5 Days Perfect Family Getaway Tour to Tanzania – Midrange Lodge

Overview

1. Day01 Arusha – Tarangire National Park

   

   Your guide collects you from your Arusha hotel in the morning, and after a short briefing you set off on the roughly two-hour drive to Tarangire National Park. This is baobab country: huge, centuries-old trees stand above the grassland, and the Tarangire River draws one of the largest concentrations of elephants in Tanzania, especially in the dry season.

   Your guide plans the game drive around the latest sightings, looking for lions, leopards and cheetahs as well as the giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, buffalo and warthogs that graze the river valley. Lunch is a picnic at the Tarangire River viewpoint, where animals come down to drink (keep an eye on your lunch box, the vervet monkeys are bold).

   You leave the park at around 4:30 pm and drive to your lodge in Mto wa Mbu for dinner and the night.

   • Meals Lunch & Dinner
   • Overnight Mid-range lodge in Mto wa Mbu (or similar)
2. Day02 Lake Manyara National Park

   

   After breakfast you drive the short distance to Lake Manyara National Park. The park sits at the foot of the Great Rift Valley wall, and the drive in takes you through a lush groundwater forest of fig and mahogany trees that is home to large troops of olive baboons and blue monkeys.

   Out on the open floodplain you'll find elephants, buffalo, giraffes, zebras and a busy hippo pool, and the alkaline lake often hosts flamingos and pelicans. Manyara is also known for lions that rest up in the acacia trees, although sightings are never guaranteed.

   In the late afternoon you drive up the escarpment to your lodge in Karatu.

   • Meals Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
   • Overnight Mid-range lodge in Karatu (or similar)
3. Day03 Karatu – Serengeti National Park

   

   After breakfast you set off for the Serengeti. The road climbs through the green highlands of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with views over the crater rim, before dropping down onto the endless short-grass plains of the Serengeti.

   After a picnic lunch at Naabi Hill Gate, you game-drive the rest of the way to the Seronera area in the heart of the park. The Seronera river valley has one of the highest densities of big cats in Africa, so even the first afternoon often brings lions, cheetahs or a leopard draped over a sausage tree.

   You arrive at your lodge in central Serengeti (Seronera) around sunset for dinner and the night.

   • Meals Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
   • Overnight Mid-range lodge in central Serengeti (Seronera) (or similar)
4. Day04 Serengeti – Ngorongoro Conservation Area

   

   Enjoy an early-morning game drive in the Serengeti, when the cats are most active, before heading back across the plains towards the Ngorongoro highlands.

   On the way you may pass Maasai herders with their cattle and, if time allows, stop at Olduvai Gorge, one of the world's most important sites for the study of early humans (entry at extra cost). You reach your lodge in Karatu in the late afternoon.

   • Meals Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
   • Overnight Mid-range lodge in Karatu (or similar)
5. Day05 Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha

   

   After an early breakfast you drive up to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and stop at the viewpoint. The view is unforgettable: a 600-metre-deep, 20-kilometre-wide volcanic caldera with lakes, swamps, forest and grassland laid out below you.

   Then you descend to the crater floor for your game drive. The steep walls keep most animals inside all year, so wildlife is dense and easy to see: lions, elephants, buffalo, hyenas, zebras, wildebeest, hippos and flamingos are all regulars. The crater is also one of the best places in Tanzania to look for the endangered black rhino, which takes patience to find.

   After a picnic lunch by the hippo pool you climb back out of the crater in the afternoon and drive back to Arusha, arriving in the early evening.

   • Meals Breakfast & Lunch

What’s included

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Frequently asked questions