Day 1: Arusha National Park

• Travel Time: 1 hour from Moshi (75 km)
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (picnic), Dinner

Your adventure kicks off at 8:00 am after breakfast when your safari guide and driver pick you up in Moshi. You’ll embark on a scenic drive to Arusha National Park, a small yet captivating park located just 75 km from Moshi and 30 km from Arusha. Despite its size, this park offers a rich variety of landscapes, from lush jungles to open grasslands, shimmering lakes, and rushing rivers.

Arusha National Park features three notable highlights:

1. Mount Meru: Tanzania’s second-highest peak, standing tall at 4,566 meters, is an impressive active volcano and Africa’s fifth-highest mountain.
2. Momela Lakes: This series of seven shallow lakes is a hotspot for wildlife, including waterbucks, zebras, giraffes, and a wide variety of birds.
3. Ngurdoto Crater: A wide volcanic crater formed around 15 million years ago, home to an array of wildlife.

You will enjoy morning and afternoon game drives, with a picnic lunch in between, visiting both the Momela Lakes and Ngurdoto Crater. Look out for African buffalos, elephants, giraffes, hippos, warthogs, antelopes, and possibly rare sightings of leopards or hyenas. The park is also known for its vibrant birdlife, including the Narina trogon and bar-tailed trogon.

After a thrilling day of exploring, you’ll return to your hotel in the evening to relax and prepare for the next day.

Day 2: Arusha National Park to Lake Manyara National Park

• Travel Time: 4.5 hours (260 km)
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (picnic), Dinner

After breakfast, your guide will pick you up, and you’ll travel westward toward the Great Rift Valley, where Lake Manyara National Park awaits. Known for its dramatic scenery, the park is set against the backdrop of the Rift Valley’s towering western escarpment and features a massive but shallow soda lake, which covers two-thirds of the park.

Lake Manyara National Park is renowned for its diverse habitats and dense populations of wildlife, including:

• Large herds of African elephants
• The park’s famous tree-climbing lions
• Huge flocks of flamingos drawn to the lake’s algae-filled waters

You will arrive in time for lunch, followed by exciting morning and afternoon game drives through the park, with a picnic lunch in between. During your drives, you’ll search for the tree-climbing lions, as well as zebras, impalas, monkeys, giraffes, buffalos, hippos, and a wide variety of birds.

In the evening, you’ll head to your lodge for dinner and overnight accommodation.

Day 3: Lake Manyara National Park to Ngorongoro Crater and back to Arusha

• Travel Time: 2 hours to Ngorongoro Crater (50 km) and 5 hours back to Arusha (270 km)
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch (picnic)

After breakfast, you’ll descend 600 meters into the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater for a half-day morning game drive. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most densely packed wildlife areas in Africa, home to around 30,000 animals. Supported by year-round water and rich vegetation, the crater offers one of the best chances to see a wide variety of species, including:

• Herds of wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes, and elands
• Rare black rhinos, one of the park’s most prized inhabitants
• Large African elephants
• Predators such as lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs, and elusive leopards

After an exhilarating morning of game viewing, you’ll enjoy a picnic lunch inside the crater before heading back to Moshi or Arusha, where your unforgettable African safari adventure will come to an end.