Itinerary
  
Day 1: Arrive Arusha, Tanzania
Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be met and transferred to Kigongoni Lodge on the outskirts of Arusha’s main town. Kigongoni consists of 14 separate cottages, all built in traditional African style with private verandahs, handmade furniture and fireplaces. The swimming pool and hot steambath look out over Arusha National Park and offer a beautiful view of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro on a clear day. We will enjoy a dinner orientation tonight along with our Expedition Leader.

Day 2: Fly to the Serengeti, Private Luxury Mobile Tented Camp
After an early breakfast we will fly to Serengeti National Park. There, we will be met by our private drivers and vehicles and taken on our first game drive en route to our private luxury mobile camp. This wonderful site is key to the success of this trip as we have the flexibility to place the camp where we feel game viewing will be at its best during the peak of the wildebeest and zebra migration. Our private luxury mobile camp provides an authentic African experience reminiscent of days gone by – we can even hear lions roar at night outside of our tents! Located as close to the migrating herd as possible, our tented camp consists of large private walk-in tents each with private toilet and shower facilities, handmade beds with full mattresses and cozy bedding as well as a dressing/washing area. Gourmet meals are prepared every day and ser ved in a separate dining tent. Each night, after game drives, we return to the camp for a hot shower, a roaring campfire and refreshments before dinner. We’ll share our game viewing stories each night and learn more about wildlife, history and culture from Expedition Leaders.

Days 3 - 5: The Serengeti, Luxury Mobile Tented Camp
We have chosen the most spectacular time of the year to be in the Serengeti! The large wildebeest and zebra herds are migrating into the southeastern parts of the park in search of the new grass from the short rains. The males and females separate into different herds so the females can begin the calving process. Ninety percent of the female wildebeest drop their calves within a three-week period of time, swelling the size of the herd by more than 750,000 animals and providing remarkable predator/prey activity. Alongside our expert Expedition Leader(s), we will take daily game drives in our private 4-wheel-drive vehicles – another key to success in this secluded area. This one of a kind program will allow us to explore all areas of the Serengeti, a national park the size of the state of Rhode Island. We will spend some days entirely in the bush with a picnic lunch and other days with very early morning game drives and an afternoon siesta, returning for game drives in the late afternoon. During this time of the year, the luxury mobile camp will likely be situated on the short- grass plains, allowing us to view not only the spectacle of the calving, but it will also place us near the Gol Kopjes, famous as a preferred habitat for cheetahs and gazelles. Lions, cheetahs, hyenas, wildebeest, zebras, vultures and raptors of all kinds, honey badgers and mongoose can frequently be seen.

Days 6 & 7: The Serengeti, Fly Camp
We will depart from our luxury mobile tented camp today and head for the Moru Kopjes, near the Seronera River, to immerse ourselves in an entirely different area of the Serengeti National Park. In this remarkably beautiful region with long grass, acacia and sausage trees,our focus will be on finding a variety of cats (lion, leopard, cheetah, serval, caracal, wild cat and more) and searching for the very few black rhinos that have begun to migrate back into the Serengeti. The sausage tree is one of the favorite places for leopards to sleep and hide their kill. Look carefully for the movement of the white-tipped tail, which is so easily overlooked as a hanging sausage vine. The Moru and Seronera areas are also excellent for elephants and large herds may be seen lumbering across the golden-green grasses of the vast savannah. This is an even more remote area and accommodations here are in our “Fly Camp” in smaller walk-in tents. Each tent has two cots with foam mattresses and full bedding as well as a private shower and toilet tent located outside of each main tent. A separate screened dining tent is provided for meals, with a campfire at night. We will continue our game drives here in our private 4-wheel drive vehicles and we will likely encounter hippos, crocodiles, topi, eland, hartebeest, the graceful impala, along with all the major predators and a tremendous variety of bird life.

Day 8: Arusha / Return Home
This morning we will enjoy one last game drive as we travel back to the Seronera airstrip for the flight back to Arusha, arriving by noontime. We have arranged a dayroom at Kigongoni Lodge and there will be time for shopping in Arusha or relaxing at the swimming pool before transferring to the Kilimanjaro airport for return flights home. Tanzania is famous for ebony carvings, gemstones, batiks, baskets and masks, among many other unique crafts. Many people choose to extend their trip to visit the Ngorongoro Crater, and we have arranged an extension for our travelers.

Trip Details