In flight enroute to Nairobi

In Nairobi you'll catch a short connecting flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA). On arrival you'll be met and transferred to Arusha (1 hour’s drive). Once you arrive at your accommodation the rest of the day is free to relax and recover from the journey. Your delightful rustic lodge is set on a secluded wooded foothill of Mount Meru outside Arusha, next to a forest reserve.

Your safari begins this morning as you set off for Tarangire National Park (2+ hours drive), the least known of the northern parks, for a short game drive. Tarangire National Park stretches along the river of the same name south-east of Lake Manyara, and is known for the high density of wildlife - particularly during the dry season (July-November), when you're likely to see large herds of elephant, zebra, wildebeest and hartebeest. Throughout the rest of the year you can see giraffe, kudu, waterbuck, gazelle, and impala, and - if you're very lucky - the odd rhino or leopard in the acacia and mixed woodland.

After a picnic lunch you continue to peaceful Lake Manyara National Park (1+ hours drive), which lies close by between the lake from which it takes its name, and the abrupt slope of the Rift Valley's western escarpment. Because of the lake it's a good place to see hippo and, like Tarangire NP, it also has excellent birdlife. The habitat and diversity is greater here - including pink flamingos that are attracted by the alkaline waters of the lake at certain times of year. You'll do another game drive before heading to your first campsite to settle in for the night and have dinner.

Today you climb past Ngorongoro Crater to enter Serengeti National Park (3-4 hours drive). En route you'll visit a 50 kilometre-long, 90 metre-deep gorge - Olduvai Gorge - where many fossils have been unearthed. Successive layers of volcanic deposits were laid down over the millenia, providing a unique record of life in pre-historic times. It was here that Mary Leaky discovered the famous jawbone that offered clues into the development of early man some two million years ago.

After a short visit to the site museum you'll continue to the Serengeti. A series of grassy highland plains entirely devoid of trees other than the odd patch of acacia woodland, but studded with rocky kopjes (outcrops), Serengeti is Tanzania's largest national park and - justifiably - its most famous. The plains extend over the border into Kenya (Serengeti means endless plain) to become Maasai Mara National Park, thus creating a vast area that attracts large numbers of herbivores. These include over a million wildebeest which, during the rainy season (Dec-May), are scattered throughout the southern Serengeti.

Once the rains stop the southern areas dry out quickly as there are few rivers and streams, so the wildebeest congregate in immense herds in the remaining green areas, and eventually migrate in a northwesterly direction across the border into Kenya in search of food. After spending the dry season (Jul-Oct) in the Maasai Mara, they migrate back southwards into Tanzania in anticipation of December's rains. Your first destination in Serengeti is Seronera, it has an excellent visitor information centre that offers a wealth of background information about the national park and explanations of its ecosystems. It's worth spending some time here to familiarise yourself with the new environment before heading out for a game drive.

Due to the varied terrain and concentration of wildlife, the Serengeti is a great place to spend a couple of days - so take advantage of the unparalleled opportunities to see animals from close range. In order to see as many animals as possible you'll take morning and afternoon game drives on both days. As well as wildebeest there are big herds of giraffe, large numbers of zebra, both Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, the ubiquitous impala, plus eland, klipspringer and warthog to be seen - and much more.

As far as carnivores go, the Serengeti lions are extremely well known - many have been equipped with radio collars so they can be tracked and studied; there are also leopard - although these are more elusive - and cheetah. Lion and cheetah are regularly sighted. Once again Serengeti's bird life is particularly rich, with a number of endemic species that are commonly seen.

You'll spend one night at Ikoma Campsite on the Grumeti River just outside the northern boundary of the park, before returning to Seronera at its centre - this gives you an opportunity to see a far wider range of ecosystem than by staying in one camp.

This morning your game drive in the Serengeti offers a final opportunity to enjoy its wildlife. This afternoon you retrace your steps to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This consists of the Crater Highlands, an area of volcanoes - some of which, including Ngorongoro Crater, have collapsed - plus the surrounding area of bush, plain and woodland. This is the homeland of the Maasai whose cattle have grazed on these pastures for centuries. This afternoon you'll drive around the rim of Ngorongoro Crater with splendid views out over the 20 kilometre wide caldera.

A morning drive down into Ngorongoro Crater reveals an astonishingly rich variety of animals and plant life for such a relatively small area. As well as lion, elephant, buffalo and plains game, you may also see black rhino. Despite being enclosed by the sheer crater walls, the animals come and go as they seek out grassland and water sources on the floor of the crater.

You're also likely to see Maasai herders tending their cattle; as this is part of their ancestral terrain and a conservation area rather than a national park, they live side by side with the game. Towards the end of the morning you'll drive up to take a picnic lunch on the very edge of the crater - a fitting end to a memorable morning. Tonight you'll overnight at one of the campsites close to the rim.

Your last full day in Tanzania is largely taken up with the drive back to Arusha (3 hours). However, you’ll make a stop at Mto Wa Mbu. This village and souvenir-hunting stands at a strategic point just north of Lake Manyara and has a bustling curio market which is great for some impromptu shopping. Finally you arrive back in Ausha at the rustic comfort of your lodge up on the wooded slopes of Mount Meru.

The day is free until a late afternoon transfer (1 hour) to Kilimanjaro International Airport for a flight to Nairobi, connecting with your overnight return flight to London.

Your flight arrives into London in the early morning.