Great Migration: Tanzania & Kenya

Tour begins: Gran Melía Arusha. Transfers are included from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Gran Melía Arusha for an overnight stay; our welcome dinner will be tomorrow evening – this evening, dine as you please at the hotel.

Set out for a two-night safari to Ngorongoro Crater, once a gigantic volcano and today regarded as the largest intact caldera in the world where wildlife thrives. Stop en route for a visit at an Isoitik Village. Here, you'll have an opportunity to participate in a medicine walk and learn how the Masai people use the local vegetation for various medicinal cures. You'll also have the opportunity to visit a school followed by lunch in the bush. Continue on to your small, intimate lodge and spa set above a valley with stunning views, for a two-night stay. The surrounding Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home to some 30,000 large mammals. Join us for a welcome reception and dinner at the lodge.

Experience the Africa of bygone days when you go on a game drive in the "lost world" of Ngorongoro Crater, considered by many to have been Africa's original "Garden of Eden." From aboard your four-wheel-drive vehicle, you'll have an opportunity to spot Africa's renowned Big Five: buffalo, elephant, leopard, the lion and the endangered, rare black rhinoceros, as well as herds of zebras, wildebeest and gazelles roaming life-giving landscapes of grasslands, swamps and forests. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the crater before returning to your lodge for free time and dinner at leisure.

In Maasai, the word Serengeti means "the place where the land moves on forever." See why when you fly to Serengeti National Park this morning where over a million wildebeest and some 200,000 zebras make a trek from the southern Serengeti to the Masai Mara and back again every year. In spite of the dangers they face from crocodiles or weather conditions, they are driven by a deeply held instinct to constantly search for food and water. Their annual trek takes them through a variety of parks, reserves and protected areas with different habitats. Check into your semi permanent mobile camp for a memorable three-night stay in the heart of the park, then join an expert tracker for an eye-opening afternoon game drive into the Serengeti wilderness. Dinner is served back at the camp this evening.

Rise before dawn for an unforgettable hot-air balloon ride* over the Serengeti, watching as the morning sun illuminates the vast plains and the wildlife moving below. From high above, take in a different perspective on this extraordinary landscape, with its winding rivers, scattered acacia trees, and seemingly endless grasslands. After landing, enjoy a special breakfast in the bush before setting out on a game drive through Serengeti National Park. Look for lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, gazelles, zebras, elephants, and more as you explore the park's remarkable landscapes, keeping watch for the great herds of wildebeest and zebra that move through the region during the annual migration. Return to camp for lunch, followed by an afternoon to enjoy the pleasures of safari life – relax in the comfort of your tent, take in the views across the surrounding wilderness, or simply enjoy some unhurried time at camp after an early and exhilarating start to the day.

Morning and afternoon game drives keep you on the move with the animals that pass through the Serengeti; on days when the migration is in full force, spend the entire day experiencing this amazing wildlife phenomenon as herds of wildebeest, gazelles and zebras thunder by... with a few hungry big cats tailing behind.

Depart the Serengeti this morning for a flight to Kenya's Maasai Mara region, traveling via Musoma in Tanzania and Kisumu in Kenya before arriving in the greater Mara ecosystem. Your destination is a new safari camp in the Olderkesi Conservancy, a secluded 24,700-acre wilderness bordering the southeastern edge of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Surrounded by open plains and acacia woodlands, this protected landscape is home to an extraordinary variety of wildlife. After lunch and some time to settle in at camp, head out for an afternoon game drive, watching for lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and other animals that roam the conservancy. Return to camp for dinner this evening.

Spend your final full day on safari exploring the remarkable wildlife and landscapes of Kenya's greater Maasai Mara ecosystem, with a choice of experiences. Set out on a full-day game drive through the Olderkesi Conservancy and surrounding Mara region, searching for lions, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, and the great herds of wildebeest and zebra that roam these plains. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the bush as you continue your wildlife viewing. Alternatively, choose a more leisurely morning with a visit to a local Maasai community, learning about daily life and traditions before returning to camp for lunch and an afternoon at leisure. This evening, gather for farewell cocktails and dinner at camp, sharing memories of your time in East Africa.

Tour ends: Jomo Kenyatta Nairobi International Airport. Depart your tented camp after breakfast for a flight to Nairobi; we've reserved day rooms before your flight home at Fairmont, The Norfolk in Nairobi. Have dinner at the hotel prior to your included transfer from either hotel to Jomo Kenyatta Nairobi International Airport; you should allow three hours for flight check-in at the airport.