During this 4-day lodge safari you will visit three of the most well-known reserves on Tanzania’s “northern circuit” – the Lake Manyara National Park, the Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park. With all the diverse landscapes and a crater full of animals, this safari has something for everyone and is ideal for those with limited time.
Your First view as you approach Lake Manyara National Park is spectacular, regardless of direction. When you approach it from the east, the Rift Valley escarpment looms on the horizon forming an impressive backdrop to the lake. If you come from the west and pause at the top of the escarpment, the park lies in a green strip below you and the Lake glistening in the sunlight.
This beautiful park is at the base of the great Rift Valley escarpment and comprises of forest, woodland, grasslands, swamps and part of the lake. Picnic lunch in the park. Proceed with an afternoon game drive in the Park. Dinner and overnight at Twiga Campsite / Twiga lodge.
This morning game drive may offer us an opportunity to see the Maasai tribesmen dressed in their distinctive traditional dress, tending their herds of cattle. They have been granted grazing rights in the crater floor where their livestock get drinking water as well. Picnic lunch at noon time at picnic site at the crater floor.
Ngorongoro crater is the largest intact volcanic crater on earth and home to a spectacular concentration of wildlife.
The animals here are not trapped, but there are some migratory movements in and out of the crater. Because of the protected nature of the habitat and the availability of grazing pastures and water, much of the animal population has become resident year round. This makes Ngorongoro an ideal area for game viewing. There are several prides of lions including including large herds of buffaloes, wildebeests, elands hartebeests elephants, hippos lions and the endangered black rhino remained to be found in Tanzania.
It is the vast number of baobabs that first capture the eye as you enter Tarangire National Park. The gently rolling countryside is dotted with these majestic trees, which seem to dwarf the animals that feed beneath them. Morning game drive in Tanzania National Park.
Lake Burungi area is in the north-western part of the park and a tour drive in this area will offer you fascinating opportunities to watch large herds of flamingos and other species of birds feeding on aquatic organisms in Lake Burungi. This area also contains an isolated population of Oryx.
The park is spectacular in the dry season when many of the migratory wildlife species come back to the permanent waters of Tarangire river. A drive along the Tarangire river will offer you plenty opportunities to watch huge herds of wildebeests, zebras, elephants, elands, impalas, buffaloes and many others which have come to drink water and will continue to stay in the park until the onset of the rains when they start moving out again.
In the morning after breakfast you will have a chance of integrating with local people around the Mto Wa Mbu village. Walking safari will take you to the waterfalls, Maasai bomas, local market, farms and craftsmen around the region. You will have hot lunch at the Twiga camp/lodge and thereafter preparation for driving back to Moshi with an option of visiting the Meserani Snake Park. In the evening you will be transferred to Kilimanjaro International Airport for connecting with your flight back home.