Lake Manyara, Serengeti National park & Ngorongoro Crater

Today you’re off to the famous Serengeti National Park, home of the Great Migration. Your drive today is spectacular as you drive up the crater highlands, stopping at the rim for a birds-eye view of the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater. Continuing on, as you crest the hillside, spread out before you, as far as the eyes can see, is the vast Serengeti. Serengeti mean “endless plains” in Kiswahili and this 6,900 sq. mile (18,000 sq. km) park is inhabited by more than 2 million large animals including more than a million wildebeest, hundreds of thousands of plains zebras, and Thomson’s gazelles. Large predators including lions, cheetahs, and hyenas are drawn to the area by this abundance of prey which migrate throughout the park. Many smaller animals like rock hyrax, bat eared foxes, mongoose, honey badger, jackals, monkeys, baboons and African hares also inhabit the area along with nearly 500 species of birds. On the way into the Serengeti you will stop at the famous Oldupai Gorge, where Dr. Louis and Mary Leakey made their discovery of the first man that walked the earth. After attending a short lecture describing the archeological digs and geology of the gorge, you’ll have time to visit the small museum. After enjoying lunch, you will depart on an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti. Overnight at Seronera campsite or lodge.

After breakfast full day in Serengeti National Park (morning and afternoon gamedrives). Overnight at Seronera campsite or lodge. ( there is an option for early morning Ballon Safari for extra cost)

Today you will wake up very early to do an early morning safari before breakfast, to spot the animals when they are more active and also to have a fantastic sun rise in front of you. The sunrise in the african Savannah is one of the most beautiful experiences one can have. After the game drive, return to the camp for brunch. In the afternoon, transfer to Ngorongoro, the 8th natural wonder of the world. With walls 2,000 ft high and a crater floor that spreads for 102 sq. miles, the crater is a virtual Noah’s Ark, inhabited by almost every species of wildlife indigenous to East Africa including the rare black rhino. In fact, the crater has the greatest concentration of wild life in the planet. It contains a river, several swamps, a soda lake that, from the top, looks like steam, full of flamingoes, a forest and open plains. The large bull elephants that reside here have extremely large tusk, due to the rich mineral content of the volcanic soil and its grasses. They are the most incredible elephants you’ll ever see in your life. Overnight at Simba campsite – a beautiful campsite on the rim of the crater with amazing views of it. It also has very modern toilet and shower facilities.

Very early in the morning, descend down to the crater floor for a day of wildlife viewing in one of the most incredible places on Earth. After a stop for a picnic lunch near the hippo lake, and more wildlife viewing in the afternoon, drive up the steep road out of the crater and return to Arusha or Moshi at your Lodge