Day 1: Arrival at Arusha to begin your Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari
You will arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport and be met by our personal guide who will host your Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari. You will be transferred by road to Arusha town for your overnight stay at Mount Meru Hotel.
Day 2: Arusha National Park – Tarangire Area – Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari
This morning you are having an early breakfast, then a short brief regarding your first day of Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari. This is followed by your first wildlife viewing experience in the Arusha National Park, located about 45 minutes away. This park has incredible volcanic scenery, wonderful views of Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro on clear days. The park also has beautiful rainforest and plenty good number of general game.
The main features are Ngurdoto Crater and the Momella Lakes. The two lakes attract a wide variety of birds, particularly an impressive number of flamingos. Once you reach the park, you will have a guided hike from Momella Gate to Tululusia Waterfalls and back to the gate.
This mildly strenuous activity will take about 2 hours to complete. It will be a wonderful opportunity to stretch your legs while safely viewing the beautiful African landscape and scenery up close and personal.
The hike will be led by an armed park’s ranger for proper guidance and safety. You will enjoy a game drive afterwards followed by a picnic lunch on one of the designated picnic sites within the park. This little park is a photographer’s dreamland.
Depart from the park that afternoon and travel through the heart of Arusha and then through the Maasai Steppe area. You are heading to a private concession that lies between Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks to overnight at Maramboi Tented Lodge.
You will arrive at the permanent tented lodge late that evening and overnight. Built to blend in with the vastness of its surroundings, the lodge lies hidden among the palm trees, ancient baobab and the golden grasses.
Booked on Full Board basis (B,L,D)
Day 3: Tarangire National Park
Depart from the tented lodge after a very early breakfast armed with your packed lunches. You will be heading toward Tarangire National Park, which is located about 1 hour away. This is Tanzania’s sixth largest national park and it is unique and famous for its huge numbers of Elephants herds.
The park is also renowned for ancient and magnificent Baobab trees and tree climbing African pythons. There are countless number of different and beautiful birds’ species.
You will enjoy a full day game drive within the park before driving out and head back to the same lodge to overnight. You will then have a guided walk ending at the beautiful lake shore and this will enable you to stretch your legs and enjoy the amazing nature found in the area.
Booked on Full Board basis (B,L,D)
Day 4: Tarangire – Lake Manyara National Park
You will check out and depart from the tented lodge after a late breakfast and drive to the township of Mto wa Mbu located within the Great Rift Valley area.
That drive will take just under 90 minutes hence you will reach the area late that morning. Tanzania has 130 different tribes representing all the African ethnic groups and Mto wa Mbu is one of the few areas the country where all the local tribes and cultures are clearly visible.
You will be immersed into the local culture of the village through a banana plantation tour and before visiting a local farming family. After tasting various fresh banana products as well as enjoying a delicious local lunch prepared especially for you, a visit to the colourful market will follow.
Later that afternoon you will enter the Lake Manyara National Park for a half day game drive. This is a beautiful little reserve surrounding a Rift Valley’s alkaline lake and has a lot of breath-taking views.
The landscape is a mixture of dense forest, small open plains and lush waterside grasses, a feast for herbivores such as buffalo. It is a very scenic home to hippos, elephants, flamingos, plains game and the famous tree-climbing lions. Late that afternoon you will head up to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to overnight.
Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge is facing the always magnificent sunsets to the west, located at the highest point on Ngorongoro crater’s rim. It stands well over half a kilometre above the crater floor and offers unparalleled views across this enormous caldera. The lodge being located within the conservation area will give you a chance to enjoy the wonderful nature at the comfort of your lodge.
Booked on Full Board basis (B,L,D)
Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater
Depart from the lodge carrying packed breakfast and lunch and head down to the crater floor to be among the first people there. Here you will visit one of nature’s true wonders – its collapsed volcanic crater is 12 miles in diameter and 2,000 feet deep.
