Your overland safari begins at Arusha’s Kilimanjaro International Airport where you meet your guide and settle back for the short drive to Rivertrees Country Inn, a restored farmhouse on the outskirts of Arusha. It makes a great start to the tour: Rivertrees lies on the foothills of Mount Meru and its cottage suites are set along the river or under shady trees. The gardens ring with birdsong and you can sit on your private terrace and soak up the new sounds before sitting down to a candle-lit supper.

Rivertrees sees you on your way after breakfast and with a packed lunch for the journey to Tarangire National Park and your next destination, Oliver’s Camp - an intimate tented camp lying in a little-visited corner of the park. Surrounded by wetlands and set on a ridge with lovely views, the camp offers ‘armchair game viewing’ from the comfort of its easy chairs. You will also be heading out on morning and afternoon game drives in search of Tarangire’s wildlife. Most rewarding during the long dry mid-year season when animals gather in large concentrations at the Tarangire River, the park is home to all the major predators as well as some of Tanzania’s biggest herds of elephants. Back at camp, your gorgeous tented suite is one of only 10 and comes complete with an en suite indoor/outdoor bathroom and a waterside location that perfect for watching wildlife and birds come to drink.

From Tarangire you drive north and onto the great grasslands of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Your destination is Gibb’s Farm, a working coffee and dairy farm with luxurious cottages tucked away in the gardens. There is a warm and friendly atmosphere at Gibb’s Farm and a wealth of things to see and do, including booking a treatment or massage at the spa. This is your chance to explore the great draw card of the area: the Ngorongoro Crater. The largest intact volcanic caldera in the world is home to perhaps the greatest density of big game in Africa – some 25 000 animals in little more than 260 km² (100 mile²) – and you have a full-day safari to look forward to. It is not unusual to see the Big 5 (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo) in a single day and there are other surprises too: snorting hippos, roving spotted hyenas and large herds of zebra and wildebeest.

After breakfast at Gibb’s Farm you are driven to the Manyara airstrip for a scheduled flight to the Serengeti and your accommodation, Ubuntu Migration Camp. A tented camp lying under thorn trees, Ubuntu is a semi-permanent mobile camp that follows the rhythm of the Wildebeest Migration and sets up in the best locations according to the time of year. You may be in time to see the herds braving crocodile-infested waters as they cross the Serengeti’s rivers at mid-year, or catch the Migration’s great birthing season in February, a bountiful time for the resident big cats and wild dogs. Morning and afternoon game drives are the focus, your day beginning with early morning tea or coffee or hot chocolate at your tent, and ending with fireside drinks and a 3-course supper. Your tented suite is comfortable, unpretentious and comes with its own bathroom with a hot-water bucket shower.

There is time for breakfast and perhaps a last drive before your transfer to Serengeti South airstrip and a scheduled mid-morning flight back to Arusha’s Kilimanjaro International Airport. You will arrive at lunchtime for your onward travel arrangements and the end to this tour.