INTRODUCING Lake Manyara National Park (or Tarangire National Park) & Serengeti National Park & Ngorongoro Crater
OPTIONS:
Some travellers come to Tanzania for “the great migration”. Others for the crater, the mountains, or the coast. This tour was built for the ones who come for lions.
Over five days you will move through the parks where lion sightings are most frequent and most dramatic, from the tree-climbing lions of Lake Manyara to the vast hunting grounds of the Serengeti and the dense wildlife of the Ngorongoro Crater.
If a lion sighting is what you are after, this itinerary gives you the best possible chance of not just finding them, but watching them live.
Each option follows the same itinerary and differs only in accommodation type.
On Day 3 or Day 4, you have the option to add a hot air balloon flight over the Serengeti at sunrise, finishing with a champagne toast on landing and a full breakfast served out in the open bush. Few things compare to watching the Serengeti from above as the day begins.
Our Safari Tips and Safari FAQ pages cover everything you need to know before you travel. The Wildlife section gives useful background on the animals you are likely to encounter, and the Photo Gallery is full of images taken by guests in the field.
For questions or a quick price quotation, including fully tailor-made programmes, please get in touch. We are happy to help.
ITINERARY:
DAY 1: Arusha – Lake Manyara (OR Tarangire)
Your first afternoon sets the tone. Head to Lake Manyara National Park, a lush and compact park at the foot of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, where lions have developed one of their most unusual habits anywhere in Africa. Rather than resting on the ground, Manyara’s lions take to the trees, draping themselves across acacia branches six or seven metres up as if gravity is optional. Nobody has ever fully explained it. Nobody needs to. It is extraordinary to witness. Overnight: Lodge, Hotel, Luxury Tented Camp or Basic Camp
DAY 2: Olduvai Gorge – Maasai Boma – Serengeti
The drive to the Serengeti offers two worthwhile stops along the way. Olduvai Gorge, where some of the earliest physical evidence of human life was pulled from the earth, has a way of reframing the rest of your journey in interesting ways. A visit to a Maasai boma adds a different kind of perspective: a community of pastoral nomads who have chosen continuity over change, and whose welcome is unaffected and genuine. After lunch the Serengeti opens up, home to more than four million animals and thousands of lions spread across plains that the Maasai named endless for good reason. Overnight: Lodge, Hotel, Luxury Tented Camp or Basic Camp
DAY 3: Serengeti
The whole day belongs to the lions. The Serengeti holds one of the densest lion populations on earth, and knowing where to look is something our guides have spent years learning. Lions sleep for up to twenty hours a day, so the early morning and late afternoon hours are when the real action happens: the stalking, the watching, the sudden explosive movement across the grass. A full day on the plains gives you the full picture. Overnight: Lodge, Hotel, Luxury Tented Camp or Basic Camp
DAY 4: Serengeti – Ngorongoro
One final morning on the Serengeti plains before heading toward Ngorongoro. If the lions have been elusive, this is your last chance to find them here, and the morning light makes for the best game viewing of the day. After lunch the drive takes you to the Conservation Area for dinner and overnight, with the crater waiting for the morning. Overnight: Lodge, Hotel, Luxury Tented Camp or Basic Camp
DAY 5: Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha
The crater delivers a fitting finale. More than 30,000 animals live within its walls, and the lion population here is among the most studied in the world. Dense, self-contained and remarkably accessible, the Ngorongoro Crater gives you one more full morning in lion country before the picnic lunch and the afternoon drive back to Arusha.
End of tour!
