8-Day Serengeti Wildebeest Migration Safari

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

Settle in, unwind after the long journey and join your guide for a briefing on the safari ahead. The lodge is a tranquil spot, and on clear days there are magnificent views of the rugged peaks of Mount Meru, Tanzania's second-highest volcanic mountain. The views are simply scintillating.

Enjoy a relaxed dinner and your first night's stay in Africa.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your guide will collect you for the drive to the Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge, the Cradle of Mankind. There is ample time to visit the Kigeni (Shifting) Sands, a black, magnetic volcanic sand dune around 9 m high and 100 m long that is slowly blowing westwards across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Continue to Olduvai Gorge, the 'Cradle of Mankind', where you will have time to explore both the gorge and the Olduvai Museum – one of the most important archaeological sites on earth, holding vital evidence of prehistoric man and of the other creatures that lived here millions of years ago.

After a picnic lunch, enjoy a rewarding game drive into the Serengeti on the way to your camp in the central part of the park, where your first dinner and night in the bush await.

After breakfast at around 08:00, drive into the northern part of the park for a memorable encounter with the wildebeest migration. The Serengeti is famed for its wealth of more than two million hoofed animals, roaming hills and landscapes that undulate gently towards the Kenyan border, capped by spectacular kopjes, open grasslands, acacia woodland and the riverine forest that encloses the Mara and Grumeti rivers.

Savour every moment in this corner of the park, with a picnic lunch in the bush. Near the river crossing points there is a real chance of seeing the herds plunge through the water – though, as the animals move entirely on their own terms, a crossing is always a stroke of luck.

Dinner and overnight at your camp near the rivers in the northern Serengeti.

Your second day in the north is devoted once more to the herds. Set out after breakfast towards the crossing points, where the wildebeest and zebra gather in their thousands, hesitating on the banks before the leap into the water.

Take your time watching the drama of the migration and the predators and crocodiles that follow it, and enjoy another picnic lunch in this remote, beautiful landscape.

Return to your camp in the northern Serengeti for dinner and the night.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your guide will drive you to Seronera, the central part and true heart of the park, for another day of thrilling game drives. Here the wildlife is wonderfully concentrated: large parades of African elephants feeding, prides of lions lying lazily under the trees, clans of spotted hyenas patrolling for carrion or a fresh kill, and small packs of African wild dogs on the move.

Look out, too, for bat-eared foxes, elegant serval cats and rare sightings of small spotted cats darting across the open grassland before disappearing into the short grass. Antelopes are everywhere, and the giant Nile crocodiles lie along the mudbanks with their jaws wide open, displaying their rows of saw-like teeth.

Savour a picnic lunch, followed by dinner and the night at your camp at Seronera.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your guide will collect you for the drive to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with game viewing en route, before descending to the floor of the majestic crater – 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, large herds of Cape buffalo, dazzles of zebra and wildebeest, and the ostrich – the world's largest, fastest-running flightless bird – among many other birds large and small. Enjoy the beauty of this natural sanctuary 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 drive you to Lake Manyara National Park, famed for its diverse ecosystems. Its great lake – which Ernest Hemingway called the loveliest he had seen in Africa – is dotted with vibrant birdlife, set beneath the splendid wall of the Rift Valley escarpment, and the park is known for rare sightings of its tree-climbing lions.

The swampy groundwater forest hosts large troops of olive baboons and other primates. After a picnic lunch, enjoy a final, thrilling two-hour game drive.

Then drive on to your lodge in Arusha for a memorable last dinner and a restful night.

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 for a few days by the Indian Ocean. The whole Gip Adventure team wishes you a safe journey home, full of long-lasting memories.