Great Migration Safaris

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, your private naturalist guide will be waiting to transfer you to your boutique lodge for your first night before beginning your safari.

After you settle in, your guide will go over safari plans and give you a brief orientation to Tanzania and what you need to know for your safari. He'll go over maps of your route, topography and the location of the migration.

Your safari begins in Tarangire National Park, which has the largest elephant population in Tanzania. Four thousand elephants wander amongst the baobab trees on vast savanna plains alongside an incredible diversity of wildlife. The Tarangire River attracts thirsty wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, hartebeests, buffalos, elephants, lions, and leopards who drink and graze around its banks. The park is great for birding with over 500 species of birds of prey, woodland birds and migratory birds.

After breakfast, you will head out on an all day game drive and have the chance to explore Tarangire on foot. An armed park ranger will lead you on a two-hour nature walk to spy on birds, zebras, giraffes, elephants, and other creatures across the plains.

In Tarangire, you will meet with conservationists from the nonprofit African People & Wildlife, which is working with local tribes to conserve lions and elephants by preventing human-wildlife conflict.

Next, you will journey to Lake Manyara National Park, a scenic reserve famous for its tree climbing lions, tremendous elephant herds, and soda ash lake with great birdlife. You’ll see thousands of pink flamingos, huge flocks of pelicans, and many egrets, herons, eagles, stilts, spoonbills, hornbills, stalks and other waders. It’s a spectacular place to view wildlife by canoe or boat.

You’ll spot wildebeests, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, impalas, warthogs, waterbucks, and wandering around its acacia woodlands and evergreen forest. There is a hippo pool on the lake’s southern bank and hot springs on the western side. 

After lunch, depart for Karatu, a lively small town near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This area has well-established coffee plantations and forests, and the town is a bustling mix of old and new with safari vehicles and colorful tuk-tuks driving beside Maasai herders and ox-carts. There’s a bank, shops, and a few artist collectives on the main road.