14-Day Tanzania Grand Safari

You are met at Kilimanjaro International Airport and transferred to your hotel below Mount Kilimanjaro. In the evening your guide joins you to talk through the two-week grand tour — the parks, the Lake Natron detour and the migration strategy.

Begin gently at Arusha National Park. A guided walking safari puts you on foot among giraffe, buffalo and warthog, after which a game drive explores the Ngurdoto Crater and the bird-rich Momella Lakes.

Drive south to Tarangire National Park, a sculpted world of baobabs and granite ridges that hosts enormous elephant herds. An afternoon game drive follows the Tarangire River, where animals gather in the dry months.

Continue to Lake Manyara National Park, a narrow band of groundwater forest, grassland and soda lake at the base of the Rift Valley escarpment. Look for tree-climbing lions, elephants, hippos and flamingos before heading up into the highlands.

A spectacular drive carries you north along the Rift Valley escarpment toward remote Lake Natron. The stark volcanic landscape, red-hued water and the looming cone of Ol Doinyo Lengai create one of the most otherworldly scenes in Tanzania. Arrive in time for sunset over the lake.

A day to explore Lake Natron on foot. Walk to the Engare Sero waterfalls through a dramatic gorge, and visit the shoreline where flocks of lesser flamingos feed on the algae-rich water. Optionally meet the Maasai families who live in this harsh, beautiful country.

Travel via the remote northern route into the Serengeti National Park, entering through the quieter reaches of the park. Your first game drive explores this wilder sector, with excellent chances of big cats and the migrating herds in season. Settle into a camp in the northern or central Serengeti.

A full day in the northern Serengeti, where the plains stretch toward Kenya. From mid-year onward this is where the Mara River crossings take place, and even outside the crossing period the kopjes and riverine woodland teem with wildlife. Long, patient game drives reveal the park at its most dramatic.

Move south through the park to the Seronera Valley, the wildlife heart of the Serengeti. The Seronera River supports year-round concentrations of animals, and its leopard-filled trees and kopjes are legendary. Your camp for the next two nights is right in the middle of the action.

A full day in the central Serengeti, with dawn and dusk drives to catch the predators at their most active. Depending on the season, your guide may head toward the southern plains or the western corridor. Optional hot-air balloon safari at sunrise.

Leave the plains on a final morning game drive and ascend into the Ngorongoro highlands. En route, an optional Maasai village visit offers a warm introduction to local culture. The crater rim reveals an unforgettable panorama as the sun sets.

Descend onto the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater for a full day of game driving in one of Africa’s greatest wildlife arenas. Some 25,000 large animals live in the caldera, and all of the Big Five are possible, including the endangered black rhino. Picnic beside the hippo pool before returning to the rim.

A relaxed day in the fertile highlands around Karatu. Choose a coffee or banana plantation visit, a guided forest walk, or a cultural walk with the Iraqw people. It is a gentle, grounding day after the drama of the crater.

After breakfast, drive back to Arusha or Moshi through the highlands for your onward flight. With six destinations explored, there is still more to see — a Zanzibar beach break or a Kilimanjaro climb can extend the adventure, and we will gladly arrange either.