5-Day Serengeti & Ngorongoro Fly-in Luxury Safari

Karibu Tanzania. A private transfer takes you from Kilimanjaro Airport to Gran Meliá Arusha, about 50 minutes away, a calm, elegant hotel set in coffee gardens with views of Mount Meru. Your guide meets you there to go through the plan, the flight tomorrow and anything you need. The afternoon is yours: the hotel spa, the pool or a short coffee farm visit.

Where you sleep: Budget: Kibo Palace Hotel · Mid-range: Four Points by Sheraton Arusha · Luxury: Gran Meliá Arusha

Meals: Breakfast

Guide's tip: Order a cup of local Arabica in the hotel lounge. The coffee grown on the slopes of Mount Meru is some of the best in Tanzania.

After breakfast you transfer to Arusha airport for a light-aircraft flight of about 1 hour 15 minutes to the Seronera airstrip in the heart of the Serengeti. Your guide and Land Cruiser meet you on the airstrip, and your first game drive starts right there. The central Serengeti has the highest density of big cats in the park, so lions, leopards and cheetahs are likely on day one. You arrive at Four Seasons Safari Lodge for lunch and go out again in the late afternoon.

Where you sleep: Budget: Sueños de África Camp · Mid-range: Arukore Simba Camp · Luxury: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: Request a window seat on the left side of the plane. The view over the Ngorongoro highlands and the crater is unforgettable.

A full day in the Serengeti with time to focus on big cats, elephants and the open savannah. Your guide plans a long morning drive and an afternoon drive, with lunch at the lodge or a private bush picnic. The elephants and buffalo that visit the lodge's watering hole mean the safari continues even by the pool. In the evening you can join the lodge's Discovery Centre talk or simply watch the sunset from the deck.

Where you sleep: Budget: Sueños de África Camp · Mid-range: Arukore Simba Camp · Luxury: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: Ask about a private bush breakfast. It is one of the best ways to start a day in the Serengeti.

After breakfast you drive from the Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater, about 3 hours with a game drive on the way out of the park. You descend into the crater for an afternoon game drive, with lion, buffalo, elephant, zebra, wildebeest and the rare black rhino on the crater floor. In the late afternoon you climb back to the rim and check in to Ngorongoro Lodge Meliá Collection, with a fire in the room and a view over the crater.

Where you sleep: Budget: Marera Valley Lodge · Mid-range: Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge · Luxury: Ngorongoro Meliá Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: If you prefer a full crater day, we can add a night at the rim and descend at dawn the next morning.

After breakfast with a view over the crater, you drive about 3.5 hours back to Arusha and Kilimanjaro Airport for your flight home. A short connecting flight to Zanzibar is an easy way to add a few days on the beach.

Where you sleep: No overnight: transfer to the airport

Meals: Breakfast

Guide's tip: If you want to fly back instead of driving, Lake Manyara airstrip is about 1.5 hours from the crater and has daily flights to Arusha.