7-Day Enigmatic Journey

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 safari driver-guide collects you for the drive to Tarangire National Park, a magnificent wildlife sanctuary of 2,850 sq km lying some 120 km south-west of Arusha.

Tarangire is famous for outstanding game viewing in the dry season, when animals from every corner of the park gather along the great Tarangire River – their main source of water at that time of year. The river runs for around 120 km from the Kondoa highlands in Dodoma Region, central Tanzania, meandering through the park before emptying into Lake Burunge. Expect to see a wide variety of wildlife moving freely in its natural environment, beneath the park's enormous baobab trees.

After a hearty picnic lunch in the park, enjoy a final, thrilling game drive before heading to your lodge in the small, dusty town of Karatu for dinner and a restful night.

After an 08:00 breakfast, your driver-guide sets off for the great Serengeti National Park. On the way, step back in time at Olduvai Gorge, the Cradle of Mankind, visit the Kigeni shifting sands – a magnetic black volcanic dune – and call in at a Maasai boma to say hello to the local Maasai.

After a picnic lunch, cruise into the central Serengeti with game drives en route, across golden plains and rolling landscapes that seem to run on forever. This is the home of the annual wildebeest migration and of nerve-racking predator scenes: African painted dogs, spotted hyenas and giant Nile crocodiles along the rivers, with jackals and vultures waiting nearby for their opportunity.

End the day at your camp with a delicious dinner and your first night in the heart of 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.

Following breakfast at around 08:00, enjoy a final game drive as you leave the central Serengeti and head for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, before descending 610 m into its world-famous caldera.

The crater floor covers some 260 sq km and supports an extraordinary concentration of wildlife: big-tusked elephants, dark-maned lions in their prime, large herds of buffalo and wildebeest, pods of hippos and dazzles of zebra. The saline Lake Magadi is busy with waders and waterfowl, and the Big Five live here freely. Your guide will also listen out for the booming call of the ostrich among the crater's many bird species.

Lunch is served at a picnic site in the crater before you drive up to your lodge in Karatu for dinner and a well-earned rest.

After breakfast at around 08:00, your driver-guide takes you to Mto wa Mbu – famously known as 'Mosquito Creek' – a lively village set at the foot of the Great Rift Valley wall. Today is all about people rather than wildlife.

Mingle with the villagers and join in their daily life: help cook local dishes, try your hand at herding cattle and visit the farms that surround the village. Enjoy a bicycle ride towards Lake Manyara National Park, taste local food and drink, learn a few words of the local language and listen to traditional stories and myths.

In the afternoon, drive back via Arusha 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.