11 Days – Victoria Falls - Maasai Mara and Serengeti

On arrival at Victoria Falls International Airport you're transferred to your accommodation to check in and rest while you wait for the afternoon. In the late afternoon you're collected for a sunset cruise along the mighty Zambezi River, where you may see hippos, crocodiles and elephants and enjoy the many bird species along the banks.
 

Soon after breakfast you explore the falls up close and on foot with an experienced guide. Feel the thunder, be touched by the mist, and take in endless views as you walk the path beside the falls. At 7:00pm you're collected for dinner at The Boma, a legendary dining and entertainment experience that blends local cuisine, energetic dance performances, interactive drumming, and traditional storytelling. The four-course meal includes a platter of starters, soup from the campfire, a braai (barbecue) buffet, and a selection of desserts.
 

After breakfast at your lodge, depending on your flight time you can rest and relax or check out and transfer to Victoria Falls Airport for your flight to Nairobi, Kenya. You're met at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and transferred to your hotel for an overnight on a Bed and Breakfast basis.
 

You set off early for the Maasai Mara National Reserve, one of the few places left on earth where wildlife still lives comparatively undisturbed, in the numbers that once roamed the plains and forests of Africa. As the northern tip of the vast Serengeti ecosystem, the Mara hosts the spectacular seasonal movement of many thousands of wildebeest and zebras, with the predators that follow them. You arrive in time for lunch and head out on an afternoon game drive before dinner and overnight.

After breakfast you set out on a full day of game drives with a packed lunch. The reserve is well known for its black-maned lions and its abundant resident wildlife, and it is one of the few places where it's possible to see the Big Five in a single morning's game drive. Bird lovers will find almost 500 recorded species, including 16 species of eagle, many hawks and falcons, 6 species of vulture, 8 species of stork, 4 of bustards, including the Kori bustard, the world's heaviest flying bird, and 9 species of sunbird. Dinner and overnight at Zebra Plain Mara.
 

The day begins with an early morning game drive in the Maasai Mara as you make your way out of the reserve toward the Isebania border. After border formalities you cross into Tanzania and continue to Serengeti National Park. It is a long day of driving, but game drives in and out of the parks can be surprisingly rewarding. Dinner and overnight at Into Wild Serengeti Camp.
 

After breakfast you leave with a packed lunch for a game drive across the Serengeti's acacia savannah in the central and eastern parts of the park. Between 12:30pm and 1:00pm you break for a picnic lunch, then continue with an afternoon game drive before returning for dinner and overnight at Into Wild Serengeti Camp.

Wake at 6:00am for an early morning game drive in the Serengeti, returning to camp at 8:45am. After checking out, you drive toward the Ngorongoro Crater Rim with lunch and game viewing along the way. If you'd like, you can stop at Olduvai Gorge, the archaeological site, which is available at an extra cost. Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge.
 

You descend into the crater for a six-hour tour of this natural amphitheatre of roughly 100 square miles, host to an astonishing array of wildlife. You may be lucky enough to see rhino, elephant, lion, and buffalo, along with large herds of zebra and wildebeest. A picnic lunch is taken in the crater, and later in the afternoon you drive to Karatu for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast you leave your lodge with a packed lunch for Tarangire National Park and a morning of game viewing. At 1:00pm you stop at the park's picnic area for lunch, then continue with an afternoon game drive before driving to Arusha in the later afternoon for your overnight.