On arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. The Ultimate Tanzania offers a choice of Boutique or Deluxe accommodation and 2 departures a week so there is something for everyone. The rest of the day is yours to relax, unwind and prepare for your safari adventure.

Forest Hill Lodge – offers an open woodland setting with facilities that include a swimming pool offering magnificent views of Mt Meru.

Arusha Serena Lodge: (Deluxe) Overlooking Lake Duluti and offers cottage-style rooms amongst the tranquil gardens.

Boutique: Forest Hill Lodge

Deluxe: Arusha Serena Lodge

This morning is at leisure before departing Arusha after lunch with the rest of the group. Pass through the Masai Steppe filled with picturesque villages and plantations of maize, coffee and bananas. At the town of Makuyuni continue to Tarangire National Park and enjoy game viewing as you continue to your lodge.

The park is famous for its large elephant population as well as zebra, giraffe and other plains animals. In the evening swap tales of your big game adventures with other travellers over dinner at your lodge.

Lake Burunge Tented Camp: (Boutique) Located on the shores of Lake Burunge in the migratory corridor between Manyara and Tarangire. There are 20 luxury tents and 10 thatched lodge rooms nestled in the shady bush with spectacular views towards Tarangire National Park and the lake.

Elephant Rock Camp (Standard): offers 16 luxury tents raised on stilts with a private deck to enjoy the views of the park. Facilities include a small swimming pool and dining room.

Tarangire Sopa Lodge: (Deluxe) Hidden among the kopjes and ancient baobabs of the park, the comfortable rooms are housed in buildings with conical roofs and there is an outdoor pool to cool off in on those hot afternoons.

Boutique: Lake Burunge Tented Camp or similar

Standard: Elephant Rock Camp or similar

Deluxe: Tarangire Sopa Lodge or similar

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

After breakfast enjoy a game drive through the baobab tree-lined park and Silale swamp in search of its large lion prides and elephant herds, before returning to the lodge for lunch.

This afternoon drive north through the park and to the town of Makayuni where the journey progresses up the scenic escarpment to your lodge.

Manyara Lakeview Oasis (Boutique & Standard): has attractive landscaped gardens overlooking the lake and offers a choice of either 16 thatched cottage style buildings, or 10 luxury tents. Facilities include a dining room, bar, lounge, and a small swimming pool.

Serena Lake Manyara (Deluxe): is positioned on top of the towering escarpment offering spectacular views over the lake and rooms housed in circular two-storey “rondavels”. Hotel may be substituted for Kilimamoja which has equally impressive views.

Boutique: Manyara Lakeview Oasis

Deluxe: Serena Manyara

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

This morning descend the escarpment on a game drive into the Lake Manyara National Park to seek out the prolific animal and birdlife in the forests and by the lake shore. After lunch back at the lodge, begin the scenic journey through the Crater Highlands and on through the vast game-filled plains of the famous Serengeti National Park, approximately four hours away.

Kati Kati Camp: (Boutique) is located in the central Serengeti and offers comfortable tented accommodation with bucket showers, flush toilets and solar-powered electricity. Meals are served in a cosy mess tent and a campfire provides a cosy ambience for pre-dinner drinks.

Mberesero Serengeti Central Lodge (Standard): offers a blend of rustic charm and modern comfort in its 40 tented rooms with thatched roofs. Facilities include a restaurant, lounge, bar and a swimming pool.

Serengeti Serena Lodge: (Deluxe) Seamlessly blending into an acacia-lined ridge, offering panoramic views from its characterful stone-built, thatched ‘rondavels’.

Boutique: Kati Kati Camp or similar

Standard: Mberesero Serengeti Central Lodge or similar

Deluxe: Serengeti Serena Lodge or similar

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Today enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in the Serengeti. Scene of many wildlife documentaries, this park has thrilled travellers and writers for generations with its annual wildebeest and zebra migration. Vast herds follow the rains looking for fresh pastures whilst in hot pursuit are the big cats, picking off their prey – a magical sight to see! Instead of the morning game drive it is possible to book an exhilarating hot air balloon flight (at extra cost) for a birds-eye perspective.

You are sure to see some of Africa’s Big 5 today so don’t forget to take binoculars and camera.

Boutique: Kati Kati Camp or similar

Standard: Mberesero Serengeti Central Lodge or similar

Deluxe: Serengeti Serena Lodge or similar

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Today leave the Serengeti behind and head for the Ngorongoro Crater with a stop en route for a picnic lunch. Enjoy beautiful scenery, as the grassy plains give way to the lush mountain greenery of the Crater Highlands en route to your your lodge.

Tloma Lodge (Boutique): offers 24 cottages built in colonial plantation style and 12 rooms overlooking the garden. Located on the top of a valley, the lodge has fantastic views over a coffee plantation and the walls of the Ngorongoro crater.

Mberesero Endoro Lodge (Standard): overlooking forest near the town of Karatu, this characterful lodge offers a peaceful base to explore the Ngorongoro area. There are 32 spacious chalets and a good range of facilities including restaurant, bar and swimming pool.

Ngorongoro Serena Lodge (Deluxe): blends into the hillside with its rocky façade cloaked in indigenous vines. The rooms  are looped around the Crater rim, each with its own rock-enclosed balcony and wonderful views of the crater below.

Boutique: Tloma Lodge or similar

Standard: Mberesero Endoro Lodge or similar

Deluxe: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge or similar

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Spend a full day inside the Crater with a picnic lunch. With its stunning scenery and plentiful wildlife, it’s not hard to see why Ngorongoro is rated one of the top destinations in Africa and now included in the seven natural wonders of the world. The Crater is the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera and is home to a diverse range of habitats including forest, swamps, lakes and open grasslands.

Boutique: Tloma Lodge or similar

Standard: Mberesero Endoro Lodge or similar

Deluxe: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge or similar

Breakfast, lunch, dinner

Your safari comes to an end at the town of Arusha, from where you fly to the tropical island of Zanzibar. Enjoy a romantic and relaxing seven nights at your choice of beautiful Zanzibar beach resort, where you can unwind by the pool or on the palm-shaded white sand beaches.

Zanzibar is known as the Spice Island and, if the temptation of the beach can be overcome, it is worth taking a tour of a spice plantation to see where cloves, nutmeg, mace, vanilla and other exotic ingredients are grown. Take a trip to the capital Stone Town as well, to wander through the narrow alleyways and lively markets.

Your chosen Zanzibar beach resort

Relaxed and rejuvenated, return to the airport for your flight back home.