Tanzania Itinerary: Safari

The first safari day is also the last day of the Kilimanjaro Trek. Those on the trek not participating in the safari will explore Moshi and be shuttled to the airport. For anyone not doing the climb but participating in the safari, we suggest you arrive in Tanzania the day before the safari starts and meet the group at the hotel as we return from the climb. We can arrange airport transfer and lodging in Moshi.

Day 1: We change gears as we put away our trekking clothing and personas and take on the role of safari explorer. We depart Moshi in the morning and drive to Lake Manyara National Park, a 50 kilometer long gem lying at the base of the Great Rift escarpment. We go on a game drive looking for baboon and the local tree-climbing lions before checking into Migunga Camp, our tented safari lodge, for an excellent dinner.

Day 2: After breakfast we make the four-hour drive to the Ndutu Conservation Area, part of the famous Serengeti National Park ecosystem. The reason we visit Ndutu and not the Serengeti National Park itself is because the Great Migration (which ranges in a large loop through East Africa) is here during our tour. With luck, on our afternoon game drive we'll see many of the 1.5 million animals that engage in this annual trek. That afternoon we arrive at our tented camp for a two-night stay.

Day 3: We do two more game drives during the day and have the time to lounge around our camp while the sun is at its peak. Predator and prey interactions are the pinnacle of game viewing but there is much more to see in the park. Our vehicles are small, six-person or eight-person in size, and have a pop top allowing us to stand up and get an open-air view of the wildlife. We eat three meals at our tented camp, with excellent local cooks preparing fantastic dishes you would not expect in the bush.

Day 4: In the morning we do a final game drive in the Ndutu area and then depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This area is centered on the famous Ngorongoro Crater, an extinct volcano that has year-round water flow and thus is a haven for many types of animals. We have the option to visit a Masai village en route to our hotel on the crater rim. You will have spectacular views from your hotel room and we will likely congegrate in the open-air Rhino Lounge bar for a pre-dinner, last-night cocktail.

Day 5: We start with an early-morning game drive down into the crater itself, searching for all of Tanzania's animals, large and small. In the afternooon we undertake the four-hour drive back to Kilimanjaro Airport for our flights back home.