Tanzania Off The Beaten Path

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, a Cape Dutch style house set in a historic residential area.

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 a vibrant variety of birds and wildlife.

In the afternoon you will ascend the escarpment, bound for your first glimpse of the Ngorongoro Crater from above. This evening you will spend the night on the rim of this ancient caldera in one of just a few lodges inside the park gate.

Be among the first to descend the steep walls of the crater this morning, from your exclusive lodge positioned right on the rim. In these magical morning hours with very few other vehicles, you are witness to the secret rituals of the more than 25,000 creatures who call this unique ecosystem home.

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 soil and lush grazing. Flocks of flamingos, hippos in the pools, and a range of herds, solitary predators, and even a few very rare black rhino make this one of the most interesting safari landscapes on earth.

Bid farewell to your private safari guide as they drop you at the the Manyara airstrip for your flight to the Serengeti. You will be treated to spectacular views of the Great Rift Valley from the window of your bush plane as you approach your next stop. Nothing says safari in Africa like arriving at your lodge by safari plane.

As you land you will be greeted by your expert guide for this next leg of the journey and whisked away in an open Landcruiser for a leisurely game drive to your secluded lodge.

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

The park 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.