11-Day Midrange Safari with Ol Doinyo Lengai, Serengeti and Lake Eyasi

We collect you at 9 am for the 40-minute drive to Arusha National Park, where Hollywood filmed Hatari with John Wayne. At Momella Gate an armed ranger meets you for a walking safari that brings you close to the wildlife, something only a few Tanzanian parks allow. After a picnic lunch you continue the safari by vehicle, taking plenty of time with the animals, before returning to Arusha for the night.

After breakfast you leave at 9:30 am with a picnic lunch for a full day in Tarangire National Park. The park covers about 2,600 square kilometres, and in the dry season its wildlife concentrations rival those of the better-known Serengeti, with elephants, zebras, wildebeest, buffaloes, giraffes, oryx and predators such as lions, cheetahs and leopards. Look for green wood hoopoes, Fischer's lovebirds and giant kingfishers too.

Early in the morning you have a cup of coffee and head out for a sunrise game drive until 8 am, then return to the lodge for a full breakfast. You then drive to Lake Natron with a picnic lunch, game viewing on the way. In the afternoon you walk to the lake, a major flamingo breeding area. In the evening you swim in the river below the nearby waterfalls and visit a Maasai family.

At 1 am you have a cup of coffee, meet your English-speaking Maasai mountain guide and drive to the start. The climb is hard and steep, with scrambling on rock, and you aim to reach the summit, 2,878 m (9,442 ft), at sunrise. From the top you look into the active crater and out to Ngorongoro, Longido, Lake Natron, Kitumbeine and Kerimasi. After descending, your driver brings you back for lunch and an afternoon of rest.

After an early breakfast you drive north, climbing out of the Rift Valley by a series of hairpin bends with a last view back over Lake Natron. You continue through the village of Wasso to the northern Serengeti and enter the park at Klein's Gate around midday. The afternoon is a game drive south to Seronera in the centre of the park, looking for lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, giraffes and zebras.

At 5:45 am you take a breakfast box and set out for a sunrise and morning game drive until 12:30, when you return to camp to collect your picnic lunch. Then you head out again for the rest of the day. Your guide chooses the best areas for the season: the hippo pool, lion prides, the kopjes and, when it is here, the migration, with wildebeest and zebras all around the vehicle.

After an early breakfast you pack up and set off with picnic lunches on a full-day game drive through the Serengeti and across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. You search the Seronera River valley for big cats, lovebirds and kingfishers, then the kopjes of the southern plains for cheetahs, lions and leopards, with hyenas, jackals and antelopes along the way. In the evening you reach your lodge in the highlands.

After breakfast at 6 am you take your picnic lunch and descend more than 600 metres to the Ngorongoro Crater floor for about six hours of game viewing. The crater supports wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes, elands, warthogs, hippos and elephants, and a dense population of predators: lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the elusive leopard. Lake Magadi, the shallow soda lake in the south-west, often holds flamingos. Afterwards you drive to Lake Eyasi.

At 5:30 am you drive into the bush to meet the Hadzabe, who live almost entirely by hunting and gathering and shelter under the trees or in caves. You walk with them as they hunt or gather honey, fruit and insects, then return to the lodge for breakfast. Afterwards you visit the Datoga, also known as the Barbaig or Mang'ati, to see their daily life. After lunch you drive back to Arusha.

After breakfast you head into Arusha town for a short tour and some shopping, whether for coffee, carvings or fabrics. Then we drive you to Kilimanjaro International Airport or Arusha Airport for your flight home or onward journey. If your flight leaves late, tell us and we will plan the day around it so that you are not left waiting.