8-Day Amboseli, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Salt Lick Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Nairobi → Amboseli → Lake Manyara → Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Arusha → Salt Lick → Final Kenya Drop-Off

1. Day 1

   Nairobi to Amboseli

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Nairobi for the drive to Amboseli, travelling south past Kajiado and through Maasai rangeland toward the Tanzanian border country. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across open plains, dust flats and spring-fed swamps beneath the bulk of Kilimanjaro. There is the possibility of seeing large elephant herds, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, and abundant water birds around the swamps, depending on movement and conditions on the day. Amboseli is known for its free-ranging elephant families, and on clear mornings Mount Kilimanjaro often rises above the plains, though cloud can hide it. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Amboseli.

2. Day 2

   Amboseli to Lake Manyara

   The day opens in Amboseli with a morning departure for Lake Manyara, driving west from Arusha past Maasai settlements and the escarpment wall. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into groundwater forest, open floodplain and an alkaline lake beneath the Rift Valley escarpment. Your guide works the area for elephant, baboon troops, hippo, giraffe and large numbers of waterbirds including flamingo, with sightings varying by season and conditions. Manyara is known for its groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the escarpment, and for lions that are sometimes seen resting in trees. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Lake Manyara.

3. Day 3

   Lake Manyara to Serengeti

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Lake Manyara for the drive to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. Dinner is served at your Serengeti camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

4. Day 4

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   The whole day is given to Serengeti, with an early start to make the most of the cooler morning hours. Your route takes in vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, with your guide reading recent movement to decide where to spend time. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, though wild sightings are never guaranteed. The scale of the plains rewards a full day, with time to work several areas rather than rushing between them. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. The evening returns you to your Serengeti accommodation for dinner and overnight.

5. Day 5

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Serengeti to Ngorongoro, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. Dinner is served at your Ngorongoro camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

6. Day 6

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   The morning starts in Ngorongoro Crater, from where you continue overland to Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across northern Tanzania's safari gateway town below the slopes of Mount Meru. Arusha is the staging point for the northern Tanzania circuit and where most safari briefings take place. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Arusha.

7. Day 7

   Arusha to Salt Lick

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Arusha to Salt Lick, travelling south-east through Emali and the Chyulu Hills country. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through volcanic hills, lava flows and spring-fed pools in a greener, more broken landscape than Tsavo East. Look for elephant, buffalo, hippo, crocodile and a wide range of plains game as the light softens through the afternoon. Mzima Springs produces millions of litres of clear water daily and has an underwater viewing chamber for watching hippo and fish. The evening is spent at your Salt Lick accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

8. Day 8

   Salt Lick to Final Kenya Drop-Off

   After breakfast you leave Salt Lick and travel on toward Final Kenya Drop-Off, returning through the highland approaches to the city. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through Kenya's highland capital and the usual start and end point for road safaris. Nairobi is the arrival and departure hub for most Kenyan safari itineraries. The day ends with a drop-off in Nairobi at your hotel or the airport.