Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater

Depart from Johannesburg on an overnight flight with Kenya Airways to Kilimanjaro Airport .  Our friendly safari team will welcome you at Kilimanjaro Airport, and they will transfer you to Arusha.  Arusha is  one of the major coffee-growing regions in Tanzania.

Stay: Kahawa Lodge (Standard room)

Meals: Dinner & breakfast

After breakfast, we meet our guide for a short briefing.  We head off to Tarangire National Park, known as the land of giants - elephants and baobab trees. En route stop at a supermarket near Arusha for last-minute shopping (buy drinks to enjoy in your vehicles while on safari – remember we have mini-fridges in our vehicles to keep your drinks cold). We’ll leave Arusha behind and drive towards the local town of Mto Wa Mbu (Maasai for Mosquito Village – the only place in Tanzania representing all tribes – 120 ethnic groups).  We continue to drive up the Rift Valley escarpment, stopping at the African Galleria (for shopping for Tanzania art, Masaai blankets, memorabilia, and Tanzanites) before driving to the Ngorongoro Highlands. The Highlands offers a unique experience – just 45 minutes from the Crater entrance. It is wild, remote, and set in an area so beautiful it will take your breath away. Here, you can walk, visit Empakaai Crater, and have an authentic cultural experience.

Stay: The Highlands Ngorongoro (Dome)

Meals: Picnic lunch, dinner, breakfast & a selection of drinks while in camp

Today we’ll rise early morning! After breakfast, drive to the Crater to enjoy an extended game drive along the Crater floor.  A steep entry track leads us 600m down to the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater floor (referred to as the Garden of Eden).  Witness an unforgettable spectacle of African wildlife - a world teeming with animals. The park sustains a vast variety of animals, including the black rhino, with its year-round water supply and fodder.  Another big drawcard to this picturesque park is its dense population of predators, which includes lions, hyenas, jackals, and the ever-elusive leopard. People like to visit the crater at this time of year because of the large likelihood of encountering the Big 5.  Late afternoon ascent to the crater rim with a short drive to your camp.  

Stay: The Highlands Ngorongoro (Dome)

Meals: Picnic lunch, dinner, breakfast & a selection of drinks while in camp

After breakfast, we continue our journey to the Serengeti National Park with the option to visit a Maasai Village near Ngorongoro Crater (The Maasai charge US$20 per person. They use the proceeds to buy water and other necessities for the tribe that you will visit. This entrance fee to the village will be for your account and is not included in your package).  

After bidding the Maasai farewell, we continue our journey to the Central Serengeti with game viewing as we make our way towards the camp.  The Central area encompasses the world-famous Seronera Valley which is known for its prime wildlife-viewing opportunities. You can visualise the meaning of the word ‘Serengeti’ at this point – which means the ‘endless plains’ in Maasai. The Serengeti - renowned for its incredible concentrations of predators and the Great Migration of more than 1,5 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras. 

Stay: Dunia Camp (Tent)

Meals: Picnic lunch, dinner, breakfast & a selection of drinks while in camp

Optional Activity: Balloon Safari 

For a once in a lifetime experience, we highly recommend an early morning hot air balloon safari (will be for your account) – a unique 'bird's eye' game viewing experience, before landing in the beautiful wilderness and enjoying a full bush-style breakfast, complete with fresh coffee, tea, fruits, and champagne.

Or enjoy a full-day game drive to explore more of what the Serengeti offers and to enjoy the greatest safari spectacle in the world – the great wildebeest migration as massive herds of wildebeest call the Central Serengeti home during this time of the year. 

Stay: Dunia Camp (Tent)

Meals: Picnic lunch, dinner, breakfast & a selection of drinks while in camp

Intercamp Flight 

Check-out at the camp after a packed safari filled with endless memories and sightings and drive to the airstrip for our flight by light aircraft to Arusha where we stop at the Cultural Heritage Centre (for shopping of Tanzania art, memorabilia, and Tanzanite), and enjoy our picnic lunch. Our safari adventure comes to an end as we drive to Kilimanjaro Airport for our onward flight home (departing at 17h35 Tanzanian time, arriving at 03h55 South African time).

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