Tarangire · Serengeti · Ngorongoro

Your guide meets you in Arusha in the morning for the drive south to Tarangire National Park in an open-sided 4x4 built for game viewing. Tarangire is best known for its ancient baobabs and its huge resident elephant herds, which gather along the Tarangire River together with giraffe, buffalo and a variety of antelope, including the localised gerenuk and fringe-eared oryx. Lion and other predators follow the concentration of prey. Late in the afternoon you'll continue on to your lodge for a two-course dinner and your first night under canvas.

This morning's drive climbs past Lake Manyara and up into the Ngorongoro highlands before descending onto the open plains of the Serengeti, arriving in the early afternoon. The Serengeti is home to Africa's Big Five, and the days ahead are set aside purely for game drives across this landscape. Depending on the time of year, your three nights here will be split between the central plains and either the northern Serengeti (roughly June to October) or the southern plains (roughly January to March), or spent entirely in the central Serengeti during the shoulder months.

Two full days with your guide to explore the Serengeti's varied terrain, from the wide grassy south to the wooded hills of the north and west. This is prime time to watch predator and prey behaviour up close and to learn about the social structures of the animals you encounter. Together with Kenya's Masai Mara across the border, the Serengeti forms the stage for the Great Migration — one of the largest movements of land mammals on Earth. Camp placement is chosen to maximise your chances of being near the herds.

A final morning game drive, often through the Seronera Valley where predator activity picks up around the water sources in drier months, followed by a picnic lunch en route to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Arriving at the crater rim, you'll take in sweeping views into the caldera — a UNESCO World Heritage Site roughly 20 km across and home to an estimated 20,000-plus large animals. Settle in for the evening at a camp perched on the crater edge, with sundowners overlooking the volcanic floor below.

An early start today for the descent onto the crater floor, the largest intact, unflooded volcanic caldera in the world. Wildlife density here is exceptional: alongside the ever-present zebra and wildebeest, this is one of the better places in Tanzania to spot critically endangered black rhino, plus hyena, waterbuck, eland and more than 500 recorded bird species. After a picnic lunch and a final game drive, you'll climb back out of the crater in the afternoon for the drive back to Arusha, arriving in the early evening.