8 Days Serengeti Wildebeest Mara River Crossing

Day 1: Kilimanjaro Airport – Hotel in Arusha.

Non game-viewing.

Travel time: 45 Minutes.
Distance: 60 km

After arriving at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be welcomed by our tour guide, will be holding a poster with your name and transfer to Arusha (45-60 minutes). The guide will transfer you to Arusha city one of the fascinating touristic towns in Tanzania. Depending on the time of arrival one can explore the town by the help of a local guide.

The Arusha Town is known as the safari capital of the world but it is often overlooked in favor of its more glamorous, better known neighbors – Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro Crater. But Arusha has a wealth of experiences to offer from safaris in Arusha National Park, to breathtaking hiking on Mount Meru

Dinner and overnight: Mid-range safaris or luxury safaris accommodation.

Day 2: Tarangire National Park.

Non game-viewing

Travel time: 2½ hours

Distance: 120 km.

Meet our professional tours guide/driver in Arusha town, who will deliver a short safari info briefing, after which, we travel Tarangire National Park. The park runs along the line of the Tarangire River and is mainly made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. Its natural vegetation mainly consists of Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the south. Both the river and the swamps act like a magnet for wild animals, during Tanzania’s dry season. After a picnic lunch we do an afternoon game,

Dinner and overnight: Mid-range safaris or Luxury safaris accommodation.

Day 3: Ngorongoro Crater – Serengeti Nationl Park.

En route Game-viewing

Travel time: 12 hours

Distance: 132 kms.

After breakfast at the lodge do we depart to Ngorongoro Conservation Authority, we descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife for a half day’s safari tour. The Ngorongoro crater supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park, is it’s dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. We will visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the southwestern corner, which is one of the main features of the crater. A large number of flamingos, hippos and other water birds can usually been seen here. After lunch we head towards the Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying land of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see.

Dinner and overnight: Mid-range safaris or Luxury safaris accommodation.

Day4: Northern Serengeti

En route Game viewing

Travel time: 6 hours

Distance: 169 kms.

Breakfast then drive to northern Serengeti National Park, were you will see non-migrating game like elephant, buffalo, gazelle, zebra, lion, leopard and cheetah can be seen here all year around. Arrive in northern Serengeti in the later afternoon you will have the tour until sunset when you will drive to the lodge for overnight.

Dinner and overnight: Mid-range safaris or Luxury safaris accommodation.

Day 5: Northern Serengeti – Serengeti Plains.

En route Game viewing

Travel time: 6 hours

Distance: 169 kms.

After breakfast, we head to find good sightings for wildebeest migration and the wildebeest crossing the Mara River. A long stretch of the Mara River runs through the northern Serengeti National Park and the Mara River provides the migration with its most difficult obstacles, you will spend the full day at the river waiting for migration crossing. The great migration will be along the Mara river and this will be your opportunity to see them crossing the famous Mara river full of crocodiles ambushing them. After lunch you will be transferred to the central Serengeti plains, game viewing en-route south from the Mara River valley takes you through hills country, the Lobo area woodlands and then back to central portion of the Serengeti.

Dinner and overnight: Mid-range safaris or Luxury safaris accommodation.

Day 6: Serengeti Plains – Ngorongoro Highlands.

En route game-viewing

Travel time: 8 hours

Distance: 132 kms.

Breakfast then depart for game drive over the Serengeti plains via a different route, offering plenty of opportunities to spot the animals. As far as the eye can see, you’ll spot thousands upon thousands of animals in herds; wildebeests and zebras migrating together, tall and graceful giraffes, jumping antelopes and gazelles, the powerful African elephant and the most respected group of animals: the predators. You will have the chance to spot lean cheetahs and shy leopards, foraging hyenas, and last but not least, the king himself; the lion. After lunch leave the Serengeti and drive over the Ngorongoro highlands.

Dinner and overnight: Mid-range safaris or Luxury safaris accommodation.

Day 7: Local Experiences with Hadzape Bushmen at Lake Eyasi.

Non game-viewing

Travel time: 1 hours

Distance: 68 kms.

Tanzania’s remarkable residents don’t just come on four legs. Indigenous hunter-gatherer tribe still exists in East Africa (just) and you’ll enjoy two days of memorable cultural immersion.

The nimble Hadzape Bushmen sidestep through the trees, picking up on every clue as they stalk a small antelope. You can also see the clues; an upturned stone, a line of animal droppings, a slight indent in the grass. But the bushman spots them without breaking stride, eyes always scanning ahead, the path of the prey continually visualized. On day eight you’ll head out on a morning hunt, a haunting experience that reveals the phenomenal skills of these ancient people. And yes, they do still use a homemade bow and arrow.

This is a place of tranquility, harmony, and getting involved with local tribes. The Hadzape

Hunter-gatherers use an ancient click dialect, while the Datonga villages remain unchanged for Millennia.

Dinner and overnight:  Mid-range or Luxury safaris accommodation.

Day 8: Hotel/Lodge – Lake Manyara National park.

Non game-viewing   

Travel time: ½ hours
Distance: 37 km.

After breakfast we depart for Lake Manyara National Park. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge. After lunch we head into the Lake Manyara National Park. This impressive park is one of Tanzania’s most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a massive but shallow soda lake (covering two-thirds of the park) at the foot of the Great Rift Valley’s western escarpment. The park’s varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa’s largest concentrations of elephants, Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions, as well as large flocks of flamingos attracted by the algae in the lake; we will then transfer to Arusha.

Dinner and overnight:  Mid-range or Luxury safaris accommodation.