7-Day Upscale Northern Safari & Olduvai Gorge

Overview

Tour highlights

• Two nights in the central Serengeti, Seronera area
• Stop at Olduvai Gorge, a famous early-human site
• A full day on the Ngorongoro Crater floor
• Tarangire’s elephants, baobabs and rare antelope
• Maasai village visit on the final morning
• Optional sunrise balloon flight over the Serengeti

1. Day 1 Into the Rift Valley at Lake Manyara Stay Upscale lodge between Lake Manyara and KaratuMeals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

   We leave Arusha in the morning for Lake Manyara National Park, roughly two hours west at the foot of the Rift Valley escarpment. A shallow soda lake covers much of the park. Between the cliffs and the water there’s forest, grassland and shoreline, home to elephants, giraffes, baboons and buffalo. The lions here sometimes rest up in trees, and in some seasons flamingos gather on the lake. Overnight at a lodge in the hills nearby.

2. Day 2 Highlands and Farmland to Seronera Stay Upscale tented camp or lodge in the central SerengetiMeals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

   After breakfast the road climbs through the farmland around Karatu and over the Ngorongoro Highlands, then drops onto the Serengeti’s open plains. You’re heading for the central Seronera area. The Seronera River holds water here for much of the year, so you see a good mix of Serengeti wildlife. Your first game drive starts as soon as you arrive.

3. Day 3 River Loop by Morning, Kopjes by Afternoon Stay Upscale tented camp or lodge in the central SerengetiMeals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

   If you’ve booked the optional balloon flight, you take off at dawn and float quietly over the plains. If not, you head out after breakfast on the Seronera River circuit, looking for lions, cheetahs, topi, ostriches and Thomson’s gazelles. Lunch is a picnic under big acacias. In the afternoon you explore the Maasai Kopjes, granite outcrops where rain pools and shade attract animals. Lions often wait here for prey coming to drink.

4. Day 4 Olduvai Gorge on the Way to the Crater Rim Stay Upscale lodge or tented camp on the Ngorongoro Crater rimMeals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

   There’s one last half-day game drive in the Serengeti before you head back toward the highlands. On the way you stop at Olduvai Gorge. Here Louis and Mary Leakey and their team found fossils that changed what we know about human evolution, including the skull nicknamed “Nutcracker Man.” Then it’s up to the Ngorongoro Crater rim, in time for sunset and a quiet evening.

5. Day 5 Dawn Descent and a Full Day in the Crater Stay Upscale lodge between Karatu and Lake ManyaraMeals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

   You drive down into the crater at about six in the morning and stay all day, with a picnic lunch on the crater floor. There’s water and grass all year, so you’ll find buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, eland, warthog, hippo and big elephant bulls, plus lions, hyenas, jackals and cheetahs. It’s also one of the few places in Tanzania where you can see black rhino. Late in the afternoon we drive back up and on to your lodge.

6. Day 6 Tarangire River and Baobab Country Stay Upscale tented lodge near Tarangire National ParkMeals Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

   Today you drive east to Tarangire National Park. The park follows the Tarangire River through acacia woodland and hills dotted with baobabs. In the dry season the river and the southern swamps draw huge numbers of animals, including some of the biggest elephant herds in northern Tanzania. Keep an eye out for greater kudu, fringe-eared oryx and the ashy starling. After a picnic in the park, the game drive carries on through the afternoon.

7. Day 7 Maasai Village Morning and Return to Arusha Meals Breakfast, Lunch

   After breakfast at the lodge you visit a Maasai village. You meet the families who live there, see their homes and hear how they raise cattle in this dry country. There’s time for questions and photos, and your guide helps translate. Then it’s about two hours’ drive back to Arusha, or straight to the airport for your next flight.

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