8 Days Wildebeest Migration Safari: Witness Nature's Spectacle

Arriving at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be warmly welcomed by one of our experienced driver guides, ready to greet and escort you to Arusha and your chosen hotel. He will introduce you to this wonderful city and country. After your long flight, you will be pleased to discover that Arusha – the undisputed ‘safari capital’ of East Africa-is perched at 1400 meters above sea level, keeping the temperatures and humidity relatively low. All around this important city are some of Tanzania’s greatest delights. Mount Meru towers above Arusha, while even distant Kilimanjaro can be seen on a clear day. Arusha provides the ideal starting-point for safari-lovers, within reach of Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

The city even has its own natural attraction, Arusha National Park, close by. Named after the Wa-Arusha residents of the town, this busy agricultural, administrative and tourist center is the perfect place to relax after a long journey and before you set off on safari, the holiday of a lifetime. Welcome to Arusha and welcome to Tanzania!

African Tulip Hotel - Arusha

After a relaxed breakfast, we head for the airport in Arusha where we will catch our mid-morning flight to Grumeti to begin our safari adventure in the Western plains of the Serengeti. On arrival, you are transferred to your lodge to enjoy a hot meal before embarking on an afternoon game drive in the area. With the help of your expert driver guide, you will soon discover the delights of the western area of the iconic Serengeti National Park.

In the evening, it’s back to your Camp for some much-needed rest and recuperation – and dinner, of course.

Mbalageti Tented Camp

West of Seronera, the waters of the Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers ensure that this so-called ‘Western Corridor’ is damper and denser in vegetation than you will find on the more southerly plains of the Serengeti. Imagine a mix of woodland and open grassland. Here, visitors can expect good game-viewing throughout the year, but from late May and throughout June it is usual for the Great Migration to traverse the Western Corridor.

Of course, this depends on the timing of the rains, but in any event, there are lions, giraffes,s and elephants resident in the region south of the Grumeti. Your driver-guide will help you to spot these, as well as the populations of wildebeest and zebra. At the day’s end, your accommodation awaits you. With the sights and sounds still fresh in your consciousness, it’s time to dine and then sleep.

Mbalageti Tented Camp

Before leaving the Western Serengeti, we take the opportunity this morning to enjoy another game drive in this incredible location. This allows us further time to wonder at the migratory herds and the dangers and challenges they face each year in their battle for survival. As well as the herd animals, you can perhaps see a hippopotamus – or up in the skies, a majestic martial eagle.

As well as the migrating animals, this area also has a good population of resident wildlife, so you won’t be disappointed. In the afternoon, we take the short drive back to the central part of Serengeti, where you will be taken to your chosen accommodation for relaxation and your evening meal.

Serengeti Tanzania Bush Camps

Waking up in the Serengeti is something really special. The sights, sounds, and smells of Africa are all around us and ahead is a full day of adventure in the world’s most famous national park. After breakfast, we start today with the morning section of our game drive in Serengeti National Park, marveling at the stunning scenery, ever-changing light, and always entertaining wildlife, all explained to you by your expert driver-guide.

After our picnic lunch, we set off again, searching for wildlife in this awe-inspiring park. Serengeti’s wonders evolve subtly as the day progresses. The myriad animals and birds are the ‘stars of the show’ and Nature’s dramas can unfold at any time. Of course, the animals don’t work to any schedule, so we may find lion or leopard, elephant, zebra, cheetah, and antelope at any time on our drives. At the end of the afternoon, we return to the camp for dinner and some much-needed rest.

Note: For those who have booked the Balloon Safari for today, you will be picked up from the camp at 05.00 hours for a 06.00 hours departure. If you wish to book a balloon safari, please let us know in advance, The price is $545 per person. After your 60 – 90 minute (depending on wind condition) aerial adventure, experience bush breakfast, and champagne, thereafter your driver-guide will pick you up for your full-day game drive.

Serengeti Tanzania Bush Camps

Today on our trip of a lifetime we turn north, driving to the very northern edge of the Serengeti, the world-famous national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Northern Serengeti is a land of open woodland, covering the Seronera in its southern part and being bordered by the Mara river in the north: this marks the border with neighboring Kenya. We are now following in the footsteps of the Great Migration, great herds of thousands of zebra and wildebeest getting ready to cross the Mara. For the visitor, this is one of the world’s most awe-inspiring sights as the animals cross the dangerous waters in small or large groups.

This is a chance to see Nature at its very rawest. Animals on the move, animals hunting…or being hunted! Each day is different here, unpredictable and full of surprises, but nothing can surpass the Great Migration, that unique natural wonder which involves a cast of breathtaking numbers, literally hundreds of thousands of animals making their annual journey. As well to the migrating herds, the Northern Serengeti is an area where you might easily see giraffes, elephants, and dik-dik.

Mara Nyikani Camp

As you awake for the second day in Northern Serengeti, you can contemplate that parts of this northern area can easily match the Southern Serengeti for the abundance of wildlife viewing, especially between July and October. After your breakfast, you will embark with your driver-guide on a full-day game drive, looking out for elephant and buffalo, eland and gazelle. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to spot something really special: perhaps a cheetah, or even a rare black rhino, of which a small population is resident here. Of course, during these months the Great Migration remains the real focus, with the mighty Mara river proving the obstacle for wildebeest as they seek to cross to and from the Maasai Mara in neighboring Kenya.

Mara Nyikani Camp

After a relaxing breakfast, we leave our Northern Serengeti accommodation and transfer to Kogatende airstrip for our 10.15am flight back to Arusha. Your two-hour flight represents the last chance to see beautiful Tanzania – this time, from above. At Arusha airport, you will be met by a Lindo Travel driver who will transfer you to the Planet Lodge where you will enjoy a hot lunch. Finally, you will be taken by your driver to Kilimanjaro International Airport to connect with your onward flight.

Kia Planet Lodge - Arusha