Trip Overview
Enjoy this Serengeti and fabled Ngorongoro Crater Safari Soles tour on this 10-day private lodge safari. The highlight of this adventurous safari is the off-the-beaten-track drive to Lake Natron along the Rift Valley Escarpment wall. The soda lake, Lake Natron, lies below the active volcano “Ol Doinyo Lengai”, translated from Maasai means “Mountain of God”. The lake with its hyper-alkaline water is one of East Africa’s primary nursing grounds for more than 2.5 million lesser flamingos.
Trip Highlights
- Day 1 (Arrival in Arusha)
- Day 2 (Arusha to Lake Natron)
- Day 3 (Lake Natron to Serengeti National Park)
- Day 4 (Serengeti National Park)
- Day 5 (Serengeti National Park)
- Day 6 (Serengeti to Ngorongoro Crater)
- Day 7 (Ngorongoro to Lake Eyasi)
- Day 8 (Lake Eyasi to Arusha)
- Day 9 (Kilimanjaro Excursion)
- Day 10 (Departure):
Trip Itinerary
We will pick you up from the airport and transfer you to Tulia Spa & Boutique. A city sightseeing tour comes as part of the excursion for day 1. The city excursion will involve visiting the local markets, Maasai market, cultural heritage and Arusha city museum. Overnight at Tulia Boutique Hotel (B&B).
After breakfast, we will pick you up from your lodge/hotel and continue off the beaten track to Lake Natron following the Rift Valley Escarpment northwards. Your drive passes through typical Maasai land and soon Ol’doinyo Lengai—the holy mountain of the Masai—will appear in the distance before reaching the small Maasai village of Ngare Sero. Enjoy a guided bush walk to Lake Natron, whose shores shimmer in pink as thousands of flamingos come to breed on the alkaline lake. Alternatively, you can choose to wander to the nearby waterfall to take a refreshing bath.
• Meals: Breakfast, Picnic-Lunch, Dinner
• Lodge: Lake Natron Tented Camp or similar
Start early and continue your journey further north while the vehicle slowly climbs along several serpentine turns. Enjoy the last view onto Lake Natron before leaving the Rift Valley behind and continue via the village of Wasso to Northern Serengeti. Enter Serengeti by midday at Kleins Gate and enjoy a first game drive in Lobo. Between October and December, large herds of wildebeests can be found as they cross back to the southern plains. Lobo supports a vast diversity of resident game, including leopards, lions, buffaloes, elephants, giraffes and zebras, thanks to permanent springs and a landscape marked by open grass plains scattered with kopjes. Proceed to your overnight accommodation.
• Meals: Breakfast, Picnic-Lunch, Dinner
• Lodge: Lobo Wildlife Lodge.
Home to the enormous migratory herds during the dry season. The Northern Serengeti remains an unexplored wilderness packed with stunning landscapes and abundant wildlife. The most captivating highlight of this area is undoubtedly the massive herds of migratory wildebeest and zebra during the dry season. However, the North Serengeti also supports an abundance of resident wildlife including lions, elephants, hippos, giraffes, crocodiles and the rare oribi antelopes.
• Meals: Breakfast, Picnic-Lunch, Dinner
• Lodge: Lobo Wildlife Lodge.
After a relaxed morning, drive towards Central Serengeti and spend the day observing wildlife in the Seronera Valley. The Seronera Valley offers lots of wildlife throughout the year including carnivores like cheetahs, hyenas, leopards and lions. You'll also see ungulates including buffaloes, giraffes, hippos, impalas, topis, warthogs and zebras. Do you know how to distinguish a Grant gazelle from a Thomson gazelle? Both gazelles have a white rump. The rump of the Thomson gazelle, however, is bordered by a thin black horizontal stripe below the paler brown one. Furthermore, the tail of the Thomson gazelle is entirely black, while the Grant gazelle’s white rump patch extends above the tail. Ask your guide about this and more as you continue to your accommodation.
• Meals: Breakfast, Picnic-Lunch, Dinner
• Lodge: Ang'ata Migration Tented Lodge.
Enjoy another game drive in Serengeti National Park before continuing to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which was separated from Serengeti in 1959. The resident Maasai in Serengeti National Park were relocated to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where they still live today in harmony with wildlife and nature. Did you know that the Ngorongoro Conservation Area combines a large variety of topographical features and that there are nine different craters within its boundaries? Your guide will happily explain more about this outstanding destination of 8,292sq km. Proceed to your accommodation on top of the crater rim and enjoy a splendid view of the caldera before the night breaks with a sky full of stars. Or you can continue driving to your accommodation in Karatu.
• Meals: Breakfast, Picnic-Lunch, Dinner
• Lodge: Ang'ata Ngorongoro Tented Lodge.
After breakfast, drive along the crater rim to Seneto Gate on the western side and descends into the crater floor on an adventurous path—what an impressive view! The Ngorongoro Crater provides a home for a vast number of animals because of its reliable water availability. Animals frequently move in and out. The number of wildebeests and zebras increases during the dry season, whereas the numbers of elands, elephants and waterbucks increase during the wet season. Search for the ‘Big Five‘ – buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and the black rhinoceros. The crater is one of the only two places in Tanzania where you can still observe the highly-threatened black rhinoceros. After intensive game viewing, continue to Lake Eyasi for your overnight.
• Meals: Breakfast, Picnic-Lunch, Dinner
• Lodge: Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge.
In the southwest corner of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the beautiful Lake Eyasi, a soda lake that is fed by the Sibiti and Baray Rivers. Visiting Eyasi Lake is a different type of safari experience from those that you may be familiar with from your other Tanzania wilderness excursions with African Mecca. The region around Eyasi is the home of the Hadzabe and Datoga communities who continue their ancient lifestyle of hunting-gathering and pastoralism respectively. Visits to the villages give you a personal, intimate look into the daily life of these people. You may be impromptu invited into their homes, learn about the family structures, participate in traditional dances and bead making with the women, join the traditional small game hunting and gathering by the Hadzabe tribesmen, make bows and arrows, and much more. Early in the evening, drive to Arusha for your overnight stay.
You can be dropped off at the airport right after the tour or a day after the tour.
Overnight at Tulia Boutique Hotel on full board.
Be immersed in Tanzania’s great outdoors on this full-day tour to Materuni and Kikuletwa. It is ideal for adventure, cultural and active travellers in the region. Start off on a hike to Materuni Waterfalls and enjoy a refreshing dip. Next, head to a local farm to learn more about Tanzania’s coffee industry before finally unwinding in the Kikuletwa Hot Springs. After all that, you will be driven back to Arusha for dinner and your overnight stay.
Overnight at Tulia Boutique Hotel in Arusha again.
This is your final day with us. We will drop you off at the airport at your preferred time.
Includes/Excludes
Costs Includes
- All meals and select premium beverages
- Private game drives with professional driver-guide
- Scenic sundowner setups and bush dining experiences
- Park entry fees and airstrip transfers
- Complimentary welcome amenities and romantic touches
Costs Excludes
- International flights
- Scenic flight add-on (optional)
- Spa treatments, extra alcohol, personal purchases
- Tips and insurance
