Day 1 - Arrive Arusha

On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you are met by our representative and transferred to your hotel in Arusha for the night. The lodge comprises 18 contemporary African styled chalets ideally positioned in a thirty-acre active coffee farm. 

Overnight: Lake Duluti Lodge

Day 2 - Arusha to Tarangire National Park

After an early breakfast, meet your guide at the lodge reception and transfer to the airport for your scheduled flight to Tarangire National Park which famous for its large elephant herds and picturesque landscapes dotted with baobab trees. 

Upon arrival at Kuro airstrip, you are met by a Sanctuary Swala representative and transferred to the lodge with a game drive en-route. You have time to lunch and enjoy an afternoon siesta before setting out on an afternoon game drive where you explore Tarangire’s valleys and riverbeds looking for herds of impala, eland, kudu and buffalo that wander the park's vast swamps and river. The park is also a bird lover's paradise with over 550 bird species and flocks of migratory birds from January to March. Return to your lodge just before sunset to freshen up before dinner.

In the heart of Maasai country and a remote corner of the Tarangire, in total seclusion amongst giant acacia trees and looking out beyond the flat savannah, Sanctuary Swala offers a very exclusive safari experience. The picturesque landscape is filled with ancient baobab trees, ambling elephants and birds in flight. 

Twelve spacious canvas pavilions ensure unrivalled tranquillity overlooking a popular watering hole. The wood-floored open-plan rooms have been staged with elegant neutral-toned interiors, matching safari-chic furnishings with rich African textiles, blending seamlessly with the raw and natural beauty of Tanzania's cinematic savannah. Indoor and outdoor bush-view showers ensure more magical moments with floor-to-ceiling 180° views while the pavilions' private decks, mean you won't miss a sight. Each furnishing has been chosen based on its eco-friendly design; from repurposed artefacts to bespoke creations.

Overnight: Sanctuary Swala 

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 3 - Tarangire National Park

Today, set out into the park with a picnic lunch to maximize your time in this wonderful wilderness area. Centered on the Tarangire River, this park has expansive views with wide panoramas of wooded savannah stretching in every direction. The most outstanding feature is the Tarangire River, which is permanent and the only reliable dry-season source of water available to wildlife in this vast stretch of Tanzania's Rift Valley. The river attracts tremendous concentrations of animals and birds.

Make your way back to camp in the afternoon and choose to stretch your legs on a little bush walk should you wish. This is a fantastic way of learning about tracking animals, what plants are helpful, which are harmful and seeing the myriad of small creatures which are so important to the eco system.

Overnight: Sanctuary Swala 

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 4 - Ngorongoro Crater

Enjoy an leisurely breakfast before transferring to the airstrip for your flight to Manyara airstrip. You are met on arrival and driven to Ngorongoro. 

Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp, in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation area, is nestled into an Acacia forest near the crater rim with easy access to the floor for game drives. The small camp comprises of just 10 classic safari tents, all with en suite bathrooms with an indoor shower, kingsize beds, and everything that makes a Sanctuary tented camp an authentic safari experience. A small sitting area in front of each tent provides the ideal setting where early morning coffee and biscuits can be enjoyed before starting the day of incredible game viewing.

The three large main tents provide a dining area where scrumptious meals are served, a lounge area perfect for afternoon relaxation, and lounge bar where pre-dinner drinks are served. All of the main areas include breath taking views of the spectacular surrounding scenery and large trees surrounding this intimate camp.

At sundown you can sit around a campfire, nicknamed "bush television" by guides here, and indulge in recounting the adventures of the day over a drink.

Overnight: Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp 

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 5 - Full day in Ngorongoro 

Your game drive today will be like no other as you visit one of the most dramatic safari destinations in Africa, the Ngorongoro Crater. Descend to the crater floor in search of the big 5 with the backdrop of the forest covered crater walls surrounding you, creating a stunning canvas for all your wildlife photographs. Travel through the Lerai Forest looking for leopard and onto the plains where the wildebeest and zebra graze whilst cheetah and lion lay and watch. Old elephants pass your vehicle whilst further afield rhino wander in search of grazing and hippos hide in the pools. A picnic lunch is provided so you can maximize your day in the crater.

This deep, volcanic crater and the largest unbroken caldera in the world; about 20 kilometres across, 600 meters deep and 300 sq kilometres in area, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder. Within the crater rim large herds of zebra and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun. At dawn, the endangered black rhino returns to the thick cover of the crater forests after grazing on dew-laden grass in the morning mist. Just outside the crater's ridge, tall Maasai herd their cattle and goats over green pastures living alongside the wildlife as they have for centuries.

You have the option to visit the AK Philanthropy Women’s Bike Shop to see how the project has changed the lives of the ladies working there. 

Overnight: Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp 

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 6 - Ngorongoro to Serengeti

It is an early start today to catch your flight to the Serengeti National Park. From the air enjoy the magnificent views of the Great Rift Valley Escarpment and, if it is clear, the Ngorongoro Crater.

You are met in the Serengeti by your Driver Guide who will once again have your private vehicle waiting for you. Enjoy your first Serengeti game drive on the way to the camp for check in followed by lunch.

In the afternoon venture out into the Serengeti’s game filled savannah for a game drive. Driving through the Serengeti in late afternoon, the light provides the perfect opportunity to capture some magical wildlife and landscape photographs. As the light fades return to your property for dinner.

Overnight: Sanctuary Kichakani Serengeti Camp/ Sanctuary Kusini

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 7 & 8 - Full days in the Serengeti

Over the next two days explore the vast plains of the Serengeti and all its wonders.

Every year, triggered by the rains, 1.3 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle gather to undertake the long trek to new grazing lands. The migration of the herbivores roughly defines the boundaries of Serengeti National Park, which is the central zone of the Serengeti ecosystem, an area that also takes in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to the east, the Grumeti to the west and the Maswa Game Reserve in the south.

The Serengeti is not only famous for the great Wildebeest Migration but also for the vast number of species that reside in the park year-round. The concentration of predators in the Serengeti is high with large prides of lion, numerous hyena clans and regular sightings of both cheetah and leopard. Elephant, buffalo, giraffe and antelope can be found feeding on the rich plains as well as some of the lesser known and hard to spot species such as aardwolf, mongoose, caracal, servals and hyrax.

Overnight: Sanctuary Kichakani Serengeti Camp/ Sanctuary Kusini

Meal Plan: B,L,D

Day 9 - Fly to Arusha - Depart

Today you bid farewell to Tanzania. Fly back to Arusha where you have a day room and a chance to freshen up before your evening flight back home with the fond memories of your time in this amazing country.