Tanzania: Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti

We'll spend our first day in Mt. Meru National Park, where the crater lakes hold large numbers of waterbirds including Lesser Flamingos...
We'll spend our first day in Mt. Meru National Park, where the crater lakes hold large numbers of waterbirds including Lesser Flamingos...
...and this is also a reliable site for Greater Painted Snipe.
...and this is also a reliable site for Greater Painted Snipe.
Moving west, we'll stop at the famous ‘lark plains’ where we hope to find Beesley’s lark, possibly Africa’s rarest bird.
Moving west, we'll stop at the famous ‘lark plains’ where we hope to find Beesley’s lark, possibly Africa’s rarest bird.
We'll spend two nights in Tarangire National Park with wonderful views from our comfortable tented accommodation.
We'll spend two nights in Tarangire National Park with wonderful views from our comfortable tented accommodation.
Here we’ll start to encounter some of Tanzania’s endemics such as Ashy Starling...
Here we’ll start to encounter some of Tanzania’s endemics such as Ashy Starling...
...and Rufous-tailed Weaver...
...and Rufous-tailed Weaver...
...while the African Scops Owl can usually be found roosting in the lodge grounds.
...while the African Scops Owl can usually be found roosting in the lodge grounds.
Venturing out into the savannah, we’ll encounter many Elephants, here framing one of the giant Baobab trees for which Tarangire is famous.
Venturing out into the savannah, we’ll encounter many Elephants, here framing one of the giant Baobab trees for which Tarangire is famous.
We’ll also find a wide variety of birds such as Black-faced Sandgrouse...
We’ll also find a wide variety of birds such as Black-faced Sandgrouse...
...and there will be lots of migrants from Europe and Asia such as this Eurasian Roller...
...and there will be lots of migrants from Europe and Asia such as this Eurasian Roller...
...and Steppe Eagles, always on the look-out for a quick meal.
...and Steppe Eagles, always on the look-out for a quick meal.
Reaching the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, our first animal predators are likely to be Cheetahs...
Reaching the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, our first animal predators are likely to be Cheetahs...
...and the open grassland and wetlands of the crater are great for birds such as this Black-bellied Bustard...
...and the open grassland and wetlands of the crater are great for birds such as this Black-bellied Bustard...
...Saddle-billed Stork...
...Saddle-billed Stork...
...and elegant Crowned  Cranes.
...and elegant Crowned Cranes.
Dawn at Ndutu, one of the lodges we use in the Serengeti.
Dawn at Ndutu, one of the lodges we use in the Serengeti.
In the Serengeti our vehicle’s roof hatches come into their own as we find ourselves mingling with migrating Zebra and Wildebeest.
In the Serengeti our vehicle’s roof hatches come into their own as we find ourselves mingling with migrating Zebra and Wildebeest.
Wildlife is simply everywhere we look in the Serengeti – here a flock of Fischer’s Lovebirds come to drink at a waterhole...
Wildlife is simply everywhere we look in the Serengeti – here a flock of Fischer’s Lovebirds come to drink at a waterhole...
...and here an endemic Grey-breasted Spurfowl calls loudly from the grassland.
...and here an endemic Grey-breasted Spurfowl calls loudly from the grassland.
Magpie Shrikes are very social, often hunting in small groups...
Magpie Shrikes are very social, often hunting in small groups...
...and raptors can include Dark Chanting Goshawk...
...and raptors can include Dark Chanting Goshawk...
...or Greater (White-eyed) Kestrel.
...or Greater (White-eyed) Kestrel.
At midday Giraffes seek shade from an acacia tree...
At midday Giraffes seek shade from an acacia tree...
...while stately Kori Bustard strides across the open plains.
...while stately Kori Bustard strides across the open plains.
The rocky outcrops that punctuate the Serengeti skyline are great places from which to scan for birds, or game, if you're a Lioness...
The rocky outcrops that punctuate the Serengeti skyline are great places from which to scan for birds, or game, if you're a Lioness...
...with cubs waiting for the next meal.
...with cubs waiting for the next meal.
Leopards prefer to snooze during the day and wait for darkness before hunting...
Leopards prefer to snooze during the day and wait for darkness before hunting...
...while Hippos like to spend the day wallowing in the pool.
...while Hippos like to spend the day wallowing in the pool.
Moving to the shores of Lake Victoria, we'll spend two nights at Spekes Bay Lodge...
Moving to the shores of Lake Victoria, we'll spend two nights at Spekes Bay Lodge...
...where we'll find lots of birds in the grounds such as Heuglin’s Courser...
...where we'll find lots of birds in the grounds such as Heuglin’s Courser...
...and a very confiding Square-tailed Nightjar.
...and a very confiding Square-tailed Nightjar.
There are lots of birds right around our huts such as the local speciality, Swamp Flycatcher…
There are lots of birds right around our huts such as the local speciality, Swamp Flycatcher…
...the more colourful Northern Brown-throated Weaver...
...the more colourful Northern Brown-throated Weaver...
...and the dashing African Paradise Flycatcher.
...and the dashing African Paradise Flycatcher.
...while Open-bill Storks share the shoreline with a variety of waders.
...while Open-bill Storks share the shoreline with a variety of waders.
Those who wish can visit a nearby fishing village. Here a woman sells firewood...
Those who wish can visit a nearby fishing village. Here a woman sells firewood...
...and here our guide explains how they make their fishing boats.
...and here our guide explains how they make their fishing boats.
Inland from the lake there are open plains where we’ll look for wintering Caspian Plovers...
Inland from the lake there are open plains where we’ll look for wintering Caspian Plovers...
...and Double-banded Coursers.
...and Double-banded Coursers.
We'll end the tour by travelling back  across the Serengeti where new sightings might include a Secretary Bird...
We'll end the tour by travelling back across the Serengeti where new sightings might include a Secretary Bird...
...or cute Tree Hyrax.
...or cute Tree Hyrax.
Perhaps we’ll see Yellow-billed Oxpecker riding on the back of an African buffalo...
Perhaps we’ll see Yellow-billed Oxpecker riding on the back of an African buffalo...
...and any roadside puddle might attract Yellow-throated Sandgrouse.
...and any roadside puddle might attract Yellow-throated Sandgrouse.
Photo credit: Steve Rooke
2025 Tour Price
$11,990
2025
Single Room Supplement $890
2026
March 2026 Tour Price to be Determined
Maximum group size six with one leader.
Tour balances paid by check/bank transfer may carry a 4% discount

