Today, there is departure from your chosen airport, and you head for Tanzania in East Africa with connecting flight(s) en route.

The heat will probably hit you already when you leave the airplane, as, at Kilimanjaro Airport, you get off the airplane and cross the runway to get to the terminal. You may hear your first “Jambo”, which means hello in Swahili – often followed by “karibu”, which means welcome. If you want to get into the local lingo from the start, you answer “asante sana” – thank you very much.

The immigration process is simple, but it may still take a little time. Hakuna matata. Welcome to Tanzania!

Your local guide will be waiting for you outside the airport to take you to your place of overnight accommodation. You sleep near Arusha, which is both a tourist and administrative centre here in the northern part of Tanzania.

The day is at your own disposal to relax after the flight.

After a good night’s sleep, you are ready to get on with today’s adventure. From Arusha, the tour heads south to Tanzania’s sixth largest national park – Tarangire National Park. The drive to the national park takes about three hours, and you have your packed lunch with you to optimise the time. You typically eat your packed lunch on arrival at the national park.

The day offers a safari in Tarangire National Park. As you are spending the night right outside the park, you have the whole day to go on safari here. And, among the attractions, you can look forward to experiencing elephants in abundance! The park is home to the largest number of elephants in all of Northern Tanzania. There are several reasons why elephants like to be here. One of the reasons is that they can always find water in Tarangire. Even during the driest period of the year, when the river is almost dried out, the elephants know where to dig for water.

In addition to elephants, the park offers giraffes, zebras, antelopes, buffaloes, gnus – and of course also the big cats.

Tarangire National Park is also known for its many baobab trees. You have to be unlucky not to get a picture of an elephant under a baobab tree, which perfectly illustrates just how big some of these trees are. The baobab tree is one of the world’s oldest tree genera, and, according to some estimates, the tree can become up to 3,000 years old. It is said that a baobab tree is only fully grown when it is 1,000 years old!

From Tarangire, the tour now heads towards Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The drive will certainly not be boring, as the route goes via Lake Manyara National Park.

Most visitors to Lake Manyara National Park enter via the north entrance. What many people do not know is that the park also has a south entrance, which is the one you will use today.

To get here from Tarangire, you drive through small, local villages, rarely visited by foreign travellers. Make yourself comfortable in the car and look forward to experiencing a unique area of the country.

Lake Manyara National Park is one of Tanzania’s smallest national parks. For years, the park has marketed itself as “the park with the tree climbing lions”, but, in our opinion, the greatest attraction is the completely unique ecosystem you will find here.

The National Park, which is narrow and long, is bounded to the east by the lake itself, Lake Manyara, and to the west by the up to 600-metre high slopes of the Rift Valley. In between lie open grassy plains, a jungle-like forest, mangroves, hot springs and swamps. The diversity is unmatched, and it is impressive to see how drastically the natural surroundings change in a relatively small area.

From Lake Manyara, you drive into the spectacular Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where you will spend one night.

From the early morning, you drive down into the mighty Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is the world’s largest intact caldera. The volcano exploded 2-3 million years ago and collapsed on top of itself, leaving behind a giant hole that is today home to more than 25,000 animals and 500 different species of birds.

The drive down into the actual crater is a highlight in itself. With the safari vehicle’s roof up, you drive down, down, down. You can feel the temperature change and smell the many different trees and flowers until you finally reach the microcosm at the bottom.

The crater floor itself is flat with an area of 260 km2 in size, and the crater rim towers just over 600 metres above you. It feels a bit like you are at the bottom of the world, but, in fact, the crater floor is 2,000 metres above sea level.

The only species of the classic safari animals you will not find here is the giraffe. You can think about why this is on your way down into the crater. Otherwise, you can find all safari animals here – and in large numbers! Elephants, zebras, gnus, buffaloes, lions, flamingos, hippos, antelopes, storks, hyenas, jackals – why, you may be fortunate enough even to see the endangered black rhinoceros.

After a few wonderful hours in the crater, you drive back up and head for Serengeti National Park. This is probably among the most beautiful drives in the world. From the lush area here on the slopes of the volcano, you drive towards the endless plains of Serengeti, where only small bushes – and the infinite number of animals – disturb the gaze that is drawn towards the horizon.

The afternoon is spent on safari as you venture further and further out into the plains. You will spend the night in central Serengeti.

If you want a change of perspective, we highly recommend starting the day with a balloon safari while the sun rises above Serengeti.

The day is spent on a full-day safari in Serengeti looking for “The Big Five”: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffaloes. You have the whole day to enjoy the wildlife and nature in stunning Serengeti.

The ecosystem in the park is considered to be among the oldest in the world, and it is hard not to feel both humble and deeply amazed when you sit in the land cruiser and soak up all the impressions. Outside the dry season, in addition to the above animals, there are also large numbers of Thomson’s gazelles, buffaloes, Topi antelopes, Grant’s gazelles, elk antelopes, warthogs, eagles, ostriches etc. Today, you will probably also see and smell hippos wallowing in the so-called hippo pools.

The next two nights are spent in Ikoma Wildcamp. Ikoma is located just outside the northwestern part of Serengeti National Park – in a so-called Wildlife Management Area. Here, there are phenomenal views of the Serengeti plain as well as the opportunity for some completely unique experiences you cannot get inside the national park itself.

In Serengeti, you rise together with the sun, and it is always exciting to hear if the camp has had any visitors during the night.

After a hearty breakfast, you can look forward to another safari drive on the mighty plains. Perhaps today is the day that you are lucky enough to get a good look at the otherwise very shy leopard?

If you are here during the months of the great migration, the guide may suggest driving north towards the Mara River, located on the border to Masai Mara in Kenya. Every year, the Mara River sets the stage for the dramatic images you may have seen on TV. Thousands of gnus cross the river, while the crocodiles lie in waiting for a meal to be served. The herds of gnus are in constant motion, and your guide will assess only on the day itself whether it is a good idea to move north, or whether the time is better spent with a game drive elsewhere in Serengeti. The crossing of the Mara River typically takes place between July and October.

Either way, you must also remember to just enjoy the view of the endless plains.

It is time to say goodbye to Serengeti and Tanzania. You are driven to central Serengeti, from where you fly towards Arusha. Here you are met by a guide and driven to Kilimanjaro International Airport, from where your journey home begins.

If you like, you can choose to extend your stay a little. How about a few days in Arusha to digest the experiences? Or maybe you would like to get closer to the Maasai culture and stay a few nights in a genuine Maasai lodge? Of course, you can also choose to conclude your tour on the tropical paradise island of Zanzibar.

You land at your chosen airport after an outstanding safari experience.