6-Day Great Migration Safari with Zanzibar

Depart Arusha for Tarangire National Park, with an afternoon game drive among the baobabs and elephant herds of the river valley.

Tarangire is usually the first park on the northern circuit and an easy drive from Arusha. The afternoon drive follows the river valley, where the game gathers, with the baobabs throwing long shadows as the light drops.

Travel north-west into the Serengeti, heading directly for the northern sector where the migration spends the crossing season.

The Seronera valley holds water year-round, which is why lion, leopard and cheetah are all resident here rather than seasonal. Days are spent working the kopjes, where lion lie up on the warm rock, and the river lines where leopard rest through the heat. The scale takes time to absorb: the plains genuinely run to the horizon in every direction.

A full day along the Mara River, watching for the herds to commit to a crossing. Timing is set by the wildebeest, not the itinerary.

Game viewing begins the moment you pass the gate, with the plains widening as you drive in. Your guide will track where the migration currently sits and shape the coming days around it, whether that means the southern calving grounds or the northern river crossings.

Move south into the central Serengeti, worked for its resident lion, leopard and cheetah around the Seronera valley.

The Seronera valley holds water year-round, which is why lion, leopard and cheetah are all resident here rather than seasonal. Days are spent working the kopjes, where lion lie up on the warm rock, and the river lines where leopard rest through the heat. The scale takes time to absorb: the plains genuinely run to the horizon in every direction.

Travel to the Ngorongoro Crater rim, with a stop at Olduvai Gorge, for an evening on the rim.

The rim sits at over two thousand metres, so evenings are genuinely cold and the views across the caldera at dusk are the reason to be up here. Your descent is timed for first light, when the floor is at its most active and before the day's vehicles arrive.

A descent into the crater for a final game drive, then a transfer to fly to Zanzibar for a night on the beach before your onward journey.

Days here are yours to shape: the reef for snorkelling or diving, a dhow out at sunset, or simply the beach. Stone Town repays a half-day walk through its lanes of coral-stone houses and carved doors, and the spice farms inland make an easy morning.