9 Days Combined Kenya & Tanzania Absolute safari – Masai Mara, Serengeti, Ndutu Area, Ngorongoro & Tarangire

FULL OF DAY OF GAME DRIVES AT MASAI MARA

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We’ve designed this safari for lots of exploration time in the big parks and that starts right here, right now. This is a day of unlimited game drives and we will be on the trail for rhino, buffalo, giraffe, elephants, lions, leopards, and so much more.

We’ve talked about migrations and if you’re here during the season of the Great Migration, (July – October) you will be immersed in a steady stream of herding wildebeests, zebras, and more entering the park over the Mara River. Also waiting for these trekking wildlife: all the big cats, plus crocodiles in the river.

It’s the law of the jungle, playing out before us in real time.

There is so much to experience in this bountiful park. We have options for cultural and other adventures as well. Take some time to meet the area’s indigenous people, the Maasai in one of their local villages. You can get a close-up look at their herding techniques, their crafts, and their ritual ceremonies. Perhaps pick up some beaded handicrafts as a colorful souvenir of your visit.

For an aerial adventure you’ll not soon forget, we also offer an optional dawn hot air balloon safari. Rising with the sun over the park, you’ll float above the awakening fields to take in the wildlife below and the birdlife all about you. A magnificent moment.

Our second night at the Masai Mara will be at our safari lodge or tented camp.

MASAI MARA  – SERENGETI PARK  (95 Km – Appx. 3 hrs.)

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

We’ve seen plenty of animals in this park but let’s go for one more game drive to any favorite spots or places we’ve missed. And now it’s time to cross over to Tanzania and Serengeti Park, an immense reserve just overflowing with wildlife.

Like at the Mara, we’ll take in an afternoon game drive, looking for large and small game, plus the great varieties of birdlife populating the park.

We’ll spend the first of two evenings at our Serengeti safari lodge or tented camp.

FULL DAY AT SERENGETI

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

It’s the fourth day of our journey and you’re probably starting to get into the safari rhythms – up early and off to the 4 x 4 Jeep for a morning game drive. And though you can take as many game drives as you wish today, please know that you can set out time for relaxation as well. Discuss with your driver/guide how you would like to plan your full day in the Serengeti.

We’ve talked about the large game here stalking these vast fields, thousands of big cats and elephants. But the park is also home to giraffe, impala, warthog, eland, klipspringer, buffalo, African wild dog, jackal, and baboon.

We’ll spend a second evening at our Serengeti safari lodge or tented camp.

SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK –  NDUTU AREA (140 Km – Appx 3 hrs.)

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Let’s take a final game drive through the northern Serengeti over its great fields and spot more grazing, herding, and prowling wildlife as we head south toward the Ndutu Area.

The area makes up part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and includes Olduvai Gorge, plus great swaths of forests and mountains.

Ndutu is vital to the wildlife of this region, for this is the home of the calving season when hundreds of thousands of newborn wildebeests, zebra, and gazelle drop onto these fields.

We will take the first of many game drives through the varied landscapes of Ndutu discovering the area’s wildlife such as giraffe, zebra, gazelle, and the big cats.

We will spend the first of two nights at our Ndutu safari lodge or tented camp.

FULL DAY AT NDUTU AREA

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Just as we did the Masai Mara and the Serengeti, we are looking forward to a full day of game drives at Ndutu. We’ll travel over the area’s grasslands and through its lush acacia forests, to find as much wildlife as possible.

From December through March, the plains are alive with the sights and sounds of thousands of newborns taking their first steps, crying, baying, and stumbling about. This is the calving season in Ndutu.

All this activity is big-time catnip for the big cats roaming these fields. They have also recently given birth to their young and this is the ideal time to hunt for food for themselves and their newborns.

The nearby lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, caracal, serval, and African wildcats come prowling for the thousands of newly born grazers. The ensuing drama between the protective animal mothers and the hunting predators can be quite emotional.

Even when it’s not migration season, the area is alive with its year-round residents. Expect to see big cats, elephants, giraffes, antelope, hyenas, monkeys, and baboons.

We will spend our second evening at our Ndutu Area accommodation.

NDUTU – NGORONGORO CRATER  (86 KM APPX. 2- 3 HRS.)

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Continuing our journey south, we’ll head toward the Ngorongoro Crater, but first, we will arrive at Olduvai Gorge, one of the world’s most important paleoanthropological sites. This is where a treasure of 3 million-year-old fossilized human remains and tools have been unearthed, providing an incredible record of our evolutionary progress.

We can view the ravines and tour the museum here furthering our understanding of the site’s significance and how it has increased our knowledge of humankind’s development.

Then, we will move on to arrive at the precipice of the Ngorongoro Crater. Staring out at the vast volcanic depression below, we’ll get a preview of this lush habitat, home to over 25,000 animals.

Heading down the steep crater walls in our 4 x 4 Jeep, we will descend into a discreet universe of plains, marshland, and forest holding every sort of species – from lions, elephants, and giraffes to hippos and pink flamingoes.

This will be a marvelous day of discovery amongst this dense ecosystem, set apart from the rest of Africa. We’ll enjoy lunch, perhaps overlooking thick flocks of flamingoes. The birds and wildlife in this great volcanic bowl are densely concentrated and we’ll witness all kinds of sightings.

Later in the afternoon, we’ll ascend back up the crater and take in one of Ngorongoro’s magnificent sunsets. A spectacular sight to cap a spectacular day.

We will spend the evening at our Ngorongoro safari lodge or tented camp.

NGORONGORO  – TARANGIRE PARK  (171 KM  4 HRS.)

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Perhaps we’ll catch an amazing sunrise at the crater before we head to Tarangire Park, a not overly touristed reserve but one that offers a depth of wildlife.

Picking up on the theme of migration, Tarangire features its own smaller movement of wildlife. Of course, ‘smaller’ is relative – the migration here can be up to 250,000 animals – a wonderful display of ostriches, warthogs, impalas, lions, leopards, and many elephants.

Also, keep an eye out for the park’s delightful and bizarre baobab trees. With their thick trunks and spindly branches, they appear to have been planted upside down.

We will spend our final last night at our Tarangire safari lodge or tented camp.

TARANGIRE – ARUSHA (171 Km – Appx. 4 hrs.)

Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch

It’s our final safari morning so let’s enjoy the awakening day and go for one last game drive before turning toward the town of Arusha. This will be an easy drive and we’ll stop for lunch along the way.

We will have you back at your Arusha hotel, residence, the airport, or another place of your choosing in the afternoon.

Over nine days you’ve traveled to Kenya’s and Tanzania’s greatest parks, seen the migratory routes and wildlife, and have been immersed in every sort of dramatic landscape.

We hope your time in these beautiful parks and reserves was as deeply felt for you as it was for us. And that you have priceless stories and memories to take with you for years to come. From the team at Natural World Kenya Safaris, thank you for your interest in and your passion for our beautiful world.