Luxe Itineraries East Africa

Arrive Kilimanjaro International Airport (International flight timing to be advised) where you will clear immigration and collect your bags before being met by our representative with picnic lunches and assisted to connect private charter flight (Pilatus) to Manyara Airport.

The flying time is approximately 25 minutes. Upon arrival Manyara Airstrip, meet by our driver guide and proceed to your accommodation for checking in, dinner and overnight. 

Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is perched on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater with spectacular views of the lush scenery and crater floor. The lodge is divided into three camps with 30 suites in total. Each camp has a private seating and dining area, with butlers that provide impeccable hospitality. The rooms are an eclectic blend of Victorian furnishings and whimsical African touches. Enjoy morning and afternoon game drives where guests are guaranteed spectacular game viewing experiences due to the crater's enclosed space. Immerse yourself in the local culture by visiting an authentic Maasai village. After a day of activities, you may opt to have a tranquil, holistic, massage treatment in your room followed by a delicious dinner in the wine cellar.

Your day starts with two hours drive North East of Ngorongoro Crater passing Masai villages, Olmoti crater and onto the Embulbul depression where you might see zebra, gazelle, wildebeest, and ostrich before reaching the forested slopes of Empakai Crater. As there are no roads within the crater a ranger will guide you down the inner slope of the crater wall through the forest where buffalo’s, bushbuck, blue monkey’s sunbirds, and turaco’s hide. Once you reach the lake that covers almost half of the crater floor you may see waterbuck and eland before commencing your return journey back up the forested crater walls. Hiking is at over 3000m and depending on fitness levels takes approximately 3 hours; whilst the walk can be strenuous at times the effort is well rewarded with beautiful views and the chance to walk in Tanzania’s un-spoilt wilderness.

Your game drive today will be like no other as you visit one of the most dramatic safari destinations in Africa, the Ngorongoro Crater. Descend to the crater floor in search of the big 5 with the back drop of the forest covered crater walls surrounding you, creating stunning back drops for all of your wildlife photographs. Travel through the Lerai Forest looking for leopard and onto the plains where the wildebeest and zebra graze whilst cheetah and lion lay and watch. Old elephants pass your vehicle whilst further afield rhino wander and hippos hide in the pools. 

Ngorongoro Crater is a deep, volcanic crater and the largest unbroken caldera in the world. About 20 kilometers (12 miles) across, 600 meters (1,969 feet) deep and 300 square kilometers (186 square miles) in area, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtaking natural wonder. Within the crater rim large herds of zebra and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun. At dawn, the endangered black rhino returns to the thick cover of the crater forests after grazing on dew-laden grass in the morning mist. Just outside the crater's ridge, tall Maasai herd their cattle and goats over green pastures living alongside the wildlife as they have for centuries

Enjoy hot lunch at the crater (Crater floor banquet) so you can maximize your day in the crater.

Later drive back to the lodge for dinner and overnight. 

Breakfast at the lodge then transferred to Manyara Airport.

Depart Manyara Airport on private flight (Pilatus) to Lamai Airstrip. The flying time is approximately 40 minutes.

Arrive Lamai Airstrip meet by your driver guide and proceed to the camp with game drive en route for check in and lunch.

The Serengeti, one of the planet's biggest and most enduring wildlife havens, stretches all the way from the Ngorongoro Highlands to Lake Victoria (almost the size of New Jersey) and presents the oldest and largest ecosystem on the planet. It takes its name from a Maasai word, siringitu, "the place where the land moves on forever". Under an enormous African sky, the plains indeed seem infinite, as if a greater power announced to the resident wildlife, 'you can have all this', with the generous sweep of a celestial arm.

The Serengeti, which covers over 12,000 square kilometers (4,633 square miles), is home to more than three million large animals across dozens of species. The best known of these are the enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra which, driven by the instinct to survive, chase after new pasture following the rains on annual March of almost 1,000 kilometers (386 miles). This is the largest, and one of the last, great terrestrial migrations on earth. 

After lunch you may choose to spend day at leisure or afternoon game drive in Serengeti National Park. 

This awe-inspiring movement of animals supports many predators.  Sleek savannah dwelling cheetahs who pick off the weak and straggling to enormous crocodiles that lie motionless most of the year in anticipation of the annual feast as a never-ending column of animals moves relentlessly on across land and water. Big cats thrive here - appropriate given that this area began as a sanctuary to preserve lions from hunting in 1921.

Within the impressive proportions of the Serengeti, with its big skies, big spaces, big beasts making big journeys, keep your eyes peeled for the small: showy agama lizards and rock hyraxes make their homes amongst granite kopjes that dot the park.  More than five hundred bird species have been recorded here as well as 100 varieties of dung beetle, laboriously rolling their cargo onward.

As the sun rises float gently over the plains of the Serengeti in a hot air balloon for a bird's eye view of the game below, elephants look small, a lion glances up as the shadow of the balloon crosses their path and birds of prey glide beneath you.  After one hour the balloon lands and nearby your breakfast awaits.

After breakfast proceed with full day game drive in Serengeti National Park.

Spend the remaining day exploring the extensive plains of the Serengeti in search of the ‘Big 5’. If you would like to maximize your time game viewing you can take a picnic lunch out into the park and enjoy a meal out in the vast savannah before returning to your lodge later in the day.

One of the world's last great wildlife refuges, the Serengeti, stretches between the Ngorongoro Highlands and Lake Victoria.  The name comes from the Maasai word Siringit, meaning "endless plains". The Serengeti's 14,763 square kilometers contains about three million large animals, many of them taking part in seasonal migrations, unparalleled in nature.

Breakfast at the camp then transferred to Lamai Airstrip.

Depart Lamai Airstrip on private flight (Pilatus) to Singita Airstrip. The flying time is approximately 15 minutes.

Arrive Singita Airstrip meet by Singita Sasakwa Lodge driver guide and proceed to the lodge with game drive en route for check in and lunch.

After lunch proceed with afternoon game drive. Later return to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Enjoy all two full days of game drives and other activities in Singita Grumeti reserve. 

While staying at Singita Grumeti reserve, you may choose to participate in a game drive, guided walk or just relax at your lodge and take advantage of the many activities on offer. 

Game drives and walks can be enjoyed with professional guides; other activities include archery, lawn croquet, mountain biking, horseback game viewing, billiards, tennis, a fully equipped spa and gym. Due to the lack of fences, animals are free to migrate between the park and the reserve.  The concession is home to variety of habitats including open plains, rocky outcrops, woodlands and riverine forests.

Transfer from your hotel to Zanzibar Airport for your onward flight.