Tanzania. Safari in Kenya and Tanzania

Day 1: Arrive in Kenya

Arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport this evening where you’ll be met after passing through customs and transfer to overnight at the Stanley Hotel.

Accommodations: Stanley Hotel

Days 2 - 3: Samburu Game Reserve

This morning transfer to the Wilson airport and fly North to the Samburu Game Reserve, where you will meet your guide and embark on your first game drive in the Samburu Reserve. This semi-arid northern reserve is a haven for rare species such as the gerenuk, the endangered Grevy’s zebra, the unique Somali ostrich, and the reticulated giraffe. These species are not found in any of the other reserves you will be visiting, so your guide will do his best to make sure that you spot these regional specialties.

Along with these Northern species you’ll also be on the lookout for lion, cheetah, oryx, and the numerous elephant herds that criss cross the reserve. Leopards are often spotted in the trees along the Uaso Nyiro River and bird life is abundant, with over 400 species in the area! Overnights at Samburu Intrepids.

Accommodations: Samburu Intrepids Camp

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Days 4 - 6: Maasai Mara Reserve

Transfer to the airstrip this morning for your flight to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. No other place on earth compares with the multitudes of wild animals found in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, part of the vast Serengeti ecosystem spanning Kenya and Tanzania. During the summer months (approx July – September), the Great Migration comprised of 1.5 million wildebeest and several hundred thousand zebra make the Maasai Mara their home. Here herds of zebra, wildebeest, and topi mingle on the short grass plains keeping an eye out for numerous predators, including lion, cheetah, leopard, and hyena.

Outside of the migration months the plains are home to resident herds of ungulates as well as all of the predators, who do not migrate. Maasai giraffe and impala graze in the woodlands and hippos and crocodiles bask along the shores of the Talek and Mara Rivers. Overnight for three nights at Mara Intrepids Camp.

Accommodations: Mara Intrepids Camp

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7: Fly to Tanzania

Take your last game drive in the Maasai Mara this morning before transferring to the airstrip for your return flight to Nairobi. Upon arrival you’ll connect to a flight to the Kilimanjaro International airport in Arusha where you’ll be met for your transfer to overnight at Moivaro Plantation.

Accommodations: Moivaro Plantation Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Days 8 - 9: Tarangire National Park

This morning you will drive to Tarangire National Park, about 2-3 hours. Tarangire is the third largest national park in Tanzania noted for its primeval landscape with majestic baobab trees that dwarf the animals feeding beneath them. The habitat supports a great diversity of wildlife including giraffe, buffalo, lesser kudu, eland, and zebra. Lion, leopard and cheetah are also present. Most notably, up to 6,000 elephants inhabit the park during the dry season from July to November and many frequently migrate through our camp. We’ll take our first game drive in Tarangire this afternoon and then the following day take an extended game drive in the Park. Our private tented camp is strategically located just outside the boundary of Tarangire National Park where native guides take guests on bush walks. Overnight at Maramboi Tented Camp.

Accommodations: Maramboi Camp

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 10: Lake Manyara National Park

With your driver-guide depart Arusha for the two hour drive to the Lake Manyara National Park. The lake, situated along the impressive escarpment of the Rift Valley, takes its name from the Maasai word for Euphorbia tirucalli, a bush the Maasai use to make a thorny hedge to protect their cattle. With luck you may see the Manyara lions, well known for their tree climbing habits, lazily resting on the branches of an Acacia tortilis tree. Elephant, hippo, giraffe, buffalo and other animals are also found in Manyara National Park. The bird life is also very impressive with flamingoes, pelicans, hornbills and plenty of forest species.

After viewing all that Manyara has to offer you’ll continue up the Rift Valley Escarpment to the town of Karatu and your lodge. Overnight Plantation Lodge.

Accommodations: Plantation Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11: Ngorongoro Crater

Ngorongoro is one of the most spectacular game haunts in Africa and has been designated a World Heritage site. Here animals are found throughout the year due to the permanent availability of grass and water. Nearly 100 square miles, it contains an impressive variety of wildlife including black-maned lions, the highly endangered black rhino, herds of gnu, zebra, elephants, hippo and hyena, the most important predator within the crater. Bird life is also prolific, with flocks of flamingoes on the soda lake, plus other species of water and plain’s birds. Overnight Plantation Lodge.

Accommodations: Plantation Lodge

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 12: Mto Wa Mbu & Departure

Depart the Ngorongoro Highlands down the Rift Valley Escarpment to the town of Mto Wa Mbu. Our walk here will take in the local market and the town school (when in session). Continue your drive back to Arusha where you will have a dayroom at the KIA Lodge, on the grounds of the International airport. After time to refresh before your journey home transfer this evening to the airport for your departing flight.

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch