You will arrive at Kilimanjaro airport in Arusha in late evening and undertake a 45-minute drive to our lodge, where we will stay for the first two nights. Our lodge has a stunning location, surrounded by a garden and the forest, it offers an impressive diversity of birds. The pathways that wind around the grounds make the most of the river and forest’s natural charm and you will enjoy gourmet country cuisine that the restaurant specializes in |Accommodation: River Trees Inn Lodge | Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Activities Included

Our first full day will be spent exploring the Arusha National Park. Set between the towering peaks of Mount Meru (4,566 m) and Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895m), the park has a varied landscape ranging from the lush swamps and mixed woodlands of the Ngurdoto Crater, soda and fresh water of Momella Lakes, to open savanna. Some 300 species of birds have been recorded in the park. Verreaux’s Eagles and Bearded Vultures typically nest on the Red Crescent cliffs, among the world’s highest. Lesser Flamingos abound in the alkaline Momella Lakes. The near endemic and very localized Taveta Golden-Weaver nests in emergent vegetation along the shores of nearby fresh-water Lake Longil. The rare and poorly described Nairobi Pipit, a subspecies of Long-billed Pipit can be found along the road not far inside the park entrance The park is especially noted for the large concentration of unusually tame Masai Giraffes, but the forested rim of the Ngurdoto Crater is a good vantage point to see other mammals grazing on the crater floor, including African Buffaloes, Thompson’s Gazelle, Common Zebra and African Elephants. | Accommodation: River Trees Inn Lodge | Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Tarangire National Park is a less visited park but offers superb birding and wildlife viewing opportunities throughout the year. The landscape is primarily open savanna dotted with Acacia woodland and large Baobab trees. The park is a dry season refuge when large numbers of migratory wildlife such as elephants, zebras, gazelles, wildebeest, eland, oryx, and buffalo concentrate around permanent water. Elephants congregate in herds of up to 600 animals, and the large numbers of game animals attract numerous lions. During November through February the plains turn green, and numerous wildebeest and zebra are dropping young. Over 550 species of birds have been recorded in the park, some of which are best seen there. Noteworthy among those are the African endemic Yellow-collared Lovebird, Red-throated Tit, Northern Pied-Babbler, and Ashy Starling,Yellow necked spurfowl, Black necked weaver,White faced whistling duck,Red billed hornbill,Pygmy falcon,African marsh harrier,Woodland kingfisher,African Hoopoe. | Accommodation: Tarangire Sopa Lodge | Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Lake Manyara National Park offers varied habitat, but two-thirds of the park is covered by the alkaline Lake Manyara when water levels are high. During dry season the lake is virtually non-existent. The remainder is mostly in a narrow strip of land between the Manyara Escarpment to the west and the lake. The lake attracts large numbers of Lesser Flamingos, one of its major attractions. The alkaline shores of the lake are a good place to look for the widely distributed but quite erratic Greater Paint-Snipe. Another bird of special interest is the so-called Usambiro Barbet, currently considered a subspecies of D’Arnaud’s Barbet but a possible future split. The park is notably excellent for birding with over 400 species recorded. It’s frequently possible to see over 100 species in a single day. The park is famed for its tree-climbing Lions, though it’s not the only place where lions climb trees. A variety of other mammals are also present, including large numbers of Elephant as well as Giraffe, gazelles, hippos, Sykes’s Monkey, and Kirk’s Dik-dik | Accommodation: Tloma Lodge | Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Serengeti Plain Over 500 species of birds have been recorded in the park, including a number of specialty species. Nearly 100 species found in the Serengeti have restricted ranges in the country, and of these 11 are endemic or near-endemic. Some 50 species are restricted to the western Grumeti area, which is less visited because it’s more remote than other parts of the Serengeti.The park is considered by many to be the greatest wildlife spectacle in the world, with the Wildebeestmigration being perhaps the best known of the park’s many attractions. The Wildebeest move almost constantly in search of new grass, with most of the population migrating into the northern Serengeti and Kenya from July-September. Predators such as Lions follow the movements of the Wildebeest. The Wildebeest and Plains Zebra populations congregate in the Serengeti during the rainy seasons from November, when the short rains occur, through May, when the long rains end. Calving season is January-February, and this is a period of intense territorial and mating behavior of many of the game species. It’s also a period of intense hunting behavior by the predator populations | Accommodation: Serengeti Simba Lodge | Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Ngorongoro Crater The Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers some 8500 SqKm adjacent to the Serengeti Plains. It’s main feature is the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest unbroken volcanic caldera in the world. The caldera is surrounded by steep walls rising 610 m above the caldera floor. It’s a must-visit place on any tour to Tanzania. The grasslands within the caldera are the permanent home to 20-25,000 large mammals. The predominant grazing species are Wildebeest, Coke’s Hartebeest, Cape Buffalo, Plains Zebra, Thomson’s Gazelle, Grant’s Gazelle, and Eland. A sizeable population of Lions is also present. Swamps and forests within the crater are home to Hippopotamus, Elephant, Black Rhinoceros, Waterbuck, Bushbuck, Baboon, Vervet Monkeys, and the rare Bohor Reedbuck. The steep slopes are home to Dikdik and the rare Mountain Reedbuck. Mammals regularly move in and out of the crater in search of water, but these are local movements and resident mammals are non-migratory. While a major attraction is the mammals, birding within the caldera and on the top of the crater rim is very good. A number of specialty birds are best seen there or at nearby Gibb’s Farm, which is nestled outside the steep forested slopes of the crater. Notable species include Schalow’s Turaco, Hunter’s Cisticola, Ruppell’s Robin-Chat, Tacazze Sunbird, and the beautiful Golden-winged Sunbird. Accommodation: Tloma Lodge Meals included: Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

After breakfast and some bird watching on the lodge’s grounds, we will travel to the Kilimanjaro International Airport in Arusha to catch our plane home. We will continue birdwatching and mammal watching en route and will break our journey for lunch. If your flight is not until late at night, we will visit a lodge just beyond Arusha, where you will have the opportunity to refresh, re-pack and have a last evening meal, before heading for the airport.