Compare Essence of Tanzania Safari by Rothschild Safaris vs Classic Tanzania Safari by Wild About Africa

Day 1: Arusha

Welcome to Africa and the best Tanzania Safari. Transfer to the Arusha Coffee Lodge, built around a plantation home from the early 1900’s and beautiful, sprawling coffee fields. Enjoy dinner and overnight.

Day 2:Tarangire National Park Day and Night Game Drive

After breakfast, your flight takes you into Tarangire National Park, famous for it’s impressive elephant migration and high concentration of game around the Tarangire River during the dry season. After settling into Swala Camp, set out on your first game drive in Africa. After a restful afternoon, you leave camp again at dusk for an exciting evening game drive. Search for the rarely seen, nocturnal animals. This is one of the few places in northern Tanzania where you can enjoy a safari by moonlight. At night, you may encounter an African wild cat, the elusive leopard or feel the round eyes of a bushbaby peering down at you as the moon rises into the sky. Return to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Walking in Tarangire National Park and Game Drive

Rise early this morning with a hot cup of coffee and set out for an early morning game drive. You’ll be met in the bush with one of the most perfect ends to thrilling game drive; a hot breakfast. Later this afternoon you will set out on foot to explore the grassland around camp in one of the most secluded areas of the park. An armed guide will accompany you and explain animal behaviour whilst tracking a variety of game. You may encounter zebra, waterbuck, impala, ostrich, elephant as well as a number of birds. Return to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 4: Ngorongoro Highlands

After breakfast, drive west towards the Ngorongoro Highlands and Entamanu Camp. En-route stop off at Lake Manyara National Park for a game drive through the park with a picnic lunch. Arrive at Entamanu mid-afternoon in time for High Tea. Enjoy the breathtaking views of Empakai, Olmoti, and OlDonyo Lengai Mountains as well as the spectacular bird life right in camp. After a busy day, savor a delightful evening in camp mingling with other travelers from around the globe, over dinner.

Day 5: Full day Game Drive Ngorongoro Crater

Set out early for the nearby Ngorongoro Crater by safari vehicle. The crater is a huge volcanic caldera formed about 2.5 million years ago when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself. Here you can view the Big 5 in high concentration with the stunning backdrop of crater walls. Enjoy a gourmet picnic lunch on the crater floor. Return to Entamanu for dinner and overnight.

Day 6: Bush Plane to Serengeti, High Tea and Afternoon Game Drive

After breakfast, hop on a bush plane for a quick flight to Serengeti Safari Camp. Arrive in time for lunch, siesta, high tea and then head out on an afternoon game drive. As this is a seasonal mobile safari camp, the camp is set up in the best possible location for prime wildlife viewing (oftentimes right from camp). Return to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 7: Full day Migration Experience in the Serengeti

Today, head out with a guide and packed picnic lunch for a full day exploring the Serengeti plains. Move as quickly or as leisurely as you would like in your private safari vehicle. This is a fabulous opportunity to see the great wildebeest and zebra migration, large herds of plains game and the highest concentrate of predators in Africa. Return to camp for dinner and overnight.

Day 8: Early Morning Game Drive in Serengeti, High Tea, Afternoon Game Drive

This morning, rise early and set out as the sun begins to rise. This is the time of day when the wildlife is most active. Return to camp for a full breakfast and spend the afternoon relaxing in the shade, reading a good book. After high tea, set out for one final game drive in the Serengeti, stopping to watch the sun set with cocktails and appetizers.

Day 9: Travel Home

Enjoy the final moments of the best Tanzania safari, then fly back to Arusha and connect to your international flight home.

Day 1 – Arusha
Arriving at Kilimanjaro Airport around mid-morning, you will be met by a driver for your transfer past bustling villages and into the heart of Arusha, Tanzania’s lively safari centre. You’ll overnight in one of the town’s comfortable hotels, usually the very good Arusha Hotel. There is often time during the afternoon to relax after your flight, perhaps making use of the hotel swimming pool or heading out to explore. Situated in the shadow of Mount Meru, Arusha is a colourful town where the streets are busy with hawkers, touts and small roadside stalls and so it’s interesting to wander around and soak up a little of urban Tanzanian life. Get directions to the curio markets or the Tanzanite Experience Museum, and lunchtime recommendations for one of the nearby cafes or restaurants.
Dinner is included.

