Compare Classic Northern Tanzania safari by Audley Travel vs 7 Days Wildlife and Culture Safari by Lappet Faced Safaris

Day 1 : International outbound flight

Today you begin your journey by boarding your international outbound flight to Kilimanjaro Airport.

Day 2 : Arusha

On arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, you're met by your driver-guide, who assists you with your bags before driving you the 45 minutes to Arusha. Along the way, if the weather is clear, you may have views of Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance. Settle into your accommodation, ready to start your safari proper in the morning.

Day 3 : Karatu

You set off early this morning with your private guide and 4x4 vehicle for the three hour drive to Lake Manyara National Park. The route takes you through small farming villages where you may see traditionally dressed Maasai herding their cattle. You could stop at one of the markets for a glimpse of everyday life in this area. Spend the rest of the day game viewing around the lake shores. The flamingos on the lake are a classic East African sight, and you may spot hippo wallowing in the mud. After a picnic lunch, you head up the Rift Valley escarpment and into the Ngorongoro Highlands to Karatu, around an hour away.

Day 4 : Karatu

After breakfast, you're driven for around an hour up to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, gaining your first views of this incredible natural wonder. You then descend into the crater for some game viewing from your private vehicle, taking a picnic lunch to enjoy on the crater floor. There are a handful of rare resident black rhinos in the crater that you may be lucky enough to see, along with large prides of lion, zebra, wildebeest, buffalo and hyena. Your guide will help point them out and tell you more about each species. After returning to Karatu in the afternoon, you're free to relax at your lodge or explore the town.

Day 5 : Serengeti National Park

This morning you're driven from Karatu to Serengeti National Park by your private driver-guide. The journey takes around three hours, passing around the crater rim en route. Once you pass through the park gates you can enjoy a game drive on the way to your camp, looking out for the Big Five. After settling into your camp, you head back out on an afternoon game drive. The vast open plains of the Serengeti are world-renowned, broken up only by rocky kopjes and the Gol Mountains in the distance.

Day 6 : Serengeti National Park

Spend all of today on safari in the Serengeti - you can explore the very different regions of this vast park with your driver-guide according to what wildlife you've already seen on your safari so far. Taking a full day rather than just a morning or afternoon game drive means you have the time to venture further afield to less-visited areas. The Serengeti is big cat country, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for lion, cheetah and the elusive leopard.

Day 7 : Serengeti National Park

Spend your final day on safari making the most of the sweeping open plains of the Serengeti and trying to see as much wildlife as possible. Other than the Big Five, species to look out for include wild dog, giraffe, wildebeest and spotted hyena. The birdlife in the Serengeti is also spectacular, with over 500 species recorded here, including a variety of different bustards, lilac-breasted rollers and starlings with distinctive shimmering wings.

Day 8 : International return flight

You have time for one last game drive this morning on your way to the Seronera Airstrip in central Serengeti. Here you board your light aircraft flight to Kilimanjaro, flying for around an hour and a half as you enjoy wonderful views over the Serengeti. You land back at Kilimanjaro Airport in time for your onward flight.

Day 9 : International return flight

Arrive home today to complete your journey.

Day 1- Arusha – Lake Manyara

we leave Arusha town and drive for two hours to Lake Manyara National 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 African 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. Dinner and overnight at the lodge or hotel

Day 2 – Lake Manyara – Lake Eyasi

Lake Eyasi is a very scenic soda lake found on the southern border of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This less visited lake lies at the base of the Eyasi escarpment on the western rift valley wall. This afternoon you will be introduced to the extraordinary people who belong to an indigenous tribe known as the ‘Hadzabe’ (hunter-gatherer bushmen). The tribe inhabits the shores of Lake Eyasi as do the Nilotic-speaking Datoga tribe. You will visit these tribes, which will include a visit to their homesteads, learn about their way of life, animal tracking, medicinal plants, and much more. Some wildlife and a wide range of bird species can be viewed during walks around the lake, which can be arranged. Dinner and overnight at the lodge

Day 3 – Lake Eyasi – Ngorongoro

Early morning we depart to the village for local hunting experience with Hadzabe and Datonga tribes. This is not a mere performance. The bushmen rely on these techniques to survive and you’ll need to be very attentive and at times quiet, while they demonstrate their use of locally made poisons in incapacitating the poor creatures on which they depend for survival.

We return to the lodge for a late breakfast and we then travel to the Ngorongoro Conservation area.

Late afternoon drive to a Masai Village. Visitors meet the village elders, get an insight into the Masai way of life, visit the bomas, learn about their prized cattle and visit the local school.

Enjoy dinner and overnight at the lodge or hotel.

Day 4 – Ngorongoro – Serengeti

After breakfast at the lodge, we will descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife for a half day’s tour. Supported by a year round water supply and fodder, 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 We will visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the south western 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.

We return to the lodge to enjoy lunch and then we the head towards the Serengeti National Park with a stopover at Olduvai Gorge, boasting with history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here, that the anthropologists Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of the famous ‘Nutcracker Man” and ‘Handy Man’, both very significant links in the chain of human evolution. 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. We do a late game drive en route to the lodge.

Enjoy dinner and overnight at the lodge or hotel

Day 5 – Serengeti

Day 5 will offer you an ideal opportunity to do an optional but unforgettable Hot Air Balloon flight, followed by a delightful champagne breakfast (available at a supplementary cost, but can be booked in advance). After breakfast we head to the south-eastern side of the park, visiting the Barafu Kopjes and the Ngare Nanyuki River area, for our morning and afternoon game drives. Apart from the lion prides you find in the area, the Barafu Kopjes is the place to visit for possible cheetah sightings. The Ngare Nanyuki River area is also well known for being packed with game.

Enjoy dinner and overnight at the lodge or hotel

Day 6 – Serengeti – Lake Manyara

Early morning game drive and return to the lodge for a late breakfast. After breakfast will we head for the Lake Manyara National Park. We will visit and enjoy lunch at Gibbs farm en route (a small lodge, surrounded by coffee farms, on the slopes of the Ngorongoro Crater.

We enjoy dinner and overnight at the lodge or hotel

Day 7 – Lake Manyara – Arusha

After breakfast we will visit the local Market and villages around the Karatu, experience life in the local village setting, meeting local people, learning about their culture, agriculture and history of the area.

We return the lodge for lunch and then transfer back to Arusha town where we will end our safari.