Meet-and-greet services will usher you from your arrival at Arusha’s Kilimanjaro Airport to the nearby Arusha Coffee Lodge. One of Tanzania’s largest coffee plantations is then yours to explore at your pleasure. Spend the day within its rolling green acres and enjoy the facilities of the lodge.

Included: Airport arrival transfer. Meals: D
Approximate Travel Time: 20 minutes

After a leisurely breakfast, you are invited to tour the nearby Burka Coffee Estate. Following lunch, transfer to the airport for your flight into Tarangire National Park. Here you will be met by your driver-guide, and embark on your first game-drive adventure through virgin wilderness.

The landscape includes magnificent stands of ancient baobab trees, which offer sanctuary to large family herds of elephant, prolific birdlife, and dry-season concentrations of wildlife. After the “hunt,” return to camp in late afternoon.

After breakfast, a full day of activities reveals the vivid beauty of Tarangire. On your agenda: morning and afternoon game drives; an entrancing nature walk with a local Maasai guide; a visit to an authentic Maasai village for an intimate experience of bush culture; and sundowner cocktails on Sunset Hill. After dinner, the unique excitement of a night game drive will become an unforgettable memory.

Included: Game drive, nature walk, village visit. Meals: BLD

Breakfast is followed by a morning game drive through Tarangire. A picnic lunch en route adds to the pleasure of the journey. Then a short flight to Lake Manyara airstrip and a scenic drive bring you to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. On the way, the drive is enlivened by a visit to an authentic African market in the little township of Karatu.

Next stop: Shangri-La! The Manor at Ngorongoro stands on its own 1,500-acre estate, known as Shangri-La, and upon check-in you will see why it is named for this mythical utopia. The lodge is immediately adjacent to the incredibly scenic Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Late afternoon check-in allows plenty of time to explore this lovely enclave, perhaps by leisurely strolling the grounds.

Included: Game drive and internal flight. Meals: BLD

After breakfast at the Manor, a full-day guided tour of Ngorongoro Crater will immerse you in the beauty of this unique biosphere. To enhance your enjoyment, a picnic lunch is served on the crater floor. Often referred to as “the eighth wonder of the world,” the Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa’s best-known wildlife arenas. It is a World Heritage site and one of the largest, most perfect volcanic craters in the world—almost 12.4 miles wide, 2,000-2,500 feet deep, and covering a total area of 102 square miles.

In late afternoon, return to the Manor for relaxation and dinner. If you feel up to more activity, you may choose to participate in an optional guided activity at your own cost including horseback riding on the grounds, bike riding the hills of the area, or exploring on foot.

Included: Full-day game drive with picnic. Optional activities at own expense. Meals: BLD

Following breakfast this morning, you may choose to relax or enjoy bike or horseback riding (at your own expense), or a walk. After a leisurely lunch at the Manor, transfer to the Manyara airstrip for your flight to Serengeti National Park. “Serengeti” in Maasai means “endless plains,” and you will quickly discover why during an afternoon game drive that introduces you to the glory of this magnificent, sweeping terrain.

The Serengeti is justly renowned as “the greatest wildlife show on earth,” and not only for the annual migration of over one million wildebeest and their attendant cast of herbivores and predators. It is also the setting for unparalleled bird sightings, and is in every way an unrivalled natural arena where the glory and harmony of nature is constantly present.

Today you’ll cover more territory on a full-day game drive through the vast and sensational Serengeti. Covering 5,700 square miles of endlessly rolling savannah plains, it is Tanzania’s most famous park. Tens of thousands of herd animals roam in a constant search for the grasslands on which their survival depends. The million-plus wildebeest are the predominant herbivore and also the main prey of a huge cast of large carnivores, principally lion and hyena. The park is renowned for its lions, many of which have been fitted with radio-transmitter collars so that their movements may be tracked. Zebra, giraffe, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle, eland, impala, klipspringer, hippo, and warthog also abound.

You may choose to top off your experience here with the ultimate in African adventure—a Serengeti Balloon Safari. This option is available year-round but must be requested in advance at your own expense.

An alfresco dinner this evening celebrates the beauty of the region on a deck overlooking the Ndasiata Hills and the Grumeti River.

Included: Full-day game drive. Optional balloon safari at own expense. Meals: BLD

After breakfast, head out on foot to experience a guided game walk. It’s a delightful opportunity to discover many of the smaller species of flora and fauna. Along the way, your guide will share local lore. After lunch, an afternoon game drive starts you en route to the airstrip for your return flight to Arusha.

Included: Game drive, internal flight, dayroom in Arusha, and airport transfers. Meals: BL
Approximate Travel Time: 1 ½ hours