Mini Safari

This itinerary begins on the last day of the Kili climb itinerary. After breakfast and a safari briefing, depart for Lake Manyara. Arrive at the Kirurumu Tented Lodge in time for lunch. In the afternoon, enjoy a game drive around Lake Manyara National Park, immortalized in Hemingway’s “Green Hills Of Africa” and represents a habitat distinct from elsewhere in your safari. You will explore the ground-water forest, rich in birds and monkeys, visit the hippo pool, and the acacia woodlands that border the soda lake swathed in the pink of the resident flamingos. Dinner and overnight at Kirurumu Tented Lodge, or similar, set high on the edge of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment. The lodge has a marvelous panoramic view over Lake Manyara, the Rift floor, and Mt. Losimingori.

Depart for the world famous Serengeti National Park. On the way, you will have the opportunity to visit Olduvai Gorge. This is the site where Mary and Louis Leakey first discovered the remains of Zinjanthropus Bosei, a distant ancestor of man believed to be 1.8 million years old, Australopithecus Bosei, the ‘Nutcracker Man’, a species that became extinct about 1 million years ago and fossilized foot prints that date back 3.6 million years. From here the predator-rich plains of the Serengeti unfurl before you as you game drive through the park for the remainder of the day to arrive at Kati Kati Camp (or similar) for your dinner and overnight.

Spend a full day exploring the Serengeti, the most famous National Park in Africa. Your driver-guide will choose our route based on his extensive knowledge of the park and local conditions, but the Serengeti rarely disappoints. You will carry your packed lunch with you, so as to make the most of the day. Your trip might include tracking cheetah through the Gol Kopjes, hunting leopard (with cameras) along the Seronera River, avoiding the crocs and hippos at Retima or exploring the Masai paintings at Moru Kopjes. Dinner and overnight again at the Ang’ata Camp, or similar.

Depart for the Ngorongoro Crater, with a final Serengeti game drive en route.  Enjoy a packed lunch, then descend down the 2000-ft walls of the crater, a World Heritage Site and home to nearly 25,000 animals, for a game drive. Here you have a very real chance of spotting the big five: lion, elephant,  black rhino, buffalo and leopard plus countless other African mammal species. Dinner and overnight at the Ngorongoro Farm House. The Ngorongoro Farm House is situated it the Ngorongoro highlands, facing the Oldeani Volcano, and is only minutes from the Ngorongoro Lolduare gate. Three separate and intimate camps of 9 comfortable bungalows, have been attractively built with the style of an old colonial farm and rustically decorated with local materials. They also have a 500 acre working coffee, vegetable, and flower farm on the outer slopes of the crater. Enjoy excellent home-made cuisine prepared using the dairy and fresh vegetables produced by the farm, all year long.

Return to Arusha in the early afternoon. A day room will be available for you to relax in and freshen up before your evening transfer to the airport or extend your stay with a visit to the beautiful Zanzibar Island.