6-Day Tanzania Safari through Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire

Get picked up from Arusha and drive to Mto wa Mbu for a morning cultural tour with a hot local lunch, then continue for an afternoon game drive in Lake Manyara National Park. The park's varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa's largest concentrations of elephants, as well as diverse birdlife and primates. Lake Manyara is also one of the famous national parks known for its tree-climbing lions.

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

Leaving the highlands behind, you will proceed into the heart of wild Africa. You will drive into 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 and therefore attracts wildlife representative of most of the Serengeti's species.

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

After breakfast, enjoy a game-viewing drive along the Soneore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, with possible sightings of lions, Thomson's gazelles, topis, ostriches, and cheetahs. The Visitor Centre, close to the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites, is also well worth visiting after the morning game drive.

In the afternoon, you will follow the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, an area that usually attracts several lions, as well as some leopards and cheetahs. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops scattered around the plains, and most are self-sustaining 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 season - including lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink.

After an early breakfast at the lodge, you will enjoy a morning game drive in the park while heading to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area with a packed lunch and game drive en route.

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 significant links in human evolution.

Arrive in time for leisure.

After breakfast, you will descend over 610 meters into the crater to view wildlife on a full-day crater tour with a picnic lunch. Supported by a year-round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) supports a wide variety of animals, including herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants.

Visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the southwestern corner, which is one of the main features of the crater. Many flamingos, hippos, and other water birds can usually be seen there.

Later on, drive to Tarangire National Park, arriving in time for leisure.

After breakfast, you will have a full-day game drive in the park with a picnic lunch. Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest concentrations of elephant herds in Africa. This African national park is also home to three rare species of animals - the Greater Kudu, the Fringed-eared Oryx, and the Ashy Starling - as well as the iconic baobab tree.

Later on, you will drive back to Arusha, which will be the end of your African safari adventure.