12-Day Tanzania Bush to Beach

You are welcomed at Kilimanjaro International Airport and driven to your hotel in Moshi or Arusha. That evening your safari guide meets you for a briefing on the days ahead — the route, the wildlife to expect and any last-minute questions.

A relaxed morning drive south brings you to Tarangire National Park, famous for its elephant families and sculptural baobab trees. Afternoon game viewing follows the Tarangire River, where wildlife concentrates as the surrounding land dries out.

A short drive takes you to Lake Manyara National Park, tucked beneath the Great Rift Valley escarpment. Look for its famous tree-climbing lions, big baboon troops and hippos, while flamingos and pelicans crowd the soda lake when water levels allow.

You cross the Ngorongoro highlands and enter the Serengeti National Park. The plains stretch to the horizon in every direction. Your first drive weaves through the Seronera Valley, a dependable place for leopards draped in trees and lions on the kopjes. Arrive at camp in time for sunset.

An entire day to roam wherever the wildlife leads. With a flexible guide you can follow the migration, spend hours with a cheetah family, or search the riverine forest for leopard. Dawn and dusk drives bookend the day, with a picnic lunch served under a shady acacia.

You push north towards the Mara River, the dramatic stage for the migration’s famous river crossings (roughly July to October). Even outside the crossing season this is gorgeous country — rolling kopjes, resident predators and far fewer vehicles. Leisurely game drives fill the day.

A morning game drive accompanies your drive south. En route you may stop at Olduvai Gorge, the “Cradle of Mankind”, or visit a Maasai village. You arrive on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater in the afternoon for sweeping views and a comfortable night at altitude.

Descend early into the Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world’s largest intact caldera. Around 25,000 large animals live here year-round, including all of the Big Five and a healthy population of black rhino. After a picnic lunch you ascend and drive to Arusha.

After breakfast you fly from Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar. You are met on arrival and transferred to your beach hotel, where the next five nights unfold at your own pace. Spend the afternoon settling in — the warm ocean is only steps away.

A free day on the island. Snorkel or dive the coral reef, take a traditional dhow to a sandbank, visit the sea-turtle sanctuary at Nungwi, or simply trade the pool for the sea and back again. Our local team can arrange any excursion you fancy.

Depending on your flight home, today can include a guided Stone Town walking tour — the old slave market, the House of Wonders and the labyrinth of alleys — plus a spice-farm visit to see, smell and taste the cloves and vanilla that shaped the island’s history.

A final morning swim if time allows, then you are transferred to Zanzibar International Airport for your flight home. Extensions to Pemba, Mafia or a Kilimanjaro climb can be added on either end of the trip.