Morning departure from Arusha to Tarangire National Park. You will drive along the beautiful Masai steppe & villages.

Game drive in the park with picnic lunch.

Tarangire National Park (2,600km2) has unrivalled landscape of open plains, dotted with thousands of baobabs. It is located about 120kms south of Arusha. Tarangire is known for its lions and very big herds of buffalo. This is one of Africa’s little-known gems and should be on the itinerary of all lovers of wilderness and solitude. The animals include zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, elephant, Maasai giraffe and fringe-eared oryx (gemsbok). Predators include lion, cheetah, and leopard. Birders will want to look out for the endemic ashy starling, rufous-tailed weaver and black-collared lovebird.

Afternoon proceed to Karatu for dinner and overnight at Bougainvillea Safari Lodge.

Meal Plan: Lunch & Dinner.

After breakfast collect picnic lunch and drive to Ngorongoro Crater. You may have a brief stop at the viewpoint for breathtaking views of the Crater floor from above, then descending 2000 feet (over 600 meters) to the floor of the crater (more precisely a caldera). This 304 square kilometre enclosed ecosphere was formed some two or three million years ago in the massive explosion of a volcano once higher than Kilimanjaro, and offers the best game viewing opportunities in all of Tanzania.

Explore the forest areas inhabited by monkeys and elephant, the lake area, where you may see the flamingos and the open savannah where the lions hunt for food. With some 25,000 large mammals within the caldera, you will have the opportunity to see, in addition to ‘the big five’ (elephant, lion, rhino, buffalo, and leopard), animals such as wildebeest, gazelle, reedbuck, bushbuck, hartebeest, hippo, antelope, both Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelle, impala, to name a few, as well as over 500 bird species.

After breakfast collect packed lunch and drive to Lake Manyara National Park. This is one of the most diverse of Tanzania’s national parks, a tiny (325km2) combination of Rift valley lake, dense woodlands and steep mountainside. Lake Manyara National Park is a birding paradise (more than 380 species), especially for waterfowl and migrants. Nestling at the base of the Great East African Rift Valley with overlapping habitats, the park supports a large number of animal species including the famous Lake Manyara tree climbing lions, giraffes, elephant, zebra, buffalo, leopard, hyena and many more.

After lunch drive back to Arusha; if you wish you may visit Mto wa Mbu market or any Masai market on the way before reaching Arusha in the late afternoon. Please let us know if you are flying on this day or need accommodation in Arusha.