8-Day Wakanda Ultra-Luxury Safari

On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport your personal Wakanda representative meets you with chilled refreshments and transfers you in a luxury safari vehicle to Arusha. Spend the afternoon unwinding after your international flight, with a private welcome dinner served at your lodge. Meals: Dinner. Overnight at Gran Meliá Arusha — five-star boutique lodge on the edge of 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

Gran Meliá Arusha

5-star resort on the foothills of Mount Meru

Flagship 5-star resort on Mount Meru's foothills, with infinity pool, spa and superb dining.

After a leisurely breakfast we drive south into Tarangire, famed for its ancient baobabs and East Africa's largest elephant herds. Expect big cats, giraffe, buffalo and a spectacular birdlife along the Tarangire River. A gourmet picnic lunch is set up overlooking the river before your afternoon game drive continues into the golden hour. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Acacia Tarangire Luxury Camp — premium tented camp inside Tarangire.

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

Acacia Tarangire Luxury Camp

Luxury tented camp near Tarangire NP

Elegant tented camp on the Tarangire boundary — canvas suites, four-poster beds and a fire-lit dining tent.

We climb the Great Rift Valley wall towards the misty Ngorongoro Highlands, with an optional stop at a working coffee plantation or a Maasai cultural village en route. You arrive in time for sunset cocktails at a luxury lodge overlooking the crater forest, followed by a fine-dining dinner. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at The Retreat at Ngorongoro — luxury highlands lodge above the crater.

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

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.

At sunrise we descend more than 600 metres onto the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater — Africa's Garden of Eden — where you have one of the highest chances anywhere on the continent to see black rhino alongside lion, hyena, elephant, hippo and flamingos. After a crater-floor picnic lunch we climb back up and continue west into the endless plains of the Serengeti, with game viewing beginning 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.

The whole day is dedicated to the Serengeti, with your private guide tailoring the route around the latest sightings. Expect lion prides, leopards, cheetahs, elephant families and — in season — the Great Migration, plus crocs and hippos along the Seronera River. Optional bush breakfast, champagne picnic or sundowners can be arranged on request. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury 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 day in the Serengeti, this time exploring quieter sectors rarely visited by other vehicles. Today is designed entirely around your interests, with optional luxury add-ons including a hot-air balloon safari at first light, a champagne bush breakfast, a professional wildlife photography session, a Maasai cultural visit, or a private bush dinner beneath the African stars. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury 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.

Enjoy a final sunrise game drive followed by a slow breakfast in camp. You then choose between a scenic bush flight back to Arusha or a luxury drive through the conservation area with lunch en route. On arrival you have use of a day room at Gran Meliá Arusha to freshen up before your onward international flight, or before continuing to Zanzibar. Meals: Breakfast and Lunch. Day room at Gran Meliá Arusha.

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.

After a relaxed breakfast your private driver transfers you to Kilimanjaro International Airport in good time for your international flight home, closing your Wakanda journey with unforgettable memories of Tanzania's wildlife, landscapes and hospitality. Meals: Breakfast.

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.