Bush to Beach Safari

You’ll arrive in Tanzania today, landing at Kilimanjaro International Airport.

After clearing immigration and collecting your luggage, a Fortes Safaris representative will meet you at the arrival hall and transfer you to your hotel.

Set out in the morning with picnic lunch boxes for a day in the unique groundwater forest of Lake Manyara National Park.

Lake Manyara National Park is famous for tree-climbing lions, where you can spot acacia, sausage trees, and colonies of flamingos on the alkaline lakeshore.

As you approach the lake, small savannahs are populated by giraffes, warthogs, wildebeest, zebra, and buffalo. The shore of the lake, set in a flat expanse of land, is home to many hippos who rest all day immersed in water among marsh and reed beds. The lake also hosts hundreds of colorful migratory birds, such as pelicans, flamingos, herons, ibis, and ducks.

Hotels in this area are atop the Rift Valley escarpment and offer scenic lake vistas and surroundings.

After breakfast, depart for Serengeti National Park, driving through rural highland scenery. Stop on the crater rim for your first glimpse of the famous Ngorongoro Crater, recently added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Continue to the Serengeti via Nabi Gate. The drive from the crater to your lodge is the beginning of your exploration of the Serengeti. After lunch, check-in at the lodge and enjoy an afternoon game drive.

Undoubtedly, Africa’s most famous national park, the Serengeti National Park, best known as the home of the great migration, is vast, covering an area of more than 14,700 square kilometers.

The Serengeti is a World Heritage Site with wildlife teeming across the endless plains. The park’s inhabitants include approximately 4,000 lions, 1,000 leopards, 550 cheetahs, and some 500 bird species.

Depending on the season you will be traveling, we aim to get as close to the Great Migration as possible.

The short rains begin around early November. A little after this, in late November and December, the herds of the wildebeest migration arrive on the short-grass plains of the Serengeti. These are south and east of Seronera, around Ndutu, and include the north of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

Dispersed across these plains, wildebeest and zebra fill the landscape, feeding on the fresh, nutritious grasses. They stay here through January, February, and March, with most wildebeest calves born in a short window around February. Gradually, they spread west across these plains and started their great migration north around April.

After breakfast, begin the return drive towards Ngorongoro to the famed Olduvai Gorge, an important archaeological site for human evolution.

Enjoy your picnic lunch at the museum and continue towards the Ngorongoro Crater.

After breakfast, descend into the famous Ngorongoro Crater.

Wildlife has mainly remained isolated in this massive volcanic caldera due to the steep walls, restricting wildlife from moving in and out. The forested slopes of the crater, its lakes, and swampy grassland are reputed to host some 30,000 animals and varied birdlife.

In addition to the high possibility of Big Five sightings, be ready for the many other animals the crater is home to, including elephant, hippo, wildebeest, warthog, zebra, cheetah, hyena, jackal, gazelle, eland, waterbuck, and more.

The crater animals are recorded to be more than 25,000 in total. Over 550 bird species are also found in the Ngorongoro conservation area.

The Maasai people live around the Ngorongoro highlands, and you may have an opportunity to visit a Maasai boma and interact with the Maasai. You will learn more about their way of life and culture and enjoy a traditional dance performance.

After breakfast, you’ll depart to Tarangire, the fourth-largest national park in Tanzania.

Upon arrival, head out on a game drive in the park, home to magnificent giant elephants and equally grand baobab trees set among typical African scrubland.

During the dry season, many animals gather in the park because it is one of the few year-round water sources in the area

After breakfast, you’ll depart for Arusha and then transfer to Kilimanjaro International or Arusha Airport for your connecting flight to Zanzibar.

Between your arrival in Arusha and departure from the airport for your flight to Zanzibar, there may be time to lunch and shop in Arusha.

The white-sand beaches of Zanzibar are quiet, relaxed, and a perfect getaway.

There are various beachfront areas, each with its charms. On the northern beaches, the tides fluctuate less than on the east coast of Zanzibar, but they are, therefore, also busier. If you want to enjoy an active nightlife and many restaurants, you may prefer the northern beaches. Lodges on the east coast of Zanzibar are usually quiet.

After breakfast, relax on the beach and swim in the warm, azure waters

Alternatively, there are many activities to enjoy, such as water skiing, excursions and tours to nearby islands, snorkeling trips to nearby reefs, deep sea fishing, and diving courses.

There are several dedicated tour offices with a wide selection of tours, including the Spice Island excursion or a visit to Jozani Forest to see the red colobus monkeys.

After breakfast, depart for Stone Town, officially classified as a UNSECO World Heritage Site.

Stone Town has been the center of trade and commerce between mainland Africa, the Arabian region, Europe, and India for thousands of years. The Zanzibari people, architecture, and craftsmanship reflect this long history of cross-cultural contact, and many of the sites have been preserved.

Enjoy the museums, historical monuments, and shopping in the narrow streets, which funnel calm beach breezes like a honeycomb.

In the evenings, food vendors gather at Forodhani and serve fresh seafood and local delicacies.

After breakfast, transfer to the international airport for your connecting flight.

When asking for a quote, please inform us of any requirements so that we can build these into your itinerary cost.