8-Day Calving Season Safari

Overview

1. Day 1 Arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport Stay Planet Lodge – ArushaMeals Dinner

   When you land at Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), our team meets you at arrivals. We drive you to your lodge in Arusha so you can rest after the flight. In the evening you meet your safari guide, who talks you through the trip over dinner. Your safari with Tanzania Tourism Safaris starts here.

2. Day 2 Arusha – Tarangire National Park Stay Lake Burunge Tented CampMeals Breakfast | Packed Lunch | Dinner

   After breakfast, you set off with picnic lunches for Tarangire National Park. It is often overlooked, but it is known for its old baobab trees and big elephant herds. In the dry season, animals crowd along the Tarangire River, so the game viewing is very good. You spend the whole day on game drives, then head to your tented camp above Lake Burunge.

3. Day 3 Tarangire – Lake Manyara National Park Stay Bougainvillea Safari Lodge – KaratuMeals Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

   Today you drive to Lake Manyara National Park. It is small but varied, and it sits right below the wall of the Great Rift Valley. You pass through thick groundwater forest, where troops of baboons live, and out onto floodplains where flamingos and hippos gather. After the game drive, you climb the escarpment to the town of Karatu and your lodge.

4. Day 4 Karatu – Olduvai Gorge – Ndutu Game Reserve Stay Tanzania Bush Camps – NdutuMeals Breakfast | Packed Lunch | Dinner

   After breakfast, you drive into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and stop at Olduvai Gorge, the well-known archaeological site often called the Cradle of Mankind. Then you carry on to Ndutu, which lies between the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. The wildebeest calve here from January to March, and the plains fill with thousands of newborn calves taking their first steps.

5. Day 5 Ndutu Game Drives Stay Tanzania Bush Camps – NdutuMeals Breakfast | Packed Lunch | Dinner

   You spend the whole day on the plains of Ndutu, right in the middle of the calving. About 8,000 calves are born each day, so the predators are very busy. You can watch lions, cheetahs and hyenas follow the herds, and there is movement in every direction. In the evening you return to camp for a good dinner under the stars.

6. Day 6 Ndutu – Serengeti National Park (Central Serengeti) Stay Sound of Silence Camp – Central SerengetiMeals Breakfast | Packed Lunch | Dinner

   Today you head north into the central Serengeti. The park is known as one of the best places for wildlife on earth, and it deserves that name. Lions with golden manes walk the plains, leopards rest in the acacia trees along the Seronera River, and cheetahs hunt on the open savannah. You game drive on the way to your quiet, stylish camp in the central Serengeti.

7. Day 7 Serengeti – Ngorongoro Crater – Karatu Stay Bougainvillea Safari Lodge – KaratuMeals Breakfast | Packed Lunch | Dinner

   After breakfast, you leave the Serengeti and drive down into the Ngorongoro Crater for a full game drive. This unbroken volcanic caldera holds around 25,000 large animals, including endangered black rhinos, lions, buffalo and elephants with huge tusks. You have a picnic lunch on the crater floor, then climb back up the rim and drive on to your lodge in Karatu.

8. Day 8 Karatu – Arusha – Departure Meals Breakfast | Lunch (Packed)

   After breakfast, you drive back to Arusha. Then, depending on your plans, we take you either to Arusha Airport for a flight to Zanzibar or to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight home.