At the time of independence, Julius Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania, was well aware of the global significance of his young nation’s wealth of wildlife, and made great efforts to ensure its security. Consequently almost one quarter of the country is today well maintained within national parks and various types of wildlife reserve. The most famous of these are in the north and they have become the framework for what has become a classic safari, our continuously refined and updated WINGS Tanzania bird-and-mammal watching tour.

We’ll begin at a fold in the densely forested slopes of Mount Meru, an elegantly chiseled pyramid of a (dormant) volcano standing in the lee of the taller, more famous yet often somehow less daunting Mount Kilimanjaro. After spending our first two nights here at an historic lodge we’ll descend toward East Africa’s Great Rift Valley through the unique baobab savanna of Tarangire National Park. We’ll visit the modest Lake Manyara National Park on the floor of the Great Rift Valley before climbing once again into cooler montane elevations, ascending via a zig-zag road up the steep western wall of the rift to the edge of the mighty escarpment and a small town called Karatu on the approaches to two of the most fabled tapestries within the wondrous gallery of East Africa’s wildlife destinations, the captivating beauty that is Ngorongoro Crater, and the all embracing grasslands and woodlands of the seemingly infinite Serengeti National Park. 

After nine days of exploration in this contiguous “two park wildlife haven” we’ll draw our safari to a close, passing two peaceful nights at a very relaxed lodge on the tranquil, papyrus-fringed shoreline of Africa’s greatest lake Nyanza-Victoria before flying back east, from the nation’s second city of Mwanza, to Kilimanjaro International Airport. A final night passed at the remarkably bird-rich KIA lodge will be followed by a morning’s birding in the dry acacia bush of the nearby Maasai steppe.

This by-now classic safari bird and mammal tour (it was conceived in 2010) of fifteen field days should yield well over five hundred bird species together with what must be an almost unrivalled list of seventy-plus mammal species seen. It therefore provides both a perfect “faunal introduction” for any first time visitor to East and Central Africa as well as a reminder to repeat visitors that a visit here is one of if not our planet’s great natural history experience. Furthermore the majority of these birds and mammals may be observed at close range and with little effort from our fully-customized safari vehicle, and hence watched very well indeed.

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Maximum group size six with one leader.