Tour Plan
Day 1: Arusha/ Lake Manyara
You depart Arusha in the morning at 0900 hrs for Lake Manyara National park, lunch, followed by afternoon game drive. Regardless of the direction you approach Manyara from, the view is always fantastic. Dinner and overnight at a Lodge.
Lake Manyara is a shallow, alkaline lake beneath the cliffs of the Manyara Escarpment, on the edge of the Rift Valley with breathtaking views. Lake Manyara National Park offers varied diverse vegetation ranging from savannah, to marshes and acacia woodland. It has incredible bird life such as kingfisher, lovebird, flamingos, vulture, starling, pelican, storks, cormorants, crowned plover, guinea fowl, crowned eagle, crowned hornbill. In addition to the famous tree-climbing lions, the national park is also home to the largest concentration of baboons - a fact that makes for interesting game viewing of large families of the primates, Other animals found here include elephants, monkeys, giraffes, bushbuck, wildebeest, gazelle, dik dik, bush babies, klipspringer, impala, mongoose, warthog, buffalos, hippos, leopards
Day 2: Lake Manyara/Ngorongoro crater
Soon after breakfast, you depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and descend into the crater with packed lunches for the daysā crater tour. Later you drive to a lodge for dinner and overnight.
The Ngorongoro Crater was formed some 2.5 million years ago from a volcanic mountain sinking due to inactivity, and was initially thought to be higher than Tanzaniaās famous Kilimanjaro. The crater has evolved into a unique and integral part of Tanzaniaās eco-system. The crater is actually a caldera, measures 22.5 kmās across and the rim walls stand 600m high. Views from within and from the rim are breathtaking. The crater houses 30,000 animals among them black rhino, buffalos, hippos, zebra, eland, grantās & thomsonās gazelle, waterbucks, lions, hyenas, serval cats, bat-eared fox, elephants. The crater is also home to a large variety of birds, which rarely move from the area due to the availability of water through wet and dry seasons. Among these includes ostrich, white pelican, crowned cranes, saddle-billed stork, greater and lesser flamingos, black-bellied bustard, heron, secretary bird.
Day 3: Ngorongoro/Tarangire
After breakfast, you drive to Tarangire National Park and spend the day exploring the park, which is also known as 'the elephant park in Tanzania'. The landscape of the park is made up of seasonal marshes and a seemingly endless tree savannah with its mighty baobab and sausage trees. The dry season runs from July until October and this is perhaps the best time to visit the park. The reason for this is that the Tarangire River is the only permanent source of water during this time and therefore the wildlife tends to concentrate in this area. You can therefore observe the herds of buffalos and wildebeests as they come down to the river for drinking.
Other animals of the park that also assemble in this area are lions, leopards, cheetah, zebras, antelopes, waterbuck, gazelles, impala, dik-dik, eland, hartebeest, gerenuk, mongoose, baboons, monkeys, hyrax, jackal, hyenas, warthogs. The park is also a haven for birds among them ostrich, hornbills, lilac-breasted rollers, kori bustard, lovebird, weavers, eagles, crowned cranes, starlings, spotted eagle owl, vultures, pigmy falcon and hamerkop. Meals and overnight at a Lodge
After breakfast, you enjoy a morning game drive in the park before returning to Arusha.