13-Day Exceptional Safari: Premium Northern Parks & 1 Southern Park

On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, or any other arrival point, your driver guide welcomes you to Tanzania and drives you to your chosen hotel in Arusha.

Our coordinators brief you on the safari ahead. Stroll through the peaceful grounds and, on a clear day, enjoy superb views of the rugged peaks of Mount Meru before dinner and a restful night.

After breakfast at around 08:00, and depending on your flight schedule, your guide transfers you to Arusha Airport for your light-aircraft flight to the airstrip in Tarangire National Park.

Your safari driver guide meets you on landing. You can drive straight to your lodge to settle in before an afternoon game drive, or begin exploring the moment you touch down in the wild. Enjoy the natural beauty of the park before returning to your lodge for dinner and your first night in the African bush.

Today is a full day of game drives in Tarangire, which covers 2,850 square kilometres some 120 kilometres south-west of Arusha. The park is at its finest in the dry season, when animals from far and wide gather along the Tarangire River, their main source of water at this time of year.

Follow the river circuit as herds come down to drink, wallow in the mud and bathe to cool off, soothe itching skin and rid themselves of parasites. Look out for rock hyraxes on the boulders and, of course, the great herds of elephants beneath the baobabs.

After a picnic lunch and an afternoon game drive you return to your lodge for dinner, followed, if you wish, by a campfire under a starry sky.

After breakfast you enjoy a final morning game drive through Tarangire, stopping for a leisurely picnic lunch. In the afternoon you head to the Tarangire airstrip for a short flight to the Lake Manyara airstrip.

Your driver guide meets you and drives you to your lodge to check in. Take in the peace and panoramic views from the lodge and its sparkling pool, and in the evening you may join a village walk to meet the local Maasai before dinner and the night.

After breakfast your guide drives you into Lake Manyara National Park, home to some of the largest troops of olive baboons recorded in Africa and to the lake Ernest Hemingway called the loveliest in Africa, fringed with thousands of pink flamingos and other colourful birds.

The lake covers more than 200 square kilometres, though its size varies greatly with the season. Large pods of hippos gather at the hippo pool viewpoint, the Rift Valley wall rises 600 metres above you, hot springs bubble at up to 60°C, and you may be lucky enough to spot the park's famous tree-climbing lions. The park lies next to the lively market town of Mto wa Mbu, where a cultural tour or a bike ride to the lake's mudflats can make the day even richer.

After a picnic lunch you return to your lodge for dinner and the night.

After breakfast you drive up to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descend 610 metres into the crater, the world's most famous intact, unflooded volcanic caldera. Some 30,000 animals live here year-round across 260 square kilometres of open floor, which makes for easy and rewarding game viewing.

Spend the full day exploring the crater, admiring its towering walls and the birdlife of salty Lake Magadi. This is home to all of the Big Five, and your guide will work hard to find the elusive leopard and the crater's many spotted hyenas.

After a picnic lunch and a final game drive you return to your lodge near Lake Manyara for dinner and the night.

After breakfast, and depending on your flight time, your guide transfers you to the Lake Manyara airstrip for your flight to Seronera airstrip in the central Serengeti.

Your driver guide meets you on arrival and takes you to your lodge to settle in, followed by an afternoon game drive across the plains. After dinner you may like to relax around the campfire under the stars, reliving the day to the sound of the crickets.

After breakfast at around 08:00 you venture deep into the Serengeti for a full day of game drives. In the rains the plains become a green carpet dotted with pink and red flowers; in the dry season they turn a sunbaked brown, but the wildlife is outstanding all year.

Depending on the season, millions of wildebeest and zebra move across the plains. At the right time of year they gather on the banks of the 395-kilometre Mara River, which rises in central Kenya and flows into Lake Victoria, and plunge across while huge Nile crocodiles lie hidden in the depths. The old, the weak and the injured fall to the predators and the river, and the scavengers are never far behind.

Enjoy a picnic lunch on the plains and return to your lodge for dinner and the night.

A second full day in the Serengeti gives you time to explore further: the kopjes where lions and leopards rest, the river valleys around Seronera, and wherever the herds and their predators have moved overnight.

Your guide plans the day around the latest sightings, with a picnic lunch in the bush. In the evening you return to your lodge for a hearty dinner and your last night in the Serengeti.

After breakfast your guide drives you to Seronera airstrip, game-viewing on the way, for your morning flight of about two hours to the Mtemere airstrip in Nyerere National Park, formerly the Selous Game Reserve.

Your new driver guide meets you, and a short game drive takes you to your camp for lunch. Settle in and enjoy the views over the river, where elephants come down to drink and bathe. In the afternoon you set out on a game drive along the sandy riverbeds before returning to camp for dinner and the night.

After breakfast you venture deep into Nyerere National Park, a vast wilderness of sunlit grassland savannah, floodplain, miombo woodland and riverine forest along the great Rufiji River. These habitats are home to large herds of elephants, prides of lions, clans of spotted hyenas and packs of African wild dogs patrolling for their next meal.

Enjoy a picnic lunch in the bush and a long day of game viewing before returning to your camp for dinner and the night.

Nyerere is a paradise for birdwatchers, with superb birdlife on its lakes, and large pods of hippos gather at the hippo pool known as Bwawa la Viboko. Today offers a different perspective on the park: activities here can include a boat safari on the Rufiji River, a hot-air balloon flight or a guided walking safari, each a wonderful way to experience the wild.

After a picnic lunch and an afternoon in the bush, you return to camp for a final dinner and a splendid last night in the wilderness.

After breakfast your guide drives you to the Mtemere airstrip for your flight to Dar es Salaam. On arrival you are dropped at a hotel or at Julius Nyerere International Airport for your international flight home.

The Gip Adventure team wishes you a safe journey and a lifetime of memories from the north and south of Tanzania.