8-Day Serengeti Migration Safari with Ndutu Calving Season

• The first day of your safari will begin at 8 AM with a pick-up from your hotel at Arusha. Once everyone is aboard, you will head towards Tarangire National Park. The 150 Km drive will be covered in about 3hrs.
• The national park is famous and notable for its diverse landscape and nine different vegetation zones. As you begin your game drive, you will be welcomed by the ancient and gigantic Baobab trees, which make even animals like the giraffe look tiny. The game drive goes on till about late afternoon and includes a small stop for a picnic lunch. The 3,000 sq km park gets its name from the Tarangire River that flows through it. The river attracts a lot of diverse animals, and you should be able to spot many elephants, giraffes, lions, antelopes and zebra.
• If it’s your lucky day, you might be able to spot the tree-climbing python and the long-necked Gerek. The Tarangire National Park has the highest concentration of elephants, offering a unique chance to observe interactions between elephant families. Don’t forget to capture this beautiful scenery with your camera. Post the game drive, you will head back to your camp/lodge, where a delicious dinner awaits you. Have a good night’s sleep for tomorrow’s adventure.

Overnight at Public Camp/Tinted Camp/Lodge at Manyara.

• Explore wild, uncharted territory in southern Serengeti. Lake Eyasi, located in the immediate southwest of Ngorongoro Crater in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania, is one of the several beautiful lakes in the East African Rift Valley. The mildly alkaline lake stretches for about 50 km to the southwest, with the vast plains of the Serengeti in its north. Enjoy walks along the shores of the lake and spend afternoons exploring the area dotted with ancient Baobab trees. Go on a hunting expedition with a Hadzabe family – Africa's last remaining hunter-gatherers, to see their astonishing ability to track and hunt small game!
• We depart to the village early in the morning for a local hunting experience with Hadzabe and Datonga tribes. This is not a mere performance. The bushmen rely on these techniques to survive, and you'll need to be very attentive and, sometimes, quiet. At the same time, they demonstrate their use of locally made poisons in incapacitating the poor creatures on which they depend for survival. We return to your Accommodation for a late breakfast.
• After Breakfast, you will be introduced to the extraordinary people of an indigenous tribe known as the 'Hadzabe' (hunter-gatherer bushmen). The tribe inhabits the shores of Lake Eyasias, the Nilotic-speaking Datoga tribe. You will visit these tribes, including visiting their homesteads, learning about their way of life, animal tracking, medicinal plants, and much more. Some wildlife and a wide range of bird species can be viewed during walks around the lake, which will be arranged.
• In the late afternoon, we drive back to Manyara/Karatu for overnight 

• You will kickstart your day after a delicious breakfast by about 8 AM. The destination for today is the Ndutu region which is a 3hr drive from your accommodation in Manyara/ Karatu. After about an hour commencing the drive, you will enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), where the landscape changes from hilly forests to plain and green grasslands as you drive further.
• Once you reach Ndutu, you will begin your day game drive with a convenient stop for your picnic lunch. The sweeping grasslands of the Ndutu cover the region and gradually fade into the Serengeti. Ndutu forms a part of the route for the annual migration of more than 2 million wildebeests and thousands of zebras, antelope and gazelle. During game drives during the proper season between December and April, the fertile plains become calving grounds and nurseries for the great migration.
• The calving season attracts hordes of predators prying on vulnerable young wildebeest. Crested with Ndutu Lake and Lake Masek, these waterholes offer plenty of wildlife game during the dry season. The Ndutu is also the home ground for six species of big cats – leopard, lion, cheetah, caracal, serval and wildcat. The action-packed game drive will end late in the evening by around 5 PM.
• You will now head towards your choice of accommodation, where a freshly prepared dinner awaits you. Ensure you get some good rest and recharge yourself for another eventful day.

Overnight at Public/ Tented Camp at Ndutu. 

• Stunned by the previous days spotting of the migration, today you get another chance to view the beautiful wildlife spectacle. The Ndutu region is a part of the glorious Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA).
• Heading out for a full-day game drive after breakfast, you will follow the migration today, depending on its location in either NCA or Serengeti. During game drives during the proper season between January and March, the fertile plains become calving grounds and nurseries for the great migration. This season attracts hordes of predators prying on vulnerable young wildebeest. Watching the circle of life take its course will be an unforgettable experience etched for life.
• The action-packed game drive will end late in the evening by around 5 PM. You will now head towards your choice of accommodation, where a freshly prepared dinner awaits you. Rest well and recharge for another eventful day—tented Camp at Ndutu.

• The excitement for today will be pretty high as you enter the world's most famous wildlife park – The Serengeti. After finishing a good breakfast, you will head out towards the Serengeti National Park and travel amid the never-ending plain grasslands. Serengeti means endless plains in the local African language. Watching the grassland stretch out as far as the eye can see and eventually merge with the sky at the horizon is a breathtaking view.
• With an overall land area of 14,763 Sq km, it puts our notion about the distance to shame. The Serengeti also houses the glorious “Big 5” (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard). Along with the “Big 5”, a very pleasant sighting would be one of Africa’s most beautiful animals – The Impala. The Serengeti ecosystem supports the greatest remaining concentration of plains game in Africa. It would be best if you also looked out for the Serengeti “Kopjes”, which are massive boulders of granite standing in a sea of grass, and they provide ample shelter to a large variety of flora and fauna.
• A picnic lunch will be made during the day-long game drives. The eventful day ends with a heavy dinner and a good night at the public camp/Tinted Camp/Lodge at Central Serengeti.
• (An option of doing a Hot Air Balloon is also in this area)
  Serengeti Balloon Safaris: No words can do the experience of floating over the Serengeti justice.” Get a birds-eye view of the park as you rise alongside the sun. The flight lasts about an hour, after which passengers gather around a table, surrounded by the park’s lush plains, for an “Out of Africa” English-style breakfast.

• At 7 am, you will head out for a short game drive in the Serengeti after a good breakfast. After completing a half-day game drive and a picnic lunch, we will branch out and head towards the Ngorongoro crater rim.
• The 75km drive to Ngorongoro Crater rim will take about 2.5 hrs., with mild game action to see on the way. The crater is one of Africa’s impressive geological attractions and the supreme mecca of wilderness. The day ends with a heavy dinner and a good rest in your accommodation. Rest well and refuel yourself; the following day, you will descend into the massive crater.

Overnight at Public Camp/Tinted Camp/Lodge at Ngorongoro.

• On this day of your safari, you will have an early start. Finishing up with a quick breakfast, you will descend early at around 6:30 am into the crater floor. The Ngorongoro crater is the world’s largest inactive, intact, unfilled volcanic caldera. It has a massive floor of about 260 sq km with a depth of over 2000 feet. The 5-hour game drive on the crater floor will show you a lot of animal action. Keeping the camera ready is recommended.
• The African elephant, buffalo, Black rhino, Hippos, Hyenas, Cheetahs and Lions are found in plenty. Post the picnic lunch at the beautiful Hippo pool; you will begin a steep ascend to the top exit of the crater. After the game drive, we drive to Karatu/MtowaMbu overnight.

Overnight at Public Camp/Tinted Camp/Lodge at MANYARA. 

• Today we drive to Lake Manyara National Park for a full day of game drives. This is one of Tanzania’s smaller parks, offering a rewarding and diverse safari experience.
• Lake Manyara National Park is an unspoiled paradise of groundwater forest fed by underground springs and teeming with wildlife such as elephants, hippos, giraffes, buffaloes, antelopes, and some of the most prominent baboon troupes in Africa. The lake shore at Manyara teems with birdlife, and while you are looking for the birds, you might spot one of the elusive tree-climbing lions, and people flock from all over the world to see these iconic predators lounging in the trees.
• There are many other large mammals, and the striking cliffs on the Rift escarpment form a dramatic backdrop. This is the last leg of your safari, with a 4hr drive left to Arusha. You will be dropped off at your preferred location in Arusha by 6 PM. With an incredible experience and many memories to cherish, this is when you bid goodbye to your team.