Your Great Migration adventure begins at Rivertrees Country Inn.Transfers are included from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Rivertrees Country Inn near Arusha for an overnight stay in a Garden Room. Meet your fellow travelers in the morning.

Set out for a two-night safari to Ngorongoro Crater, once a gigantic volcano and today regarded as the largest intact caldera in the world where wildlife thrives. Stop en route for lunch overlooking Lake Manyara. Along with abundant giraffes, baboons and elephants, Lake Manyara is home to a multitude of birds, including great birds of prey. Continue on to your small, intimate lodge and spa set above a valley with stunning views, for a two-night stay. The surrounding Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home to some 30,000 large mammals. Join us for a welcome reception and dinner at the lodge.

Experience the Africa of bygone days when you go on a game drive in the “lost world” of Ngorongoro Crater, considered by many to have been Africa’s original “Garden of Eden.” From aboard your four-wheel-drive vehicle, you’ll have an opportunity to spot Africa’s renowned Big Five: buffalo, elephant, leopard, the lion and the endangered, rare black rhinoceros, as well as herds of zebras, wildebeests and gazelles roaming life-giving landscapes of grasslands, swamps and forests. Return to your lodge for free time and dinner at leisure.

In Maasai, the word Serengeti means “the place where the land moves on forever.” See why when you fly to Serengeti National Park this morning where over a million wildebeest and some 200,000 zebras make a trek from the southern Serengeti to the Masai Mara and back again every year. In spite of the dangers they face from crocodiles or weather conditions, they are driven by a deeply held instinct to constantly search for food and water. Their annual trek takes them through a variety of parks, reserves and protected areas with different habitats. Check into your mobile camp for a memorable three-night stay in the heart of the park, then join an expert tracker for an eye-opening afternoon game drive into the Serengeti wilderness. Dinner is served back at the camp this evening.

A hot air balloon flight* at dawn soars over the Serengeti savanna giving you the unique opportunity to observe the morning rituals of the park’s wildlife as they wake up to a new day; experience unforgettable panoramic views and photo opportunities, then touch down for a champagne breakfast in the bush! Look for lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, jackals, gazelles, zebras, elephants, hippos and more on a morning game drive en route back to your wilderness camp. Spend the rest of the day at leisure and sleep to the sounds of nearby wildlife tonight. Note: Depending on the time of the year, the hot air balloon ride may take place in the Masai Mara on Day 8 instead of in the Serengeti. Ask at booking.

Morning and afternoon game drives keep you on the move with the animals that pass through the Serengeti; on days when the migration is in full force, spend the entire day experiencing this amazing wildlife phenomenon as herds of wildebeest, gazelles and zebra thunder by... with a few hungry big cats tailing behind.

An early morning flight out of the Serengeti whisks you to the shores of Lake Victoria then onto Kenya where you land in the Masai Mara National Reserve for a two-night stay at a tented camp that looks out onto the Sabaringo River and the plains of the Masai Mara, one of the world’s richest wildlife reserves. Head out after lunch for a game drive that offers the opportunity to view an array of animals, including zebras, cheetahs, wildebeests, gazelles and the “Big Five,” up close.

Depending on the time of year, wake up early for a hot air balloon ride* at dawn this morning that takes you above the treetops for panoramic views of the wildlife herds that roam the Masai Mara Reserve.  Descend to enjoy breakfast and champagne in the bush before a game drive en route back to your lodge. Spend the rest of the day at leisure. Your luxury camp boasts a massage room where you can indulge in a relaxing treatment and a rim-flow swimming pool set on the edge of the reserve amidst extraordinary views.

Your adventure ends at Nairobi International Airport. Depart your tented camp after breakfast this morning for a flight to Nairobi and a drive to the quiet suburb of Karen, Kenya. Enjoy a private, heartwarming visit to the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage this afternoon, founded in an effort save baby elephants that are orphaned due to poachers’ attacks. As a special experience, you will be allowed to watch baby elephants during feeding time. Tauck has reserved day rooms at Hemingways hotel so you can relax and repack before your flight home. Have dinner at the hotel before your included transfer from Hemingways Nairobi to Nairobi International Airport. Allow a minimum of three hours for your flight check in.