10-Day Private Semi-Luxury Migration Safari

On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport you are met by your Wakanda representative and transferred to your Arusha lodge. Time permitting, we can arrange a short Arusha city orientation — the Cultural Heritage Centre, the local market and the Maasai market. Meals: Dinner. Overnight at Karibu Heritage House — comfortable semi-luxury base in Arusha.

Your safari begins the moment you walk out of Kilimanjaro International Airport. A Serengeti Wakanda guide is waiting with your name on a board and the words every traveller wants to hear: karibu Tanzania, welcome to Tanzania.

We transfer you to your lodge in the Arusha foothills, where you can shower, change into safari clothes and settle in. Your driver-guide joins you for a relaxed welcome dinner, walks through tomorrow's plan in detail and answers every last question. An early night sets you up for the days ahead.

Where you sleep tonight

Karibu Heritage House

Guesthouse in Arusha

Warm, owner-run guesthouse in Arusha — the trusted first/last-night base for our camping and trekking guests.

After breakfast we drive south to Tarangire, famed for its baobabs and giant elephant herds. From the open roof you'll see zebra, giraffe, impala and — if you're lucky — lion and leopard along the Tarangire River. A picnic lunch overlooking the river is followed by an afternoon game drive before we transfer to your lodge for dinner. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Fig Tree Lodge & Camp — semi-luxury lodge near Mto wa Mbu.

Tarangire is the elephant capital of northern Tanzania. In the dry season the Tarangire River is the only permanent water for miles, and herds of up to 250 elephants come down to drink, calves tumbling between their mothers' legs.

You spend the day on a private game drive through baobab-studded floodplains: lions resting in the shade, giraffe browsing acacia tops, fringe-eared oryx and the strange dwarf mongoose colonies. We pack a hot picnic lunch so you can stay in the park while the light is good.

Where you sleep tonight

Fig Tree Lodge & Camp

Lodge & camp near Tarangire NP

Family-run lodge and camp just outside Tarangire's main gate, with simple chalets, pool and bush dinners under the figs.

After breakfast we head to Lake Manyara National Park for a half-day game drive through groundwater forest and along the Rift Valley wall, watching for tree-climbing lions, elephant, hippo pools and huge flocks of flamingos on the alkaline lake. In the late afternoon we climb the escarpment to the cool Karatu highlands. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Mawe Mawe Manyara Lodge — semi-luxury lodge above the Rift Valley.

Karatu is the green coffee town between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, cool, fertile and a perfect base. Many travellers prefer to overnight here instead of on the cold crater rim and descend fresh the next morning.

Use a half-day for a coffee farm tour, a walk to the Elephant Caves in Ngorongoro Forest or a Iraqw village visit. Otherwise simply rest by the lodge fire before tomorrow's crater dawn.

Where you sleep tonight

Mawe Mawe Manyara Lodge

Boutique lodge above Lake Manyara

Stylish boutique lodge perched above the Rift wall, with lake-view cottages and an infinity pool over the escarpment.

At first light we descend onto the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater — one of the highest concentrations of wildlife anywhere on Earth — with strong chances of black rhino, lion, elephant, hyena, hippo and flamingos. After a crater-floor picnic we ascend and continue west into the Serengeti, with game viewing starting the moment we enter the park. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury Camp — luxury tented camp in the central Serengeti.

The Seronera valley is the heart of the Serengeti and a year-round game-viewing area. Permanent water, rocky kopjes and short-grass plains create the highest density of big cats in Africa: roughly 1 lion per 10 km², and the best leopard sightings on the circuit.

Mornings start before sunrise to catch the cats while they are still active; midday is a slow picnic in the shade of an acacia. In the afternoon we work the riverine fig trees for leopards and the kopjes for resting prides. Distances are long but every stop is worth it.

Where you sleep tonight

Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury Camp

Luxury tented camp, Central Serengeti

Luxury tented camp deep inside the Serengeti — spacious canvas suites with private decks, hot showers, candlelit dinners and lions calling in the distance.

A full day dedicated to finding the Great Migration. Between December and July we work the southern Serengeti and Ndutu calving plains; from July to October we push north toward the Mara River sector for the famous crossings. Your guide reads the daily reports from other drivers and repositions accordingly. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury Camp — luxury mobile migration camp.

The Seronera valley is the heart of the Serengeti and a year-round game-viewing area. Permanent water, rocky kopjes and short-grass plains create the highest density of big cats in Africa: roughly 1 lion per 10 km², and the best leopard sightings on the circuit.

