Day-by-Day Itinerary

Tuesday 21 December :
Depart London. Arrive on scheduled flight into Kilimanjaro International Airport and transfer to Arusha Coffee Lodge for overnight.

Wednesday 22 December :
After breakfast transfer to Lake Manyara National Park. There is plenty to see on your first morning game drive – elephants, giraffes, wildebeest and impalas are all here as well as large troops of baboons. Check in to the Manyara Serena Safari Lodge in time for lunch. Three meals a day are included throughout the trip. Afternoon game drive in the park: the lake itself is one of the most beautiful in the region and is home to a large poulation of hippos. Dinner and overnight at the Manyara Serena Safari Lodge.

Thursday 23 December :
After the breakfast drive across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and into the Serengeti National Park for your first sight of one of the greatest spectacles on the planet – the Great Migration. Two million wildebeest, zebras and gazelles will be in the Southern Serengeti by December, in a massive herd stretching out as far as the eye can see. Afternoon game drive. Dinner and overnight Mbuzi Mawe Tented Camp.

Friday 24 December :
Get up before dawn today to try one of the great experiences of the world of travel – a balloon safari over the Serengeti. The word “serengeti” means “endless plain” in the Maasai language and you will understand why they call it that, when you see the vast savannah spread out before you. This optional excursion costs extra and must be booked in advance. Morning and afternoon game drives in the Serengeti. Watch out for cheetahs and lions and leopards here – and in the rivers, there are crocodiles. Overnight at the Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge

Saturday 25 December :
After breakfast drive south across the plain to the Olduvai Gorge and see the place where some of our earliest human ancestors were found. After a picnic lunch continue to the famous Ngorongoro Crater and check in to the Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge. Dinner and overnight Ngorongoro.

Sunday 26 December :
Today there is a tour of the Ngorongoro Crater. Formed by the collapse of an extinct volcano, the crater is its own secluded little ecosystem with the largest concentration of animals anywhere in Africa. There is a picnic lunch in the crater, while you explore amongst the rhinos, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, lions and cheetahs. Dinner and overnight Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge.

Monday 27 December :
Today’s destination is the Tarangire National Park, famed its forests of baobab trees, its huge herds of elephants and some of Africa’s largest pythons. Overnight Swala Camp.

Tuesday 28 December :
If time permits, there will be one last game drive in the park. Perhaps you might see one of the tree-climbing lions that live in this area. In the afternoon transfer to Kilimanjaro for the flight home.

Wednesday 29 December :
Arrive back in London early on Sunday morning.