08 DAY SERENGETI WILDEBEEST MIGRATION RIVER CROSSING

Whatever your arrival time at Kilimanjaro International Airport, your Eyes On Serengeti driver-guide will be waiting for you with a warm, welcoming smile. Kick back and relax in your comfortable vehicle as he takes you to your hotel in Arusha, Tanzania’s self-styled ‘safari capital.’ On your journey to the hotel, you will get a brief impression of this large, bustling, commercial city. Depending on your arrival time, you may have your pre-safari briefing today. If not, it will take place early tomorrow morning. You’ll then retire to your accommodation, Rivertree Country Inn, for a good night’s rest on a bed-and-breakfast basis.

From Arusha, we proceed to Tarangire National Park for our game drive. It is one of the largest national parks in Tanzania and is located in the Manyara region. The park is characterized by the large herds of elephants, tree-climbing lions, and the fascinating baobab trees (also called the “tree of life” for the almost mythical powers that some cultures attach to it). This park is especially well-known for the Tarangire River which flows all year round and is the only source of water for wild animals during dry seasons.

Tarangire retains an air of undiscovered Africa, as it is less visited than other northern Tanzanian parks. It is a haven for birds. About 550 bird species, the world’s largest selection found in one habitat, find their home in Tarangire. The stocking-thighed ostrich, the world’s largest bird, might greet you in its party dress of plumes!

Located on the slopes of Oloongams Hills. Masai Mara Sopa Lodge is one of the first lodges to be built in the Masai Mara Game Reserve. This will be your home for the next three nights with all your meals included.

Here, you’ll explore morning and night game drives and nature walks that will give you the chance to spot wildlife such as large prides of lions, elephants, and giraffes in grasslands, gazelles as well as eland. You and your family/friends will also enjoy hot-air ballooning over the Mara plains and horseback safari.

After an early breakfast, you will depart for a full-day game drive in northern Serengeti, near the Tanzania and Kenya border. Your game drives will focus on seeing the wildebeest migration and especially on the river crossing. Later in the evening, you will enjoy the campfire dinner and overnight at your camp.

Many visitors only want to see the river crossings, but the true spectacle of the migration is more than 1,245,000 wildebeests, 200,000 Burchell’s zebras, 18,000 elands, and 500,000 Thomson’s gazelles filling the entire stretch of landscape. The shifting columns of the herds as they traverse the valleys and the hills can only be watched in awe. There is nothing else like this on earth.

Hundreds of thousands of wildebeest can congregate at crossing points, all crossing in a single continuous wave of beasts. This happens while tooth and claw are waiting around the sides to pick off the weak and the careless.

After an early breakfast, you will drive to the Lobo area for a game drive. Lobo is an area in the northeast of Serengeti National Park with a unique landscape. You will have a good opportunity to see leopards, cheetahs, big prides of lions, the rare klipspringer antelopes and others. In the late afternoon, you will continue to Central Serengeti for dinner and overnight at Oleserai Camp.

After an early breakfast, you will drive to the Lobo area for a game drive. Lobo is an area in the northeast of Serengeti National Park with a unique landscape. You will have a good opportunity to see leopards, cheetahs, big prides of lions, the rare klipspringer antelopes and others. In the late afternoon, you will continue to Central Serengeti for dinner and overnight at Oleserai Camp.

After breakfast, you will drive back to Arusha for lunch with a short stop at a traditional Maasai village on the way. After lunch, you will visit the Maasai market for shopping (if interested), then you will be transferred to Kilimanjaro Airport for your departure back home.