15-Day Mara River Crossing & Big Cats Photo Safari 2027

Your safari begins when your international flight lands at Kilimanjaro International Airport. After completing immigration, collecting your luggage, and clearing customs, your private driver will welcome you in the arrival lounge. You will then take a scenic one-hour drive west to Arusha, passing through sun-drenched plains, local towns, and Maasai pastures. On a clear day, you can view the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro or Mount Meru before checking into your Arusha hotel to rest. Your first night is at The Scenery Residence in Arusha. The afternoon is for shaking off the flight: sit out on your balcony as the sun drops behind the mountains, or have a swim in the pool. Dinner is a relaxed meal of fresh local fusion cooking from the house chef, and it's included.

After an early breakfast you board a light aircraft in Arusha for the bush flight to the Northern Serengeti, which is included in your safari. From the air you watch the farmed highlands give way to open golden plains. Your guide meets you at the airstrip and the game drive starts straight away, on the way to Savannah Mara River Tented Camp, your base for the next four nights. In the afternoon you head to the banks of the Mara River for a first look, cameras ready. All meals are included.

A full-day private game drive focuses heavily on the iconic Mara River loops, setting out at first light across the Kogatende region. Spend the morning hours tracking the great wildebeest migration, positioning your 4x4 vehicle at known crossing points to witness thousands of animals plunging into swift currents while battling deep water and giant Nile crocodiles. Enjoy a packed picnic lunch from canvas chairs at a safe, elevated viewpoint overlooking a bend in the river. The afternoon is spent exploring golden plains, rock kopjes, and large fig trees to spot resident lion prides and solitary leopards. All meals are included.

The second day explores the vast, rolling plains of the Lamai Wedge, a remote northern triangle bordering Kenya's Masai Mara. Setting out at sunrise, you will navigate through the morning mist to track resident lion prides and cheetahs along the high ridges. After a relaxed bush picnic in a secluded grove of wild fig trees at noon, the afternoon shifts to the eastern side of Kogatende. This boulder-strewn area serves as a crucial sanctuary for large breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffalos, and elusive leopards before a scenic loop back toward the river valley. All meals are included, and you spend the night at Savannah Mara River Tented Camp.

This day focuses on exploring the inland rugged rocky kopjes and hidden valleys away from the busier river circuits. Setting out at sunrise, you will track big cats using the granite boulders for shelter, observing lions resting on smooth rocks and klipspringers balancing on stone peaks. Enjoy a relaxed bush picnic near an ancient wild fig tree at midday. The afternoon features a drive through sweeping valleys to track cheetahs hunting gazelles, concluding with a private sunset sundowner on an elevated ridge to enjoy chilled drinks and light snacks over the endless savanna. It's your fourth and final night at Savannah Mara River Tented Camp, with all meals included.

The return drive to the central Serengeti is a multi-hour, unpaved game drive covering roughly 200 kilometers through beautiful transitionary landscapes. The trip typically takes four to six hours depending on road conditions, weather, and wildlife sightings, serving as an extended safari experience rather than a standard highway transfer. You check into Enkirari Wilderness Camp for three nights, then start scanning the kopjes, the rocky outcrops, for lions, and the sausage trees for leopards resting along the branches. All meals are included.

A full-day private game drive begins at first light to target active apex predators along the Seronera River loops. This reliable water source draws a constant stream of zebras, wildebeests, and waterbucks, while the surrounding Simba or Moru kopjes provide sunbathing spots for local lion prides. Enjoy a private bush lunch experience complete with cold drinks under a lone acacia tree. The afternoon shifts toward outer circuits, featuring a visit to the crowded Retima Hippo Pool and dedicated tracking for cheetahs in the open grasslands or leopards hidden in yellow-barked acacia trees. All meals are included at Enkirari Wilderness Camp.

