Following the Serengeti Migration: A 6-Day Safari

We reach the lodge in time for lunch, and afterward set off into Lake Manyara National Park for an afternoon game drive. This is one of Tanzania’s most dramatically set wildlife areas: a huge but shallow soda lake fills two-thirds of the park, lying at the base of the Great Rift Valley’s western escarpment. The varied habitat draws a wide range of animals, among them one of Africa’s largest elephant populations, Lake Manyara’s unique tree-climbing lions, and big flocks of flamingos drawn by the algae in the lake.

Following breakfast, we make our way to Serengeti National Park through the beautiful high farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We leave the highlands behind and drop into the heart of wild Africa, the Serengeti National Park, whose endless plains roll away as far as the eye can see. Our base is the central part of the park, the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park. The Seronera River runs through it, giving a valuable water source that draws wildlife representing most of the Serengeti’s species.

Be one of the lucky few to glide over the Serengeti Plains in a Hot Air Balloon (available at supplementary cost by pre-arrangement). You drift silently above the waking bush, spotting wildlife and enjoying the amazing scenery of Africa, over rivers and many small villages. After breakfast we take a game drive along the Sogore River Circuit, a loop into the plains south of the Seronera River that is good for possible Lion, Thomson gazelle, topi, ostrich and cheetah sightings. The Visitor Center near the Serengeti Seronera Lodge and the public campsites is well worth a visit after the morning’s game drive.

Following breakfast at the lodge, we leave for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. On the way we stop at Olduvai Gorge, a place with a history reaching back to the dawn of time. Here the anthropologists Drs. Louis and Mary Leakey found the skulls of ‘Nutcracker Man’ and ‘Handy Man’, two very important links in the chain of human evolution. We reach the lodge in time for lunch, and once we have eaten we drive more than 600 meters down into the crater for a half-day safari tour to see its wildlife.

Breakfast is followed by our departure for Tarangire National Park. The park follows the course of the Tarangire River and is largely made of low hills on the floor of the Great Rift Valley. Its natural vegetation is mostly Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with large swamp areas in the south. During Tanzania’s dry season, both the river and the swamps draw wild animals like a magnet. Tarangire National Park has a reputation for holding some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. The park also shelters three rare animal species – the Greater Kudu and the Fringed-eared Oryx, along with a few Ashy Starlings. We eat a picnic lunch and then go on an afternoon game drive.

Early in the morning we go on a game drive in Tarangire National Park, then return to the lodge for breakfast. After that we transfer back to Arusha, where we have lunch and bring our African safari adventure to a close. The group should tip the guide about $20 a day. You are taken to your hotel, which marks the end of our safari services.