Mornings start before sunrise to catch the cats while they are still active; midday is a slow picnic in the shade of an acacia. In the afternoon we work the riverine fig trees for leopards and the kopjes for resting prides. Distances are long but every stop is worth it.

Where you sleep tonight

Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury Camp

Luxury tented camp, Central Serengeti

Luxury tented camp deep inside the Serengeti — spacious canvas suites with private decks, hot showers, candlelit dinners and lions calling in the distance.

Another full migration day, repositioning with the herds as they move. Expect long lion sightings, predator action at the fringes of the columns, and the constant thunder of hooves and calls. A hot lunch is served in camp or as a proper bush picnic in the field, depending on where the wildlife takes us. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury Camp — luxury mobile migration camp positioned close to the herds.

The Seronera valley is the heart of the Serengeti and a year-round game-viewing area. Permanent water, rocky kopjes and short-grass plains create the highest density of big cats in Africa: roughly 1 lion per 10 km², and the best leopard sightings on the circuit.

Mornings start before sunrise to catch the cats while they are still active; midday is a slow picnic in the shade of an acacia. In the afternoon we work the riverine fig trees for leopards and the kopjes for resting prides. Distances are long but every stop is worth it.

Where you sleep tonight

Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury Camp

Luxury tented camp, Central Serengeti

Luxury tented camp deep inside the Serengeti — spacious canvas suites with private decks, hot showers, candlelit dinners and lions calling in the distance.

A third dedicated migration day: in the north we spend hours at the river banks waiting for a crossing; on the southern plains we focus on the young calves and the predators that follow them. Optional early bush breakfast so we're at the best spots before other vehicles arrive. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Camp.

From December to March the migration spreads across the short-grass plains of Ndutu and southern Serengeti to calve. Half a million wildebeest are born in a six-week window, which in turn brings every predator within walking distance.

Our camp moves with the herds. Mornings are a slow circuit of the calving fields with cheetah hunting on open ground and lions on the woodland edge. Afternoons return to the lakes for sunset and a hot bucket shower back at camp.

Where you sleep tonight

Lala Salama Serengeti Camp

Tented camp, Serengeti

Classic tented camp pitched in the heart of the Serengeti — warm hosting, hearty bush meals and easy access to the plains right from your tent flap.

We slow the pace with a full day in the quieter corners of the Serengeti — kopjes, hidden valleys and pockets of resident game that most itineraries never reach. A pre-dawn hot-air balloon safari over the plains is available as an optional add-on. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Camp — semi-luxury tented camp.

The Seronera valley is the heart of the Serengeti and a year-round game-viewing area. Permanent water, rocky kopjes and short-grass plains create the highest density of big cats in Africa: roughly 1 lion per 10 km², and the best leopard sightings on the circuit.

Mornings start before sunrise to catch the cats while they are still active; midday is a slow picnic in the shade of an acacia. In the afternoon we work the riverine fig trees for leopards and the kopjes for resting prides. Distances are long but every stop is worth it.

Where you sleep tonight

Lala Salama Serengeti Camp

Tented camp, Serengeti

Classic tented camp pitched in the heart of the Serengeti — warm hosting, hearty bush meals and easy access to the plains right from your tent flap.

A final morning game drive in the Serengeti before we start the scenic drive east, climbing back onto the Ngorongoro highlands in time for sunset over the crater. Dinner is served with the crater as your backdrop. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at The Retreat at Ngorongoro — semi-luxury lodge overlooking the crater rim.

The Seronera valley is the heart of the Serengeti and a year-round game-viewing area. Permanent water, rocky kopjes and short-grass plains create the highest density of big cats in Africa: roughly 1 lion per 10 km², and the best leopard sightings on the circuit.

Mornings start before sunrise to catch the cats while they are still active; midday is a slow picnic in the shade of an acacia. In the afternoon we work the riverine fig trees for leopards and the kopjes for resting prides. Distances are long but every stop is worth it.

Where you sleep tonight

The Retreat at Ngorongoro

Luxury lodge near Ngorongoro Crater

Award-winning luxury lodge in the Karatu highlands — handcrafted suites, farm-to-table cuisine and forest spa.

After breakfast you choose between a scenic drive back to Arusha or a bush flight from the airstrip. Drop-off at your Arusha hotel, at Kilimanjaro International Airport for your international flight home, or a seamless transfer to Zanzibar to extend your journey on the beach. Meals: Breakfast and Lunch.

Your last morning. After a slow breakfast we transfer you to the airport in time for your international flight, with a final souvenir stop on the way if you have time.

Travel home with a memory card full of photos, a head full of stories and, almost always, a plan to come back. Kwaheri ya kuonana, goodbye until we meet again.