DAY 1
Arusha, Tanzania
There’s a palpable buzz as you approach Kilimanjaro Airport: Africa’s highest mountain looms large outside. Once on the ground and whisked to your home for the night however, the buzz comes from the bushes: Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge sits in the foothills of Mount Meru, its suites sprinkled amid one of Tanzania’s largest working plantations. Retreat to your stylish room amid the bean-laden bushes, breathe in the heady java scent, dine in the glorious gardens and unwind in the spa. Soothing in the extreme, this is the perfect pre-safari stay.
DAY 2
Tarangire National Park
After a tasty breakfast at Arusha Coffee Lodge, you will be taken on a ‘Bean-To-Cup’ Coffee Estate Tour. Lunch will be served in the gardens of the lodge. After lunch a short transfer to Arusha Airport and now your safari will take to the air. Tarangire is the unexpected awesome; the connoisseur’s choice. More than 3,000 elephants – one of the largest populations in East Africa – reside here while the swamps host 550 species of bird. During the dry season, the perennial Tarangire River becomes the sole water source for a marvellous menagerie: all you need do is sit on its banks and let the wildlife come to you. That said, the diversity of this ecosystem ensures wildlife-viewing is exceptional year round. And it begins as soon as you touch down at Tarangire’s airstrip – the onward journey to your lodge, via bulbous baobabs and grassy plains, is a game drive, not a transfer. By the time you reach Treetops, you’ll already have spotted a host of species.
DAY 3
Tarangire National Park
The magic continues: in a private conservancy bordering the national park, Elewana Treetops is like something from a fairytale, a scatter of suites teetering amongst the branches of the baobab and Marula trees. From your elegant eyrie you can look out, uninterrupted, over the sweeping plains, though you’ll want to come down now and then: to walk out with the Maasai for intimate bush encounters; to join night drives to see the action after dark; to relax in the lounge bar, watching over the waterhole below; and to sit on Sunset Hill late afternoon, cocktail in hand, to toast a great day’s end.
DAY 4
Karatu
Shortly after breakfast at Tarangire Treetops, you will pack up and depart on a morning game drive through Tarangire National Park. Lunch will be served out in the wilds of Africa. Your SkySafari aircraft is ready at Kuro Airstrip and a mere 20 minutes later you will land at Manyara Airstrip. Drive from Lake Manyara for a game drive in Lake Manyara National Park. Lake Manyara – according to Ernest Hemingway, the ‘loveliest in Africa’ – is also nearby; join a game drive here to see hippos chortling in the shallows and baboons bounding amid the giant fig trees and a flamboyance of flamingo on the lake!
DAY 5
Karatu
Over 20km wide and 600m deep, Ngorongoro is a geological marvel and a festival of wildlife. This natural volcanic amphitheatre, lined with grasslands, acacia thickets, riverine forest and sparkling lakes, throngs with a cast of around 30,000 animals: the highest density of wildlife in Africa. Safaris here can be overwhelming, in the very best way. Over the rim to explore the crater bottom: watch zebra and buffalo, lounging lions, spotted hyena and good numbers of black rhino, stopping for a gourmet picnic under the acacias.
DAY 6
Northern Serengeti
It’s hard to sum up the epic Serengeti. At 14,763 sq km, its scale is too great. And while you can revel in the bigger picture, it’s also the place to embrace the individual moments: the will-they-won’t-they tension of a lion pack on the hunt; the shock of a crocodile bursting from the river; the white-knuckle charge of an angry bull elephant; the dazzle of the sun subsiding into plains with no end.
DAY 7
Northern Serengeti
The Serengeti is abundant with game – from the Big Five and cheetah to huge plains herds. You might time your visit for the dramatic peak of the Great Migration, when more than a million animals cross the rivers in the Serengeti’s north. But the animals are always on the move: there is plenty to see, all over the park, year round.
DAY 8
Arusha, Tanzania
Eke out every last second: your drive to the airstrip gives you a final chance to soak up the sights and sounds of the bush. Once airborne, keep your eyes out the window, to see the Serengeti slide out of view and, perhaps, Kilimanjaro peeping through the clouds.
