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.

Today, get ready for a game drive through Serengeti National Park (either in the morning or afternoon, depending on the migration of the animals). Look for lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, jackals, gazelles, zebras, elephants, hippos and more as you traverse the park, all while experiencing unforgettable panoramic views of the passing landscape. The rest of the day is at your leisure and tonight, sleep to the sounds of nearby wildlife.

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.

An early morning flight out of the Serengeti whisks you to the shores of Lake Victoria then onto Kenya where you land in the Masai Mara National Reserve for a two-night stay at a tented camp that looks out onto the Sabaringo River and the plains of the Masai Mara, one of the world's richest wildlife reserves. Head out after lunch for a game drive that offers the opportunity to view an array of animals, including zebras, cheetahs, wildebeest, gazelles and the "Big Five," up close. Tonight, a briefing for tomorrow's hot air balloon ride precedes dinner at your camp.

Wake up early for a hot air balloon ride* at dawn this morning that takes you above the treetops for panoramic views of the wildlife herds that roam the Masai Mara Reserve. Descend to enjoy breakfast and champagne in the bush before a game drive en route back to your lodge. Enjoy some free time before a late afternoon game drive takes you once more through the Masai Mara.

You'll have an opportunity today for two game drives in the magnificent Maasai Mara. Early this morning, before breakfast, join us for a game drive that explores the early morning search for food by the wildlife of the Reserve; there is usually a lot of activity in these early morning hours. Enjoy a final day at &Beyond Kichwa Tembo, then a final late afternoon game drive in search of the "Big Five." Tonight, we invite you for farewell cocktails and dinner.

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.