Days 2 & 3 – Tarangire National Park
Have breakfast at the hotel before departing with your safari group for Tarangire National Park. This morning’s drive is about three hours long and takes a good tarmac road out of Arusha and into rural Tanzania. Along the way it’s not unusual to pass donkeys pulling carts with produce for the market, ladies dressed in colourful kangas (sarongs), children on their way to school and Maasai herding cattle. It is a drive through pretty countryside and one that offers a fascinating
insight into everyday life in Tanzania.

Reaching the outskirts of Tarangire National Park you’ll turn onto a dirt road leading into the reserve. There’s time for a picnic lunch before you spend the afternoon on your first game drive. Your guide will be able to tell you about all that you see in detail, including the herds of elephant and diverse birdlife for which the park is well known. In the early evening you’ll arrive at your luxury tented camp, a short drive from the park boundary, where you will be greeted with a cool towel to wipe of the day’s dust. Take some time to freshen up before joining your travelling companions around the campfire to enjoy a drink and chat about the day’s adventure.

On your second morning in Tarangire you’ll head out with a picnic lunch, allowing you the flexibility to spend the entire day exploring the far reaches of the 2,850km2 park. In comparison to the Serengeti’s open plains, Tarangire National Park is a lot drier and more vegetated. Flanking the Tarangire River, which runs through the park from north to south, are pockets of acacia woodland, riparian woodland scattered with the occasional palm tree, and the odd colossal baobab tree, which are a real feature here. During the wet season many of the larger animal species disperse into the surrounding Maasai Steppes and so you focus on seeking out the smaller resident game, but during the dry season, from about July to November, the park comes into its own as sizeable herds congregate to drink from the permanent waters of the Tarangire River.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 4 – Lake Manyara National Park
Leave Tarangire after breakfast and drive for about an hour until you reach Mto wa Mbu, the small town on the outskirts of Lake Manyara National Park. There may be time to stop here and walk through the curio market and browse at roadside stalls selling interesting carvings and colourful cloths – you’ll find the vendors very eager to sell you souvenirs.

From Mto wa Mbu it is a relatively short drive to the park gate. Spend most of the morning and afternoon in Lake Manyara National Park, first passing through a dense groundwater forest favoured by a variety of monkeys and then exploring through acacia woodlands and across the open plains bordering the lake. Sitting at the base of the imposing Rift Valley Escarpment, this is a relatively small park in Tanzanian terms and is named after the shallow alkaline lake that dominates most of the 330km2 protected area. Whilst in the park you’ll visit the ‘hippo pools’ where you can get out of the safari vehicle and watch hippos wallowing or rolling in the mud. There are also often a large number of pelicans, herons, ibis and storks here – it is a birdwatchers treat! The plains and woodlands of Lake Manyara National Park harbour a variety of animal species including giraffe, zebra, buffalo, large troops of baboons and sizeable herds of elephant. The park is famous for its lion prides which climb trees with more regularity than elsewhere, and for the large flocks of flamingos found on the lake. Some might say that the wildlife in Lake Manyara National Park is not as abundant as in other parks on Tanzania’s northern circuit. Though at times that’s arguably true, it is still well worth visiting because the landscape is stunning and the diversity of habitats creates homes for some species not readily found in the other, more open, parks.

