The Great Migration: Classic Tanzania 10-Day Safari

Whatever your arrival time at Kilimanjaro International Airport, Our  driver-guide will be waiting for you with a warm welcoming smile. Kick back and relax in your comfortable vehicle as he takes you to your hotel in Arusha, Tanzania’s self-styled ‘safari capital.’ On your one-hour journey to the hotel, you will get a brief impression of this large, bustling, commercial city. Depending on your arrival time, you may have your pre-safari briefing today; if not, it will take place early tomorrow morning. Accommodation Today will be in African Tulip Hotel Arusha town that will be booked for bed and breakfast.

Unless your arrival time yesterday allowed time for your safari briefing, then this will take place after breakfast. We will provide you with all the essential information, before we set off to the airport for our flight to the Northern Serengeti to begin our Migration Safari. From our arrival airport, we make the journey to our accommodation for our lunch, already enjoying some wildlife-spotting on the way. After lunch, our adventure begins with an afternoon game-drive. In the late afternoon, we return to your accommodation for our evening meal and our overnight stay. Welcome to the Serengeti! Journey: Flight from Arusha to Northern Serengeti We start our journey with a short drive to Arusha airport, followed by a 2 ½ hour flight to the Kogatende Airstrip in the Northern Serengeti. The Northern Serengeti is a land of open woodland, extending from the Seronera in the south to the Mara river in the north, marking the frontier with neighboring Kenya. During your time here, you can get to grips with a whole new set of exotic names: Bolongonja, Kogatende, Lamai and of course, the legendary Mara river. We are now following in the footsteps of the Great Migration, great herds of thousands of zebras and wildebeest getting ready to cross the Mara into Kenya, and back again. On a daily basis, crossings cannot be guaranteed, but our driver-guides know the most likely places to witness them, one of Nature’s most awe-inspiring sights. Patience is required! And if you’re not lucky enough to witness a crossing, there’s always tomorrow; and in Northern Serengeti, plenty more to see today. Accommodation today  is Mara Under Canvas with all meals.  Mara Under Canvas is the closest camp to the river Mara where each year enormous columns of wildebeest cross the river, negotiating the jaws of the hungry crocodiles, in order to get to the pastures on the other side in what could be considered the climax of the Great Migration. This luxury temporary camp is open from June to November. It allows visitors to be in the proximity of the Great Migration and to be able to explore remote areas and the beautiful settings of Seregenti with a large amount of resident fauna. The camp has only ten double tents and a family tent which assures the intimacy and exclusivity of this intense experience.

If you’re lucky these days, perhaps a rare, black rhino might cross your path…but even if not, we might witness a river crossing as wildebeest seek out the greener grasses on the other side. Morning Safari (Game Drive) in Northern Serengeti. As you awake for a second day in Northern Serengeti, you can contemplate that parts of this northern area can easily match the Southern Serengeti for the abundance of wildlife viewing, especially between July and October. After your breakfast, you will embark with your driver-guide on a full-day game drive, looking out for elephant and buffalo, eland and gazelle. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to spot something really special: perhaps a cheetah, or even a rare black rhino, of which a small population are resident here. Afternoon Safari (Game Drive)Daily  in Northern Serengeti, Depending on what your driver-guide found for you yesterday and this morning, this afternoon we’ll set out to see something new. If a Mara River crossing has escaped you, perhaps the conditions this afternoon will suggest that a crossing could take place. Our driver-guides have intimate knowledge of where and when they might occur. As well as the migrating herds, the Northern Serengeti is an area where you might easily see giraffes, elephants and dik-dik: with many resident species, there’s never a dull moment. All nights in this days with meals will be in Mara Under Canvas

Journey: Northern to Central Serengeti After breakfast, and a morning game-drive in the north, we set off for our next destination, the Central Serengeti, a journey of around 155km with an expected time of around 5 ½ hour. There will be plenty to see on the way. On arrival, we take lunch and have an afternoon game drive. Day’s Highlight As we reach the Central Serengeti, you will soon realize why this is often known as the ‘wildlife hub’ of the Serengeti. There are animals everywhere, graceful, quirky, and dangerous. Safe inside your vehicle, you will see them all here. Your driver-guide will find you a highlight. Morning Safari in Northern Serengeti/ Afternoon Safari (Game-drive) in Central Serengeti Before leaving the Northern Serengeti, we take the opportunity this morning to enjoy another game drive in this incredible location. This allows us further time to wonder at the migratory herds and the dangers and challenges they face each year in their battle for survival. As well as the herd animals, you can look to the skies, perhaps finding a majestic martial eagle or one of the other birds that populate this area. As well as the thousands of migrating animals, this area also has a good population of resident wildlife, so you will never be disappointed. In the afternoon, we take the 5-hour drive to the central part of Serengeti, where after lunch a game-drive will introduce you to this busy area. Finally, you will go to your chosen accommodation for relaxation and your evening meal. Accommodation  today will be in Melia Serengeti Safari lodge

