifully set outside the park, with stunning views and a unique atmosphere.

Dinner and overnight at Karatu Acacia Farm Lodge: Full board.

• Today, drive to Lake Manyara National Park for a full day of game drives. This is one of Tanzania's smaller parks, but it still offers a rewarding and diverse safari experience. The lakeshore at Manyara teems with birdlife, and while you are looking for the birds, you might spot one of the elusive tree-climbing lions. There are a surprising number of other large mammals, and the striking cliffs on the Rift escarpment form a dramatic backdrop.

• In the late afternoon, make a short journey to the special tented camp.

Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Acacia Tented Camp: Full board.

• Head towards Serengeti National Park with your Tanzania tour guide.

• En route, there is an opportunity to visit Olduvai Gorge. It is within this steep-sided ravine that Louis and Mary Leakey made some of the world's most important archaeological discoveries in the 1950s.

• There is a small museum here, where you can see evidence of our ancestors dated back 2.5 million years.

• After lunch, drive into the Serengeti itself, and spend the rest of the afternoon game viewing in the vast plains broken only by stands of acacia trees and the occasional kopje. In December, January, and February, you will normally meet the migration, with large herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle. There are always plenty of resident animals, such as giraffe, buffalo, and elephant, as well as many large predators such as lion, cheetah, and leopard.

• Return to the special tented camp for the night.

Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Acacia Tented Camp: Full board.

• Have another full day in this wonderful park, rising early to make the most of your time. The Tanzanian safari guides will choose the best spotting locations for the time of year. You can spend time at the Hippo Pool, watching these majestic animals laze about in the cool water while living happily alongside the crocodiles, watch a big pride of lions, or find yourself in the middle of the migration - sometimes surrounded by wildebeest, sometimes by zebras, which travel with the wildebeest.

• Journey from the wide-open plains to the kopjes. These volcanic rocky outcrops provide protection and shelter for a wide variety of animals, and from the top, you can look out across the vast grasslands of the Serengeti. This diverse and interesting landscape provides the ultimate in game viewing. You will hopefully see all of the plains game - elephants, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and lions - and, if you are lucky, the elusive leopard and cheetah, as well as huge amounts of interesting birdlife, from the elegant secretary birds to the flightless ostrich.

• Return to the special tented camp for the night.

Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Acacia Tented Camp: Full board.

• Start the day with an early morning game drive before heading to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Ngorongoro is a special place because it is a Conservation Area, not a National Park. This means that the whole area is managed for both the animals and the local Masai people, who graze their cattle alongside the indigenous wildlife.

• During the drive in Ngorongoro, you have a chance to glimpse something of the Masai way of life.

• After stopping at the entrance gate, where there is a chance to learn more about this fascinating volcanic landscape, drive around the rim of the crater itself. From here, you can look down and see herds of wildebeest or buffalo.

• Finally, descend into the crater. The crater walls provide a natural sanctuary for the animals, which means there is plenty to see: lions, elephants, buffalo, rhino, and leopard, if you are lucky. The only animal you will not see here is a giraffe, whose long legs are unable to cope with the steep sides of the crater.

• In the late afternoon, travel just outside Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the special tented camp.

Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Ndutu Safari Lodge: Full board.

• Enjoy a free morning to relax after your great northern safari or explore the town, especially the Maasai market. Return to JRO after your safari.