Lake Manyara National Park
11 Days Tanzania
Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Maasai Village, mkomazi and Tarangire
In this tour we will cover the most popular destinations in Tanzania – Lake Manyara National Park, Central Serengeti, North Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Mkomazi National Park and Tarangire National Park. Tour starts in Moshi and ends at Arusha. With our experienced driver guides, it will be a trip of a lifetime.
According to the last few years pattern, the possibility of sighting the migration is in the North Serengeti region from July to October. Hence, this tour is recommended for the tour date between July and October months only.
ARRIVAL AT THE AIRPORT
Representative of Exodus Safaris will meet you at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) and escort you to tonight’s accommodations in Arusha / Moshi. As local Tanzania’s our guides know the country with unrivaled familiarity, so you’ll be in good hands from the moment you land to the moment you leave.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 1: MOSHI TO MKOMANZI NATIONAL PARK
Today your guide picks you up at your hotel in Moshi and you drive to Mkomazi national park. Its landscape is a classic arid area, you find old baobab trees, rocky hills, savannah forests with umbrella acacias and flat grassland valleys.
Mkomazi’s wildlife is thinly populated and also quite skittish. You can spot giraffes, antelopes, small kudu, impala and Grant gazelles. They share the park with elephants, buffalo and numerous predators, including lion, leopard and cheetah. And with some luck you can also spot other animals like dik diks, zebras, oryx, wildebeests, eland and topi on a game drive. The highlight is a heavily protected, fenced area in the park: the Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary! The rhinos here make up nearly 30% of the total black rhinoceros population in Tanzania
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 2: HALF DAY MAASAI EXPERIENCE TO ARUSHA
In the early morning, you can enjoy the amazing sunrise over Mount Kilimanjaro from your bed. After breakfast, you will take a nature walk with a Maasai guide in the surrounding areas of the lodge. Your guide will share insights into how the Maasai people live, what they eat, how they survive in nature, and how they make use of natural herbs for both food and medicine. You will see the famous rock-climbing trees, and pass a Maasai cave that has its own tradition and history. There is a small lake close to the lodge where the wild animals often come to drink in the early morning. After the nature walk, we will visit one of the local bomas (Maasai homes). You will get to see how the Maasai families are organized and truly experience their daily activities and the women’s hard work.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 3: ARUSHA TO LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK
Pick up at 8:00 AM from your hotel in Arusha and depart for Lake Manyara National Park with a picnic lunch for a full day game drive. As you enter the national park, lush forests of Acacia and Mahogany trees begin to set the mood for what is waiting ahead.
The game drive will go on till evening with a small break for picnic lunch. During the game drive watch out for buffaloes, giraffes, impalas, baboons and the blue monkeys. Another spectacle of Lake Manyara National park is the tree climbing lions, however spotting them is a game of luck. In the right season, you can see the shoreline turning pink with millions of flamingos flocking there. Post the game drive, you will head back to your camp/lodge where a delicious dinner awaits you.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 4: NGORONGORO CRATER TO SERENGETI PLAINS.
After early breakfast we will descend over 600 meters into the crater to view wildlife for a half day’s safari tour. Supported by a year round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro Crater supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park is its dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. We will visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the southwestern corner, which is one of the main features of the crater. A large number of flamingos, hippos and other water birds can usually been seen here. In the afternoon after lunch you will proceed to Serengeti for dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 5: FULL DAY CENTRAL SERENGETI
After the breakfast, you will do a full game viewing drive along the Sogore River Circuit, which loops into the plains south of the Seronera River, and which is good for possible lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings. The visitor’s center not far from the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and public campsites is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive. This nicely designed center, offers some interesting wildlife displays as well as a gift shop selling information leaflets and maps of the area. The center also has a shop where cold drinks and snacks can be purchased, as well as a picnic area and information trail up and around a nearby kopje. You will enjoy a relaxed picnic lunch at the center in the shade of the giant acacia trees.
In the afternoon, you will drive along the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes, which usually attract a number of lion and some formidably large cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems, providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rock after the rains. This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry seasons – including lions, which like to lie in wait for animals coming to drink!
