ERS 044: Distinct Tanzania
(7 Nights 8 days - Lodge Safari)

Day 1 Arusha - Manyara
Pick up from Arusha and transferred for lunch and safari briefing at The Arusha Hotel before driving to Lake Manyara Area. There will be a stop at Mto wa mbu market where you will have a chance to mingle with the natives and share their lifestyle and diverse culture. Places of interest include the local market, local school, homesteads etc. Just before dusk, drive ascending onto your lodge on the Great Rift Valley escarpement. Dinner and overnight at Lake Manyara Serena / Lake Manyara Hotel

Day 2 Manyara - Serengeti
After breakfast, you will descend the walls of the Great Rift Valley to Lake Manyara National park for a morning game drive. Lake Manyara is famous for its abundant birdlife and the amazing tree climbing lions. This pretty little park, tucked into the base of the Rift Valley escarpment, is often used simply as a gentle introduction for safaris heading North, but Manyara can become a real live safari experience if you stop to camp here overnight this is the classic area for safari, with spectacular volcanic scenery, the rift valley escarpment, immense featureless plains and the great migration. We later return to our lodge for lunch before ascending the Ngorongoro Highlands on our way to Serengeti. On route, we shall continue with game viewing before arriving at Serengeti Serena / Sopa / Seronera Wildlife lodge for dinner and overnight

Day 3 Serengeti
After breakfast, we depart for a morning game drive in this magnificent national park. The National Park, with an area of 12,950 square kilometres, is as big as Northern Ireland and is roughly the size of Kuwait. As such it offers the most complex and least disturbed ecosystem on earth. A unique combination of diverse habitats enables it to support more than 30 species of large harbivores and nearly 500 species of birds. In the open grass plains during the rainy months from November to May hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and Burchell's zebra congregate. The Serengeti's climate is usually warm and dry. The main rainy season is from March to May, with short rains falling from October to November. Our drive will include the search for leopards, lions, cheetah, hippos and many other animals that will be happy to welcome us to their kingdom. We carry packed lunch in order to make the best of the day. Dinner and overnight at Serengeti Serena / Sopa / Wildlife lodge.

Day 4 Serengeti - Ngorongoro
Today we depart for an early morning game drive which will allow us to have a chance to see the cats hunting for their breakfast since they habitually spend most of the hot hours of the day sleeping and lazing around evading the hot sun. We return to our lodge for breakfast before driving to Ngorongoro via Olduvai Gorge which is considered as the origin of mankind; this is where the famous Mr & Mrs Leakey discovered the 1.75 million-year-old remains of Australopithecus boisei ('Zinjanthropus') and Homo habilis which suggest that our species first evolved in this area.. We arrive at our lodge situated on the crater rim just in time for lunch. The rest of the afternoon can be spent at leisure having spectacular views of the crater. Ngorongoro is found in the "Land of the Giant Craters." This caldera is 14 miles (22.5 km) across at its widest point. It is 2000 ft (610 m) deep. It grew to be this large by sinking of the caldera floor. The caldera floor is very level and holds a lake. Streams run down the caldera walls into the lake. Ngorongoro is full of pastureland of red and white clover. Over 75,000 wild animals live in this caldera. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa / Serena / Wildlife Lodge

Day 5 Ngorongoro
Just after breakfast, we descend into the crater floor for a half day crater tour. Ngorongoro Crater is a complete ecosystem and considered as the eight wonder of the world. The dramatic landscape of the Ngorongoro Highlands is the perfect complement to the flatness of the Serengeti. Populated by Maasai tribes, this area of grasslands, volcanoes and forests makes utterly superb hiking terrain. Our drive will include searching for the rhino, elephants, hippos, cheetah, wildbeest, lions and plentiful of other predators and their prey. Ngorongoro is found in the "Land of the Giant Craters." This caldera is 14 miles (22.5 km) across at its widest point. It is 2000 ft (610 m) deep. It grew to be this large by sinking of the caldera floor. The caldera floor is very level and holds a lake. Streams run down the caldera walls into the lake. Ngorongoro is full of pastureland of red and white clover. Over 75,000 wild animals live in this caldera. We return to our lodge for a delicious lunch before driving to a nearby maasai village where we will happily enjoy the maasai culture and livelihood. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa / Serena / Wildlife Lodge.

Day 6 Ngorongoro - Tarangire
After breakfast, we depart towards Tarangire with game viewing en route to our lodge. After lunch, we continue with game drives. Tarangire national park never disappoint you as there plenty of native elephant, lions, rarely seen lesser kudu, bushbuck, baboons and the incredible tree climbing pythons. Umbrella acacia trees appear, elegant and serene, contrasting with the twisted commiphora trees. Giraffes nibble the tender leaves of the thorny acacias, buffalo lumber along, and all manner of game - Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, impala, topi and kongoni - graze nervously. Dinner and overnight at Tarangire Sopa / Safari lodge

Day 7 Tarangire
Today we depart for a full day game drive in this magnificent park. Tarangire National Park covers approximately 2600 square kilometers and, in the dry season, is second only to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area in concentrations of wildlife. Tarangire lies to the south of the large, open grass plains of southern Maasailand, and derives its name from the Tarangire River, which provides permanent water for wildlife in the area. The park is spectacular in the dry season when many of the migratory wildlife species come back to the permanent waters of Tarangire River. Huge herds of wildebeest, zebras, elephants, eland and oryx gather to stay in Tarangire until the onset of the rains when they migrate. All meals and overnight at Tarangire Sopa / Safari Logde.

Day 8 Arusha
After breakfast, we drive towards Arusha arriving for lunch and safari debriefing at the Arusha Hotel.

End of safari.