Big Five Safari – 5 Days

Today you will drive to Tarangire National Park for a full day game drive. One of Africa’s little-known gems, it should be on the itinerary of all lovers of wilderness and solitude. The landscape is incredibly diverse with a mix that is not found anywhere else on the northern safari circuit; it is dotted with ancient baobab trees and large termite mounds. The Tarangire River is the only source of water during the dry season when the harsh sun sucks the moisture from the landscape, baking the earth a dusty red. While during the wet season you will experience dense bush and luscious high grasses. Famous for its large elephant population, it is also home to zebra, wildebeest, giraffe, waterbuck, baboons and impala. Predators include lion, cheetah and leopard. The swamps are shared by flocks of birds; green wood hoopoes, lovebirds, tallish herons, white bellied go-away birds and giant kingfishers. On drier ground you will find the kori bustard and the heaviest of the flying birds, the ostrich. Continue to Karatu for dinner and overnight.

Today you will be rewarded with a full day game drive in the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 and is one of the only places on earth where mankind and wild animals co-exist is harmony. You will visit a Maasai village in the Ngorongoro Highlands. The Crater is famous for Africa’s best game viewing as there is an ever present abundance of wildlife due to the permanent water supply on the crater floor. You will descend 610 metres into the Crater where your safari truly begins. Spot the endangered black rhino, wildebeest, buffalo, zebra, eland, Grant’s & Thomson’s gazelle and giant tusked elephants plus lions and leopards, cheetahs as well as scavengers such as spotted hyenas, jackals and wild dogs. Over 500 species of birds have been recorded within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Late in the afrrenoon you return to the lodge in Karatu for dinner and overnight.

A day to visit Lake Manyara National Park for a full day game drive. Stretching along the base of the Rift Valley escarpment it is home to giant fig trees, acacia woodlands, mahogany trees and grassy flood plains. The contrasts of this area are simply breathtaking with its open plains, huge escarpment, soda lake, dense woodlands and distant volcanic peaks coming together in an area best described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. Animals such as buffalo, wildebeest, giraffes, mongoose, dik dik and zebra herds congregate on the grassy plains while the acacia woodland is home to the legendary tree-climbing lions and tusked elephants. Lake Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s bird life with more than 400 species being recorded. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration as well as other large water birds such as pelicans and storks. In the late afternoon you will return to Arusha for your final evening. Dinner and overnight.

Today you will be transferred to the airport for your home or onward flight.