DAY 1  

Tour begins: Arusha Serena Hotel, Resort & Spa

A transfer is included from Kilimanjaro International Airport to your hotel, Arusha Serena Hotel & Spa, located in this safari gateway city at the foot of Mount Meru, the second highest mountain in Tanzania. Meet your fellow travelers in the morning.

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LODGING:  ARUSHA SERENA HOTEL, RESORT & SPA  (LINK)

DAY 2  

Lake Manyara National Park

The vast Serengeti beckons as you begin a four-night safari in Tanzania, and a five-night Kenya safari. Take your first game drive through Lake Manyara National Park, where you might get your first glimpse of giraffes, baboons, hippos, and elephants along with hundreds of species of birds. Arrive in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, populated by an estimated 30,000 large mammals. Your lodge for the next two nights is on the Ngorongoro Crater rim overlooking the caldera below, an excellent spot for our welcome reception and dinner.

MEALS: B, L, D

LODGING:  NGORONGORO SERENA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 3  

Wildlife in the "Garden of Eden" – Ngorongoro

Thought by some to be Africa’s original "Garden of Eden," Ngorongoro Crater is one of the largest calderas in the world and contains a variety of ecosystems and an astounding concentration of birds and animals. Your four-wheel-drive vehicle, built exclusively for Tauck, provides an excellent mobile viewing platform when encountering massive herds of zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles. This area affords an opportunity to spot the Big Five – elephant, leopard, lion, buffalo, and rhinoceros. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the crater today.

MEALS: B, L,D

LODGING:  NGORONGORO SERENA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 4  

Early human history at Oldupai Gorge

Study the development of humankind at Oldupai Gorge, where, over 50 years ago, archaeologists Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the fossilized remains of some of the earliest known human species, an estimated 1.8 million years old. Continue wildlife viewing while driving the rough dirt roads across the plains to your safari lodge in the Serengeti, built for unprecedented pampering. Enjoy a special barbecue dinner in your lodge's Boma Grill tonight, enhanced by a Maasai traditional dance performance.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING:  FOUR SEASON SAFARI LODGE SERENGETI  (LINK)

DAY 5 

The Serengeti's amazing wildlife

Look for wildlife in the heart of the vast savanna of the Serengeti today on both morning and afternoon game drives. Sightings might include lions, zebras, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, buffaloes, jackals, gazelles, and giraffes. When the sunset paints the sky in the evening, enjoy the show from the luxury of your lodge in Serengeti National Park, and enjoy PanAfrican cuisine at dinner tonight.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING:  FOUR SEASON SAFARI LODGE SERENGETI  (LINK)

DAY 6  

Tauck's Kenya safari tours begin in Amboseli

Leave the Serengeti behind as you fly to Arusha, Tanzania en route to Kenya. Dominating the skyline, majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro peaks over surrounding landscapes from more than 15,000 feet up. Have lunch at the Cultural Heritage Center in Arusha prior to continuing into Kenya and begining a twonight stay at your safari lodge in Amboseli National Park, where herds of free-ranging elephants and other wildlife like to roam; enjoy a private lecture on the elephants of Amboseli before dinner tonight.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: AMBOSELI SERENA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 7  

Private game drives and more in Amboseli

Private safari game drives in Amboseli National Park offer an opportunity to view elephants, hippos and buffaloes seeking the park's natural watering holes and graceful antelopes grazing in the flat grasslands. An early morning visit to a Maasai village precedes a morning game drive, after which you'll return to the lodge for breakfast. Spend time at leisure prior to lunch, then another game drive, and time to spend as you please at the lodge for the remainder of the afternoon. Enjoy an included dinner at your leisure at the lodge this evening.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: AMBOSELI SERENA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 8

Mount Kenya Safari Club & an animal orphanage

A morning flight brings you to the world-famous Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club, straddling the Equator and your luxurious home for the next two nights. The former retreat of actor William Holden, the Safari Club, founded in 1959, was once the playground of such illustrious members such as Winston Churchill and Bing Crosby. Following lunch and an Equatorial demonstration, pay a private visit to the nearby William Holden Wildlife Education Center and animal orphanage; this sanctuary for animals that have been orphaned or injured and need special care also teaches local children to cherish and appreciate the unique wildlife of their homeland.

