"I’m still searching to find the perfect words to describe this indescribable trip! Your company organized and orchestrated things in such a way that I didn’t have to think about anything." - Sue Forgan, Feeding Hills, MA

Depart the U.S. on the overnight flight to Amsterdam. Connect with your flight to Kilimanjaro airport near Arusha. You are met by Thomson Safaris staff and transferred to a comfortable lodge.

All meals included
Overnight: Kigongoni Lodge

This morning after our safari briefing, we drive to the lush Ngorongoro Highlands.

Crossing the Maasai Steppe and descending into the Great Rift Valley, we'll travel about 4 hours through the stunning landscape before reaching Ngorongoro Crater. Your first views down onto the crater floor from high on the caldera's rim, will be an unforgettable experience.

We'll have lunch at the lodge before descending into this self-contained eco-system teeming with wildlife. Many of these non-migratory animals have become accustomed to the occasional safari vehicle, so they are often unafraid, coming quite close.

The next day, we explore this fascinating universe of predator and prey - observing lion, hyena, cape buffalo, warthog, elephant and so much more.

All meals included
Overnights: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge

We leave the Ngorongoro Highlands, stopping en route at the famed Olduvai Gorge. After visiting the fascinating museum and excavation site, we continue to the vast and unspoiled Serengeti.

Here you will discover wild Africa as you have always imagined it to be. The plains, as the Maasai word "serengeti" suggests, seem to extend forever, and wildlife roams freely over savanna, acacia forest and rocky outcrops called kopjes.

During our stay here, we will explore the plains from the comfort of our Thomson Classic Camp which will be strategically located to offer you the best game viewing opportunities. We have 3 days to meander through the landscape, spotting leopard, hyena, gazelle, lion, ostrich, giraffe and buffalo.

Each night, your private camp staff will prepare everything for your comfort, serving a delicious meal and stoking the warm and inviting campfire so that you can relax outside and look at the millions of stars overhead.

All meals included
Overnights: Thomson Classic Camp

After breakfast we drive to the airstrip for our charter flight to Ruaha National Park, a remote and seldom-visited wilderness deep in Tanzania's interior. We are met and taken on a game drive and then to our lodge.

During the next two days we take game drives along the sand rivers and into the miombo woodlands in search of lion, leopard, hyena, bat-eared fox, along with elegant creatures rarely found elsewhere including greater and lesser kudu, roan and sable antelope.

The park has large numbers of elephant, buffalo, giraffe and antelope. Birders will delight in the 400 plus species of birds. We have the opportunity to take guided walks as well as explore the rugged terrain in open-sided four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Each evening we return to the lodge with time to relax on our private verandah overlooking the Ruaha River. Watch kingfishers fly upstream, animals take a final drink, and reflect on another perfect day in the bush.

All meals included
Overnights: Ruaha River Lodge

After breakfast we make our way past giant baobab trees and rock kopjes to the airstrip for our flight to Selous, the largest wildlife sanctuary in all of Africa.

Greater in size than Costa Rica, Selous has the most impressive concentration of big game on earth and around 440 species of birds. The diverse ecosystems of the Selous support huge populations of elephant, buffalo, hippo and crocodile, as well as rare species such as wild dog, greater kudu, and sable antelope.

In addition to game drives, we explore the wilderness on foot, and by boat. Our small luxury permanent tented camp sits on the banks of the Rufiji River.

All meals included
Overnights: Selous Safari Camp

Full morning of game viewing, lunch at the camp, then depart on the mid-afternoon flight to Dar es Salaam. Day rooms are provided at the New Africa Hotel to refresh and relax. Enjoy a farewell dinner before your late evening transfer to the airport for your KLM flight to Amsterdam. Arrive home on the afternoon of day 14.

Breakfast, lunch
Day room: Dar es Salaam Hotel

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