12 Days Beach Vacation and Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Safari in Tanzania

This Tanzania safari and Zanzibar beach trip starts in the town of Arusha, followed by an overnight stay at a Lake Manyara lodge. The next few days are spent exploring the wildlife-rich Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater, passing through the Malanja Depression and Maasai villages. The Tanzania safari then takes you to Arusha via Lake Manyara and the Great Rift Valley, for the flight to Zanzibar Island.

The next five nights of the Tanzania and Zanzibar trip are spent on Zanzibar Island, enjoying Zanzibar’s sandy beaches, water sports, and cultural or outdoor activities.

Activities on Zanzibar include scuba diving, boat trips to Indian Ocean islands, and tours of Stone Town or the spice plantations. Accommodation on Zanzibar Island is in five-star resorts and hotels on the East Coast of this scenic tropical island.

Itinerary

Day 1: Arusha

The Tanzania safari and Zanzibar beach trip starts in Arusha where you are collected from Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) and transferred to your five-star lodge in Arusha. This growing city lies near the foot of Mount Meru, serving as the travel hub for safaris to Tanzania’s famous Northern safari circuit.

• Meal plan: Bed and breakfast

Day 2: Arusha - Lake Manyara National Park

On the second day, you travel from Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park, taking an afternoon game drive and stopping for a picnic lunch along the way. This incredibly scenic national park is noted for its tree-climbing lions, large troops of baboons, and flamingo flocks. Keep an eye out for buffaloes, elephants, zebras, wildebeest, and giraffes, as well as antelopes such as bushbucks.

Lake Manyara also hosts an abundance of birds, including numerous water birds. In the late afternoon, you arrive at the five-star tented lodge for your overnight stay at Lake Manyara.

• Meal plan: Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner

Day 3: Serengeti National Park

After breakfast, you continue by road from Lake Manyara to the expansive Serengeti National Park via Olduvai Gorge. You stop to visit the Olduvai Museum and Gorge, the archaeological site where fossils of the earliest human ancestors and their tools have been unearthed.

There is also the option of visiting a Maasai village to encounter Kenya’s best-known ethnic group - the semi-nomadic Maasai. Then you enjoy an en-route game drive to your five-star lodge or tented lodge in the world-renowned Serengeti National Park.

• Meal plan: Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner

Day 4: Serengeti National Park

The entire day is spent game viewing in the beautiful Serengeti National Park. The largest national park in Tanzania, Serengeti covers about 14,760 square kilometers of open plains and wilderness.

This unique wildlife reserve hosts an awe-inspiring abundance of large mammals, including masses of herbivores such as wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, topi, buffalo, and hartebeest, among others. Serengeti National Park is also famous for predator populations, especially big cats like lion, cheetah, and leopard.

Your choice of hot lunch at the lodge or a picnic lunch will be served and the night is spent at a five-star Serengeti luxury or tented lodge.

• Meal plan: Breakfast, picnic lunch or hot lunch, and dinner

Day 5: Serengeti National Park - Ngorongoro Crater

In the morning, you embark on a game drive in Serengeti National Park, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way. Your game drive then takes you through the Malanja Depression, passing various Maasai villages en-route to the renowned Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

You arrive at your five-star Ngorongoro lodge in time for dinner and a relaxing evening, recounting your adventures on the Serengeti Plains.

• Meal plan: Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner

Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast, you descend into the Ngorongoro Crater for a six-hour game drive in this exceptionally wildlife-rich game park. The world’s largest unflooded caldera, Ngorongoro hosts one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. Almost every large mammal species of Africa is commonly sighted on game drives in this crater, from black rhino to spotted hyena.

In the afternoon, you visit one of the local Maasai villages. You then proceed to Lake Manyara for dinner and an overnight stay at a four or five-star lodge or tented lodge in the area.

• Meal plan: Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner

Day 7: Lake Manyara National Park - Arusha - Zanzibar Island

On day seven of the Tanzania safari and Zanzibar beach trip, you depart Lake Manyara for Arusha after breakfast, traveling via the Great Rift Valley and the rural village of Mto wa Mbu. You arrive at Arusha Airport at about midday for your flight to Zanzibar, departing at 1.30 p.m.

Arriving at Zanzibar International Airport at 3:30 p.m., you will be met by your guide and transferred to your beach resort on the East Coast of Zanzibar. You will have a choice between two five-star beach resorts on the East Coast of Zanzibar Island.

• Meal plan: Breakfast / Zanzibar: All inclusive

Days 8-11: East Coast of Zanzibar Island

You will be relaxing on the white sand beaches, swimming in the warm Indian Ocean, and enjoying your luxury Zanzibar beach resort at leisure. The islands of the Zanzibar Archipelago are famous for their idyllic tropical beaches and are known as the Spice Islands because of the exotic spices grown here.

Visit the spice plantations to smell, see, and taste the brightly colored and aromatic spices, such as turmeric, ginger, black pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

You can take a boat ride to one of the smaller islands to relax and explore, or go scuba diving. Snorkeling and scuba diving are popular activities due to the rich marine life found in these clear waters. Again, you have a choice of luxury accommodation at one of two Zanzibar resorts.

• Meal plan: All inclusive

Day 12: Beach resort - Zanzibar airport

After breakfast, on day 12, you will be transferred to Zanzibar International Airport or the harbor in Stone Town, where this Tanzania safari and Zanzibar beach trip comes to an end.

• Meal plan: Breakfast

During your stay, you will be provided with breakfast, lunch, and dinner according to the itinerary. Bottles of water will also be provided.

Optional extras and excursions

• Ferry / flight from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam (150 USD per person)
• Ngorongoro Maasai bomas visit (25 USD per person)
• Serengeti hot air balloon safari (590 USD per person)

• All national park fees
• Transportation in 4x4 safari vehicle
• Professional English-speaking guide
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner according to the itinerary
• Bottle of water
• 11 nights accommodation

• Airport transfer from Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) to Arusha (80 USD)
• Alcoholic and soft drinks
• Flight from Arusha to Zanzibar (250 USD per person)
• Optional extras and excursions
• Personal spending money for souvenirs, etc.
• Tips
• Travel insurance
• Visa fee

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• A reservation requires a deposit of 30% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
• The rest of the payment should be paid on arrival.