After breakfast, you’ll head towards the Rift Valley, passing Mto Wa Mbu and Karatu, into the cooler regions of the Crater Highlands. You’ll drive into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and stop at a viewpoint to catch a glimpse of the crater. The journey continues around the crater and down the other side. You’ll enjoy a free African massage courtesy of the bumpy roads as you pass Maasai villages on your way to the Serengeti National Park. At the entrance gate at Naabi Hill, you can walk to a viewpoint offering spectacular views across the plains of the Serengeti savannah. Continue towards the Seronera area in the central part of the Serengeti. The park is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including the ‘Big Five’ (lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard). In the late afternoon, you’ll reach the tented camp. It’s situated in a secluded spot, deep in the bush, and the stars at night are breathtaking.

ACCOMMODATION:

Sound of Silence Tented Camp

You will spend the day on a game drive in the Serengeti National Park, stopping for lunch at a picnic spot along the way. Depending on the time of year, you may even have the chance to witness the Great Migration, with hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, zebras and Thomson’s gazelles. During the short rainy season in October and November, you will usually see these herds moving from the Kenyan Maasai Mara through the north-west of the Serengeti towards the plains in the south. After the long rainy season in April, May and June, the herds slowly migrate back through the western and north-western parts of the Serengeti. Due to fluctuations in rainfall, this schedule may vary slightly, meaning the animals migrate at different times and along different routes. nitoursandsafaris will do its utmost to track down the animals and ensure you can observe them from the best vantage point in the national park. Naturally, the migration also attracts predators, and with a bit of luck you might even witness a hunt first-hand. You will spend another night at the camp.

At daybreak, after breakfast, you will set off on your return journey from the Serengeti back to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, leaving the beautiful Seronera Valley behind you. As predators are more active during the cooler hours of the day, you may even be able to spot them in action. Lunch will be taken en route at a designated picnic spot. When you reach the crater rim, the caldera opens up before you in all its breathtaking splendour, and you descend into the crater via an adventurous trail. This World Heritage Site is home to over 25,000 animals in season, including a wide variety of birds, hyenas and the ‘Big Five’ (lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard). You will leave the crater via a different ascent route and drive to Karatu in the Ngorongoro Highlands, where you will spend the night.

ACCOMMODATION:

Farm of Dreams Lodge

After a leisurely breakfast, you will drive back to Arusha, where you will arrive around midday. You will have lunch here. Anyone wishing to combine this safari with a trip to Zanzibar can fly there from Arusha Airport or Kilimanjaro International Airport.