After breakfast, head to the tranquil Lake Duluti, a small crater lake surrounded by lush forest. This is a paradise for waterbirds and forest species alike. Expect to see African Fish Eagles, Malachite Kingfishers, Black-headed Herons, and the lively Hartlaub’s Turaco. You will take a guided canoe or shoreline walk, allowing excellent opportunities for close-up bird photography. The forest edges host hornbills, woodpeckers, and flycatchers. After the morning’s birding, enjoy a lakeside barbecue lunch surrounded by nature, a perfect way to relax while ticking off new species. In the afternoon, continue birdwatching before returning to Arusha for dinner and overnight. Lake Duluti’s combination of water and woodland offers a superb start to your safari.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Comfort Accommodation: Masailand Safari Lodge

Premium Accommodation: Ngaresero Lodge

Today you’ll explore Arusha National Park, one of Tanzania’s most underrated gems. The park’s diverse habitats—from montane forest to alkaline lakes and grassland plains—offer over 400 bird species. Around the Momella Lakes, expect to see Lesser and Greater Flamingos, White-backed Ducks, and Maccoa Ducks. The lush forests are home to Schalow’s Turaco, Crowned Eagles, and Narina Trogons. After a picnic lunch, you’ll join a ranger-led walking safari at the foothills of Mount Meru, an excellent opportunity to spot ground-dwelling birds such as Buff-spotted Flufftails or francolins. Alongside birding, keep an eye out for giraffes, buffaloes, and colobus monkeys. Return to your lodge in the evening for dinner and overnight in Arusha.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Comfort Accommodation: Masailand Safari Lodge

Premium Accommodation: Ngaresero Lodge

An early start takes you to the legendary Lark Plains north of Mount Meru—one of East Africa’s rarest and most fragile bird habitats. Here, the big prize is the critically localized Beesley’s Lark, a specialist of short-grass, heavily grazed flats. With patience and careful scanning, you’ll also look for Short-tailed Lark, Fischer’s Sparrow-Lark, Athi Short-toed Lark (scarcer), and the elegant Temminck’s Courser and Two-banded Courser patrolling bare patches. Steppe and Lesser Kestrels can hawk low in season, while Kori Bustards stride the horizon and Secretarybirds quarter the plains. In acacia belts, check for Pygmy Falcons perched on weaver nests, Red-fronted Prinia, and White-bellied Go-away-bird. The light here is fantastic for photography, so expect rewarding images of larks, coursers, and raptors. Return to Arusha in the late afternoon to freshen up, review your lifers list with your guide, and prepare for tomorrow’s move deeper into big-game country.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Comfort Accommodation: Masailand Safari Lodge

Premium Accommodation: Ngaresero Lodge

This morning you’ll sweep remaining lark territories to improve views and photographs, then continue west toward Tarangire National Park. The drive is a birding route in itself—watch roadside acacias for Abyssinian Scimitarbill, Von der Decken’s Hornbill, and colorful Red-and-yellow Barbet. The open country can produce Kestrels, Bateleur, and Wahlberg’s Eagle, plus flocks of queleas making dramatic, swirling clouds. After picnic lunch, enter Tarangire’s baobab-studded landscapes, where the bird list jumps immediately with endemics and near-endemics: Yellow-collared Lovebird, Ashy Starling, and Rufous-tailed Weaver. Waterholes often hold African Spoonbill, Black-winged Stilt, and Wood Sandpiper, while the riverine woodland is good for Pearl-spotted Owlet mobbed by sunbirds and puffbacks. Elephants, giraffes, and zebra herds create classic savannah scenes. Settle into your camp or lodge inside/near the park, savor sunset over baobabs, and review target species for the full exploration tomorrow, including night sounds such as Scops Owl or Fiery-necked Nightjar around camp.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Comfort Accommodation: Ang'ata Tarangire Camp

