Day 1: Arrive Northern Tanzania
On arrival at Kilimanjaro International or Arusha airports you'll be personally met and escorted by our driver-guide to the fashionable Arusha Hotel in the heart of Tanzania’s safari centre where you’ll spend the night. Activities, including swimming, shopping, or visiting the Tanzanite Experience museum are available for those who arrive early.
Day 2 - 3: West Kilimanjaro
After breakfast you drive onto the western slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro onto a private Maasai conservancy of more than 60,000 acres. Bordering Kenya's Amboseli National Park, the area has abundant game and breathtaking scenery. Meet local Maasai and enjoy cultural insights and experience first hand a unique community based conservation initiative. Join others around the campfire for sundowners before a gourmet dinners prepared by our professional bush chef.. Gaze at the unbounded evening sky while sipping a nightcap around a blazing fire before turning in. Enjoy outstanding accommodation under canvas in Hoopoe’s Hemingway’s Camp surrounded by the sights and sounds of Africa.
Day 4: West Kilimanjaro / Arusha / Manyara
The day is spent meandering through northern Tanzania, passing villages and lush farmland skirting Mount Meru , before entering Arusha the safari capital of the North for a welcome lunch break. By late afternoon, you arrive at Kirurumu Tented Lodge, a beautiful lodge located right on the edge of the Great Rift Valley overlooking Lake Manyara.
Day 5: Manyara / Ngorongoro
Dawn game drive in this park famous for its early elephant studies, and one of the most beautiful parks in the northern circuit. Return to Kirurumu for lunch, and in the afternoon continue to Ngorongoro Crater on one of the most beautiful drives in the world. Stop to catch your breath at the overlook of Africa's great natural wonder, the 10-mile wide Ngorongoro Crater. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge.
Day 6: Ngorongoro
A half-day exploring this great natural wonder. The hundred square miles contain an incredible amount of game, including large prides of lion, free-ranging black rhino and some of the most approachable eland on the continent. The unusual ecosystem has protected wildlife for millennia. Meals and overnight at Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge.
Day 7: Ngorongoro / Tarangire
An early departure to arrive Tarangire National Park by noon. This is the best time of the year for this great elephant park, with its many magnificent sand rivers and dense bush. Arrive at the luxurious Hoopoe Tarangire Camp for lunch and then spend the afternoon game viewing through the park, encountering the large numbers of elephant. In some respects the park is more like a southern than northern Tanzanian park, with its heavy woodlands. Dinner and overnight at the classic Hoopoe Tarangire Camp inside the park.
Day 8: Tarangire
Full day exploring the sand rivers, grassland, and woodlands dotted with amazing baobab trees in this great park. The birdlife in Tarangire is outstanding, sitting directly underneath a flyby between southern Africa and Europe, capturing migrants from both hemispheres. Leopard are particularly abundant here, as are giraffe. But above all are the large numbers of elephant families, that concentrate in the park during the dry season in search of precious water in the Tarangire rivers. Meals and overnight at the luxurious Hoopoe Tarangire Camp.
Day 9: Tarangire / Arusha / Depart
Return to Arusha after breakfast for lunch at the Arusha Hotel. Either relax in the afternoon by the swimming pool head into town for shopping or to visit the Tanzanite Experience museum. Day rooms shall be available until the transfers to the airport for the evening departures.