In the late afternoon you’ll leave the safari park and wind your way slowly up to the top of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment, stopping at a viewpoint to take a picture of the stunning view down across Lake Manyara National Park.Turning onto a dirt road you’ll then pass through small village farm plots to reach Kirurumu Manyara Lodge, a comfortable tented lodge set on the edge of the escarpment and your accommodation for the night.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Days 5 & 6 – Ngorongoro Crater
Start today with an early morning ethno-biological walk which includes a visit to one of the local Iraqw villages – an agricultural tribe that dominates this region of northern Tanzania. Return to the lodge for breakfast, after which you depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, situated about an hour away. This protected area of 8,300km2 is named after its most famous feature, the Ngorongoro Crater. The Crater is the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera, and you’ll get your first view of it after entering the conservation area’s gate. Drive up and along part of the rim, travelling through dense and pretty forests and always keeping an eye out for wildlife, before slowly descending down onto the rich grassy plains below. The Ngorongoro Crater floor is home to an unparalleled amount of wildlife and it’s not unusual to be able to see gazelle, zebra, buffalo, hyena, lion and crowned cranes all from one spot! Other species found here are elephant, often with unusually large tusks, cheetah, wildebeest, jackals, rhino and, for the birders amongst you, long-crested eagles and Kori bustards.

Later in the afternoon, you’ll head back up the slopes to overnight at the Ngorongoro Serena Lodge or Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge, perched right on the rim of the Crater. These are larger, good international-style hotels, which slightly lack in character but can’t be beaten for location.

The following morning you’ll rise early to be amongst the first people back on the Crater floor continuing your safari adventure. Travelling with a knowledgeable guide who can tell you about the many creatures you see is just one excellent reason to join a safari such as this. After returning to the lodge for lunch you’ll meet with a local Maasai chief who will guide you around a nearby village, introduce you to some aspects of traditional life and escort you on a longer walk around the Ngorongoro Highlands.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Days 7 to 9 – Serengeti National Park
The drive from Ngorongoro Crater to the Serengeti takes you through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where Maasai tribes people live alongside wildlife. After leaving the lush green rolling  hills of the Crater you’ll pass through increasingly arid and flat plains where it’s not unusual to see zebras and wildebeest grazing nearby to a Maasai boma (ho the masthead), and herders with their goats and cattle in close proximity to Thompson gazelles. Before reaching the Serengeti National
Park you’ll take a detour to visit the archeologically important Olduvai Gorge (sometimes referred to as Oldupai). There’s a fascinating museum here showcasing the research and findings of some of our earliest ancestors and the prehistoric wildlife that lived around that time.

The name Serengeti comes from the Maasai word for ‘endless plains’ and as you enter the park and drive across the flat southern plains you realise why. In every direction you can see only flat grasslands dotted with wildlife and kopjes (small rocky outcrops). Aiming to reach your camp in time for lunch, there’s usually time for an afternoon game drive. Late afternoon is a choice time for game viewing because most animals become more active as temperatures begin to cool.
Spend your days here exploring Tanzania’s most famous national park, renowned for its dense predator population and abundant plains game. You may head out on a full-day safari adventure, taking a packed lunch with you so that you can explore further – the terrain around central Serengeti differs to that of the south as the Seronera River snakes through the flat plains and feeds acacia woodlands either side. On another day your group may take it relatively easy, enjoying
morning and afternoon game drives and returning to your luxury tented camp for a hot lunch and a siesta in between. Either way you are likely to enjoy many memorable wildlife encounters - with around 300 lions in the central Serengeti alone you have an excellent chance of spotting some of these great predators.

Note: The luxury tented camp in the Serengeti National Park used on this safari is seasonal. It is dismantled and packed away during Tanzania’s rainy season (around April to May and from November to mid-December). For safaris departing during these times you will stay in comparable alternative accommodation, usually a good lodge that stays open year round.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are included.

Day 10 – Flight home
A final morning game drive takes you to a nearby airstrip where you connect onto a light-aircraft flight from the central Serengeti back to Arusha. Upon landing you’ll be met by a transfer driver who usually takes the group to do a spot of souvenir shopping before heading on to Kilimanjaro Airport Hotel, conveniently situated close to the international airport. There’s often time to freshen up in a day room here and grab a bite to eat before being transferred by the hotel shuttle to catch your international flight.

Alternatively, instead of returning straight home after your safari, you may wish to relax on a long sandy beach that the islands off the coast of Tanzania are famous for. If so then consider one of our tailor-made Expert Africa beach add-on trips to Zanzibar, Pemba or the Mafia Archipelago. Call us to ask about this and to get a possible quote.
Breakfast and lunch are included.