12 Days Mara River Crossing

You will have a leisure breakfast at the lodge, before driving south through Arusha to prehistoric-looking Tarangire National Park. It’s a two and half-hours drive from the Lodge to the gate of Tarangire National Park. Upon arriving at the park gate, your guide will do paper works to obtains permits and thereafter, you will drive to the lodge and arrive in time for your lunch. Later in the afternoon, you will have a sundown game viewing into this landscape dotted with baobab trees and umbrella-thorn acacias, visiting the Tarangire River is the centerpiece of this park and is famous for some of the largest herds of elephants in Africa. In the dry season large numbers of animals congregate along the lifeblood of the river.  Here you may see lion, leopard, cheetah, lesser kudu, buffalo, Oryx, eland, giraffe and zebra. In addition to the animal species, the park is famous for its century-old baobab trees and over 300 species of birds.

You will enjoy a full day of game viewing at Tarangire national park and we will break the day into two by having a morning and Afternoon game viewing, visiting the Silalei Swamp and Tarangire River is the centerpiece of this park which is famous for some of the largest herds of elephants in Africa. In the dry season large numbers of animals congregate along the lifeblood of the river.  Here you may see lion, leopard, cheetah, Greater and lesser kudu, buffalo, Oryx, eland, giraffe and zebra. In addition to the animal species, the park is famous for its century-old baobab trees and over 300 species of birds. In the late afternoon you will drive to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

On the last night, there will be an afternoon Nature walk at Tarangire National Park escorted by your guide and armed rangers on your walking adventure

After breakfast at the camp, you will visit one of the Maasai Boma near Tarangire National Park and an exciting conservation projects at the wildlife corridor at the Tarangire – Manyara ecosystem known as African People & Wildlife (APW). APW achieved a 100% success rate in preventing retaliatory lion killings in their area. And they’ve now documented 5 years of sustained increases in key prey species populations! We’ll visit a Maasai home with a Living Wall to see how APW’s work is making such a difference. From there, we drive into Lake Manyara Serena Lodge for hot lunch before we head up to the Ngorongoro highlands and its famed crater. While our guides check us in, we’ll see the fascinating to photography of this site in model form at the welcome center before we head up through the magnificent forest on the outside of this giant crater. At the rim, we’ll step out onto the overlook for your first breathtaking look at the extraordinary panorama of this world heritage site.

After early breakfast at the lodge, descend into the crater for an in-depth exploration of this distinctive eco-system. Enjoy abundant wildlife viewing set against the impressive backdrop of the Ngorongoro Crater, the heart of the conservation area. These drives provide one of the best opportunities in Africa to view black rhino, which tend to spend their time on the crater floor. Ngorongoro Crater is one of the world’s greatest natural spectacles; its magical setting and abundant wildlife never fail to enthrall visitors. Another big draw card to this picturesque Caldera, is its dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, and if Lucky enough you may have chance to see the small cats like the Rare Caracal, Serval cat as well as the African wild cat which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. Picnic lunch will be served at the crater, followed by another game viewing visiting the hippo pool near the Mandusi Swamp, Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the southwestern corner which is one of the main features of the crater, the lerai forest as well as other parts of the crater. Late in the afternoon, drive back to the lodge.

After breakfast at the lodge, descend into the crater for a morning exploration of this distinctive ecosystem. Enjoy abundant wildlife viewing set against the impressive backdrop of the Ngorongoro Crater, the heart of the conservation area before we make our way to Oldupai Gorge, famous for some of the world’s most important archaeological finds. The new museum reveals the results of Mary and Louis Leakey's tireless work when they found the 3.7-million-year-old footsteps of Australopithecus afarensis and the skull of 1.8-million-year-old Zinjanthropus boisei. We will arrange for a private tour of the older excavation sites escorted by one of the museum docents. From the sands of the gorge, we head into the eastern plains of Serengeti via the Gol Kopjes. This area linking the Southern plain of Serengeti and Central Serengeti is a fragile habitat consisting of ethereal kopjes and short grass plains. Driving through the Gol kopjes is always a breathtaking experience with a vision of vast open plains and amazing wildlife. This is gazelle country and where there are gazelles there are always cheetahs. Every year, over a million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles follow the rains on a circular trek for grazing lands. As we cross into the park, the endless plains stretch as far as your eye can see on our way to the Central Serengeti and our mobile tented camp. Here in the heart of the Serengeti, you’ll enjoy a real safari camp experience complete with en suite facilities. A cozy dining tent is located in the center of the camp and the campfire is ready every evening to enjoy some “bush tv.” As we sit around the fire that evening, one of our guides will talk about Maasai

Another day of fully game viewing around Central Serengeti plains and You have an options of breaking the day into two by doing Early morning and late afternoon game viewing, drive through the central Serengeti in the golden light of dawn looking for special wildlife interactions and photographic opportunities, whereby, you will depart the Lodge at first light with a picnic breakfast for a big day in search of the biggest herds of the great migrations. Areas that will be visited are the Hippo pool, Maasai and Sametu kopjes and plains as well as Moru and Gol Kopjes. The Central Serengeti and Seronera river valley are home to a great diversity of wildlife due to its unique ecological niches as a transition zone where two distinctly different habitats, the plain and the woodlands merge and various species of wildlife from both habitats can coexist.

After breakfast, you will have a Morning game viewing at Central Serengeti before driving to the northern Serengeti with game viewing en route. You will visit the Lobo valley and kopjes as well as the Bologonja area before getting to Kogatende (the northern part of Serengeti) where the Mara River is located, you will arrive at the lodge on time for lunch. After lunch you will proceed with game viewing at the northern Serengeti Kopjes and the Mara River. The northern Serengeti is home to a huge number of resident animals including lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, buffalo, eland and, occasionally the Black Rhino. This is also a wonderful time of year to witness one of three significant events that happens during the Great Migration – the annual river crossings. Your days will be a combination of looking for good river crossings and other wildlife interactions along the Mara River, Wogakuria kopjes, and the Lamai triangle (A triangular-shaped area just north of the Mara River). The northern Serengeti and the entire Mara River area are truly awe-inspiring and will surely be one of the highlights of your safari. in the late afternoon, you will drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

After early breakfast, you will enjoy of Early morning and late afternoon game viewing at Mara river areas. You will depart the Camp at first light with a picnic breakfast for a big day in search of the biggest herds of the great migrations. You will drive through the Mara River in the golden light of dawn looking for special photographic opportunities of wildebeest and Zebras taking the cold plunge to cross the glittering waters of the Mara River as well as other wildlife interactions. Witnessing the river crossing takes PATIENCE as the herd will often take hours to decide whether or not to cross, weighing the risk of crocodiles and the strength of the rivers current. A good place to enjoy your picnic breakfast today is along the Mara River. You will later drive back to your camp for Lunch and a little leisure at the camp in the middle of the day. Late in the afternoon, you will have another game viewing searching for different wildlife interactions around Mara River and Wogakuria kopjes area during sunset and softer light for photography.

• Bush dinner will be served at Serengeti River Camp on the Last night

Meals and overnight at Serengeti River Camp

Early breakfast at the camp and then leave the camp for Kogatende Airstrip with wildlife viewing en route. Bush flight from Kogatende to Arusha. You will stop at a cultural heritage site for lunch and optional shopping, thereafter drive to Airport Planet lodge for farewell dinner and a Day use room. Late in a day, drive to Kilimanjaro Airport for your flight back home.