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9 days

Safari in Tanzania - 4 national parks

From baobab trees in Tarangire to the flat plains of Serengeti and the lush hills of Ngorongoro. Experience incredible nature and unique animal life in four of Tanzania’s national parks.

Safari in Tanzania - 4 national parks
Safari in Tanzania - 4 national parks
9 days
HomeAfricaTanzaniaSafari in Tanzania - 4 national parks

Safari in Tanzania - 4 national parks

From baobab trees in Tarangire to the flat plains of Serengeti and the lush hills of Ngorongoro. Experience incredible nature and unique animal life in four of Tanzania’s national parks.

HomeAfricaTanzaniaSafari in Tanzania - 4 national parks
What is included in the price?
This package includes the following
  • Flights from the UK to Kilimanjaro incl. transfer
  • Local English speaking guide/driver
  • 6 nights’ accommodation in Tanzania incl. full board
  • Tarangire National Park – Over several hundred elephants
  • Serengeti National Park – Search for ”The Big 5”
  • Visit to the Masai village
  • Ngorongoro Crater – Paradise to around 30,000 animals
  • Lake Manyara National Park – UNESCO biosphere reserve and unique biodiversity
  • Window seat in a four-wheel drive vehicle and a free bottle of water during safari tours
  • Park fees
  • Flights from Kilimanjaro to the UK incl. transfer
  • ATOL certificate
  • Emergency hotline staffed 24/7 throughout your trip
  • Departure guarantee – the tour will take place regardless of the number of participants

THE TOUR IN SHORT

Tanzania is known as one of the world’s best safari countries, offering spectacular scenery and fascinating and diverse wildlife.

This tour takes you right up close when visiting four of Tanzania’s iconic national parks, each with its own distinctive character. Look out for The Big 5, cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, giraffes, baboons, various bird species and prey such as zebras, impala, antelopes and buffaloes, while taking in Tarangire’s majestic baobab and acacia trees, Ngorongoro’s inactive volcano crater, Serengeti’s endless plains and Lake Manyara’s lush scenery.

During your safari, you will stay at hotels and at a tented camp with proper beds, private shower and toilet.

Why choose this tour

  • Experience Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Park
  • You will stay at wild camps, so you can hear and smell the nature outside and yet still have a comfortable bed and a private bathroom
  • See the large herds of elephants in Tarangire, be overwhelmed by the wealth of wildlife in Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater
  • You will witness the great contrasts of Africa, from the flat plains of Seregenti to the lushness of the Ngorongoro crater

Our tours always include

  • All international and domestic flights
  • All accommodations
  • All specified excursions and activities
  • 24/7 telephone – We’re with you all the way
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Flight to Tanzania

Departure day, where you will fly to Tanzania with connecting flights along the way.

Day 2: Highview Hotel

The plane lands close to Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, which rises a majestic 5,895 metres from the savannah. The snow-capped peak of the mountain is in sharp contrast to the fact that you are now in Africa.

Your driver/guide is waiting for you at the airport. Ahead of you lies an exciting sightseeing tour covering more than 200 km, before you arrive at Highview Hotel. The tour takes you past the villages of Chini, Kisongo, Makuyuni, Mto Wa Mbu and Karatu.

If time allows, the afternoon can be spent relaxing at the hotel or visiting Karatu and the local market.

Please note: Today you drive to Highview Hotel in Karatu, where you will stay overnight. Here, you are just a short drive away from the Tarangire National Park tomorrow, giving you the maximum amount of time in the park.

Day 3: Tarangire National Park

Today, we head to the Tarangire National Park, which is the sixth largest national park in Tanzania.

The park is named after the Tarangire river, which flows through the park. In dry seasons, the river is the animals’ only source of water.

The landscape and vegetation are incredibly varied. The hilly landscape has nine different growth zones, and you experience a savannah filled with majestic baobab and acacia trees, almost taking all the attention away from the many animals.

