10 Day Best of East Africa Safari - East Africa Accommodated Safari
The Best of East Africa Safari visit the best known national parks in East Africa - the Masai Mara, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. Add the smaller but also impressive Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks as well as the bustling cities of Arusha and Nairobi - and complete the picture with comfortable but affordable accommodations and local expertise - and you have our Best of East Africa safari - available for groups as small as two people.
Brief Itinerary
Days 1 & 2: Masai Mara National Reserve Day 3: Nairobi Days 4 & 5: Arusha, Lake Manyara National Park Days 6 & 7: Olduvai Gorge, Serengeti National Park Day 8: Ngorongoro Crater Day 9: Tarangire National Park, Arusha Day 10: NairobiTour Highlights
- Great Rift Valley
- Masai Mara National Reserve
- Nairobi
- Lake Manyara National Park
- Olduvai Gorge
- Serengeti National Park
- Ngorongoro Crater
- Tarangire National Park
- Arusha
Detailed Itinerary
Days 1 & 2: Nairobi, Great Rift Valley, Masai Mara National Reserve (Bx1 / Lx2 / Dx2)
We leave Nairobi and follow the lower scenic Mau escarpment road down into the Great Rift Valley, enjoying the local villages and spectacular views as we go. We enter the homelands of the Mara people and arrive at the Masai Mara National Reserve in time for lunch. This afternoon we take our first game drive, exploring the undulating landscape and watching out for our first wildlife. Be patient - the wildlife is there but the Mara is a big place, it can take time before we see anything. Probably you will spot, gazelle, perhaps zebra and giraffe quite quickly - the 'big game' can take a little longer. This evening we settle into our lodge for dinner and overnight.
The next day we have a full day in the Reserve. We get up early to game drive while it is still cool and the animals at their most active. The reserve is largely hilly savannah, rolling grassland and forest dissected by the Mara River. During the course of the day we would hope to see some predators and perhaps the 'Big Five' (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino) as they are al present in the reserve. If you are here between June and October you may catch some of the annual migration, undertaken by thousands of wildebeest and zebra which move 'en masse' from the dry Serengeti plains to the south, across the border into the Mara for the better grasses. During the height of the migration the plains are full of the hoofed animals - of course with the predators not far behind. At the end of our exciting day on the plains we return to our accommodation for dinner.
Day 3: Nairobi (B)
We leave after breakfast for our journey back across the Great Rift Valley back to Nairobi where we say goodbye to our Kenyan crew and spend the night in a centrally located hotel with swimming pool.
Days 4 & 5: Arusha, Lake Manyara National Park (Bx2 / L / D)
This morning we are picked up at 07:15 to join the regular shuttle bus service to Arusha. The road leads across the Athi plains and traditional Masai-land through the occasional dusty provincial centre to Namanga, the main border crossing point with Tanzania. Once formalities are completed we continue to Arusha where, following a tour briefing, we overnight.
The following day we leave Arusha and drive west, across the floor of the Rift Valley, to the village of Mto-wa-Mbu ('mosquito creek'). We check into our lodge and after lunch enjoy a gamedrive in the nearby Lake Manyara National Park. This is one of the Rift Valley's (many) soda lakes known for its birdlife, especially flamingos that congregate in the shallows to feed. Sometimes they are present in such numbers as to form a pink 'fringe' to the lakeshore. As well as birdlife the park has acres of acacia forest and is well known for hippo, antelope and the famous 'tree climbing' lions.
Days 6 & 7: Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, Olduvai Groge, Serengeti National Park (Bx2 / Lx2 / Dx2)
After breakfast we leave our lodge and continue to Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. We enter the Area and ascend the out wall of the Crater until we reach the rim. We stop to enjoy the views into the enormous crater before descending onto the Serengeti plains to the west, stopping en route at the Olduvai Gorge, where remnants of early man were discovered by the Drs Richard and Mary Leakey in the late 1960s. The name Serengeti comes from the Masai word 'Siringitu' which means 'the place where the land moves on forever' and it is easy to see why the Masai named it thus: the flat plains extend for miles to an unbroken horizon. We drive across the plains and enter the park and make our way (gamedriving) to our lodge for dinner and overnight. The following day we rise early to explore the park by gamedriving. We would hope to see wildebeest, zebra, elephant, antelope and buffalo as well as lion, cheetah, hyena, giraffe and rhino.
Later in the afternoon we make our way back to the Ngorongoro Crater and stay overnight in a lodge near the Crater rim.
Days 8 & 9: Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park, Arusha (Bx2 / Lx2 / Dx2)
Again we rise early and descend into the Ngorongoro itself and enjoy viewing inside this natural wildlife amphitheatre. Created from an ancient (now extinct) volcano the Ngorongoro is the largest intact caldera in the world and is estimated to be home to some 30,000 animals. Finally we head back up the Crater wall to the rim and return to our lodge at Lake Manyara.
The next morning we descend once again to the Rift Valley floor and travel to the Tarangire National park, where we explore the scenic terrain around the Tarangire River. The park is known for the giant Baobab tree as well as for a variety of predators and grazing animals. At the end of the day we head back to Arusha for our final night in Tanzania.
Day 10: Nairobi (B)
The morning is at leisure until we catch the shuttle service bus back to Nairobi where arrangements end (typical arrival time is 18h30 and 19h30.
Our recommendation is that you plan to spend that evening in Nairobi; the shuttle service is a daily service and normally runs to schedule but delays do occur and we suggest that a final relaxed night in Nairobi is preferable to a rushed trip to the airport if the bus is running late!
- View more Serengeti Overland Safaris
