Day 1: ARRIVE IN ARUSHA, TANZANIA We will meet you upon your arrival in Arusha and transfer you to your overnight hotel where a hot shower and a bed will be a much-welcomed sight after your long day of travels. Overnight: At a lodge in Arusha  Day 2: ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK You will leave after an early breakfast, and drive to Arusha National Park.  You will spend the day on Mount Meru, which looms over Arusha.  The mix of habitat here includes the Montane Forest, and offers many exciting birds like the Crowned Hawk Eagle, Cinnamon Chested Bee-eater, and Ruppell’s Robin Chat. As you make your way up the slopes you will be in search of the White-Starred Robin and the Brown Woodland-Warbler. Other interesting birds you will be keeping your eyes open for as we drive around the plains of Mount Meru include the Chestnut-Bellied and Yellow-Throated Sandgrouse, Shrikes, Migrant Wheateater, Pipits, and Larks galore. Overnight: At a lodge in Arusha Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner  Day 3:    DRIVE TO TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK You will leave your lodge after breakfast, and drive to the Tarangire National Park where you shall enjoy some of Northern Tanzania’s finest birding.  The baobab plains and the tree groves support many cool bird species including three that are endemic and near endemic to Tanzania: The Ashy Starling, Yellow-collard Lovebird, and Rufous-tailed Weaver. Overnight: At a lodge or camp in The Tarangire National Park Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner  Day 4: TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK You will leave in the morning and spend the day doing game drive in the Tarangire.  The lush grasses are full of ground birds like the Northern White-bellied Bustard, and both Red-necked and Yellow-necked Francolins.  This is also one of the better places to see elephant along the Tarangire River and you may also see your first lions.  If luck is on your side, you may even see a leopard or cheetah. Overnight: At a lodge or camp in the Tarangire Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner  Day 5: DRIVE TO LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK You will leave your lodge in the morning and drive to Lake Manyara National Park where you will spend most of your day birding.  This diverse park has lush forests with the Silvery-cheeked Hornbill and Crowned Eagle.  Vast mudflats might be covered in migrating shore birds and marshes also support the likes of African Swamphen as well as a range of Herons and Egrets. Around mid-afternoon you will drive up the western rift escarpment through some agricultural areas entering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Overnight: At a lodge or camp near the Ngorongoro Crater Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner   Day 6:NGORONGORO CRATER TOUR You will leave very early in the morning, for a full day of exploration in the Ngorongoro Crater.  We won’t be in a hurry to descend into the crater as the forest and heath along the rim offer excellent birding.  Keep your eyes peeled for flowering Leonotis, if you find a patch, you might get to see the coolest sunbird spectacle in Africa: the impressive Golden-winged, Coppery-colored Bronze, and Iridescent-purple Tacazee Sunbirds all competing for nectar from the same flower.  Once on the crater floor you will see a myriad grassland and woodland birds like the Crowned Cranes as well as scavenging vultures amid all the wildlife. Overnight: At a lodge or camp near the Ngorongoro Crater Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner   Day 7: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK You will leave your lodge after a leisurely breakfast and drive through the Malanja depression and into the Serengeti Plains where sandgrouse, bustards and larks are abundant. Towards the Ndutu area we enter beautiful mature Acacia woodland with alkaline lakes and swamps.  Waterholes are bird magnets for Fischer’s Lovebirds, a variety of bishops, waxbills and widowbirds, as well as the Gray-breasted Francolin. Overnight: At a lodge or camp in the Central Serengeti Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Day 8:SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK You will leave your lodge after breakfast and continue exploring through the woodlands of the Serengeti which harbor the Rufous Chatterer, Cardinal and Bearded Woodpeckers, Black-faced Babblers, and Green Woodhoopoe.  Keep your eyes peeled for the antelope, buffalo and Wildebeest in this area along with predators, especially lions and hyenas who may be following and watching their movement closely as they contemplate their next meal.  Also watch for the vultures as they await a kill with renewed enthusiasm. Overnight: At a lodge or camp in the Central Serengeti Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner  Day 9:SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK You will leave your lodge after breakfast, and spend another day exploring the vast acacia-studded plains of the Serengeti. Keep your eyes open for the wildebeest, zebra, gazelle and giraffe along with the predators.  Although they are always difficult to find, this is one of the best places to see a leopard.   Of course, the birds are part of this drama.  You will be in search of the Meyer’s Parrot, Tanzanian Red-billed Hornbill, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Usambiro Barbet, as well as the Grey-headed Silverbill. Overnight: At a lodge or camp near Karatu Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Day 10:RETURN TO ARUSHA You will leave your lodge after breakfast and drive to Arusha stopping at a few roadside shops along the way for any last-minute souvenirs.  Upon your arrival in Arusha, you will proceed to your next destination or catch your international flight back home with many great memories that will last a lifetime. Included Meals: Breakfast, and Lunch