The diverse vegetation attracts a great many wild animals. The park is particularly famous for its large number of elephants. One of the largest concentrations of elephants in the world is found here, and it is not uncommon to see herds of several hundred. Gnus and zebras are also found in large numbers, and kudu, impala and gazelles thrive here. The abundant prey here attracts lions, leopards and hyenas, and if you’re really lucky, you might also see a wild dog.

In the afternoon, you head back to Highview Hotel to relax.

Accommodation:
Day 4: Via Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Serengeti National Park

After breakfast and check-out from the hotel, we head through Ngorongoro’s hilly plateaus, where the red-clad Masai live in round huts, and their cattle graze between the zebras, gnus and giraffes of the savannah. Along the way, there is time to enjoy a packed lunch.

Via Nabi Hill Gate, the route heads north-west across the endless plains of the Serengeti, where animals galore await you; millions of gnus and zebras, thousands of antelopes and buffaloes, hundreds of lions, elephants, leopards, hippos, crocodiles, and thousands of birds. Serengeti offers one of the most amazing and unique wildlife and outdoor experiences on the planet.

Please note: Ikoma Wild Camp is located just outside the north-western section of Serengeti National Park. It offers a phenomenal view of the Serengeti plain, and the promise of some unique experiences that you cannot enjoy in the national park itself. If you wish to stay inside the Serengeti National Park itself, you can (against a supplement) choose to stay at the Serengeti Wild Camp.

Day 5: Safari in Serengeti National Park

Full day safari in Serengeti, looking for the “Big Five”: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffaloes. You have the whole day to enjoy the wildlife of the stunning Serengeti.

The ecosystem here in the park is considered to be one of the oldest in the world, and you’d be hard pressed not to feel both humbled and astonished when sitting in your land cruiser, absorbing all that you see before you. Outside the drought period, you will also see a large number of Thompson’s gazelles, buffaloes, topi, Grant’s gazelles, eland antelopes, warthogs, eagles, ostriches, etc., in addition to the animals already mentioned.  Today, you will probably also see and smell the hippos wallowing in the hippo pools.

A hot lunch is served at Serengeti Wild Camp or Serengeti Wildebeest Camp.

A fantastic day, just waiting to be experienced and enjoyed!

Day 6: Via Serengeti to the Masai village in Ngorongoro

New experiences await you when the safari heads south-east in Serengeti. A picnic lunch is enjoyed in the open at noon.

The tour then heads into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where you visit the red-clad Masai in a local village, where you can experience how life is lived in a Masai village and look at their handicraft, which is mainly bead work. They are keen to sell, but remember to “haggle”!

Please note: Today, you drive to Highview Hotel for the night. If you wish to treat yourself to an extra special experience, you might (against a supplement) like to upgrade to Ngorongoro Wild Camp – this maximises the time you have to spend in the Ngorongoro crater in the morning.

Day 7: The Ngorongoro crater

The Ngorongoro crater is the largest inactive volcano crater. The volcano erupted some 2–3 million years ago and folded in on itself, leaving a gigantic hole, which is today home to 30,000 animals and 350 different species of birds, all of which have access to water all year round.

Once past the entrance to Ngorongoro, you pass through a lush area of rainforest before the descent along the inside of the crater begins. After an exciting drive down, you arrive at the 260 km2 crater floor. The rim of the crater towers 600 metres above you. You might be at the bottom of the crater, but you are actually high up, because the rim of the crater is 2,200 metres above sea level.

The day is spent in the crater – and there is plenty to look at! Lions, gazelles, elephants, gnus and zebras in their droves. If you are really lucky, you might see the endangered black rhinoceros, which is almost extinct in Africa due to poaching. In Ngorongoro, they are protected by the armed rangers.

Lunch is enjoyed in stunning surroundings on the floor of the crater, and at the end of the day you will be driven back to your hotel.

Accommodation:
Day 8: Lake Manyara National Park - The journey home begins

After breakfast and check-out from the hotel, you head to Lake Manyara National Park. Extending over an area of 330 m2, this is one of Tanzania’s smallest national parks, of which the lake itself covers a good two-thirds, depending on the season.

It was here on the southern shore of the lake that Ernest Hemingway’s camp was situated in the mid-1930s, while he went hunting for the largest and most beautiful kudu in the nearby area, known today as Tarangire National Park.