Premium Accommodation: Acacia Tarangire Luxury Camp

A dawn game drive follows the Tarangire River as flocks of doves and starlings erupt from roosts. Target specials include the endemic Yellow-collared Lovebird and the charismatic Northern Pied Babbler. Keep scanning baobab crowns for raptors—Martial Eagle, Tawny Eagle, and Bateleur—while open flats can deliver Kori Bustard and White-bellied Bustard. Mid-morning, meet a TANAPA ranger for a sanctioned walking safari (subject to park regulations). On foot you’ll appreciate tracks, pellets, and feathers that tell the hidden story of the bush, and you may flush Buttonquails, quails, or small coursers otherwise missed from the vehicle. After a shaded lunch break, continue birding river loops and seasonal marshes for herons, storks, ibises, and colorful bee-eaters. Mammal highlights regularly include vast elephant families, dwarf and banded mongooses, and, if lucky, lion pride activity near the river. Return at golden hour to capture silhouettes of baobabs and hornbills against an amber sky.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Comfort Accommodation: Ang'ata Tarangire Camp

Premium Accommodation: Acacia Tarangire Luxury Camp

Use the cool morning for a final Tarangire loop, mopping up any missed targets such as Red-necked Falcon, African Hawk-Eagle, and flocks of White-headed Buffalo-Weavers decorating thorny crowns. Check marsh edges for Black Coucal in wetter months and scan reedbeds for crakes with patience. After brunch, exit the park and travel up the escarpment toward the fertile highlands of Karatu. The changing elevation introduces different bird communities—listen for Baglafecht Weaver and Tacazze Sunbird in flowering gardens, while Augur Buzzard often rides thermals. In Karatu, you’ll settle into your lodge and enjoy a relaxed afternoon: optional nature walk in coffee estates for Klaas’s Cuckoo, Tropical Boubou, and flycatchers, or simply rest before tomorrow’s crater–Serengeti push. At the trip midpoint, your guide will recap the growing trip list, refine targets for forest, highland, and open-plain specialists, and preview the dramatic shift from highland caldera to endless Serengeti plains.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Karatu Simba Lodge

Premium Accommodation: Kitela Lodge

Before dawn, ascend the misty rim of Ngorongoro for a panoramic sunrise, then descend into the UNESCO-listed caldera—an otherworldly bowl teeming with wildlife. Around Lerai Forest and the crater lakes, search for Grey Crowned Crane, Fan-tailed Widowbird, and various whistling-ducks; forest edges may produce Schalow’s Turaco and Brown-backed Woodpecker. The crater’s open floor is excellent for Kori Bustard, Secretarybird, and ostrich, plus a formidable cast of mammals including buffalo, hippo, hyena, and, with luck, black rhino. After picnic lunch, climb out and roll west onto Serengeti’s short-grass plains and kopjes. Expect the raptor list to swell—Lappet-faced and White-backed Vultures, Steppe Eagles in season, and graceful Black-chested Snake-Eagles. As you approach your Serengeti camp, watch for Double-banded Courser, Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse at dusk, and nightjars hawking insects along the track. Settle in under a sky wallpapered with stars and the distant whoop of hyenas.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Serenity Camps and Lodges

Premium Accommodation: Serengeti Luxury Retreat

A full day lets you cover kopje habitats, grassland pans, and river lines—each with its birding personality. Scan granite kopjes for Rock Martins, Mocking Cliff-Chats, and Verreaux’s Eagle patrolling crags. In the grasslands, look for Bustards (Kori, White-bellied), Secretarybirds striding proud, and stately Grey-breasted Spurfowl. Rivers and waterholes attract herons, Hamerkops, storks, and colorful Malachite and Pied Kingfishers. Depending on season and location, expect wheeling swallow flocks, Eurasian migrants intermingling with resident cisticolas, and impressive raptor diversity from Bateleur to Eurasian Hobby. Mammal encounters are constant—lion on kopjes, cheetah on termite mounds, and large buffalo herds driving dust devils across the horizon. With patience you can photograph lilac-breasted rollers in perfect light and capture weavers in frenetic nest-building. Sunset returns you to camp with an orchestra of cicadas, calling coursers, and, sometimes, the distant sawing of a leopard near rocky outcrops.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Serenity Camps and Lodges

