8 DAYS 7 NIGHTS NORTHERN SERENGETI WILDEBEEST MIGRATION SAFARI
Overview
This 8-day Tanzania safari starts with arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport and a transfer to Arusha, followed by game drives in Tarangire National Park among elephants and baobabs. It then moves into the central Serengeti for wildlife viewing before heading north to Kogatende to seek the Great Wildebeest Migration, continues through more Serengeti game drives, and concludes with a full descent into the Ngorongoro Crater to see the Big Five before transferring to the airport for departure or onward travel to Zanzibar.
Package Includes:
- Quality, waterproof, four-season private mountain sleeping tents.
- Professional, experienced, mountain guides.
- All Park fees, Rescue fees and all meals while on the Mountain.
- Guides, Porters, Cook Salaries, Quality Mess tents with table and chairs.
- Large portions of fresh, healthy nutritious food and Clean, purified drinking water.
- Crisis management and safety procedures with Fair and ethical treatment of porters.
- All Airport return transfers
- Transport in a Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 with pop up roof for game drive HF radio.
- Dedicated Services of Mtazamo Safaris English speaking guide
- Meals as prescribed in the itinerary
- 1.5 lts. of water per person per day during safari
- All Accommodations in Arusha before climbing, after climbing and after safari.
Package excludes:
- International & Domestic flights.
- Visa fees and travelling Insurance.
- Climbing gears (can be hired upon request).
- Meals not listed above.
- Tips and gratuities to the crew/personnel.
- Items of a personal nature – spa treatments, laundry, mini-bars, internet etc.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport then drive to Arusha
Upon your arrival at the airport our driver guide will pick you up from the Kilimanjaro International Airport where you will be transferred to your accommodation in Arusha town for dinner and overnight stay on a half board basis.
Day 2: Arusha to Tarangire National Park
After breakfast, your safari guide will pick you from your lodge to proceed to Tarangire National Park. Often overshadowed by the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire has immense concentrations of game in the peak months of July through to October.
With a game viewing area that is roughly ten times the size of nearby Manyara, the park is most famous for its elephant migration, birding and quiet authentic safari atmosphere in a unique surrounding of baobab trees. We will enjoy a game drive exploring the park. Lunch will be taken in a picnic site overlooking the Tarangire River. In the afternoon we proceed to our tented lodge. Leisure time by the pool, dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Tarangire to Serengeti National Park, Seronera.
After breakfast you will start driving to Serengeti National Park enroute game drive towards the gate of Tarangire. You will continue with your safari to The Great Serengeti. In the Maasai language, "serenget" means "endless plain".
We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park which attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti’s species.
We arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive exploring the wildlife of Serengeti. With its wide-open spaces, bright blue skies and creature-filled landscape, over the next three days we will discover why the fabled Serengeti typifies the dream of “Old Africa. Before sunset you will drive to our camp in the heart of Serengeti known as Seronera for dinner and overnight stay on a full board basis.
Day 4: Serengeti National Park, Seronera to Kogatende
Waking up in the Serengeti is something really special. Sights, sounds and smells of Africa are all around us, and ahead is a full day of adventure in the world’s most famous national park.
You will have a full day game drive in Serengeti searching for different kinds of animals and species of birds available in this amazing destination. The Serengeti is home to the "Big Five" (lion, African elephant, cape buffalo, leopard, rhinoceros). The other main species include zebra, wildebeest, various species of gazelles and antelopes, giraffes, cheetahs, hyenas, elephants, hippopotamus, crocodiles and some primate species such as vervet monkeys and olive baboons. It is also an endemic bird area, with a total of 505 species being documented so far. At sunset, we will arrive at our tented camp for dinner and overnight.
Day 5: Serengeti National Park, Kogatende - Migration Day
Today after breakfast you will make our way into the Mara area of Serengeti in search of one of the greatest wildlife shows on the planet, The Annual Wildebeest Great Migration.
Every year around 1.5 million wildebeest and 300,000 zebras (along with other antelope) gather up their young and start their long trek from Tanzania's Serengeti Plains, further north to Maasai Mara National Reserve, following the rains in search of food and water. Their journey runs in a clockwise circle and the animals cover a distance of around 3000km, a tough journey that takes the lives of an estimated 250 000 wildebeest as they fjord rivers and suffer constant attacks from crocodiles, lion and other predators.
Also, there is no guarantee of encountering the migration (there exact route is never really known and it is amazing how a million animals can disappear in the vast savannah), our journey is intended to try and follow the migration as it tracks northwards, moving with the herds to experience their trials and tribulations. After a full day on safari, you will return at your camp for dinner and a good night rest.
Day 6: Serengeti NP Kogatende to Central Serengeti.
After breakfast, we proceed with en-route game drive to the Central part of Serengeti. This park is well-known for its healthy stock of resident wildlife, particularly the "big five", named for the five most prized trophies taken by hunters: Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Buffaloes, and Rhinos.
We will have game drive withing this amazing area of Serengeti with a very stunning views and beauty of nature until sunset where you will return to your camp for leisure time, dinner and overnight stay.
Day 7: Serengeti National Park to Ngorongoro Conservation.
Day 8: Ngorongoro Crater – Transfer to KIA VIA Arusha.
Early morning breakfast, then you will descend down the crater floor for game drive. The crater and surrounding highlands are one of Africa's most beautiful regions, with volcanic craters forming stunning backdrops to some of the richest grazing grounds in Africa.
Today the completely enclosed circular crater is some twelve miles across, with steep walls of over 2,000 feet. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home to the “big 5” game (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and endangered Black Rhinoceros.
We descend 2,000 feet to the crater floor to explore and observe an extraordinary variety of wildlife: elephant, lion, leopard, hyena, zebra, wildebeest, Thomson's gazelle, reedbuck, and buffalo. Lunch will be served at a picnic site inside the crater.
In the afternoon you will ascend the crater and drive to Arusha/Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight to Zanzibar Island or back home.