This day focuses on the edges of the day, beginning before dawn to catch nocturnal predators before they retreat from the heat. The first hours of light offer excellent tracking for lions returning from night hunts and leopards dragging prey into sausage trees, followed by an outdoor bush breakfast with hot coffee at sunrise. After resting through the intense midday heat at camp, you will embark on a late afternoon game drive. This golden hour is prime territory for watching cheetahs hunt near the kopjes and observing elephants walking to the marshes before nocturnal genets and civets emerge at dusk. Then it's back to Enkirari Wilderness Camp for a third and final night, with all meals included. Tomorrow you leave the Serengeti for the Ngorongoro highlands, so it's worth backing up your cards tonight.

Today you move to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the EWA Private Mobile Camp, your base for three nights. It's a small camp with a more off-grid feel than the larger lodges on the crater rim. The highland air is noticeably cooler, so keep a fleece handy. In the afternoon you take a short walk along the crater rim to get a sense of the scale of what's waiting below tomorrow. Dinner is a bush dinner in camp under the stars, and all meals are included.

Descending early down the steep crater wall, you will enter a hidden world home to over 25,000 large animals on the volcanic caldera floor. The morning focuses on tracking the Big Five, including rare black rhinos, lion prides, and massive bull elephants, alongside flamingos at Lake Magadi. Enjoy a picnic lunch by the hippo-filled waters of Ngoitokitok Springs. The afternoon drive explores the yellow acacias of Lerai Forest, a prime habitat for leopards and baboons, before ascending back up the winding rim road. All meals are included.

A second day inside the crater explores the quieter, seasonal corners of the caldera floor. Heading down at first light, you will drive to the northern Mandusi and Munge swamps to observe large buffalo herds, wallowing hippos, and older bull elephants in complete peace. After a quiet picnic lunch under a lone acacia, the afternoon is dedicated to the dry open plains near the Seneto descent road. This open terrain offers excellent opportunities to spot cheetahs hunting gazelles and rhinos moving into the open. It's your last night at the EWA Private Mobile Camp, with all meals included. Tomorrow you head down from the highlands to Tarangire.

Today you drive down from the highlands, past coffee plantations and Maasai villages, to Tarangire National Park. The Serengeti is about the scale of the plains. Tarangire is about giants. Old, gnarled baobab trees dominate the landscape, and the park has one of the highest elephant concentrations in Tanzania, with big herds drawn to the Tarangire River. You settle into Kati Kati Tarangire Camp for the last three nights, then head out on your first evening drive among the baobabs. All meals are included.

A full-day private game drive offers a dawn-to-dusk safari experience in a custom 4x4 vehicle with a panoramic pop-up roof. The morning unfolds with wildlife tracking along the Tarangire River, where immense elephant herds and predators roam among thousand-year-old baobabs. Midday brings a gourmet picnic lunch served at a secluded viewpoint overlooking the river basin. In the afternoon, venture deep into the southern reaches to explore Silale Swamp, a vibrant wetland sanctuary for buffalos, hippos, and exotic birds, all guided by a professional naturalist. All meals are included, with the night at Kati Kati Tarangire Camp.

A second full-day game drive explores the remote rocky hills and hidden waterholes of the western and northern circuits. Setting out at first light, you will head straight for the Lemiyon triangle to track elusive leopards and lesser kudu among dense concentrations of colossal baobabs. Enjoy a relaxed bush lunch under a giant acacia tree near the Kuro area while watching zebras and impalas approach the water. The afternoon targets the rugged western outcroppings, prime hunting grounds for lion prides, before a peaceful drive back through golden grasslands. All meals are included, and it's a last night at Kati Kati Tarangire Camp.

After one last bush breakfast you drive back toward Arusha and on to Kia Lodge, about three minutes from Kilimanjaro International Airport. We've booked a day room for you there, so you can take a hot shower, repack your camera gear and go through your photos one more time before your evening flight. Then it's the short transfer to the airport. Breakfast is included today. Tell us your flight time when you book and we'll plan the drive around it. Kwaheri, until we meet again on safari.