Premium Accommodation: Serengeti Luxury Retreat

Use the morning to target any Serengeti “misses:” Coqui Francolin, Secretarybird in flight, or better views of larks and pipits. After an early lunch, set course northeast toward Lake Natron, descending into a starkly beautiful volcanic landscape framed by the active Ol Doinyo Lengai. En route, occasional stops add dry-country species—Eastern Chanting-Goshawk on roadside posts, White-throated Bee-eaters on wires, and flurries of Sandgrouse exploding from the track. As Natron’s shimmering flats come into view, the birding focus shifts to saline-adapted specialists: Lesser Flamingo (often in mesmerizing numbers), Chestnut-banded Plover, Kittlitz’s Plover, and occasionally Ruff and Little Stint in passage. Evening winds turn the lake into a mirror, ideal for flamingo photography. Settle into your Natron camp, absorb the silence, and brief on tomorrow’s walking circuits that blend geology, birds, and Maasai culture in one of Tanzania’s most dramatic settings.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: African Safari Lake Natron

Premium Accommodation: Ngare Sero – Lake Natron Camp

At first light, take a guided walk along Natron’s alkaline shores. This is the principal breeding region for Lesser Flamingos in East Africa (access dependent on season and conservation rules), and while nesting areas are protected, you’ll still witness astonishing feeding flocks painting the water pink. Scan edges for Chestnut-banded and Three-banded Plovers, Little Grebe in freshwater pockets, and Gull-billed Tern coursing low. Dry rocky slopes hold Fan-tailed Raven, Fischer’s Starling, and mousebirds threading acacias. Mid-day, share time with a local Maasai community to learn about pastoral life, beadwork, and traditional conservation perspectives that have helped protect these landscapes. Later, a short gorge walk offers shade, swifts slicing the cliffs, and chances for Rock Hyrax (leopard prey) plus raptors overhead. Return by golden hour to capture flamingo reflections in soft light, then relax under a billion stars, listening for nightjars and the occasional jackal yip in the distance.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: African Safari Lake Natron

Premium Accommodation: Ngare Sero – Lake Natron Camp

Depart southeast for Mkomazi, a dry-country sanctuary contiguous with Kenya’s Tsavo ecosystem. The transition from volcanic flats to acacia–Commiphora bushland changes the bird palette again. After picnic arrival, begin an afternoon loop along red-soiled tracks where Somali–Masai biome species appear: look for Straw-tailed Whydah in season, Cut-throat Finch, Black-bellied Sunbird, Slate-colored Boubou, and if lucky, flocks of Vulturine Guineafowl edging thickets (more regular just north of the border but possible). Open skies suit raptors—Gabar Goshawk, Eastern Chanting-Goshawk, and updraft-riding vultures. Mkomazi is also known for conservation of black rhino (viewing in restricted sanctuary zones) and unusual mammals like gerenuk. As dusk settles, listen for nightjars and Scops Owls. Your lodge or camp sits in classic thornbush scenery with views to the Pare/Usambara ranges that you’ll climb tomorrow, trading arid birding for cool montane forests brimming with Eastern Arc endemics.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Mkomanzi View Camp

Premium Accommodation: Mkomanzi Wilderness Retreat

Use the cool hours to add dry-zone targets—Pygmy Batis, Pringle’s Puffback (scarce), White-browed Scrub-Robin, and groups of hornbills. After a brunch stop, wind into the West Usambaras, where altitude, mist, and ancient forests create a completely different birdworld. Around Lushoto, gardens can produce Collared Sunbird, African Stonechat, and Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, while forest edges hint at bigger prizes within. Afternoon walks on forest roads introduce skulking forest robins and greenbuls; listen for the rich whistles of Spot-throat and the soft hoots of Usambara Eagle-Owl near dusk (with luck and local knowledge). The air is cool, the light filtered—perfect for slow, careful birding. Your lodge sits amid tea and smallholder farms with forested ridges above. Over dinner, discuss targets like Usambara Akalat, Usambara Weaver, barbets, and turacos, and plan an early departure to hit prime activity at the altitudinal bands where these specialties are most reliable.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Mullers Mountain Lodge

