5 Days Serengeti Wildebeest Migration Tour

You will be picked up from Kilimanjaro International Airport and transferred by private vehicle to Arusha for dinner and an overnight stay. If time allows, you can take a walking tour of a coffee plantation or choose to visit Arusha National Park before your big adventure begins. Your guide will brief you on the days ahead.

Stay: Tulia LodgeMeals: Half board (dinner)

Today you choose between Tarangire National Park and Lake Manyara National Park. Depending on the time of year, each park offers a different safari experience, and your guide can advise which is best during your safari. For Tarangire, you depart Arusha after breakfast for the drive of about two hours, passing bustling Maasai villages and the vast, open plains that have become synonymous with images of Africa. For Lake Manyara, the drive also takes about two hours and passes through the town of Mto wa Mbu, an agricultural and fresh produce market that is a melting pot of local cultures and a paradise for souvenir hunters.

Stay: Ole African LodgeMeals: Dinner

After an early breakfast, a big day of exploration lies ahead. The scenic drive toward the Serengeti takes you through the mist-shrouded rainforests of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where you may be lucky enough to glimpse Cape buffalo, baboons, or even elephants and leopards in the dense undergrowth. After lunch at the Serengeti picnic site, it is time to explore the Serengeti itself. Witness Africa's iconic savannah landscape and be amazed by the sheer number of animals that roam these grassy plains. Dinner and overnight in the heart of the Serengeti.

Stay: Kati Kati Tented CampMeals: Full board

Wake before dawn for a sunrise game drive. As the sun lights up the savannah, you have the best chance to see predators taking advantage of the low light and cooler temperatures to look for an early meal. It is an ideal time to see lions, leopards and cheetahs in action, along with the early morning movements of wildebeest, zebras and other herbivores. Alternatively, take to the skies on a sunrise hot air balloon safari with a champagne breakfast, a once-in-a-lifetime experience that can be added at extra cost. Afterward, return to camp for a late breakfast and a shower before heading out again with a picnic lunch. Your driver chooses the best route based on the time of year and the animals you would like to see.

Stay: Kati Kati Tented CampMeals: Full board

After breakfast, we head back toward the Ngorongoro Crater, driving through the Serengeti by a different route that offers plenty of chances to spot animals that eluded you on day two. As far as the eye can see, you may spot thousands of wildebeest and zebras migrating together, tall and graceful giraffes, antelopes and gazelles, the powerful African elephant and, most respected of all, the predators. Look out for lean cheetahs, shy leopards and foraging hyenas, and last but not least, the king himself: the lion. Dinner and overnight on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater or in nearby Karatu.

Stay: Elli's Tree Lodge or Ngorongoro Rhino LodgeMeals: Full board

After breakfast, depart for the Ngorongoro Crater, considered by some to be the Eighth Wonder of the World. From the panoramic viewpoint, your first glimpse of this vast, verdant caldera shows why it has earned such a reputation. Home to over 120 species of mammal, including the Big Five, it is one of the most sought-after safari destinations in the world. It is a very good place to see the endangered black rhino grazing on the open plains and large numbers of hippos in the cool water, alongside lions, leopards, cheetahs, jackals, hyenas, wildebeest, zebras, antelope and Cape buffalo. After a picnic lunch by the famous hippo pool, you are transferred to the airport for your flight home, or to Arusha for an overnight stay, depending on your flight time.

Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch