Great Migration Safari: The Serengeti & Ngorongoro

This morning you leave Arusha and drive south-west to Tarangire National Park, arriving in time for lunch before an afternoon game drive. Tarangire is one of the most atmospheric parks in Africa, a rolling landscape of golden grassland studded with ancient, swollen baobab trees and threaded by the Tarangire River, which draws wildlife from far around in the dry season. You set out among the giant baobabs in search of the park's famous elephant herds, some of the largest in Tanzania, watching great families feed, dig for water in the riverbed and shelter beneath the enormous trees. You also look for lion, leopard, buffalo, giraffe, zebra and the tall fringe-eared oryx, amid an extraordinary richness of birdlife. As the golden light softens over the baobabs and herds, the scene is unforgettable. Rest well at your Tarangire camp.

This morning you begin the scenic journey to the Serengeti, climbing the Rift Valley escarpment and crossing the highlands past the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with sweeping views, before descending onto the endless plains of the Serengeti National Park. This vast ocean of golden grassland, dotted with flat-topped acacias and dramatic granite kopjes, is the stage for the Great Migration. You arrive to begin game viewing as you make your way to your camp, positioned in the best region for the season, and may already encounter the vanguard of the migrating herds, great columns of wildebeest and zebra streaming across the plains, shadowed by predators. Your expert guide reads the savannah brilliantly, seeking out lions, cheetahs and leopards among the herds. As the sun sets over the immense plains, the sense of space and anticipation is extraordinary. Rest well in the heart of the Serengeti.

Today is a full, immersive day among the migrating herds of the Serengeti. You set out at dawn, when the plains are cool and the predators are active, following the vast columns of wildebeest and zebra as they move across the grasslands, bellowing and restless, in one of nature's most primal rhythms. Depending on the season, you may be among the calving herds of the southern plains, where thousands of newborns and their predators create constant drama, or in the north near the great rivers. You seek out the lions, cheetahs and hyenas that shadow the migration, and the leopards, elephants, giraffes and hippos of the wider ecosystem. You may picnic in the bush and drive until the golden evening light floods the savannah, the herds silhouetted against the sky. As the sun sets over the endless plains, the abundance is overwhelming. Rest well beneath the Serengeti stars.

Another immersive day in the Serengeti lets you go deeper in pursuit of the migration and its predators. In the dry-season months you focus on the crocodile-infested Grumeti and Mara rivers, where the herds mass on the banks before plunging across in dramatic, heart-stopping crossings, and you position yourself patiently at the crossing points, camera ready, for this unpredictable spectacle. In other seasons you follow the herds across the plains and concentrate on the Serengeti's superb big cats, seeking out lion prides on their kills, cheetahs hunting gazelle on the open grass, and leopards resting in the riverine trees. You explore different areas of this immense park, from open plains to wooded rivers and granite kopjes where lions like to rest. As the day ends in golden light, you savour the drama. Rest well in the wild heart of the Serengeti.

You have a final, full day to savour the Serengeti and its wildlife, with time to return to favourite areas, follow the migrating herds once more, or seek out any species you have yet to see. An optional dawn balloon safari drifts silently over the plains as the sun rises, the herds and predators far below, followed by a champagne bush breakfast, an unforgettable way to experience the vastness of the Serengeti. On your game drives you continue to enjoy superb sightings of lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants and the great herds, guided by your expert who brings the ecosystem vividly to life. The depth of time here means you leave the Serengeti with a rich, unhurried experience of its rhythms and drama. As the sun sets on your last Serengeti evening, you reflect on the spectacle you have witnessed. Rest well beneath the vast plains sky.

This morning you enjoy a final game drive in the Serengeti before beginning the journey east towards the Ngorongoro highlands. On the way you may stop at Olduvai Gorge, the celebrated Cradle of Mankind, where the Leakeys uncovered some of the earliest known human remains, with its small museum overlooking the gorge. You climb into the cool, green highlands of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where Maasai graze their cattle alongside the wildlife, and arrive at your lodge perched on the crater rim, with breathtaking views down into the vast caldera far below. As the afternoon light plays across the crater floor, the anticipation of tomorrow's descent builds. This evening, enjoy the cool highland air and the extraordinary panorama over one of the great wonders of Africa. Rest well on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater.

This morning you descend into the Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest intact volcanic caldera and one of the great wonders of Africa. You wind down onto the crater floor, entering a vast natural amphitheatre some twenty kilometres across, where one of the densest concentrations of wildlife in Africa awaits. You may see all of the Big Five, with an excellent chance of the endangered black rhino, alongside great lion prides, elephants with enormous tusks, buffalo, hippos, flamingos on the soda lake and countless plains game, all beneath the towering rim. After this extraordinary finale you climb back to the rim and drive to Arusha for your onward international departure (a light-aircraft flight can be arranged). You leave having witnessed the Great Migration and the Big Five, the vast herds, the river crossings, the big cats and the crater teeming with life. Tanzania offers spectacular wildlife in abundance, and you depart already dreaming of a return.