Arrive to Arusha, a bustling city and the gateway to some of the continent’s best safari destinations. Your private guide will be waiting to transfer you to your boutique hotel for the evening.

Set out from Arusha with your private guide taking in the local life along the road: vibrant markets, women with impossibly large loads balanced elegantly on their heads, and traditional Maasai people walking with their livestock.

Your first stop today is Lake Manyara National Park. Explore the area around this shallow alkaline lake and see the giant fig trees within the park. Nestled at the base of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara is home to an incredible variety of birds and wildlife.

In the afternoon you will arrive at your lodge for the evening, nestled in the lush, tropical highlands on the edge of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Descend the steep walls of the Ngorongoro Crater in your private safari vehicle. This spectacular caldera is almost three million years old and was formed as the result of a gigantic explosion that caused the original volcano to collapse in on itself, creating the massive crater we see today. Twelve miles wide and approximately 2,000 feet deep, the journey from the edge of the rim to the bottom of the floor takes roughly 45 minutes by vehicle.

The crater floor has an abundance of wildlife, all taking advantage of the fertile grazing and roughly 25,000 animals call this place home. Flocks of flamingos, crowded hippo pools, herds of buffalo, giant tusker elephants, solitary predators, and even a few very rare black rhino make this one of the most interesting safari landscapes on earth.

Head north with your private guide, passing traditional villages as you leave the tropical greenery and trees behind in favor of the softly swaying grass on the plains on the Serengeti.

Along the way you will have the option to visit the Olduvai Gorge, one of the world’s most important paleoanthropological sites. Here you can visit the museum and see the important work and legacy of the Leakey family along with the ongoing research to connect us with our earliest ancestors.

In the afternoon you will arrive to your safari lodge, and head out on your first official game drive in the heart of the Serengeti.

Rise with the sun and embark on your first morning on safari in the Serengeti with your expert tracker-guide. This iconic park, roughly the size of Connecticut, is renowned for its resident wildlife species, including the famous Big Five: buffaloes, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and lions.

This sea of grass and savannah is also home to herds of grazers, and not just the wildebeest and zebra that form the Great Migration. The presence of Topi, gazelle, waterbuck and hartebeest means local carnivores, including cheetahs, hyenas and African wild dogs, are always lurking as well. The Serengeti is also home to more than 500 species of birds, including some very large specimens like ostriches, crowned cranes, marabou storks, and secretary birds.