Today, we set off from our accommodation in Central Serengeti. Wildlife is abundant here: sometimes you may think it has come to find you, rather than the other way around. Today’s highlight is unknown, as the animals don’t publish their schedule (!) We will be looking for wildlife of all species, but as this area is where bushland meets grassland, it is a favorite spot for big cats looking for prey. Cheetah, leopard and lions are all possibilities today. Morning and Afternoon Safaris in Central Serengeti National Park Waking up in the Serengeti is something really special. Sights, sounds and smells of Africa are all around us, and ahead is a full day of adventure in the world’s most famous national park. After breakfast, we start today with the morning section of our game drive in Serengeti National Park, marveling at the stunning scenery, ever changing light and always entertaining wildlife, all explained to you by your expert driver-guide. The Seronera River weaves its way through this area, providing waters for all species of wildlife. You will also see the distinctive rocky outcrops, the famous kopjes which characterize the Serengeti landscape. Lunch will be an unforgettable experience, enjoyed in the middle of the bush. After our lunch, we set off again, searching for wildlife in this awe-inspiring park. Serengeti’s wonders evolve subtly as the day progresses. The myriad animals and birds are the ‘stars of the show’ and Nature’s dramas can unfold at any time. Of course, the animals don’t work to a timetable, so we may find lion or leopard, elephant and zebra, cheetah and antelope at any time on our drives. At the end of the afternoon, we return to the camp for dinner and some much-needed rest. You will stay again in melia serengeti with all meals on this day.

Today our adventure takes us out of the Serengeti National Park and leads us to another of Tanzania’s true wonders, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. With its wildlife-filled crater, Ngorongoro may be difficult to pronounce, but with its wildlife-filled volcanic crater it is easy to admire. Unsurprisingly, this is yet another of our country’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Journey: Serengeti National Park to Ngorongoro Conservation Area After a morning game drive and lunch, this afternoon we will head south-east towards Ngorongoro, a distance of 145km which will take us around 3 ½ hours. Today, we will get our first sight of the spectacular, incomparable Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera and the heart of the Conservation Area of the same name. But before that, we have another morning game drive in the amazing Serengeti, marveling at its animal inhabitants. Another day of adventure, another day to enjoy the wildlife. Safari in Central Serengeti National Park After our morning game drive, perhaps trying to find any animal that has – until now – been elusive enough to evade your eagle-eyed driver-guide, we head south-east towards Ngorongoro. If it has not already struck you with its vastness, Serengeti’s ‘endless plains’ will certainly now make a deep impression on you as we take the long, straight road which passes Simba Kopjes (famous from ‘The Lion King’) to reach Naabi Hill Gate, close to the divide between Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Here you can gather information at the gate’s visitor center, clamber up the hill for superb views back over the plains, or look out for a colorful agama lizard among the rocks. You will stay in Serena Ngorongoro on this Day with all meals.

Journey: Ngorongoro Crater to Kilimanjaro International Airport After our morning visit to the incomparable crater – see below – and then lunch, we will have a 5-hour journey, covering the 250km back to Kilimanjaro International Airport. Like nothing else on Earth, the stunning crater of Ngorongoro is a unique home for many, many species of Tanzania’s wildlife. With some luck, you may even see a black rhino here. Safari in Ngorongoro Crater, From our accommodation, we set off after breakfast, a 6am departure to reach the rim and then descend into the vast crater itself. At one side there’s the Lerai Forest, a classic mountain forest landscape with almost tropical characteristics. This is good elephant country, so keep your eyes peeled. By the side of the nearby swampland is what is sometimes called the ‘elephant graveyard’ as the mighty male tuskers at the end of their lives come to chew on the soft, swampland grasses once their teeth have failed them. The crater has a population of around 120 lions, with well-defined territories; 15,000 wildebeest, 9,000 zebras, 400 hyenas, and around 50 black rhino. Many wildebeest and other herd animals are resident, benefiting from the many sources of year-round waters and are boosted by some migrators in season. Buffalo, Thomson’s gazelle and eland are also present in numbers. Hippos can be found in pools and swampland and highland birdlife is colorful and plentiful around the waters. Flamingos can often be seen in Lake Magadi, which occupies part of the crater floor.