A safari to discover the Northern Parks

Upon arrival at the Kilimanjaro international airport in Arusha you will be received by your guide with an original welcome gift. After the presentations and after loading luggage on his car, a Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 with 5/7 seats and folding panoramic roof (perfect to take amazing pictures and to admire the surrounding landscape), if you want (and according to the arrival time), it is possible to visit Arusha National Park, and get in touch with the wild nature of Africa and its fascinating colours.

Located at the foot of the majestic Kilimanjaro and Mount  Meru, Arusha National Park is the perfect starting point to begin viewing the famous "Big Five", as the 5 big animals are usually called: elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard. Here, it is also possible to be close to giraffes, zebras, flamingos, monkeys and different species of birds.

Arusha National Park is famous because of Mount Meru (the second highest peak in Tanzania, with its 4,566 meters) but also for the colourful Momela lakes (home of hundreds flamingos) and the Ngurdoto Crater, large 3 km, formed 15 milion ages ago.

Arrival at the hotel in Arusha in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight.

Travel duration (approximately) Arusha - Lake Manyara: 1 hour 45 minutes (119 km)

The day starts early with a delicious breakfast in the hotel in perfect colonial style (anyway, a continental breakfast is also available) and transfer to Lake Manyara National Park.

Upon arrival, go on a safari in this small but characteristic park of the Northern Tanzania: a perfect union among the impressive mountains belonging to the Rift Valley, immense stretches of water, woods and acacia forests.

Lake Manyara National Park is a paradise for birds, in fact it boasts more than 380 different species, a salt lake with thousand pink flamingos, a breath-taking view and its famous lions, that have learnt to climb the trees right here. Moreover, it is also possible to admire impales, buffalos, hyppos, baboons, blue monkeys, elephants, giraffes and zebras.

During the day it is also possible to visit the hot water springs of Maji Moto.

"Picnic box" for lunch provided by the hotel, which makes the day more flexible and fun. In this way, you can have lunch in front of dream scenarios or calmly watch animals during their daily life.

Arrival at the Lodge in Karatu in late afternoon. Dinner and overnight.

Travel duration (approximately) Karatu - Serengeti Seronera: 4/5 hours with break (270 km).

After breakfast transfer to Serengeti National Park, going through Ngorongoro National Park.

Enroute it is possible to admire the famous Ngorongoro Crater  from above and observe green hills slowly turning into immense savannas.

Serengeti National Park, which means "immense endless plains" in Maasai language, is well-known for its amazing Great Migration. Every year millions of gnus, thousands of zebras, antelopes and buffalos move together to Masai Mara in order to follow the rain, looking for water and food.

"Picnic box" for lunch.

At the southern entrance of Serengeti National Park, in the early afternoon, you will go on a short safari in Ndutu plain in order to discover elephants, leopards, cheetahs, lions, giraffes, gnus, buffalos, hyppos, crocodiles, warthogs, antelopes, impales, jackals, hyenas and different species of birds.

Arrival at the Lodge in late afternoon. Dinner and overnight.

Awesome awakening in the morning: as soon as you move your curtains you will be surrounded by Serengeti National Park, in the wildest nature, where animals temporarily host us in their space, in their life. Here, it is possible to admire the colours of the red sun that rises and lights up the characteristic African landscapes.

Now, you are truly part of the real Africa, wild and majestic.

It is also possible to wake up very early in the morning to go on a dawn safari, so as to enjoy the amazing colours of the savannah at the first rays of sun and observe animals that come back from hunting.

After  breakfast, during the day, you will have all the necessary time to go on a safari and admire the animals' life in Serengeti.

"Picnic box" for lunch.

Back to the Lodge in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight.

Travel duration (approximately) Serengeti Seronrea - Ngorongoro National Park 3 hours 30 minutes (233 km)

After breakfast, you will go again on a Safari in Serengeti National Park in order to reach Ngorongoro National Park, Unesco's World Heritage Site.

During the journey, visit to Olduvai Gorge, also called "Cradle of Humankind", because it is said that human history started here. In this magic place, in 1959 the famous English paleontologist Louis Dr. Leakey and his wife Mary, while following a butterfly, found some hominid's rests, they called it Zinyanthropus boisei (nowadays it is considered a specieS of Australopithecus), and some belonging to a Homo Habilis, dating back to 2 million years ago. In 1972 Mary Leakey made an even  greater discovery: in Laetoli, 40 km south of Olduvai, she discovered fossilized hominids' footprints belonging to two adults and one child, dating back to 3 million and a half years ago.

Olduvai Gorge is also the place where the first monolith, from the novel "2001: A Space Odyssey" written by Arthur C. Clarke, was found, the famous movie by Stanley Kubrick is inspired on the book.

"Picnic box" for lunch.

Arrival at the Lodge in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight.

From 2,286 meter high you will descend by car to 1,600 meter, with a drop of 610 meters. You will reach the caldera of an ancient active volcano. Nowadays it covers an area of 304 sqkm and boasts a diameter of 19 km.

Ngorongoro Crater is considered one of the world's wonders. Professor Bernard Grzimek wrote about it: "There is nothing to compare it to, It is one of the wonders of the world”. Here, more than 30,000 animals permanently live. Moreover, it is one of the few places in Africa where it is possible to find  the "Big Five" all together, but also ostrichs, hyppos, hyenas, warthogs, flamingos and zebras. Only giraffes are not present.

"Picnic box" for lunch on the banks of Lake Magadi.

Arrival at the Lodge in Karatu in the late afternoon. Dinner and overnight.

Travel duration (approximately) Karatu - Tarangire: 3 hours (171 km)

After breakfast, transfer to reach the Tarangire National Park, famous for its majestic baobab trees and several elephant herds.

In the park you'll find a huge number of pythons, which are easly viewed during their endless digestive phase, when they are located to the top of trees.

Tarangire National Park hosts more than a third of the ornithological species of the whole Tanzania. In addition, thanks to the large heterogeneity of its habitat and its survival resources, the bird watching activity is one of the main attractions, due to the presence of more than 550 birds' species.

"Picnic box" for lunch.

In the afternoon you will go on a safari in the park.

Arrival at the Lodge in late afternoon. Dinner and overnight.

Travel duration (approximately) Tarangire - Arusha: 1 hour 45 minutes (120 km).

If you want, in the early morning it is possible to go on a last safari in Tarangire National Park.

After breakfast, transfer to Kilimanjaro international airport in Arusha for your flight back home (schedule to be confirmed).

"Picnic box" for lunch.

The time for goodbyes has come. Your guide will give you a last present: a small Pangolin, which in Maasai tradition symbolizes luck and prosperity. It has been carved from a piece of ebony.

Then, a last hug with the hope that this Safari in Tanzania provided new emotions and a pinch of "African bug", that only now you can really understand.

KWAHERI! (that in Kiswahili means "good-bye").