10-Day Tanzania National Park Safari from Arusha with Big Five

• Meet the guide at Kilimanjaro Airport and drive to the lodge in Arusha (45-60 minutes) for your first overnight. 
• Get introduced about the tour. 

Distance: 50 km
Time/road condition: about 1,5 hours over partly paved roads.

• In the morning, depart for a full day in Arusha National Park (50 km, about a 1-hour drive). 
• Start with a beautiful nature walk in Arusha National Park with an armed ranger (because of the animals). 
• Enjoy the impressive flora and fauna of this area, with waterfalls and huge fig trees.
• After picnic lunch, go for a game drive, spot wildlife while enjoying the spectacular views of Mount Meru and the Kilimanjaro, waterfalls, lakes, swamps, and steep cliffs. The park is home to many varieties of the smaller game as well as giraffe, elephant, Black and White Colobus monkey, water buffalo, and over 400 species of birdlife.

Overnight at the lodge.

• After breakfast, begin the drive to Mto Wa Mbu.
• Spend an hour or two wandering around this busy town. 
• Learn about the life of the Masaai and the 100 or so other cultural groups living in this area (some in traditional huts). 
• Visit plantations, local craftsmen, taste banana beer in an authentic bar and amble past the many market stalls with local produce. 
• Have lunch, served by a cheerful Tanzanian “mamma” who will delight you with tasty local dishes. 
• Go for a safari in Lake Manyara National Park and, afterward, drive to the lodge outside the park.

Distance: 150 km
Time/road condition: about 3,5 hours on mostly paved roads.

• Before breakfast, go for a game drive in the calm early morning.
• After midday heat, take another game drive on a different route.

Overnight at the lodge.

• After an early breakfast, take lunchboxes and leave for Serengeti National Park via the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a spectacular area with panoramic views over the crater hundreds of meters below. 

Distance: 210 km
Time/road condition: 6 hours, partly paved, mostly sandy and bumpy.
Dinner and overnight: Seronera Public Campsite.

• Enjoy a full safari day in Serengeti.
• Drive along the shores of the Seronera River and Mara River, try to find unforgettable moments and a glimpse of the way wild animals live and survive. 

Dinner and accommodation at the lodge

• After breakfast, depart for a game drive in the famous Ngorongoro Crater. 
• Wind down into the caldera, with the most breathtaking views along the way. 
• Have a picnic lunch at the Hippo Pool.
• Enjoy all the sights and sounds of the ‘laughing’ hippos enjoying a wallow in the cool water and a mud-bath. 
• Optional: Visit a Maasai Boma and experience how semi-nomadic communities continue to live according to their age-old traditions.

Distance: 160 km (excl. the game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater)
Time/road condition: 3 hours, sandy and bumpy.

• After breakfast, depart for the next accommodation in Tarangire National Park. 
• After a hot lunch, it's on safari in this amazing and relatively quiet park with spectacularly massive baobab trees and gigantic herds of elephants.

Distance: 150 km
Time/road condition: 2 hours, mostly paved roads

Dinner and overnight: Tarangire Public Campsite.

• Drive in the park, observe elephants, sometimes very close to the campsite near the (dry bedding of the) river. 
• Head to Larmaku Swamp, a large swamp with elephants and other animals, cooling down in the water and sheltering for the sun in the shadow of the acacia trees.

• Depending on the itinerary, drive to a lodge in Arusha.
• Transfer to Arusha Airport (for domestic flights e.g. to Zanzibar) or to Kilimanjaro International Airport.
•  Take the return flight home. Late checkout is optional for additional charges.

Distance: 120 km
Time/road condition: Approximately 3 hours to a lodge or the airport in Arusha, about 4 hours (160km) to Kilimanjaro International Airport