On arrival, your friendly guide will welcome you and take you to your accommodation, and help you get settled in.  He or she will make sure you are all set for supper and will go over your planned itinerary with you to answer any questions you have.  He or she will also want to hear about any special dreams you may not yet have mentioned, as all our guides want your entire experience to be superb.  Once you are settled and comfortable, your guide will leave you to enjoy the evening and the sounds and smells of the Tanzanian night.

Enjoy two full days of game drives in Tarangire.  Watch elephants thundering down the hillside towards you, or Zebra kicking up the river water with their hooves.  Watch giraffe running through the acacia, and see if you can spot a lion, just waiting for someone to come near.  See how many different varieties of birds you can spot, as your guide is quick to point them out if you are interested.  Watch for leopards if you’re lucky.  On one day of your days, you may choose to drive down to the Silale Swamp where you can watch elephants and hippos eating their fill in the reeds, and see more birdlife than you have probably even imagined.  Egrets, Egyptian Geese, storks, eagles, ducks, lilac-breasted rollers, and many more birds hang out near the swamp and enjoy the lush greenery and plentiful water.  Stop for your packed lunch whenever the mood suits, and let your guide show you all the natural wonders to be found in Tarangire.  Maybe spot the banded mongoose stretched out over termite mounds enjoying their afternoon naps.  Many guests have said that Tarangire is really their favorite of all the national parks they visit; you might just find yourself among them!

These two days will be spectacular.  After breakfast each day, descend into the Ngorongoro Crater for a full day game drive and see the large numbers of animals living in this (relatively) small space, a World Heritage Site.  The Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest inactive, intact volcanic caldera formed when the Ngorongoro volcano exploded some 2 million years ago.  Some 25,000 animals live in the Crater, including Cape buffalo, hippopotamus, wildebeest, zebra, eland and many other species.  You may even have a chance to see the endangered black rhinoceros.  Visit the yellow fever tree groves, and ask your guide about them.  Watch for flamingos on the lake in the middle of the Crater, and keep your eyes peeled for all sorts of animals – large and small.  Then return to your accommodation on the Crater rim to download pictures, dream about your day, and eat a wonderful evening meal.

The Central area of the Serengeti is full of wildlife, especially in the July-October period.  You can expect to see the great cats; lions, cheetah and leopards, as well as many other animals:  elephants, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, hyenas…  The list doesn’t end there!  And the birdlife is also likely to be amazing.  Watch for francolins, red-necked spurfowl, raptors of various types, lovebirds – and again, the list could go on and on.  Colours and sounds will call for your attention from all around you.  Photographers will be in heaven with the amazing golden Serengeti light.  Simply immerse yourself in the experience and enjoy your first Serengeti day!

Depending on how you feel after the drive yesterday (and whether the wildebeest chewing near your tent or lions roaring in the distance kept you up in the night!), you may choose to relax a little this morning, or, you may be so excited you want to get up early and explore.  Either way, your guide and the camp will be happy to accommodate your wishes.  When you’re ready, you will head down towards the Mara river, seeking that first exciting crossing.  You may have seen National Geographic or other videos of the great herds of wildebeest crossing the Mara River.  They slowly make their way towards the river, and then a pathfinder will gradually test the waters and decide whether it is safe to cross.  Once he makes up his mind, thousands of wildebeest will follow in a great explosion of dust and thundering herds.  With the right timing, you may get to see this once-in-a-lifetime explosive crossing, with crocodiles and hippos lurking in the shadows.  Whether you see a crossing or not (or more than one!), your game drives through the Mara region will show you distinctive landscapes and an abundance of wild animals.  Watch for vultures circling to see where someone has eaten his lunch.  Watch hippos coming out of the water and walking across the grass – but stay out of their way as hippos are actually the most dangerous animals in Africa!  Look for hyrax or klipspringers in and around the kopjes, and smile at the banded mongoose who travel in groups and look like children’s toys.  Enjoy a full day of game drives in the Mara region, and return to your tent at night ready for a hot meal and sundowners around the fire.  Your second day can be a search for more crossings or you can head up the river exploring, or towards the triangle where Serengeti meets Kenya – either way, the sights and sounds will continue to fill your dreams at night!

Enjoy another full day in the Central Serengeti.  The animals may start to look familiar, but there are always new behaviours to observe, and new pictures to take.  Sit and watch elephants playing in a river, listen to the chorus of the guinea fowl, watch a leopard jump up a tree in a flash, or sit and watch a pride of lions; the interactions between the cubs are especially entertaining.  Find a watering hole and watch the animals who come at different times.  You may see elephants rushing down towards the water trumpeting, and how fast all the other animals scatter!  Or admire the beauty of zebras reflected in the still waters.  Have you seen a Yellow Thick-knee yet?  How about a Squacco heron?  Enjoy the never-ending discoveries, and then return to camp ready to relax and share your stories with one another.

Your final day is a chance to tour Mto Wa Mbu. Mto wa Mbu is a farming community where representatives from all 120 Tanzanian tribes live close to one another.  A local tour guide will walk you around the village and show you:

• how rice is cultivated & processed
• a banana plantation and how banana beer is made (you may even get to taste some!)
• a children’s school
• local artists, including painters and woodcarvers
• the colors, sounds and smells of the local market

After the tour of Mto Wa Mbu (always a highlight for our guests!), visit Lake Manyara National Park where you will have your picnic lunch.  You are likely to see hippos, warthogs, Cape Buffalo, zebra, and giraffe.  Possibly even the famous and unique tree-climbing lions, so keep your eyes open!  Likely, too, to see all sorts of birds; egrets, spoonbills, storks, bee-eaters, lilac-breasted rollers, kingfishers, herons of various types, and many, many more.   Stretch your legs at the boardwalk and hot springs, and watch all the hippos in the Lake.  As the afternoon advances, head back to Arusha for your departure.