Welcome to Tanzania! On arrival, you’ll be met by your driver after clearing customs. Transfer to your accommodation and settle in.

Depart Arusha and fly over the Rift Valley Escarpment and Ngorongoro Crater as the endless plains of the Serengeti unfold below you. On arrival, you’ll immediately head out on a game drive with your expert naturalist guide. This is the northern frontier of the Serengeti. Far from the beaten track and within a stone’s throw of the Kenyan border, this area is thick with wildlife. Your remote camp is the perfect base from which to explore this wilderness area.

Serengeti National Park is arguably the most famous ecosystem in the world. Covering some 5,700 square miles of grassland plains, open savannah, riverine forests, and home of the great wildebeest migration – we agree! During the dry season, the 1.5 million-strong herds of wildebeest and zebra frequently cross the Mara River, dodging crocodiles as they go. The resident wildlife is equally spectacular, with prevalent plains game like topi, gazelles, impala, buffalo, and giraffe and predators like lions and leopards. Spend your days exploring this area with a naturalist guide on morning and afternoon game drives and walks, capped off by sundowner cocktails.

After a final game drive this morning, head to the airstrip and take flight to the exceedingly remote Katavi National Park. This wild area sees fewer visitors in a year than the Serengeti can get in a day. This is the wild west of Tanzania, with varied habitats of woodlands, rivers, and open plains hosting an abundance of wildlife.

You’ll spend three full days exploring the wilderness that is Katavi. Staying in this relatively untouched and unspoiled wildlife reserve is almost like traveling back in time. The park contains a series of wide flood plains – Ngolema, Katisunga, Katavi, and Chada – connected by a network of seasonal rivers. This water draws all manner of wildlife – thousands of hippos cramming in shrinking pools, crocodiles carving out retreats in the muddy riverbanks, and buffalo and elephants coming to the rivers to drink. Lions, hyenas, and other predators lurk nearby and in the late dry season, there are few places that offer such a raw and wild experience as Katavi. Activities include morning and afternoon game drives, walking, and night game drives, looking for nocturnal species such as bushbabies and leopard.

Transfer to the airstrip for your one-hour flight to Mahale, where you will be met with a picnic lunch followed by a boat transfer to Greystoke Mahale. The lodge sits right on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, the world’s longest and second deepest lake. The 8,000 foot Mahale Mountains tower behind the lodge. Your afternoon is free to swim, walk in the forest, or just relax on the beach. Retire to your wood and thatch banda set on the edge of the forest and have a sundowner in the bar on the rocks at the end of the beach.

Named after the Mahale Mountain range that runs through the Park, Mahale is 625 square miles of roadless wilderness, where the only trails you’ll follow are the paths and tracks made by animals. This park is home to some of Africa’s last remaining wild chimpanzees; a population of less than 1,000. Each morning, head out with your small group and specialist guide and trackers, to spend an hour with the chimps as they eat, forage, play, and squabble. Getting to the chimps can require several hours of hiking and they are not always found, so be prepared for a true adventure. Return to camp for lunch and time in the afternoon to reflect, swim, fish, or take a boat trip along the deserted shore. Each evening culminates with stories around the campfire while millions of stars wheel overhead.

Spend one last morning at Mahale walking in the forest or swimming in the lake, before your boat trip to the airstrip. Fly to Arusha and arrive at the Kilimanjaro International airport in time to connect to your onward international flight.