Serengeti · Mara River Crossing

Your Mashuve guide meets you at Kilimanjaro International Airport for the 40–45 minute (33 km) drive to Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge in the foothills of Mount Meru. A restored 100-year-old farmhouse set in tropical gardens, ancient forest and a spring-fed lake full of birdlife.

Explore the local markets, the Cultural Heritage Centre or the Maasai Market for Tanzanian crafts and art, or simply unwind by the pool and spa. Optional: the Serval Wildlife Sanctuary, a two-hour drive, where you can feed zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, eland, serval cats and lions.

A scenic 3-hour, 130 km drive to Tarangire National Park, then a game drive through baobab-dotted plains and riverine woodland. Tarangire holds Tanzania's largest elephant population, plus fringe-eared oryx, greater kudu, ashy starling and over 500 bird species.

Continue exploring Tarangire's ecosystems with a bush picnic, then a 3-hour, 130 km drive to the town of Karatu in the fertile Ngorongoro Highlands for sundowners and dinner.

A 1.5 to 2 hour drive to Lake Eyasi to meet the Hadzabe, one of the last hunter-gatherer communities in East Africa. Join them for fire-making and tracking, and hear their click language. Then visit the neighbouring Datoga, skilled blacksmiths working with ancient methods.

An early descent into the Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the highest density of mammalian predators in Africa. Three to four hours on the crater floor with a picnic lunch, watching for lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and the critically endangered black rhino, then continue to Central Serengeti.

An early start for an exclusive black rhino tracking excursion in the Moru Kopjes, 40–50 km southwest of Seronera. Afterwards, search the golden plains for lions on kopjes, cheetah, buffalo and elephant, visit the Seronera River Valley for leopard, and stop at Pride Rock before sundowners at the lodge.

A 170 km, 5 to 6 hour game drive north through less-travelled parts of the Serengeti. Expect elephant, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest herds, with lion and cheetah hunting the open grasslands. Arrive in Kogatende by late afternoon.

Early wake-up calls, breakfast at 6:30am and full days in the field with morning and afternoon game drives focused on the Mara River crossings. Wildebeest and zebra plunge into crocodile-filled water while lion, cheetah and hyena wait on the banks. Between drives, relax at the lodge above the river.

After an early breakfast, transfer to Kogatende Airstrip for the 1-hour flight to Arusha. Lunch and shopping at the Cultural Heritage Centre among Tanzanian crafts, tanzanite, carvings and fine African art, then the 1-hour drive to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight.