Day 1 Arusha, TanzaniaArrive in Arusha, Tanzania's safari gateway

Tour begins: Gran Meliá Arusha. A transfer from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Gran Meliá Arusha is included. Welcome to Tanzania and the start of your African safari; your hotel is set out on 18 acres of beautifully landscaped coffee and tea plantations; dine at the hotel this evening.

Set out for a five-night safari to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti plains, traveling through Lake Manyara National Park; Lake Manyara is home to a multitude of birds, including great birds of prey. Continue on to Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, home to some 30,000 large mammals. Please join us for a welcome reception and dinner at your lodge overlooking the vast and wildlife-lush Ngorongoro Crater below.

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.

Today, you'll hop a morning flight from Lake Manyara to the Seronera airstrip in the heart of Serengeti National Park. As you do, you'll fly over 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. Arrive in time for lunch at your elegant safari lodge in the Serengeti, where you'll begin a three-night stay. Following an afternoon game drive in Serengeti National Park, join us this evening for a Maasai traditional dance performance.

Look for wildlife in the heart of the vast savanna of the Serengeti today on both morning and afternoon game drives, when golden light sharpens every movement across the plains. Sightings might include lions, zebras, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, hippos, buffaloes, jackals, gazelles, and giraffes. As the sun sets and the horizon glows, return to the comfort of your lodge in Serengeti National Park to watch the sky fade from gold to violet.

Spend another glorious day exploring the vast and untamed Serengeti, where each hour brings a new rhythm of life across the plains. Set out in safari vehicles at first light, when the grasslands are washed in gold and the wildlife is most active — predators returning from the hunt, herds moving toward water, and the air alive with birdsong. Return to camp for a leisurely breakfast and time to unwind as the heat of the day settles in; perhaps take a swim, enjoy the views from your veranda, or simply watch the savanna stretch endlessly toward the horizon. In the late afternoon, venture out again as the light softens and the shadows lengthen, revealing another side of the Serengeti — elephants dusting themselves at sunset, lions stirring in the tall grass, and giraffes silhouetted against a sky of burnished color. This evening, enjoy dinner at your lodge, reflecting on the day's discoveries as night falls across the plains.

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. After landing in Arusha, enjoy an early lunch at the Cultural Heritage Center before continuing overland into Kenya to begin a two-night 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 and anti-poaching efforts in Kenya prior to dinner at your leisure at the lodge this evening.

Tauck's private safari game drives in Amboseli National Park offer ample opportunity to view the elephants, hippos and buffaloes that seek out the park's natural watering holes and the graceful antelopes that graze in the flat grasslands. An early morning visit to a Maasai village precedes a morning game drive. Spend some down time at your lodge prior to lunch, then another game drive, and time to spend as you please at the lodge in the afternoon.

A morning flight brings you to the next destination on your African adventure! Upon arrival, you're off on a game drive through Ol Pejeta Conservancy, boasting East Africa's largest resident black rhino population and others of the Big Five. After lunch, it's off to your home for the next two nights, the world-famous Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club. Straddling the Equator, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club is located on the famous Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and provides a special chance to blend in nature with our eco-safari experiences in a landmark property of Kenya. Situated against the stunning backdrop of Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak, hotel promises endless safari experiences, encouraging guests to reconnect with nature, themselves, and the world. The hotel is located iclose to the pristine landscapes of Ngare Ndare forests and waterfalls, The Aberdares and the conservation havens of Ol Pejeta, Samburu, and Solio. Following an afternoon equatorial demonstration, dinner tonight is at the hotel.

This morning, visit the town of Nanyuki, known for its colorful rugs, hangings and shawls, for a private visit with local weavers. See them shear, spin, dye and weave sheep's wool by hand right before your eyes! Following lunch, you'll have the opportunity to pay a private visit to the Mount Kenya Wildlife Conservancy and Animal Orphanage; this unique facility gives orphaned, injured, neglected, abused or frightened wild animals a second chance. The orphanage provides shelter and professional care with the goal to release these creatures back into the wild where they belong. Return to Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club for dinner and the evening. Dine under the stars tonight at a private barbecue at the hotel.

Pack your Tauck duffle bag and fly to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve in southern Kenya, where you'll be welcomed by Maasai warriors. Have lunch upon arrival at your safari camp, and spend the afternoon at leisure - relaxing on your veranda or in the open lounge as wildlife drifts across the plains. Embark on a late afternoon 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 your luxury safari camp for a briefing on tomorrow's hot air balloon flight, followed by dinner.

Today - the last full day of your safari adventure - 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 served in the bush. Back on the ground, look for lions, impalas, cheetahs, giraffes, and the other animals as you return overland to the camp for lunch and an afternoon at leisure - and later on an evening game drive in the bush. After returning to your safari camp, join us for a farewell reception and dinner.

Tour ends: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Fly from Maasai Mara National Reserve to Nairobi this morning for your journey home. We have reserved a day room for you at Sankara Nairobi, Autograph Collection; depart the hotel for the airport after dinner. Allow 3 hours for flight check-in.