10-Day From Kenya to Tanzania - Mid-Range

Arusha

Your guide picks you up early and drives toward Lake Nakuru National Park, crossing the equator along the way. You'll arrive with time to grab lunch before heading out on an afternoon game drive. The park itself is known for its rhino population and the massive flocks of flamingos that gather here, plus you'll see various other wildlife moving through the landscape.

Lake Nakuru

An early morning drive takes you to Masai Mara National Reserve, which forms the northern section of the Serengeti ecosystem. After lunch when you arrive, the afternoon opens up for a game drive where you might catch sight of the seasonal wildebeest and zebra migration, along with the predators that follow the herds.

Maasai Mara National Reserve

You'll spend the full day on game drives with a packed lunch provided in the field. Black-maned lions roam here regularly, and the reserve holds all five of the big animals. Cheetahs often rest in the shade under vehicles, so you'll get close views. Around 500 bird species have been documented, from eagles and hawks to storks and sunbirds.

Serengeti National Park

Today involves a transfer from Masai Mara into Tanzania and across the Isebania border toward Serengeti National Park. The journey takes most of your day, but you'll do a morning game drive in Masai Mara before departing, then continue with an afternoon game drive once you reach Serengeti en route to your tented camp.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

You'll start in the crater highlands with stops along the rim before driving into the main Serengeti area, which covers about 6,900 square miles. On the second day here, morning and afternoon game drives let you explore more thoroughly. The park supports roughly 2 million large animals including wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and various predators, with nearly 500 bird species recorded.

Lake Manyara

Before breakfast, you're out on an early game drive to catch active animals and see the sunrise. After returning to camp for brunch, you transfer toward Ngorongoro Crater. This geological formation has walls rising 2,000 feet and contains nearly every wildlife species found in East Africa, from rare black rhinos to massive bull elephants with huge tusks, plus hippos, flamingos, and varied habitats.

You descend to the crater floor very early for a full day of wildlife viewing in this remarkable setting. Lunch comes as a picnic near the hippo lake, then afternoon viewing continues. Later you climb back up the steep crater road and transfer to Lake Manyara for the night, or head to Tarangire if that timing works better (recommended June through September).

After breakfast you drive across the Great Rift Valley to Lake Manyara National Park for a full day game drive. Lush acacia forests with fig and mahogany trees shelter baboon and blue monkey groups throughout the park. You'll look for the climbing lions the park is known for, and the diverse bird life and flamingos along the shoreline. In the afternoon, you transfer to Arusha airport for your departure.