Tanzania Ultimate Serengeti Active Safari Tour

Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha, where you will be met by an MTS representative outside the customs and immigration area. Transfer to Moivaro Lodge, set on a tree-shaded coffee plantation just outside of Arusha.

Rise this morning for your drive to Tarangire National Park. This scenic park has expansive baobab-studded grasslands stretching in every direction and amazing elephant viewing; in fact, the elephants of Tarangire will likely be one of your most lasting memories of the entire trip! Arrive at the lodge in time for lunch, then head out for your first game drive. The Tarangire River attracts a number of thirsty inhabitants. Watch a parade of wild animals make their way over for a drink: huge herds of buffalo and elephant, blue wildebeest, zebra, hartebeest, impala, reedbuck, lion, and leopard. In the late afternoon, return to the lodge for sundowners and a delicious dinner.

Ease into the rhythm of the bush: wake early to the chorus of birds and spend another full day discovering Tarangire's wildlife. With luck, observe safari oddities: the beautiful lesser kudu antelope and the hard-to-find African python. After sundown, thrill to the roar of lions in the night.

Drive 45 minutes through the Rift Valley to Lake Manyara National Park, home to stunning wildlife. On a game drive, notice the colorful water birds—herons, storks, ibises, and fish eagles—and look out for impala, giraffe, zebra, and hippos. Then drive into the highlands above the Ngorongoro Crater to meet the Maasai people, whose traditional welcome dance features athletic leaps and earth-shaking stomping. Enter typical homes made of cut branches, mud, and cow dung. Wrap up with a stay at the MT Sobek Deluxe Camp in the Crater Highlands.

The Ngorongoro Crater, almost entirely open country, presents spectacular views of wildlife within a 100-square-mile steep green wall frame. Close in on a group of zebra, buffalo, or black rhino gazing across the plains. Watch herds of white-bearded wildebeest and gazelle mingle. Find elephants, hyenas, and lion prides. Top the six-hour crater safari with brilliant birds: clusters of flamingos, the auger buzzard, bateleur, jacana, little bee-eater, and the red bishop. Head out for a sunset ridge walk for an Ol Pul (meat feast) with new Maasai friends.

Descend from the Ngorongoro highlands onto the vast plains of the Serengeti, with their classic granite kopjes—rounded boulders shaped by wind over the eons. Deeper into the Serengeti, notice the vegetation change into riverine woodland and acacia tree valleys as you continue on to the next tented camp.

All aboard for a day of classic game viewing! The savannah woodlands are a mosaic of habitats: small grassy plains mixed with tree savannas and areas of dense bush, making for a greater diversity of animals. See buffalo, giraffe, dik-dik, reedbuck, impala, waterbuck, baboons, and vervet monkeys—all common residents, as are lion, cheetah, leopard, and hyena. Hippos and crocodiles occupy several rivers in the woodlands of the north; the Seronera River area is one of Africa's best for encounters with the elusive leopard.

After breakfast, grab water bottles, binoculars, and snacks, and head out for a short Serengeti orientation stroll to learn about walking in the bush, then continue your adventure on foot. Hiking in the Serengeti isn't about covering a lot of ground; it's about really experiencing Africa up close and personal, reveling in the smaller sights, smells, and feelings that are missed from a vehicle. Stop for lunch under a shady tree or a cool overhang, perhaps overlooking a waterhole or small plain, then continue hiking in the afternoon.

On the second day, become a true pioneer. Discover places unvisited by man for over half a century, with no roads. Look out for secret spots that animals use to survive—the natural salt lick, the pool in the stream that never dries. Find the best place to cross the river, the ridge with the best views, the meadow with the sweetest grass, and the kopje with the coolest breeze.

Make the most of your final day in the Serengeti. Move slowly with your guides interpreting the Serengeti's enticing sights and smells. Find a lion's paw print in the damp ground, watch a dung beetle roll a ball of dung uphill, smell a herd of elephants before you spot them in the valley below. Follow a stream in hope of seeing game come down for a drink, or climb up a kopje boulder to get better views of the striking landscape. Come evening, enjoy a farewell dinner in camp.

After a pleasant morning game drive and lunch, fly back to Arusha, where dayrooms at the KIA Lodge await. Bid farewell to fellow travelers before transferring to the Kilimanjaro International Airport for homeward-bound flights. Schedule your departure flight from Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) no earlier than 7pm.