We begin by leaving pleasant Arusha and heading towards the dry plains of Tarangire National Park. Famed for its large herds of elephant and majestic baobab trees, this park is an often overlooked gem, with great dry season (June – November) wildlife viewing.

Our afternoon game drive should reveal elephants, hundreds of dry season zebra, wildebeest and antelope and a wealth of predators, including Tarangire’s famed tree-climbing lions.

We start early and make the short drive to Lake Manyara National Park. Known as one of the prettiest parks in Africa, Manyara offers good game viewing and stunning scenery. Expect to see the largest baboon troops on the continent, thousands of flamingo adding colour to the shallow central lake and plenty of big game.

We manage almost a full day of game drives and often encounter elephant, zebra, giraffe, hippo, lion and wildebeest.

We spend the morning transferring to the Serengeti National Park. This is a very pleasant drive through great highland scenery, with chances of impromptu game viewing. Note that this whole region is a wildlife haven. With several world class parks and migratory routes, you see animals where you least expect them.

An afternoon game drive through the park usually reveals a wealth of species. This is, after all, the Serengeti – the most celebrated game reserve in the world. It is Tanzania’s premier safari destination and for good reason. It has the big five resident (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhino) plus almost all of the large game species found throughout Tanzania.

A second day in the mighty Serengeti with game drives and guided walks. This is an enormous park and it takes weeks to get a real feel for it, never mind a few days. Time your visit with the annual migrations (October and April) and you could see the greatest wildlife show on earth. Almost two million animals march across the plains of East Africa from the Masai Mara down to the Serengeti and back again.

A third day viewing the spectacular scenes of the Serengeti.

We begin the return towards Arusha by making the short journey to Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is the largest intact ancient caldera in the world, a World Heritage Site and a park of unequalled wildlife viewing. Twenty thousand animals (including the big five) crowd the crater floor and this is perhaps the best place in Africa to see the endangered black rhino in the wild.

A last chance to see the incredible crater and its host of wildlife. Following a morning descent and tour of the crater floor, we slowly make our way back to Arusha or Kilimanjaro International Airport, where the tour ends.