4-Day Serengeti Calving Season Safari with Ndutu and Ngorongoro

You'll leave Arusha after a later breakfast and travel to Lake Manyara National Park. The journey takes approximately two hours, passing through the market town of Mto Wa Mbu along the way. This agricultural fresh produce market is a melting pot of local cultures and a souvenir hunter's paradise.

After a brief stop at the countryside market, you'll enter Lake Manyara National Park. The park is genuinely a photographer's playground and offers some of the best game viewing in the world. You can expect to see many of Africa's most well-known animals, with the tree-climbing lions being a particular highlight. These proud predators lounge in acacia trees, practically pleading to be photographed.

Bird-watchers will find that Lake Manyara is an absolute delight, with a wide variety of birds on display throughout the park. Even a novice can expect to be amazed by large flamingo flocks, circling birds of prey, and the brightly coloured lilac-breasted roller. You'll then retire to your chosen accommodation for dinner and a good night's rest.

We will take an early breakfast, as a big day of exploration and adventure lies ahead. We'll begin with a scenic drive toward the Ndutu area in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Along the way, we'll pass through the mist-shrouded rainforests of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where you might be lucky enough to glimpse Cape buffalo, baboons, or even elephants and leopards in the dense undergrowth.

It is an almost one-and-a-half-hour drive to Ndutu, but you may choose to break up the journey with one or both of the optional activities.

You will be up before dawn so that we can enjoy an early morning game drive throughout the area. Watch the sunrise over the savannah as carnivores, including cheetahs and lions, move through the landscape while it is still cool enough for them to hunt.

After your sunrise game drive, you will return to your camp for breakfast before taking a picnic lunch and exploring more of Ndutu. You'll enjoy a full-day game drive through the area, taking in the shores of both Lake Ndutu and Lake Masek and the surrounding land where tens of thousands of young wildebeest take their first steps.

After your day-long exploration of Ndutu, you'll overnight at your camp or lodge.

After breakfast, you'll leave for Ngorongoro Crater, considered by some to be the 8th wonder of the world. When you get your first glimpse of this vast, verdant caldera from the panoramic viewpoint, you will soon understand why it has earned this lofty reputation.

Home to over 120 mammal species and the fabled Big Five, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is one of the most sought-after safari destinations in the world. It is an especially good place to see the endangered black rhinoceros grazing on the grass plains, as well as large numbers of hippopotami enjoying the cool water.

From the comfort of your open-top vehicle, you will be able to observe and photograph several of Africa's most recognizable animals. The crater is home to a large number of predators, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, jackals, and hyenas, as well as a huge population of wildebeest, zebras, antelope, Cape buffalo, and more. It is truly one of Africa's premier safari destinations.

After the thrills and exhilaration of the day, you'll have a picnic lunch by the park's famous hippo pool before returning to Arusha.