10-Day Serengeti Wildebeest Migration Safari

Welcome to Tanzania. On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, or any other arrival point, your driver guide will greet you with a warm meet-and-greet service and transfer you comfortably by road to your lodge in Arusha.

Rest and recover from the long journey, and join your guide for a briefing on the safari ahead. Enjoy a delicious dinner and a peaceful first night at your lodge.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your driver guide will collect you for the drive to the Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge, the Cradle of Mankind. There is ample time to explore the Kigeni (Shifting) Sands, a black, magnetic volcanic dune about 9 m high and 100 m long that moves some 17 m westwards across the Conservation Area each year, and to visit Olduvai Gorge and its museum – one of the world's most important archaeological sites, with priceless evidence of prehistoric man and the creatures of past eras.

Continue to a Maasai boma for a genuine taste of African culture and time with the Maa-speaking people, before heading on with a picnic lunch and game drives along the way.

Enjoy a beautiful sunset before reaching your camp in the heart of the park, where dinner and your first night in the Serengeti await.

After breakfast at around 08:00, drive to the northern part of the park for the first of three memorable days. The northern Serengeti is famed for its sheer wealth of ungulates – more than two million wildebeest, zebra and antelope roaming rolling hills that undulate gently towards the Kenyan border, punctuated by spectacular kopjes, open grasslands, acacia woodland and the riverine forest that lines the great Mara and Grumeti rivers.

Lose yourself in the wild beauty of this corner of the park, with lunch at a picnic site on the plains.

Dinner and the night are spent at your lodge or camp in the northern Serengeti.

Spend today following the herds towards the rivers. The chances of seeing the migration cross are high near the water, though it is always a matter of luck – the animals decide for themselves when and where to go.

Watch the wildebeest and zebra gather in their thousands, the tension on the riverbanks and the crocodiles lying in wait, and enjoy a picnic lunch in the bush between sightings.

Return to your camp in the northern Serengeti for a second evening in the wilderness.

A third day in the north gives you the luxury of time. Set out after breakfast to explore further along the rolling hills towards the Kenyan border, revisiting the crossing points or following the herds wherever they have moved overnight.

Away from the rivers there is still plenty to see, from the predators that shadow the migration to the kopjes and open grasslands of this remote landscape. Lunch is a picnic on the plains.

Enjoy dinner and a final night at your camp in the northern Serengeti.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your guide will drive you to Seronera, the central part and heart of the park, for the first of two days of thrilling game drives. The area is wonderfully lively, with large concentrations of African elephants, big lion prides and clans of spotted hyenas.

Look out for packs of African wild dogs, cheetahs, bat-eared foxes and elegant serval cats, and for rare sightings of small spotted cats darting across the grassland before vanishing into the short grass. Enjoy a picnic lunch out on the plains.

Dinner and the night are spent at your camp in the central Serengeti.

Spend a second full day exploring the central Serengeti. Antelope are here in profusion, and along the rivers the giant Nile crocodiles lie in the clear, silent water.

With two days in this area, your guide can take you further afield to track down the big cats and follow up the best sightings of the previous day. Enjoy lunch at a picnic site.

Return to your camp in the central Serengeti for dinner and another wonderful night in the bush.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your safari driver guide will collect you for the drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, then descend to the magnificent crater floor – a huge caldera with a permanent water supply that supports a remarkable variety of wildlife.

Look for great tuskers, dark-maned lions displaying their strength and good health, huge herds of savannah buffalo, dazzles of black-and-white plains zebra and wildebeest, and the Maasai ostrich – the world's largest, fastest-running flightless bird – among many other large birds. Savour the panoramic scenery, varied habitats and natural landscapes over a picnic lunch, followed by a short, thrilling game drive.

Then continue to your lodge in Karatu for dinner and an overnight stay.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your guide will collect you for the drive to Tarangire National Park, famed for its huge, dark-skinned elephants, tree-climbing pythons and rarer carnivores – cheetahs, and the ruthless hunters of the savannah and woodland, spotted hyenas and African wild dogs.

Follow the Tarangire River, the park's lifeline, which meanders through the whole park and draws great concentrations of animals in the dry season; elusive kudu are sometimes seen standing motionless behind the bushes. Enjoy a picnic lunch.

In the afternoon, drive on to your lodge in Arusha town for a hot shower, a memorable final dinner and a wonderful night's rest.

Enjoy a final, unhurried breakfast at your lodge. Depending on your flight schedule, your safari driver guide will collect you and transfer you comfortably by road to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight home.

This marks the end of your safari – or, if you would like to keep the adventure going, you can extend your journey to the dazzling white-sand beaches of Zanzibar, Pemba or Mafia for a few days by the Indian Ocean. The whole Gip Adventure team wishes you a safe journey home, full of long-lasting memories.