Lake Manyara National Park was established in 1960 to preserve the region’s unique ecosystem, and in 1981, it became part of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB).

The area is part of the spectacular Great Rift Valley, which runs all the way through the African continent from the Middle East to Mozambique. Researchers believe that this rift system will at some point in the future cause the African continental plate to split into two separate continental plates and thus tear a large part of the African continent apart from the rest.

The national park, which is long and narrow, is bordered to the east by Lake Manyara itself, and to the west by the slopes of the Rift Valley, which are up to 600 metres high. In between are open grasslands, a jungle-like forest, mangroves, hot springs and swamps. The diversity is unrivalled, and it is impressive to see how drastically the landscape changes in a relatively small area. With the many different habitats comes a great variety of wildlife – although the animals can be difficult to spot amidst all the lushness.

The great biodiversity in the park also attracts many birds – more than 400 different bird species have been recorded here.

Lake Manyara itself is a soda lake, and the water level fluctuates a lot depending on whether it’s the rainy season or the dry season. Along the shore, you may be lucky enough to see large flocks of flamingos.

After this final nature experience, you’ll be driven to the airport, where your journey home begins.

Day 9: Arrival in the UK

You will arrive in the UK.

Day Distance Approx km
Day 2 Kilimanjaro Airport - Highview Hotel 200
Day 3 Highview Hotel - Tarangire National Park 80
Day 4 Highview Hotel via Ngorongoro Conservation Area - Ikoma Wild Camp 250
Day 5 Safari in the Serengeti - game drive ---
Day 6 Via Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Highview Hotel 250
Day 7 Highview hotel to Ngorongoro Crater and back approximately 130
Day 8 Lake Manyara and to Kilimanjaro Airport is approximately 195
Combine with
Choose from the options below
Gorilla tracking in Uganda
4 nights

You’ve almost certainly seen pictures of the gentle furry mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda.

Why not complete your trip to East Africa by extending your holiday to include a tour to Uganda to look for the unique mountain gorillas?

We’ve made it easy for you and added this 5-day extension, when, besides gorilla tracking, you also go on a “walking safari” in Lake Mburo National Park.

It goes without saying that we have included flights, gorilla permits and full board almost everywhere.

It couldn’t be easier!

Please note: This extension only goes ahead when there are at least 2 people travelling.

This extension must be booked at least 70 days before departure.

Masai adventure at Osiligilai Maasai Lodge
2 nights

Need a spot of self-indulgence after standing atop Kilimanjaro or after many hours in a safari car? Dream of getting right up close to the Masai culture and experiencing the Masai customs and traditions – without compromising on comfort? Want to wake up to a sunrise over Kilimanjaro and lie by a pool overlooking Africa’s highest mountain? Then why not extend your tour to include two nights at Osiligila Maasai Lodge?

This fabulous, authentic lodge is located a good 2 hours’ drive from Moshi, and we guarantee that both the scenery and the cultural experience will take your breath away.

Situated in a typical Masai grassland area with open plains, grasslands as far as the eye can see, the lodge affords views of both Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro. It is owned by local Masai, who run the place with immense enthusiasm, making you feel very welcome and spoilt, as well as giving you to opportunity to get right up close to this semi-nomadic people.

You stay in a traditional Masai hut with all desirable conveniences such as a toilet, electricity and a hot shower – not to mention a bed, strategically positioned to allow you to lie there and watch the sun rise over Kilimanjaro in the early hours of the morning.

Your stay at the lodge includes all meals and a wide range of activities such as spear throwing and traditional Masai singing and dancing while watching the sun set behind Mount Meru. It is also possible to purchase various excursions or additional activities, but there’s nothing to stop you just sitting by the pool and soaking in the view of Kilimanjaro while enjoying a cold beer and reading a good book.

Want to know more about what it’s like to stay at Osiligilai Maasai Lodge? Then read our Africa expert’s travelogue.

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Catriona Hodge

Catriona is passionate about helping other people fulfill their travel dreams, as she knows how much travel has only improved her life for the better!

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