Day
1
Arusha
Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania and transfer to your hotel in Arusha.
Our Serengeti convention embodies every vision you’ve ever had of a classic African safari. Think bounteous wildlife, luxurious lodges and timeless sun-kissed lands. We have selected two of Africa’s prime game viewing sites – Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park – for this conference. The geography of Ngorongoro, a UNESCO world-heritage site, creates the highest concentration of wildlife in Africa. To top that off, we have planned the timing and location within the spectacular Serengeti National Park to maximise our chances of seeing the Great Migration – the greatest natural show on Earth.
Day
2
Arusha – Ngorogoro Crater
Enjoy a free morning to shake off the jet lag or hit the town and get acquainted with the heady sights and sounds of Africa. Visit the Arusha Natural History Museum for a snapshot of Tanzania’s place in human evolution, or trawl the city’s markets for souvenirs.
Enjoy a relaxing lunch at Arusha Coffee Lodge, set in the gorgeous gardens of the planation owner’s home. Stretch your legs, and your purse strings, along Traders Walk in the lodge’s grounds – the tanzanite jewellery here is irresistible. Afterwards, sit back and relax as we drive 2.5 hours to Ngorongoro Crater. Check in to Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge perched on the crater rim and enjoy a special welcome dinner.
Day
3
Ngorogoro Crater
Morning conference session.
After lunch, climb aboard our safari jeep for an afternoon game drive as we descend to the caldera floor. This fertile depression – about the size of greater Newcastle – is the most intact volcanic crater on Earth and the best place in Africa to see the big five. Some 25,000 animals roam these lands, which are also home to the Maasai tribe, a colourful ethnic group known for their bright red robes and long spears clutched at their sides. What will we see today? Lion, leopard, giraffe, elephant, buffalo? If we’re lucky, we may even spot a black rhino.
Return to the lodge to share tales with your mates around the open fire before a hearty dinner.
Day
4
Ngorogoro Crater
Take your seat on the jeep as we return to the caldera floor, passing through lush rainforest as we snake down from the volcanic rim. Today you know what to expect, and the anticipation is palpable. The vehicle slows and a watercolour panorama unfurls – a shimmering slate-blue lake, pale green plains and dark thick woods, all surrounded by the sheer purple-blue walls of the caldera. By now you’re already an expert at spotting the difference between a Thomson’s gazelle, hartebeest, impala and eland. Enjoy a picnic lunch beside the lake, watched by shiny starlings and spotted guinea fowl, as hippos wallow in the water.
Afternoon conference session
Day
5
Ngorongoro Crater-Serengeti
Bid farewell to Ngorongoro Crater but don’t despair – the wildlife adventure has only just begun as we make the five-hour drive to Serengeti National Park. This is the Africa you’ve long dreamed of – more than 14,000sq kilometres of rolling savannah plains, teeming with wildlife. The Serengeti is Tanzania’s largest and most famous park, and it doesn’t disappoint.
Check in to the Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge, set high on an acacia-lined ridge, before boarding the open-sided safari vehicle for an afternoon game drive. Tens of thousands of hoofed animals roam these plains in a constant search for life-sustaining grasslands. Get set for a roll call of African wildlife: lion, hyena, cheetah, zebra, giraffe, gazelle, eland, impala, klipspringer, hippo, warthog and herds of wildebeest.
Day
6
Serengeti
Prepare for an early morning wake up – dawn is prime time for wildlife viewing on the savannah. First, you have a decision to make. Do you want to drift over the African plains at sunrise on an unforgettable balloon safari that ends with a champagne breakfast? Or would you prefer get straight into the thick of the action on a ground-based safari? Either way you’re in for a treat as the cast of the Lion King comes out to put on a dazzling performance.
Middle of the day conference session
Later in the afternoon, return to the Serengeti plains for another game safari. Our guides have their finger on the pulse and are in constant radio contact, so if there’s a pride of lions licking their paws after a kill or an elephant scratching her hide on an umbrella tree, they’ll know about it. Is today the day we see thousands of wildebeest thundering across the earth on their mass migration?
Day
7
Serengeti
Make sure your camera is fully charged, we have a feeling today is the day we will witness one of the biggest movements of animals on the planet. The great migration is the holy grail of wildlife viewing – imagine almost 2 million wildebeest grunting and snorting, slipping and sliding as they literally stampede towards greener pastures.
See mud fly and wildebeest tumble as the surging herd pours down the riverbank in a thundering rumble of hooves. Is that the marble eyes of a crocodile lurking? Will the wildebeest make the perilous journey? This is a David Attenborough documentary in real life – raw, wild and visceral.
Late afternoon conference session
Day
8
Serengeti
By now you’re accustomed to the familiar knock, knock as our guides wake you in the morning with a steaming hot cup of tea. There’s no time to lie in, today is our last wildlife viewing opportunity! Take your seat in the 4WD, prime your camera and get set for another spine-tingling day out on the African savannah.
Late afternoon conference session
Enjoy bush cocktails and nibbles out on the savannah as the sun melts into the horizon – there is nothing as spectacular as an African sunset. Our conference concludes with a a special bush dinner, complete with campfire and lanterns under the Serengeti’s star-pricked sky.
Day
9
Serengeti - home
Transfer to Seronera Airstrip for the flight to Arusha. Enjoy lunch at Arusha Coffee Lodge before driving to Kilimanjaro Airport for the return flight to Australia.
End of arrangements or Join optional post conference tour
Please note that this itinerary and costs may be subject to change.
End of arrangements. Please note this program may be subject to change