Day 1: Arusha
After arrival at Kilimanjaro airport, we head to a lodge near Arusha National Park at the start of the Birding in Tanzania Safari Experience.
Accommodation: Arusha Moivaro Lodge| Comfort Level: Midrange
Day 2: Arusha National Park - Mt. Meru
We’ll spend the day on Mt. Meru, which looms over Arusha. The mix of habitats here includes montane forest and offers us many exciting birds, including Crowned Hawk-Eagle, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, and splendid songster Rueppell’s Robin-Chat. As we head up the mist-shrouded slopes, the yellowwood trees become draped in Usnea old man’s beard lichen, and we search for skulking gems such as White-starred Robin and the dapper Brown Woodland-Warbler.
The park is also an excellent place to find large herds of buffalo grazing the mountain’s lower slopes, not to mention a remarkable abundance of giraffes and a chance for scarce forest antelopes like Harvey’s duiker and suni.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Ilboru Safari Lodge | Comfort Level: Midrange
Day 3: Birding in Mt. Meru
We drive around the looming Mt. Meru to the lark plains. These grasslands are home to the last 100 or so Beesley’s Larks on Earth, and we will search long and hard for this critically endangered Tanzanian endemic. Other interesting species here include Chestnut-bellied and Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, shrikes, migrant wheatears, pipits, and larks galore.
The plains are lined by Drepanolobium whistling thorn trees, while hills offer a scrubby habitat that can deliver Red-fronted and Black-throated Barbets, Red-throated Tit, eremomelas, and crombecs. Thicket habitat and riparian strips offer many great birds, including the Slate-colored Boubou, the Nubian Woodpecker, the highly gregarious Gray-headed Social-Weaver, and the possibility of migrants like the Spotted Flycatcher and the Common Nightingale.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Ilboru Safari Lodge | Comfort Level: Midrange
Days 4-5: Tarangire National Park
From Arusha, we head to Tarangire National Park, where we shall enjoy some of northern Tanzania’s finest birding. The low baobab-clad plains and fever-tree groves here support many cool species, including three Tanzanian endemics and near-endemics: Ashy Starling, Yellow-collared Lovebird, and Rufous-tailed Weaver.
The lush grasses are full of ground birds like Northern White-bellied Bustard and both Red-necked and Yellow-necked Francolins. This is one of the better places to see elephants, which can occur in great numbers along the Tarangire River. We also stand a good chance of seeing our first lions, and maybe even a leopard or cheetah.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Tarangire Sopa Lodge | Comfort Level: Midrange
Day 6 - 7: Tarangire to Lake Manyara National Park
After breakfast, depart for Lake Manyara National Park, where you'll spend the next two days exploring this scenic reserve. Activities include game drives through the lush groundwater forest and open savannah, as well as a guided walking safari along the Rift Valley Escarpment.
Nestled at the base of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park spans just 330 square kilometers, much of which is covered by the lake itself. Despite its compact size, the park offers remarkable ecological variety, from groundwater forests and acacia woodlands to the expansive alkaline lake. It's particularly well known for its unique population of tree-climbing lions.
Birdwatchers will be thrilled with the park’s impressive checklist of over 380 species. Highlights include the Dusky Turtle Dove, Palm-nut Vulture, Egyptian Vulture, Spur-winged Plover, Madagascar Pratincole, Chestnut-banded Plover, Purple-crested Turaco, Taita Fiscal, Southern Black Flycatcher, Silvery-cheeked Hornbill, Red-billed and Grey Hornbills, Ground Hornbill, Crested Guineafowl, African Fish Eagle, Black-winged Stilt, African Spoonbill, Egyptian Goose, White Pelican, and Marabou Stork.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Kirurumu Tented Lodge | Comfort Level: Midrange
Day 8: Lake Manyara - Ngorongoro Conservation Area
After leaving Lake Manyara National Park, drive up the western Rift escarpment, wind through some pleasant agricultural areas, then enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in time for lunch and relaxation at the Farm House. Optional Evening Guided Walks around the Farm.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Ngorongoro Farm House | Comfort Level: Midrange
Day 9: Ngorongoro Crater
We have a full day to explore the magical Ngorongoro, though in the morning we won’t be in a hurry to descend into the crater, as the forest and heath along the rim offer excellent birding. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for flowering Leonotis; if we find a patch, we might get to savor the coolest sunbird spectacle in Africa: the impressive Golden-winged, coppery-colored Bronze, and iridescent-purple Tacazee Sunbirds all competing for nectar from the same flowers.
Descending into the crater with its towering vertical walls is like finding Africa’s Garden of Eden. Inside, we seek myriad grassland and woodland birds, as well as scavenging vultures amidst a thronging wildlife spectacle virtually unequaled on earth. Thirty thousand-some big mammals are resident here, and a decent proportion of them can be seen from a single viewpoint within the crater, an indescribably magnificent sight.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Ngorongoro Farm House | Comfort Level: Midrange
Days 10-11: Southern Serengeti - Ndutu Area
From the crater rim, we move through the Malanja depression and onto the Serengeti plains, where sandgrouse, bustards, and larks abound. Grant’s gazelles are scattered across the plains, while ostriches and giraffes walk swaying in the haze.
Towards Ndutu, we enter beautiful mature Acacia woodland with alkaline lakes and swamps. The lodge’s waterhole is a bird magnet with the ever-present Fischer’s Lovebird, a variety of bishops, waxbills, widowbirds, and the endemic Gray-breasted Francolin. The woodlands harbor Rufous Chatterer, Cardinal and Bearded Woodpeckers, Black-faced Babbler, and Green Woodhoopoe.
With a bit of luck, and depending on the rains, the wildebeest might have recently calved in this area, and up to half a million females may be in attendance with their young, presenting a wildlife spectacle of awesome proportions, impossible to describe and enthralling to experience.
The attendant predators, particularly lions and hyenas, follow their movements closely, and the vultures await each kill with renewed enthusiasm.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Ndutu Safari Lodge| Comfort Level: Midrange
Days 12-13: Serengeti National Park - Central Plains
We explore the vast acacia-studded plains of Serengeti NP, encountering herds of wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, and giraffe alongside their associated predators. Although it’s always difficult to find, this is one of the best places in East Africa for Leopard. The birds, of course, are party to this drama. We’ll search for Meyer’s Parrot, Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Usambiro Barbet, and Gray-headed Silverbill.
Meal Plan: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner | Accommodation: Kubu Kubu Tented Camp | Comfort Level: Midrange
Day 14: Serengeti to Arusha Town
Accommodation: Arusha Moivaro Lodge| Comfort Level: Midrange
Day 15: Arusha - Departure
After breakfast, drive back to Arusha town and proceed to JRO Airport in time for your departing flight. If time permits, you may explore the Cultural Heritage and Art Gallery, visit Arusha town, or browse the Maasai curio market for unique souvenirs at the end of the Birding in Tanzania Safari.