MEALS: B, L, D

LODGING: FAIRMONT MOUNT KENYA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 9

Rhinos, chimpanzees & village crafts

An exciting day begins at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, home to the largest resident black rhino population in East Africa and other members of the Big Five. It is also home to the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary, founded by Jane Goodall, which gives lifelong homes to orphaned and abused chimpanzees, and which you'll visit this morning. While at Ol Pejeta, enjoy Tauck's special access to visit a compound where endangered black rhino are bred. After lunch at your hotel, take a look at local life on a private visit to a nearby village, where villagers spin colorful tales into their handmade wool rugs, sweaters and shawls right before your eyes. Return to your celebrity resort late afternoon. Tonight, attend our private barbecue dinner held under the stars on the lush manicured lawns of the Mount Kenya Safari Club.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: FAIRMONT MOUNT KENYA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 10

The Masai Mara & an evening game drive

Your safari continues as you pack your Tauck duffel bag and fly to the Masai Mara National Reserve in southern Kenya, where you'll be welcomed by Maasai warriors. Have lunch upon your arrival at the luxurious Fairmont Mara Safari Club, where an elegant tented camp is your home for the next three nights. Spend the afternoon relaxing, swimming, taking in the views and otherwise becoming acquainted with the Safari Club and your luxury tented camp accommodations, evoking the classic safaris of yesteryear. Embark on an evening game drive across the plains of "the Mara" in search of animals that make their homes here; perhaps you’ll see lions, antelopes, elephants and zebras in their daily rituals. Return to camp for a briefing on tomorrow's hot air balloon flight, followed by dinner.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: FAIRMONT MARA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 11

Ballooning over the plains of the Masai Mara

Today will be one that you’ll always remember as you arise before dawn to board a hot air balloon* and float over the Masai Mara's awakening plains below as the sun rises. When you land, a special champagne breakfast will be awaiting you right there in the bush! Spectacular isn’t quite strong enough a word to describe such an experience, a Tauck Exclusive on your Kenya safari! Back on the ground, look for lions, impalas, cheetahs, giraffes, and the other animals you’ve come to love as you return overland to the camp for lunch and an afternoon at leisure – and later on an evening game drive with an opportunity to use special technology to enhance your safari experience. Have dinner back at your tented camp.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: FAIRMONT MARA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 12

More game drives in the magical Masai Mara

Unparalleled wildlife viewing is the watchword on your final day in the spectacular Masai Marai – and the last full day of your Tanzania and Kenya safari adventure – as you set out on a morning game drive... return to your tented camp for lunch, and perhaps a bit of swimming and down time... and then head back out across the plains for a final afternoon game drive in the bush. After returning to your tented camp, join us for a perfect ending to your unforgettable Kenya safari, in true Tauck fashion... a farewell dinner in the boma of the Fairmont Mara Safari Club.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: FAIRMONT MARA SAFARI LODGE  (LINK)

DAY 13

Fly to Kigali, Rwanda

Fly this morning to Kigali airport in Rwanda, home to Volcanoes National Park and the forested habitat of endangered mountain gorillas and golden monkeys. A late afternoon arrival at your Serena Hotel is followed by dinner at leisure.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: KIGALI SERENA HOTEL  (LINK)

DAY 14

Kigali coffee & Volcanoes National Park

Wake up and smell the coffee at a local cooperative that empowers Rwandan women to become coffee growers. Learn all about making coffee, from planting and harvesting to roasting and brewing with an opportunity to have a cup or two. Continue on a drive through the countryside to the city of Ruhengeri at the base of Volcanoes National Park, where eight ancient volcanoes watch over the wildlife that thrives here. Check into your grass-thatched traditional Rwandan lodge, nestled under the eucalyptus trees at the foothills of the Virunga Volcano range, and have lunch before visiting the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Museum. Learn insights and observations about gorilla behavior in preparation for tomorrow’s trek, as well as hear the fascinating story of Dian Fossey’s unforgettable quest to save the mountain gorilla.

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: ONE&ONLY GORILLA'S NEST  (LINK)

DAY 15

Gorilla Trek in Volcanoes National Park

Rise early for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity you’ll not soon forget. Drive to the headquarters of Volcanoes National Park where a briefing by your expert mountain guides answers any questions you may have about your trek into the wilderness and a dance performance as you eat your boxed breakfast whets your appetite for today’s gorilla adventure. Climb aboard a safari vehicle as you make your way to the trailhead where your gorilla trek begins. You will be assigned a porter who will help carry your provisions and cameras and lead you to the gorilla family you are here to meet. Once the gorillas are located, you will have the rare opportunity to watch them interact with each other, and you if they choose! When your hour-long visit is up, head back to the lodge for lunch and an afternoon at leisure. A local expert presents an informative lecture this afternoon about the endangered mountain gorillas you were privileged to see. Join us tonight for a farewell reception and dinner at the lodge

MEALS: B,L,D

LODGING: ONE&ONLY GORILLA'S NEST  (LINK)

DAY 16

Journey home

Tour ends: Kigali. Depart your hotel after breakfast for your journey back to Kigali, stopping en route to visit the Genocide Memorial Museum. Pay tribute to the 800,000 Rwandans who lost their lives during the atrocities of 1994 and discover how Rwanda was able to come together, heal and move forward into the future with hope and resilience. Continue to the Kigali Serena Hotel where Tauck has reserved day rooms for you until your flight home this evening. Airport transfers are included from Kigali Serena Hotel to Kigali International Airport. Allow a minimum of three hours for flight check in at the airport.

MEALS: B,L

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