Living among Lions; Lake Manyara N. Park / Tarangire N.Park, Serengeti N.Park, Ngorongoro Crater

Feel free to add an extra day to be able to visit both parks. Our guide will pick you up at the airport / accommodation and drive you to Lake Manyara or Tarangire National Park (recommended from June to October). Tarangire National Park is renowned for its diverse scenery and nine distinct vegetation zones. The landscape is abounding in ancient Baobas, making you feel belittled when staying next to them. And the river is full of wildlife, allowing you to spot the Big 5! It’s also in Tarangire that you can find the highest concentration of elephants in the whole country, You will have the opportunity to observe their behaviors and interactions between families. Lake Manyara National Park is truly breathtaking, with its luscious acacia forest, giant figs, and mahogany trees. Here you can find plenty of wildlife, including giraffes, elephants, impalas, and a large number of buffaloes. The lake is also the habitat for lots of hippos! The most distinctive characteristics of this national park are the tree-climbing lions and flamingos on the lakeshore, as well as the Ground Hornbill and the Crested Eagle. In the afternoon, transfer to the camp for dinner.

After a long but spectacular journey, you will arrive in the park in time for a fantastic afternoon game drive. After an early breakfast, depart towards the most famous National park in the World, the Serengeti. The driving itself, although long, is spectacular. You will drive up the crater highlands, making a quick stop at the rim for an out of this world view of Ngorongoro Crater. This will be an unforgettable moment for anyone seeing it for the first time. As you progress well into the Serengeti, you will see why the name means, in local language, "endless plains". The park has 6,900 sq. mile (18,000 sq. km) and for most of it, the plains will stretch to the horizon defying your senses and perception of distances. It is the home of the Great Migration and to 2 million wildebeests, hundreds of thousands of zebras and all kinds of antelopes including the abundant impalas and Thomson's gazelles. As for Big Cats and large predators, it's the place of choice to look out for lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, with many television scenes like the famous river crossings having been filmed in this park. Smaller animals like foxes, mongoose, honey badgers, jackals, monkeys, baboons, rock hyrax and african hares, together with more than 500 species of birds, also inhabit this park. On the way to the park you will have the option to stop for a visit to Olduvai Gorge, a famous place where Dr. Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the remains of the first man who walked on Earth. This tour includes a short lecture describing the archeological digs and geologic characteristics of the gorge, as well as a visit to their museum.

Extra tour recommended: the wonderful balloon flight over the Serengeti Plains.

Possibility for an afternoon walking safari in the Ngorongoro Highlands. On this day we suggest a very early wake up in order to do an early morning game drive (when the animals are more active) and see one of the best sunrises you'll ever witness. It's really one of the most beautiful experiences to have. After the game drive, we return to the camp for a rewarding brunch and then we'll proceed to Ngorongoro, the 8th wonder of the Natural World. The crater spreads for 102 sq. miles and has 2.000 ft high walls, making it virtually a Noah's ark and inhabiting almost every species of wildlife that is indigenous to East Africa. It's one of the very rare locations in the whole continent where you can witness the black Rhino. The concentration of African wildlife if the greatest in the continent. The crater has a river, several swamps, a soda lake with a great concentration of flamingos, a forest and open plains. It's also famous for its elephants which are the largest in the world and have huge tusks. This is due to the rich mineral content of the volcanic soil and its grasses. Ngorongoro Crater is truly a Wonder of the Natural World. You will reach Ngorongoro in time for a sundowner.

Today you will do a game drive in one of the Wonders of the Natural World We will start the day very early and descend into the crater floor for an incredible morning of wildlife in one of the most stunning places on Earth. After the game drive, there will be time for a picnic lunch near the beautiful hippo Lake. After lunch, we will have time for a short game drive and then ascend the crater and exit Ngorongoro Conservation Area towards Arusha. We expect to be back in Arusha around 5pm although we are flexible in case there is a flight to catch or another situation.

With a program that includes cultural visits to local villages, your safari experience will be richer and rewarding and the local community would also be benefiting from the country tourism. We take this component of our work very seriously. ADD ONE EXTRA DAY TO VISIT THE HADZABE IN LAKE EYASI OR OLDONYO SAMBU MAASAI VILLAGE. For a more genuine and out of the beaten track experience, we recommend that you go to Lake Eyasi at the end of your safari (instead of Arusha), after finishing the game drive in Ngorongoro, in order to visit the fascinating Hadzabe in the next morning. This is one of the last true nomadic etnhic groups in Africa and a truly fascinating experience where you will join the members of the village in their local morning activities. Alternatively, you can still finish the safari in Arusha and, on the next day, visit a traditional Maasai Village., where you will be guided by a Maasai Chief, who will explain you their habits, how they live, their cooking techniques, how they take care of livestock, their songs and dances. You will also have the opportunity to watch the village women perform a local traditional dance. Both experiences provides fantastic photo opportunities.