Premium Accommodation: Java Boutique Hotel

Spend the morning on West Usambara forest trails, where patient birding can reveal Usambara Akalat hopping in leaf-litter, Mountain Greenbul in the canopy, and White-starred Robin flashing orange flanks along mossy edges. Silvery-cheeked and Trumpeter Hornbills wing between fruiting trees, while Green-headed Oriole sometimes whistles from high cover. After lunch, drive to the East Usambaras—lower, wetter, and renowned for Amani Nature Reserve’s exceptional biodiversity. Late-afternoon birding along forest roads is magical: flitting sunbirds, forest weavers, and mixed flocks with tchagras, crombecs, and illadopses. Key targets include Amani Sunbird and the critically localized Long-billed Forest Warbler; your guide will coordinate precise stakeouts to minimize disturbance. Night at a forest lodge brings a chorus of tree frogs and cicadas, with the possibility of a night walk for forest chameleons and listening for Eagle-Owls. The shift from west to east ridges maximizes your chances of Eastern Arc endemics in just two action-packed days.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Amani Forest Camp Emau Hill

Premium Accommodation: Clifftop Cottages at Amani Forest Lodge

An early Amani session chases remaining targets—Amani Sunbird on flowering shrubs, Green Barbet, Black-headed Apalis, and forest bulbuls. After brunch, descend toward the coastal lowlands, watching the habitat relax into miombo patches and riverine belts en route to Nyerere National Park. This is Africa’s largest game reserve ecosystem—endless woodlands, lakes, and the majestic Rufiji River. On arrival, take a tranquil late-afternoon boat safari: expect Goliath and Purple Herons standing like statues, African Skimmers slicing the river’s skin, Giant Kingfisher on overhanging branches, and Fish Eagles calling across sandbanks sprinkled with crocs. Hippo pods grunt, saddlebills cross the sky, and bee-eaters decorate bankside holes. Your riverside camp/lodge serves dinner to the soundtrack of nightjars, hyenas, and distant whoops—coastal-influenced birding begins in earnest tomorrow with broad habitat coverage from boat, 4×4, and, if possible, a guided walk in designated zones.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Rufuji River Camp

Premium Accommodation: Sand Rivers Safari Camp

A full day lets you mix river loops, palm savannah, and lake shores. At first light, scan palms for Palm-nut Vulture and listen for Black-crowned Tchagra. Along oxbow lakes and lagoons, seek African Pygmy-Goose, White-backed Night Heron (elusive), and flocks of pratincoles. Open woodland hosts Broad-billed Roller, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, and woodpeckers tapping rhythmic codes. Raptors abound—Bateleur tilting over thermals, Brown Snake-Eagle scanning for movement, and Harrier-Hawk probing cavities. Mammal encounters often include sable antelope, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, and, with real luck, African wild dogs—Nyerere is one of their strongholds. An afternoon boat session is perfect for African Skimmer photography and calmer views of herons, egrets, and kingfishers as light softens. Cap the day with a checklist review; you’ll likely surpass several hundred species across the trip, reflecting Tanzania’s astonishing eco-range from alpine foothills to coastal river systems.

Meals: Full Board

Comfort Accommodation: Rufuji River Camp

Premium Accommodation: Sand Rivers Safari Camp

Enjoy an unhurried breakfast listening to the river wake up—Hadada Ibis calling, kingfishers ticking, and weavers fussing in reeds. If time allows, fit in a brief birding loop near camp to pick up any last additions such as Greater Honeyguide or Black-winged Kite cruising the edge of palm savannah. Then depart toward Dar es Salaam, a journey that traces the gradient from wild reserve to the Indian Ocean’s bustling gateway. Your guide will target punctual arrival to match your international flight, with a final stop for refreshments and a heartfelt debrief: favorite sightings, best photos, and the species that surprised you most. Tanzania has delivered deserts of grass, forests veiled in mist, volcano-cut horizons, and river worlds brimming with life. As you check in for your flight, you’ll carry a field notebook dense with ticks—and a promise to return when the seasons shift and new migrants write the sky.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch