Grumeti Migration Safari

The Grumeti wildebeest migration itinerary is designed to include both the Seronera area (Central Serengeti National Park) and the Western corridor (Western Serengeti National Park). Here, the majority of the wildebeest migration can normally be found from May to July. This package is designed to maximize the chance to see the crossing and also stay at luxury lodges and tented camps very close to nature.

Day 1:Arrival – Arusha

Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport where our airport office representative will meet and greet you and assist you in case of visa or any passport control issues. You will then be welcomed to our office for refreshments where you will meet your guide who will then transfer you to Arusha for dinner and overnight at the hotel. Arusha is a city in East Africa's Tanzania located at the base of volcanic Mt. Meru. It's a gateway to safari destinations and to Africa's highest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,895m) lying some 100km northeast.

Main Destination: Arusha City

Accommodation: Mount Meru Hotel

Meals & Drinks: Breakfast & dinner (Lunch not included)

Drinking water (Other drinks not included)

Day 2:Tarangire National Park

After breakfast at the hotel and a short safari briefing, you will depart and drive to Tarangire National Park for a full-day game drive in the park. In the afternoon, your driver will set and prepare a table for a full, hot lunch (soup, bread rolls, main dish, and fruit salad) followed by a glass of wine, tea, or coffee. You will then continue with a game drive until the evening when we drive to the luxury camp for dinner and overnight. Tarangire National Park is located slightly off the main safari route and is a lovely quiet park in Northern Tanzania. It is most famous for its elephant migration, birding, and quiet authentic safari atmosphere. The majority of travelers to the region either miss out on Tarangire altogether or venture into the park for only a matter of hours, leaving parts of Tarangire virtually untouched.

Main Destination: Tarangire National Park

Accommodation: Acacia Tarangire Luxury Camp

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

All drinks (Premium wines & liquors might be excluded)

Day 3:Lake Manyara National Park

Have breakfast at the camp and then drive to Lake Manyara National Park for a full-day game drive. In the afternoon, your driver will set and prepare a table for a full, hot lunch (soup, bread rolls, main dish, and fruit salad) followed by a glass of wine, tea, or coffee. After lunch, you continue with the game drive until the evening when you drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight. Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s birdlife. More than 400 species have been recorded and even a first-time visitor to Africa might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these in one day. Inland of the floodplain, a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favored haunt of Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions and impressively-tusked elephants.

Main Destination: Lake Manyara National Park

Accommodation: Mawe Mawe Lodge

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

All drinks (Premium wines & liquors might be excluded)

Day 4:Serengeti National Park - Western Corridor

Breakfast at the lodge is followed by a game drive in Serengeti National Park where you search for the Big Five. In the afternoon, your driver will set and prepare a table for a full, hot lunch (soup, bread rolls, main dish, and fruit salad) followed by a glass of wine, tea, or coffee. Late afternoon, you will check in at the lodge for dinner and overnight.

"The only living things which look as if they really belonged to it are the wild animals. Between the animals and Africa, there is an understanding that the human beings have not yet earned" - Laurens van der Post, Venture to the Interior, 1963.

Today, the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and the Masai Mara National Reserve across the border in Kenya, protect the greatest and most varied collection of terrestrial wildlife on earth, and one of the last great migratory systems still intact.

Main Destination: Western Serengeti National Park

Accommodation: Lahia Tented Lodge

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

All drinks (Premium wines & liquors might be excluded)

Day 5:Serengeti National Park - Western Corridor

Breakfast at the camp is followed by a game drive on the western side of Serengeti National Park. We'll view the Grumeti area river crossing and search for the big cats and the Big Five. In the afternoon, your driver will set and prepare a table for a full, hot lunch (soup, bread rolls, main dish, and fruit salad) followed by a glass of wine, tea, or coffee. Continue with the game drive until the evening when we drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

To focus solely on the Serengeti's migration would be to do the Serengeti a grave injustice. Even taking the great migration out of the equation, it can be argued that the Serengeti is still the finest park in Africa. If you are intent on viewing the great migration, then it is probably more critical to stay in the right region for your travel dates than to deliberate too long about the style of camp or hotel you are looking for. This park is so big that if you get the location wrong, you will not see the herds.

Main Destination: Western Serengeti National Park

Accommodation: Lahia Tented Lodge

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

All drinks (Premium wines & liquors might be excluded)

Day 6:Serengeti National Park Central - Seronera Area

After breakfast, we proceeded to Serengeti National Park in the Central Seronera area for a game drive. In the afternoon your driver will set and prepare a table for a full, hot lunch (soup, bread rolls, main dish, and fruit salad) followed by a glass of wine, tea, or coffee. After lunch, we continue with a game drive until the evening when we drive to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Serengeti National Park is well known for its healthy stock of other resident wildlife, particularly the "Big Five" named for the 5 most prized trophies taken by hunters. The Serengeti is believed to hold the largest population of lions in Africa due in part to the abundance of prey species. More than 3,000 lions live in this ecosystem. The reclusive predators (the leopards), are commonly seen in the Seronera region but are present throughout the national park with a population of around 1,000 African elephants.

Main Destination: Central Serengeti National Park

Accommodation: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

All drinks (Premium wines & liquors might be excluded)

Day 7:Serengeti National Park - Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Breakfast at the lodge is followed by a game drive in Serengeti National Park searching for the big cats and the Big Five. In the afternoon, your driver will set and prepare a table for a full, hot lunch (soup, bread rolls, main dish, and fruit salad) followed by a glass of wine, tea, or coffee. In the late afternoon, we arrive at Ngorongoro for dinner and overnight.

The migration is when a million wildebeest, each one driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfill their instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life. It is a frenzied 3-week bout of territorial conquests and mating and survival of the fittest as 40km (25 miles) long columns plunge through crocodile-infested waters on the annual exodus north. They replenish the species in a brief population explosion that produces more than 8,000 calves daily before the 1,000 km (600 miles) pilgrimage begins again.

Main Destination: Central Serengeti National Park

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge

Meals & Drinks: All meals included

All drinks (Premium wines & liquors might be excluded)

Day 8:Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha

Have an early breakfast at the lodge and then drive to the Ngorongoro Crater for the game drive in the crater. In the afternoon, your driver will set and prepare a table for a full, hot lunch (soup, bread rolls, main dish, and fruit salad) followed by a glass of wine, tea, or coffee. After lunch, you continue with a game drive. We drive back to Arusha in the late afternoon where we will drop you off at the airport.

The jewel in Ngorongoro's crown is a deep, volcanic crater - the largest unflooded and unbroken caldera in the world. About 20km across, 600m deep, and 300 sq. km in area, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder. We will visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the southwestern corner which is one of the main features of the crater. A large number of hippos, flamingos, and other waterbirds can usually be seen here.

Main Destination: Ngorongoro Crater

Accommodation: No accommodation (End of tour)

Meals & Drinks: Breakfast & lunch (Dinner not included)

All drinks (Premium wines & liquors might be excluded)

End of tour.