The fertile soil and lake attract a huge range of wildlife. Your tour there will seek to uncover them amongst the floor’s forests, grasses and plains. You will have a full day game drive and a picnic breakfast and later lunch on one of the designated picnic sites.
Here you have great chances of seeing the ‘Big 5’ including the endangered Black Rhino. Spend the morning and the afternoon in the crater floor enjoying the wildlife viewing. Afterwards depart in the early evening back to the exquisite Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge for overnight. You are spending the evening at leisure, enjoying the amazing views and the lovely setting the lodge enjoys.
Booked on Full Board basis (B,L,D)
Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater – Serengeti National Park
After a very early breakfast, continue your journey into the heart of Tanzania by heading west, towards the Serengeti Plains. You will have a stop to visit a Maasai village located en-route. This will be an opportunity that will give you a chance to try and learn about this majestic warriors’ tribe’s unique way of life. This tribe hugely stands out due to the way they have managed to cling to their culture regardless of the changes around them.
After you reach the central part of the Serengeti, you will spend some time in the ‘Kopjes’ areas searching for the resident big cats. They are frequently seen in this area. Later you are heading to your lovely permanent tented lodge nearby to overnight. ‘Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge’ is located on one of the lesser visited area of the huge park. The lodge’s position is carefully chosen to allow for excellent game and Migration viewing during the season, whilst staying away from the busier areas of the park.
Booked on Full Board basis (B,L,D)
Day 7: Central – North Serengeti National Park July/August/September
You will check out and again depart from the lodge taking packed lunches with. You are heading to the Mara River area which borders the Maasai Mara. It is the park’s northeast corner, where you will search for the most amazing spectacle in the safari world – the legendary Wildebeest Migration and the amazing Mara River crossing if you are lucky.
After reaching North Serengeti, you will spend a half-day enjoying this most remote and exclusive part of Serengeti. This is followed by driving for a short distance heading on to the luxury seasonal tented camp to overnight.
This is a very long day but worth every Kilometer covered. Your lodge is set closest to the banks of the Mara River, and boasting the dramatic views out across the wide plains of the northern Serengeti. ‘Mara Under Canvas Camp’ offers an exclusive window and unparalleled access to the greatest migration on the planet.
Booked on Full Board basis (B,L,D)
Day 8: North Serengeti National Park
You will depart from the camp very early this morning for a Hot Air Balloon flight over the magnificent North Serengeti. You are to enjoy a Champagne breakfast out in the wild on landing during your Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari.
This is truly once in a lifetime activity and will offer wonderful memories once experienced. After breakfast you head out again for another full day game drive in other locations deep within the same Mara River. This area is renowned for tracking the Great Migration and the other resident game.
The Serengeti eco-system is the oldest on the planet. It boasts a diversity of plants and animals that is unavailable anywhere else on the globe. The world-famous ‘Great Migration’ should be in the north of the park at this time of the year and it is indeed an amazing spectacle to experience.
The Great Migration is the largest overland migration in the world. The animals travel a total of 800 Kilometres or more during each cycle whereby approximately over a million Wildebeest and thousands of Zebras and Gazelles form one super herd. This will be another wonderful full day game drive with picnic lunch held out in the wild again. Overnight stay at ‘Mara Under Canvas Camp’
Booked on Full Board basis (B,L,D)
Day 9: North Serengeti – Arusha – End of Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari
After breakfast, you are checking out and taking some packed lunches one more time. This is followed by road transfer to the nearby Kogatende Airstrip for morning scheduled flight back to Arusha by noon.
This will be a very scenic way of seeing almost all the beautiful areas you had visited in this trip from above. It is also helping you avoid going back using the long, bumpy and dusty route you used to reach Serengeti.
Once back in Arusha you will either proceed with your pre-organized next stage of your trip, as this Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari ends. Otherwise you are to be transferred to Kilimanjaro International Airport in time for your flight home. Drop-Off at Mount Meru Hotel for your overnight stay is also available.
If you liked our Tanzania Exclusive Photographic Safari 9 Days, you should also check our other Northern Tanzania packages.
