10-Day Exceptional Northern Experiences

Touch down at Kilimanjaro International Airport, or any other arrival point, where your Gip Adventure host is waiting with a warm, romantic meet-and-greet. From there it is a comfortable drive to your lodge on the edge of Arusha.

After a pre-safari briefing, take time to shake off the journey: wander the tranquil grounds, settle into your room and catch a glimpse of Mount Meru, the dramatic centrepiece of the Arusha skyline.

Enjoy a relaxed dinner together and a peaceful first night before the adventure begins.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your driver-guide collects you for the drive to Tarangire National Park, 2,850 sq km of wilderness tucked away 120 km south-west of Arusha town. It is famous for exceptional game viewing in the dry season, when animals gather along the great Tarangire River to drink, bathe and wallow in the mud – the river is the park's lifeline at that time of year and draws an extraordinary variety of species.

Look out for the park's enormous baobab trees, which share a close and fascinating relationship with Tarangire's elephants. A hot picnic lunch is served in the park, followed by a short, thrilling afternoon game drive.

Tonight you stay inside the park itself, enjoying dinner and your first night in the African bush at your lodge in Tarangire.

After breakfast at around 08:00, set out for a full day exploring Tarangire with your guide. With one of our trained 'search engine' guides at the wheel, this day promises rare sightings: small packs of African painted dogs, elusive kudu, great parades of savanna elephants and towers of giraffes browsing among the trees.

Large herds of buffalo and wildebeest roam the grasslands, well-fed lion prides laze in the shade, hyenas squabble over carcasses and tall, log-shaped termite mounds shelter families of dwarf and banded mongooses. A hearty picnic lunch is served in the park before a final afternoon drive.

Back at your lodge, enjoy dinner followed by a bonfire beneath a sky full of stars – a perfect moment to share stories, dream about the future together and toast your new life with a hot or cold drink.

After breakfast at around 08:00, leave Tarangire and travel west through the Ngorongoro highlands towards the great Serengeti National Park. On the way, visit Olduvai Gorge, the Kigeni shifting sands and a traditional Maasai boma.

After a picnic lunch, enter the Serengeti with game drives en route into its central region. These vast, open plains are the stage for the annual wildebeest migration – the gnus are true 'born movers', always searching for fresh green grazing for their nursing mothers and calves, and for good breeding grounds. Predators follow: you may see hyenas feeding on a carcass while jackals and vultures wait or patrol nearby.

End the day with an exciting game drive to your camp for dinner and a memorable night in the African bush.

After breakfast at around 08:00, venture deep into the Serengeti for a full day of game drives. The park is famous for its green carpet in the wet season and its golden carpet in the dry, and its serene landscapes hold some of the finest wildlife viewing in Africa.

Depending on the season, you may find yourselves surrounded by vast herds of wildebeest and zebra on the move. When the migration reaches the 395 km Mara River – which rises in central Kenya and flows into Lake Victoria – huge Nile crocodiles lie unseen beneath the water, waiting. The herds plunge in regardless, driven on by an instinct as old as the plains themselves, while predators pick off the weak and the old.

Savour every moment, with a picnic lunch out on the plains, followed by dinner and a peaceful night back at your camp.

A second full day in the Serengeti gives you time to explore further and linger longer wherever the action is. Your driver-guide follows the herds and the predators, from lion prides resting in the shade of acacias to cheetahs scanning the plains from termite mounds.

The Serengeti is home to the Big Five and to the famous 'ugly five' – the hyena, vulture, marabou stork, warthog and wildebeest – and each drive brings something new. In the right season, the migration's river crossings are among the most dramatic sights in the natural world.

Enjoy a leisurely picnic lunch in the bush and return to your camp in the evening for dinner and another tranquil night under the stars.

Today there is nowhere you need to be. Laze away the day around your camp, take your meals whenever you please and simply enjoy being together in the heart of the Serengeti.

Spend the hours in your room or by the pool, sip premium fruit juices made from carefully selected fruit and blended to perfection, and watch the wildlife that wanders past camp. If you feel like it, your guide can suggest other gentle activities.

As evening falls, enjoy dinner and another peaceful night beneath the African sky.

After breakfast at around 08:00, leave the Serengeti with a game drive en route from the central plains to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Here you descend 610 m into the world's largest intact, unflooded volcanic caldera – a natural sanctuary teeming with wildlife.

Explore the 260 sq km crater floor, framed by steep walls dotted with tumbling rocks. The salty Lake Magadi (Makat) attracts excellent birdlife, and the crater is home to the Big Five, as well as large pods of hippos, gazelles and other antelopes. Our highly trained driver-guides – our 'search engines' – know exactly where to look, and you may hear the deep, booming call of the ostrich, the world's largest, fastest and strongest flightless bird.

After a picnic lunch on the crater floor, climb back out and continue to your lodge in Karatu for dinner and a wonderful night.

After breakfast at around 08:00, drive to Lake Manyara National Park. The park's soda lake spans more than 200 sq km, although its size varies greatly with the seasons, and attracts pink flamingos, waders and waterfowl. Large pods of hippos gather at the hippo pool viewpoint.

The Great Rift Valley escarpment rises a sheer 600 m above the park, offering scintillating views, while hot springs reach temperatures of 60°C. The park lies close to the diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu, where many other activities can be arranged to make your safari unforgettable.

After a delicious picnic lunch, return to your lodge in Arusha for dinner and a wonderful night.

After a hearty breakfast at around 08:00, your driver-guide takes you to Meserani Snake Park, just outside Arusha, for a fascinating tour of a collection teeming with reptiles that are rarely seen in the wild.

Then enjoy a camel ride across the Maasai Steppe – one of the most spellbinding moments of the trip – followed by a hearty lunch at the park's atmospheric bar.

In the afternoon your driver-guide drives you comfortably by road to Kilimanjaro International Airport in time for your onward international flight home (transfer timing depends on your flight schedule).

Everyone at Gip Adventure Tours & Safaris wishes you a safe journey home, carrying memories of your honeymoon that will last a lifetime.