After an afternoon collection from the Arusha town centre, you join the safari and head south, passing through the Masai Steppe with its many African villages and coffee plantations.

You'll continue up the Great Rift Valley and enjoy fantastic views over the distant Lake Manyara (approx 3hr15min).

Arrive in the late afternoon at Lake Manyara Serena Lodge located high on a cliff with views across the volcano-studded floor of the Great Rift Valley.

'Boma' style rondavels on the edge of the Mto Wa Mbu escarpment, with views of Tanzania's Lake Manyara.

After breakfast you go on a game drive in Lake Manyara National Park - a scenic gem with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as 'the loveliest I had seen in Africa'. You return to the lodge for lunch before continuing to the Serengeti with some game viewing en route (approx 4 hr).

The next day you can enjoy morning and afternoon game drives in the Serengeti, well known for its wildlife and home to the Big 5.

Traditional African safari lodge overlooking the grasslands of the Serengeti, Tanzania.

After breakfast you leave the Serengeti and drive back across the plains, viewing game en route, to Olduvai Gorge. The gorge is about 50km long and is the site where the remains of an early form of man were discovered in 1959.

You have time to visit the small museum where you can view copy displays of some of these finds. After a picnic lunch you continue to your lodge high on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater (total driving time approx 3 hr).

After an early breakfast the next morning, you descend into the crater in a 4x4 vehicle for a morning safari. Ngorongoro Crater has been declared a World Heritage Site, and is sometimes referred to as the world's biggest wildlife zoo, due to its high density of resident game.

After lunch back at the lodge you visit a Maasai village, where local people have maintained their traditional ways.

Superior safari lodge situated in the Ngorongoro Conservancy Area in northern Tanzania.

Departing the crater, you drive towards the highlands and Karatu. The scenery gradually changes to wheat plains and coffee plantations, then passes back though the Masai Steppe.

Upon arrival in Arusha your safari comes to an end, and you continue with your onward travels.