5 DAYS BEST OF TANZANIA SAFARI (LION’S HOME)

Pick up from your hotel at 8 am and start your journey across the Great Rift Valley until Lake Manyara National Park for a full day game drive. Although small in dimension (205 sq. miles), the park has breathtaking scenery and is famous for its lush acacia forest, giant figs, mahogany trees, and a large baboon and blue monkey population. Permanent residents of this park also include giraffes, elephants, impalas and a huge number of buffaloes. The lake is also home to a large number of hippos. Some unique facts about this park include the tree climbing lions, flamingos on the lake shore,  Ground Hornbill and the Crested Eagle. The landscapes of Lake Manyara are something that can’t be described with words, and the game drives along the lake provide stunning photo opportunities of giraffes and buffaloes in the foreground and the lake (and its flamingos) in the background. There are also optional activities which include a bike tour or a boat excursion. An evening spent at the camp for dinner and overnight.

SOME UNIQUE FACTS ABOUT THIS PARK INCLUDE THE TREE CLIMBING LIONS, FLAMINGOS ON THE LAKE SHORE, AS WELL AS THE GROUND HORNBILL AND THE CRESTED EAGLE.

(Feel free to replace this day with a visit to Tarangire National Park instead (or add an extra day and visit both)

There is plenty of accommodation that serves this park. All of them (except for AndBeyond Manyara Tree Lodge) are outside the park, in Manyara and Mto Wa Mbu Region.

Our recommendations are:

• Manyara Wildlife Safari Camp
• Manyara Serena Lodge
• Gibbs Farm
• Manyara Tree Lodge

After an early breakfast, depart for Serengeti National Park, driving up the crater highlands, making a quick stop at the rim to have a view of Ngorongoro Crater. This will be an unforgettable moment for anyone seeing it for the first time. As you approach Serengeti, you will see what the name means, in the local language, “endless plains”. The park has 6,900 sq. miles (18,000 sq. km) and the plains stretch to the horizon defying your senses and perception of distances. It is the home of up 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, it’s the place of choice to look out for lions, cheetahs, leopards, and hyenas, with many television scenes like the famous river crossings have 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.

There is accommodation for all budgets and styles in the Serengeti.

Our recommendations are:

• Kilima Valley Lodge
• Sopa Lodge, Ndutu Lodge or Lobo Wildlife Lodge
• Chaka Camps
• Four Seasons Lodge or Alex Walker Camps

Full day in the Serengeti National Park. We are completely flexible with your preferences and this day will be organized according to your wishes. On every day of the safari, your guide will discuss with you the best timings for you, including the game drives and the wake up time. For example, on this day, you could do a morning game drive, return to the camp for lunch, relax and finish with an afternoon game drive, or you could do a full day game drive with a picnic lunch.

We recommend sleeping in the same camp/lodge as the night before.

Our recommendations are:

• Kilima Valley Lodge
• Sopa Lodge, Ndutu Lodge or Lobo Wildlife Lodge
• Chaka Camps
• Four Seasons Lodge or Alex Walker Camps

On this day we suggest a very early wakeup 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 one of the most beautiful experiences to have. After the game drive, you will 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 inhabited by almost all 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 is 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.

Most accommodation options for Ngorongoro are outside Ngorongoro Conservation Area. However, there are some amazing options inside the park and those are the ones we usually recommend.

Our recommendations are:

• Rhino Lodge
• Sopa Lodge
• Pakulala Camp
• The Highlands

You will start the day very early and descend into the crater floor for an incredible morning of wildlife viewing in one of the most stunning places on Earth. At noon have your picnic lunch near the beautiful Hippo Lake. After lunch,  have a short game drive then ascend the crater and exit Ngorongoro Conservation Area towards Arusha, arriving in the evening. The itinerary is flexible in case there is a flight to catch or another situation it can be altered.

That marks the end of the safari.