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Four Serengeti drives and Masai village visit included plus
VIP door-to-door travel, porterage and optional travel insurance

They are some of the summer’s best-loved TV stars: Bakari the baboon, Nalla and Tembo the elephants, Kali the lioness, Zalika the hyena, Shani the zebra and a cast of stampeding thousands in the BBC series Serengeti.

Now a Saga tour of Kenya and Tanzania, including four drives through the Serengeti Game Reserve, allows holidaymakers to explore the magnificent set and see its real characters for themselves in the shadow of mighty Mount Kilimanjaro.

Introduced by the Cathy Dennis theme song, Wild Hearts, the BBC series Serengeti cleverly weaves the real challenges facing stunning African wildlife into storylines with a drama to rival any soap opera.

Saga’s great value full-board holiday The Land of Kilimanjaro features a perfect base for unrivalled access to the Serengeti and the seasonal flow of the Great Migration – the four-star Serengeti Sopa Lodge, where traditional decor adds to the experience.

Serengeti safari vehicles take a maximum of seven passengers so drivers can tailor each experience to suit any party. June and July provide peak viewing while the wildebeest calving season plays out in February. Sightings of big cats on the prowl are common in the sparse scrub, especially on a pre-breakfast excursion, while herds of buffalo, elephant, giraffe, eland, topi, kongoni, impala and gazelle are year-round residents.

There are more opportunities to capture wildlife pictures with a safari drive in Amboseli National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the unique ecosystem of dry lake beds and swamps supports more than 400 species of birds, Cape buffalo, impala, lion, cheetah, spotted hyena, Masai giraffes and free-roaming herds of elephant.

In Tarangire, Tanzania, the beautiful Maramboi Tented Lodge is the base for walks to Lake Manyara, home to flamingos and hippo, while the tour also includes visits to Olduvai Gorge and Museum – where artefacts include skeletons of a three-million-year-old ancestor of modern man – the glistening lake of the volcanic Ngorongoro Crater and a Masai village, where tribespeople dressed in brightly coloured robes and jewellery welcome guests with a traditional dance to complete a truly memorable experience.

For details call free on 0800 056 0464 or visit saga.co.uk/Africa

Nine nights from £3,299 per person departing Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Manchester or Newcastle airports on September 9 and November 11 2019 and January 13, May 11, September 7 and October 12 2020.

Price includes VIP door-to-door chauffeur service, return flights, airport taxes, full board accommodation, porterage, tour manager, optional travel insurance and additional cancellation rights, or a discount if passenger has own insurance.