Tanzania offers some of the most impressive game viewing and conservation areas on the planet. It is a storybook setting and provides the perfect combination for one of Safari Guru's popular privately hosted journeys, the Tanzania Highlights Safari. This safari encompasses three unique areas, including the Serengeti National Park, one of Africa's most celebrated safari destinations.
The vast and beautiful Serengeti is one of Africa's most awe-inspiring safari areas. Elephant, buffalo, giraffe, and plenty of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and a variety of antelopes live or migrate through here, of course, all hunted by the lion and leopard for which the Serengeti is famous. Serengeti means "endless plains" in the Maasai language and is often considered one of the quintessential safari settings.
The Ngorongoro Crater sits between the Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks. The Crater is the world's largest intact, unflooded caldera, or collapsed volcano. The volcanic soil is incredibly rich in nutrients, making for great grasslands, forests, stream-fed swamps, and abundant food for grazing animals. Where there is prey, there are predators – and, as such, the Ngorongoro Crater is almost second to none for wildlife viewing.
Safari Guru's nine-night Tanzania Highlights Safari combines bush and beach in a seamless travel itinerary. As the grand finale, it includes one of Africa's most popular and sought-after islands, the beautiful spice island Zanzibar. This historical island is full of atmosphere, spice plantations and beautiful beaches and is just a short hop from the mainland. Think beautiful, clear, turquoise waters, patches of reefs, and miles of palm-tree-fringed white sandy beaches.
Our meeting point is Arusha, Tanzania's vibrant safari hub, at the foot of Mount Meru, offering breathtaking views of this majestic volcano. Arusha is the primary gateway to some of the world's most famous wildlife destinations, including the Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater. Your journey here is the start of an incredible safari experience.
Safari Guru will manage your transfers from Kilimanjaro International Airport and seamlessly connect you to your accommodation at Arusha Coffee Lodge, hidden amongst one of Tanzania's oldest and largest coffee plantations. Here, our small group will enjoy a relaxed meet and greet over a casual dinner, where you really can get excited for your Tanzania Highlights Safari journey ahead.
Arusha Coffee Lodge is a tranquil sanctuary that radiates into the evergreen coffee fields just outside the ethnically diverse little city, a perfect retreat after a long international flight. Comprising thirty Plantation Houses, Arusha Coffee Lodge has been designed around the original landowner's home dating back to the early 1900s.
The tree-lined driveway guides you to the warm and inviting main area with its quiet, understated aura of luxury. Here, you'll find vibrant gardens, a spa, a swimming pool, and the lovely restaurant Bacchus, where you'll have your first dinner to kick off your tour.
On day two, the group heads towards the forested outside slopes of the Ngorongoro Crater in Northern Tanzania. The short plane journey has us at Manyara Airstrip for our connection to Gibb's Farm, another working farm known for its warm and friendly hospitality and overlooking the centuries-old Great Rift Valley.
En route to the beautiful Gibb's Farm, we'll stop at the stunning Lake Manyara National Park with picnic lunches. Apart from a spectacular setting, the park is famous for its abundant yet unusual tree-climbing lions. The shores of the lake, encrusted with pink flamingos, attract more than 350 bird species, many of them waterfowl or migrants.
By late afternoon, you'll be sipping cocktails and taking in the expansive views from Gibb's Farm. This sanctuary is a haven for the senses, offering rejuvenation for the mind, body, and soul. Gibb's is a destination in its own right, providing a refuge for safari enthusiasts who wish to fully immerse themselves in a profound sense of well-being.
From here, with an early morning departure, you will venture to the Ngorongoro National Park to explore the Ngorongoro Crater, one of Tanzania's most famous landmarks. This destination offers rich grasslands and permanent water sources, which feed enormous numbers of grazers, including black and white rhino.
From Gibb's Farm, we head by plane north to the Serengeti National Park, another of Tanzania's famous landscapes with its most revered phenomenon, the Great Migration - it is the most extraordinary nature show on Earth and certainly one of the most sought-after experiences for wildlife and photography enthusiasts.
We are often asked about the migration. LEARN MORE about this spectacle and when and where you might realistically be able to witness it.
Our ideally located destination is Serengeti Pioneer Camp, offering superlative sweeping views overlooking Moru Kopjes, Lake Magadi and the endless plains, and access to abundant wildlife, including the 'Big 5’. Despite being only 40km as the crow flies from the often bustling Seronera area, this area is relatively quiet, especially outside the core migration months.
Serengeti Pioneer Camp offers a campaign style and feel, paying homage to the mobile camps of the 1930s, a time when an African safari was indeed a journey into the unknown. Serengeti Pioneer Camp's 'zero footprint' and close proximity to nature combine to make a memorable and distinctive base to explore this stunning area.
Comprising twelve tented suites, all with ensuite facilities including a flushing toilet, vanity basin, and showers, the tent interiors evoke the best of an era long gone but certainly not forgotten.
Once you've had your fill of Africa's incredible savannahs and wildlife, another plane journey awaits as you're whisked directly to the enigmatic, beautiful spice island Zanzibar! Descending over this paradise with its turquoise waters, white sands, and forested outcrops is a journey in itself.
"If I'd been a Victorian explorer, I'd have thought, Sod it, I'll stay here" ~ Jeremy Clarkson on Zanzibar, which he further described as having history and soul!
Have your camera at hand; Spice Island's capital, Stone Town, is a historic centre and World Heritage Site. Rich in history and culture, this jewel of an island capital consists of cobbled, tiny winding lanes lined with traders, crumbling palaces, and mosques giving the muezzins' call to prayer at daybreak.
Your accommodation is the wonderful Park Hyatt. This fantastic property sits majestically on a stunning white fringed beachfront within walking reach of the Spice Island's capital, Stone Town. Stone Town is captivating, fascinating and a true Swahili assault on the senses.
The Park Hyatt is the perfect retreat where you'll rejuvenate the body, calm the mind and nourish the soul. Indulge in holistic therapies and body treatments designed to restore, refresh and replenish before you embark on your journey home - the ideal ending to Safari Guru's Tanzania Highlights Safari.
Nothing is set in stone at Safari Guru, and if you wish to venture further, let our team of safari professionals suggest additional destinations and activities for your East Africa adventure.
Safari Guru's privately hosted Tanzania Highlights Safari starts in Arusha, Tanzania, and ends in Zanzibar.
The Tanzania Highlights Safari group will consist of no more than ten people and includes shared accommodation, twice-daily safari activities in the Serengeti, local flights and transfers, all meals, local drinks and park fees.
Not included: gratuities, visa costs (if required), local curio purchases or travel insurance, international flights to and from Tanzania and Zanzibar. Safari Guru can assist with international flight bookings if needed.
Additional destinations can be added before or after this itinerary; please don't hesitate to contact us for suggestions.
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