From one lake to another; today you leave the shores of Lake Burunge  after breakfast and head for Lake Manyara and the surrounding national  park for an extensive game drive. The park is centred round the lake  itself, described by Ernest Hemingway as the most beautiful he had seen,  and it remains a magnet for enormous numbers of birds, including tens  of thousands of flamingos, if conditions are right. There are also large  animals present, including the park’s famous large-tusked elephants and  tree-climbing lions as well as herds of buffalo and zebra grazing on  the lake’s floodplains. Leaving the park in the late afternoon you  travel to Kirurumu Manyara Lodge for a night, a 20-minute drive from the  park and enjoying an enviable setting on an escarpment with panoramic  lake views. 

 Leaving Lake Manyara behind you climb into the cooler air of the  Highlands and the Serengeti begins to unfold before you. A vast swathe  of savannah, the Serengeti is one of Africa’s greatest conservation  areas and the scene for the annual Wildebeest Migration from about  November to roughly July as well as excellent game viewing throughout  the year. You make your way via a game drive to Kati Kati Tented Camp, a  mobile camp set up in the best areas for the Migration and settle into  your traditional tented suite, complete with hot-water bucket shower.  The next day is yours to explore the Serengeti plains, your guide taking  you to wherever the wildebeest herds are gathered along with their  ever-attendant predators – lion, cheetah, leopard, hyena and wild dog. 

 You leave the Serengeti today but not without enjoying wildlife  sightings all the way to the Ngorongoro Highlands and the Ngorongoro  Crater. There is time to stop and marvel at the view from the rim of the  world’s largest intact volcanic caldera before travelling on to  Ngorongoro Farmhouse where you check in for two nights. Set in the quiet  town of Karatu, Ngorongoro Farmhouse lies on a coffee farm and you can  look forward to an afternoon tour of the estate, complete with views of  Oldeani Volcano. The next day sees you on the Crater floor, enjoying a  full-day safari in a destination with a reputation for the easiest Big 5  viewing in Africa – lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo are  usually all seen within a day in the Crater. Back at your lodge you have  a swimming pool to enjoy as well as Internet facilities and a laundry  service.  

 After a leisurely breakfast at Ngorongoro Farmhouse (and perhaps the  freshest cup of coffee you have had) you travel back to the town of  Arusha, arriving around midday. Your guide will drop you off at a hotel  of your choice or at the airport for your onward travel arrangements and  an end to this tour.