In the busy provincial town of Karatu, with its constant stream of passing tourist traffic, the many places to stay mean you can rest from life on the road here. It’s big enough to have banks, shops (for both supplies and souvenirs) and a few roadside restaurants where locals eat.

You have so much to look forward to in Tarangire. Top of any list are the elephants and the baobab trees, which are such dominant presences throughout the park. Lions are another possible wildlife highlight among many, and it's rarely crowded.

Ngorongoro is a special place and the first time that you descend onto the crater floor is like no other safari experience in Africa. This is a world unto itself, one where you’ll encounter the crater’s 600-strong population of hyenas, as well as critically endangered black rhinos. You’ll also find elephants with larger-than-average tusks, and more than 50 lions living in the crater. But it’s the sheer beauty of Ngorongoro that will most likely live longest in your memory. From early morning, mist rises from the crater, revealing steep, forested walls, secret waterways where hippos wallow, and a world of abundant wildlife hidden away from the rest of the world.

You're in for something special when you visit Lake Manyara National Park. The park has tree-climbing lions, olive baboons, forest elephants and lots of birds. It's a beautiful place too, with steep cliffs, dense forest and a bird-filled lake.

You’ll learn why magical Ngorongoro is unlike anywhere else in Africa. Cloud forests encircle the crater rim, and the view out across the caldera of this former volcano – quite apart from the altitude – will leave you gasping for air. Your drive down a steep trail carries you onto the crater floor where a unique wildlife offering is added to the sheer beauty of the experience. You’ll share the sunken ecosystem of the crater floor with hyenas, lions, elephants, black rhinos and hippos. An ecosystem that has formed in the crater in the millennia since the volcano wrought its terrible fury upon the land. It could just be one of your best safari days ever.

It's time to visit Lake Manyara National Park. This spectacular park is famous for its tree-climbing lions, forest-dwelling elephants and wandering baboons. It's a beautiful mix of forest, lake and the cliffs of the Rift Valley escarpment.

Exploring the Western Serengeti means enjoying the best that this park has to offer. When it comes to wildlife, you can expect to see plenty of animals, with big cats and elephants always a possibility. When the migration is in the area, the numbers increase dramatically. The landscape here combines grasses and low hills.

There's no better place to go on safari than the Serengeti. Wildlife fills the Unesco-listed park, and it's especially known for big-cat sightings. The landscapes here are just as special, with acacia trees rising all across the savannah grass plains.

The Western Serengeti is one of the best areas of this world-famous park when it comes to wildlife. When the migration passes through the area, the wildlife is even better. The scenery here is a mix of savannah grasslands, low hills, and rivers snaking across the landscape. Big cats are always possible, as are elephants and other mammals.

Expect big cats, elephants and giraffes in the Serengeti, and that’s just the start on a canvas of big-sky horizons, flat-topped acacias and beautiful grasslands.