Overview
| Accommodation | Confirmed together with you — see the Rates tab for general comfort levels we work with. |
|---|---|
| Meals | Full board on safari days; meals as specified for any city/beach nights, per your final itinerary. |
Day by Day (2 days)
LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK GAME DRIVE
Lake Manyara is a compact park between the Rift Valley escarpment and a shallow alkaline lake. The hippo pool near the lake shore is a good place to see hippos out of the water in the early morning or late afternoon. The road starts in groundwater forest, where blue monkeys, vervet monkeys and large troops of olive baboons live among mahogany and fig trees, then opens onto grassland and the lake shore. Game drives here are short and varied, so you can fit them in before or after the drive to Karatu or the Ngorongoro highlands. Hot springs at Maji Moto in the south of the park are an optional stop for travellers who want to see the geothermal activity. The Rift Valley escarpment rises more than 600 metres above the park and gives a dramatic backdrop to the lake and the forest. You can also add a canopy walk, a night game drive or a mountain-bike ride through the farms on the escarpment as an optional extra. The tree-climbing lions for which the park was once known are still occasionally seen resting on the branches of acacia trees. Tonight you stay at a clean, comfortable budget lodge or camp with simple rooms, hot showers and generous home-style meals.
NGORONGORO CRATER DESCENT AND GAME DRIVE
At dawn you drive down the steep crater road to the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest unbroken volcanic caldera in the world, about 260 square kilometres across and 600 metres deep. You then climb out and continue to your next stop. Serval cats, bat-eared foxes and spotted hyenas are among the smaller predators that you can look out for on the crater floor. The crater formed when a giant volcano collapsed some two to three million years ago, leaving a caldera whose walls rise about 600 metres. The crater floor holds roughly 25,000 large animals in a natural enclosure, so the viewing is concentrated and reliable throughout the year. Picnic lunch is at the hippo pool, and vehicles are limited to six hours on the crater floor so you must descend early. Mornings can be cool and misty at the rim, so bring a warm jacket. Flamingos gather on the soda lake, and golden jackals, servals and secretary birds are often found on the grassland. Maasai herders are allowed to graze their cattle in the conservation area, and you will see them with their herds on the rim and highlands. You search for black rhinos, one of the best places in Africa to see them, along with lions, spotted hyenas, elephants, buffalo, hippos and huge herds of wildebeest and zebra.
Rates Per Person
The Overview tab explains the accommodation and meal options. Send us your dates and group size for an exact price.
Next: Inclusions →Inclusions
Included
- Private vehicle with your own driver-guide
- Park entry and conservation fees
- Accommodation as specified in your itinerary
- Meals as specified per day (full board on safari days)
- Airport pickup and drop-off
Excluded
- International flights
- Visa fees
- Travel insurance
- Tips and gratuities
- Personal expenses and souvenirs
Getting There
Tour Start & End
This trip starts in Ngorongoro Crater and ends in Lake Manyara National Park.
Airport Information
Kilimanjaro International Airport or Mwanza Airport is the most common arrival point for this trip.
Transfer Information
We meet you at the airport and handle every transfer between destinations throughout your trip.
Accommodation Before/After
Want an extra night in Arusha, Moshi or Zanzibar before or after your trip? Just ask and we will arrange it.