Kifaru Safari Serena Experience

We meet you on arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport and transfer you comfortably to your hotel in central Arusha. Check in is from 14:00 – if you arrive during the night, you must book an additional night, as waiting in the lobby is not permitted.The hotel features a stone-built reception with an adjoining lounge, library, restaurant, boutique and business centre. Its design echoes the property’s origins as a working coffee farm dating back to colonial times. The rest of the day is at leisure – you can relax and settle in at your own pace. Overnight in Arusha.

Morning at leisure – you can relax until we meet for a safari briefing, followed by lunch. In the afternoon we join a seat in vehicle safari and depart Arusha, travelling across the Masai Steppe past villages and maize, coffee and banana plantations. At Makuyuni we turn north west and continue through a scenic escarpment to reach our lodge on the edge of the Rift Valley, with views towards Lake Manyara. We enjoy dinner at the lodge. Overnight in Lake Manyara.

After breakfast, we set out on a game drive in Lake Manyara National Park, ending just before lunch. We enjoy lunch at the camp, then leave Lake Manyara and travel north west through the hilly highlands of wheat and coffee plantations into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, continuing on to the Serengeti. The plains open out and we may start spotting wildlife before we reach the park. We arrive at the camp in the evening for dinner and time to rest. Serengeti National Park is home to the Big Five – elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo – and hosts the annual migration of over one million wildebeest with attendant predators. Overnight in Serengeti.

After breakfast at camp, we set out to explore the Seronera area of the Serengeti on morning and afternoon game drives. The park is renowned for immense wildlife and the annual Great Migration of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle, and its scenery is just as compelling – riverine forest, woodland, rocky kopjes and volcanic backdrops. With luck we may encounter the Big Five and, with even more luck, the Little Five: antlion, rhino beetle, elephant shrew, buffalo weaver and leopard tortoise. Birdlife and reptiles are plentiful throughout. We return to camp for lunch between drives and later for dinner. Overnight in Serengeti.

After breakfast, we depart the Serengeti for Ngorongoro, game-viewing across the vast plains en route. We pause for a picnic lunch, then continue by road to the lodge, set at the base of the conservation area near the village of Karatu – an ideal base for tomorrow’s exploration. We end the day with dinner at the lodge. Overnight in Ngorongoro.

After breakfast, we depart to explore the Ngorongoro Crater – the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera. With our picnic lunch packed, we descend about 2,000 feet through the morning mist to the crater floor, where distinct habitats – forest, swamps, lakes and springs, open grassland and sand dunes – support superb wildlife viewing. We stop for a picnic overlooking a small lake populated with hippos before continuing our exploration. We return to the lodge in the late afternoon, and you have the rest of the day at leisure before dinner. Overnight in Ngorongoro.

After breakfast we depart Ngorongoro, travelling past Lake Manyara, Mto Wa Mbu and towards Tarangire. We cross the highlands and the Karatu district, passing wheat plains and coffee plantations, before descending the escarpment and joining the main Arusha–Dodoma road. We continue to Arusha town centre – lunch is provided on arrival – then transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward international flight. Please schedule departures from Kilimanjaro International Airport for 16:00 or later.