Serengeti National Park.

A million wildebeest… each one driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfilling its instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life: a frenzied three-week bout of territorial conquests and mating; survival of the fittest as 40 km long columns plunge through crocodile-infested waters on the annual exodus north. This trek replenishes the species in a brief population explosion that produces more than 8,000 calves daily before the 1,000 km pilgrimage begins again.

Size: 14,763 sq km
Location: 335 km from Arusha, stretching north to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the west.
Getting there: Scheduled and charter flights from Arusha, Lake Manyara  and Mwanza. Drive from Arusha, Lake Manyara, Tarangire or Ngorongoro Crater.
What to do: Hot air balloon safaris, Maasai rock paintings and musical rocks. Visit neighbouring  Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano and Lake Natron’s flamingos.
When to go: To follow the wildebeest migration, December-July. To see predators, June-October.
Accommodation: Four lodges, four luxury tented camps  and campsites scattered through the park; one luxury camp, a lodge and two tented camps just outside.

Ngorongoro Crater

The Ngorongoro Crater is often called ‘Africa’s Eden’ and the ‘8th National Wonder of the World’, a visit to the crater is a main drawcard for tourists coming to Tanzania and a definite world-class attraction. Within the crater rim, large herds of zebra and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun.

Size: 8,300 sq km.
Location: Within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area at the eastern edge of the Serengeti.
Getting there: Drive from Arusha, Lake Manyara, Tarangire.
What to do: Besides vehicle safaris to Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, and surrounding attractions, hiking treks through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
When to go: All year round. To follow the wildebeest migration, December-July.To see predators, June-October.
Accommodation: Tow luxury lodges.

Lake Manyara National Park

Stretching for 50 km along the base of  the  rusty-gold 600meter high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting extolled by Earnest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. The compact game-viewing circuit through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience.

Size: 330 sq km, of which up to 200 sq km is the lake when water levels are high.
Location: in northern Tanzania. The entrance gate lies 1.5 hours (126km) west of  Arusha along or newly surfaced road, close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu.
Getting there: By road, charter or scheduled fight from Arusha, en route to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
What to do: Game drivers, canoeing when then water level is sufficiently high. Cultural tours, mountain bike tours, abseiling and forest walks on the escarpment outside the park.
When to go: Dry season (July-October) to see large mammals; wet season (November-June) for bird watching, the waterfalls and canoeing.
Accommodation: One luxury treehouse-style camp, public bandas and campsites inside the park. One luxury tented camp and two lodges perched on the Rift Wall overlooking the lake. Several guesthouses and campsites in nearby Mto wa Mbu.

Tarangire National Park

Day after day of cloudless skies. The fierce sun sucks the moisture from the landscape, baking the earth a dusty red, the withered grass as brittle as straw. The Tarangire River has shriveled to a shadow of its wet season self. But It is choked with wildlife. Thirsty nomads have wandered hundreds of parched kilometres knowing that here, always, there is water.

Size: 2,600 sq km.
Location: 118 km southwest of Arusha.
Getting there: Easy drive from Arusha or Lake Manyara following a surfaced road to within 7 km of the main entrance gate; can continue on the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. Charter flights from Arusha and the Serengeti.
What to do: guided walking safaris. Day trips to Maasai and Barabaig villages, as well as to the hundreds of ancient rock paintings in the vicinity of Kolo on the Dodoma Road.
When to go: Year round but dry season (June-September) for sheer number of animals.
Accommodation: one lodge, one tented lodge, one luxury tented camp inside the park, another half-dozen exclusive lodges and tented camps immediately outside its borders. Camp sites in and around the park.

Arusha National Park

The closest national park to Arusha town, Arusha National Park is a multi-faced jewel, often overlooked by safarigoers, despite offering the opportunity to explore a beguiling diversity of habitats within a few hours.

Size: 137sq km.
Location: Northern Tanzania, northeast of Arusha town.
Getting there: An easy 40minute drive from Arusha. Approximately 60km from Kilimanjaro International Airport. The lakes, forest and Ngurudoto Crater can all be visited in the course of a half-day outing at the beginning or end of an extended northern safari.
What to do: Forest walks, numerous picnic sites, three or four day Mt Meru climb.
When to go: To climb MT Meru, June-February although it may rain in November.
Best views of Kilimanjaro  December-February.
Accommodation: A lodge, two rest houses, camp sites, two mountain huts inside the park, two lodges at Usa River outside the park and many hotels and hostels in Arusha town.