The Migration - calving season January to March

Arusha and your arrival

When you arrive at Kilimanjaro International your guide will meet you to begin your safari. You'll get a quick safari briefing before a late dinner at your hotel. Overnight at Arusha Coffee Lodge, with dinner and breakfast included.

Onwards to Tarangire, the perfect start

You'll drive to Tarangire National Park for your first two days on safari. The Great North Road that takes you to Tarangire is about 90 minutes from Arusha. After stopping for a hot lunch at Tarangire Safari Lodge, you'll continue south along the Tarangire River during the afternoon. Overnight at Oliver’s Camp, one of our favourites, where you can enjoy good elephant sightings and marvel at the huge baobab trees that line the horizon of this park. 

Elephant and so much more

This is your first full day on safari so get out early. Start with a walk from Oliver’s Camp in the morning and an afternoon game drive to the swamps, waiting for the elephant to come down. You can also look for cats along the swamp edge and or towards the Tarangire River. Overnight again at Oliver’s Camp, with your meals and drinks included.

Lake Manyara and the rim of the Crater

This morning you'll drive towards the Great Rift Valley’s Gregory Rift to visit Lake Manyara National Park, which is famous for its tree-climbing lions and rain forest vegetation, with good primate species, pelicans and flamingos. Enjoy lunch at Lemala Manyara Camp and an afternoon drive in Lake Manyara. In the late afternoon you'll drive up the escarpment and onwards up the rim of Ngorongoro Crater. Overnight on the crater rim at Lemala Ngorongoro Crater Camp, with your meals and drinks included.

Full day on the Crater floor

Spend a full day on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater (caldera); from Lemala Camp you can get down early and this is ideal. Try to find the endangered black rhino as well as lion and cheetah. Overnight again at Lemala Ngorongoro Crater, with meals and drinks included.

Lake Ndutu and the southern plains

The Great Migration should be just north-west of Ngorongoro Crater and you'll drop down onto the southern Serengeti/Ndutu plains. With a packed lunch you'll spend the whole day driving and looking for herds and some predator interaction. It's hard to take in the vast numbers of wildebeest dotting the green plains of the southern Serengeti. Overnight at Asilia’s Olakira Camp, with meals and drinks included.

The Great Migration, it is hard to imagine

You'll spend your first full day on the plains with the herds, and also go looking for predator interaction. It's easy to find cats with the migration present – the wildebeest, zebra and gazelles occupy so much space that if you see an open circle you know that there must be a predator at its centre. This is the ideal time to follow cheetah or lion to see what they're up to during the calving season.Overnight again at Asilia’s Olakira Camp, with your meals and drinks included.

Never-ending herds

On your last day on the plains, you'll venture further west towards Matiti Hill to look for more migratory plains game and striped hyena. If needed, you can enter into the Serengeti side of the plains because our park fees include the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Serengeti National Park. Overnight at Asilia’s Olakira Camp, with meals and drinks included. 

Big cat country

Your safari in the south-western Serengeti ends at Moru. The top end of the migration might be here towards the end of March and it's a wonderful area – with or without the migration. If you're lucky you might bump into rhino, but good lion and leopard sightings are likely all year round at Moru. Overnight at one of our favourite camps, Dunia, with meals and drinks included.

Make sure you find leopard

On your last full day of safari look for leopard if you haven't seen this elusive cat yet. Driving north from Moru towards the Seronera Valley, we'll help you look for one of three leopards we know are in the area. Fundi, Mawe and our favourite, Hatari, can be found along the tree line that runs with the Seronera river system just west of the airstrip. Overnight your last night on safari at Dunia Camp, with your meals and drinks included. 

Fly Home

Your safari ends with a last morning game drive to Seronera airstrip, from where you'll fly back to Arusha. Enjoy aerial views of Ngorongoro Crater and Ol Doinyo Lengai, the Masai holy mountain. You'll be transferred to Kilimanjaro International for your flight home.