Be one of only a few fortunate people to glide in a Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti Plains (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement). Floating silently above the awakening bush, while spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, across rivers and over numerous small villages.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 6: CENTRAL SERENGETI – NORTHERN SERENGETI
You can either have a relaxed breakfast and depart for game drives around 9:00 AM with packed lunch or you can depart at 6:00 AM on an early morning game drive. Later return to accommodation for breakfast and depart to North Serengeti with packed lunch. You will explore the central portion of the Serengeti National Park today and move towards the northern part of the park. The enroute game drive towards the Kogatende region will offer mild action from resident games. As you approach the northern part of the Serengeti, you will notice the terrain change from the usual plain grassland to a more hilly and broken terrain. The northern region offers a variety of resident game such as zebras, topi, gazelle, buffaloes, leopards and lions. A picnic lunch will be done during the day long drive itself. Based on the time of your arrival you will be able to spend a few hours by the Mara River. The eventful day comes to an end with a heavy dinner and a good night’s rest in your accommodation.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 7-8: NORTHERN SERENGETI GAME DRIVE
You can either have a relaxed breakfast and depart for full day game drives around 9:00 AM with packed lunch and return back to lodge late afternoon around 6:00 PM. Or you can depart at 6:00 AM on an early morning game drive. Later return to accommodation for breakfast and relax for a bit and depart on an afternoon game drive with packed lunch. In the months between mid June to september the migration can be found in this region. From mid June to September, the Mara River in this region offers the most dramatic river crossing of the great migration. Fierce,deep and heavily rain fed the river takes an enormous toll on the migrating wildebeest. Watching the wildebeest surging through the torrential flow, some drowning and a few falling prey to lurking crocodiles is an unforgettable sight. If it’s your lucky day you will be able to witness this natural wonder and watch nature take its course. Tracing the great migration you might even move towards the Lobo valley. The pristine lobo valley is scattered with woodlands, plains, hills and famous granite Kopjes.It offers an enormous amount of big cat game with lions, leopards and cheetah in plenty. During the dry season the permanent water sources in the valley attract plenty of resident and migratory animals, resulting in excellent game viewing. During the full day game drive, you will have a stop where you can have your picnic lunch. The day comes to an end with a tasty dinner and a good rest in your choice of accommodation.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 9: NORTHERN SERENGETI – CENTRAL SERENGETI
You can either have a relaxed breakfast and depart for game drives around 9:00 AM with packed lunch or you can depart at 6:00 AM on an early morning game drive. Later return to accommodation for breakfast and relax for a bit and depart to Central Serengeti with packed lunch. The four hour drive to the centre will offer mild enroute game. The drive south from the Mara river valley takes you through hill country, the Lobo area, woodlands and then back into Seronera terrain.The central portion of the Serengeti – known as Seronera area is one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park. It features the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengetis’ species. As you make your way into the Seronera region, you will begin to notice the hilly and broken terrain altering into plain grasslands. In Seronera one must really look out for the many lion prides that thrive in this region.The interactions and survival of these lion prides provide an excellent game viewing experience all year round. A picnic lunch will be done during the day long drive itself. The eventful day comes to an end with a heavy dinner and a good night’s rest in your accommodation.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 10: CENTRAL TO KARATU
After early breakfast at the camp, we will start driving out of Serengeti while doing game on route driving back to Karatu and you will dropped at your Hotel in Karatu in the evening.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DAY 11: KARATU TO TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
Your day will begin after a breakfast by about 8.00Am with a full day game drive in Tarangire National Park ahead of you. The national park is extremely famous and special for its diverse landscape and nine different vegetation zones. As you begin your game drive, you will be welcomed by the ancient and gigantic Baobab trees, which make even animals like the giraffe look tiny. The game drive goes on till about late afternoon and includes a small stop for a picnic lunch. The 3,000 Sq Kms Park gets its name from the Tarangire River that flows through it. The river attracts a lot of diverse animals and you should be able to spot a lot of elephants, giraffe, lions, antelopes and zebras. If it’s your lucky day, you might be able to spot the tree climbing python and the long necked Gerek. The Tarangire National Park has the highest concentration of elephants, which offers a unique chance for you to observe interactions between elephant families. Don’t forget to capture this beautiful scenery with your camera ready at hand. By mid-afternoon, you will head back to your camp/lodge where a delicious dinner awaits you. You will branch out and head towards Arusha where you will be dropped off to your preferred location by about 6PM in the evening. With an incredible experience and loads of memories to cherish, this is the time you bid goodbye to your team for the next day catching flight back home.
Meal Plan: Full Board
DEPARTURE
You will be picked up from the hotel and be transferred to the airport to catch up your flight back home.
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