Best of Tanzania Safari: Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater & more

The morning starts with a short briefing, and once your luggage is stowed in the safari vehicle, your 7-day safari begins with the first national park, Tarangire National Park, south-west of Arusha.

The park is home to the largest elephant population in the north and of course many other animals of the East African savannahs, such as lions, leopards, zebras, giraffes, cheetahs, hyenas, hippos, various antelope species, wildebeest and much more.

Seasonal swamps and tree savannahs shape the landscape of this protected area, with the mighty baobab trees found everywhere.

The park covers approx. 2,600 km², roughly the area of Luxembourg. Until late afternoon you go on extensive game drives within the park and then stay overnight at Lake Burunge Baobab Tented Lodge.

You spend a whole day on game drives in the beautiful Tarangire National Park. During the dry season, many animals gather at the Tarangire River to quench their thirst.

It is a particularly good place to observe animal behaviour up close. As you spend the whole day in the park, you have enough time to explore the more remote corners of Tarangire National Park and enjoy the big and small moments of a safari:

from majestic lions to elegant giraffes and busy dung beetles. Your guide shares his knowledge of animals, plants and ecosystems with you.

You will be surprised how much you have already seen and learned on the second day of your safari.

As the day draws to a close, you drive back to Lake Burunge Baobab Tented Lodge, just outside the park.

In the morning you set off for the next highlight of your trip, the world-famous Serengeti. Professor Grzimek was already fascinated by this national park with its immeasurable wealth of wildlife and shot the Hollywood classic “Serengeti Shall Not Die” here.

Via Karatu you first drive up into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and pass the volcanic crater of the same name. After crossing the crater highlands, the wide plains of the southern Serengeti soon come into view.

This impressively reveals the origin of the name Serengeti, derived from the Maasai word Siringitu (= endless plain). The grass savannahs of the southern Serengeti stretch to the horizon and are interrupted only by so-called kopjes, bizarre rock formations.

Here you will find ideal territories for cheetahs and other big cats to hunt their next prey. Today and the following day you stay at Serengeti Kati Kati Tented Camp.

This day is at your disposal for extensive game drives within Serengeti National Park. Your experienced guide knows exactly where the animals are and takes you to the most interesting places. Enjoy the extraordinary diversity of the Serengeti’s wildlife!

With a little luck you may also encounter on your game drives the great migration of around two million wildebeest and zebras, which in this natural area follow the rains and thus the fresh grazing grounds.

The herds usually move during the short rainy season in October and November from Kenya’s Masai Mara through the northern Serengeti to the plains in the south, and slowly return through the western and north-western Serengeti after the long rainy season in April and May.

In recent years, however, there have repeatedly been fluctuations in rainfall. As a result, the animals’ migration cycle can shift somewhat from year to year.

Night at the same accommodation as the day before.

Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner

Important: Please note that between early January and mid-March two nights are spent at Ndutu Kati Kati Tented Camp. At this time, the wildebeest and zebra herds are usually in the southern Serengeti or in an adjoining area of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Staying overnight in the Ndutu area significantly increases your chances of experiencing the great animal migration.

Today you leave the Serengeti again and go on final game drives on the way to the gate. With a little luck, you again have the chance in the Seronera Valley to come across lions and other big cats such as leopards and cheetahs.

You have lunch in the form of a packed lunch at a picnic site and then continue towards the Ngorongoro Crater.

As soon as you reach the crater rim, you take a first look into the crater, the world’s largest caldera not filled with water. Afterwards you leave the Ngorongoro highlands and drive to today’s lodge near Karatu.

Your accommodation is beautifully set amid coffee plantations and offers a magnificent view of the fertile crater highlands. In the afternoon you take a tour of the working coffee farm, where you learn more about coffee, its cultivation and marketing.

You stay at one of the beautifully situated Tanganyika Wilderness Lodges (Ngorongoro Farm House, Farm House Valley or Tloma Lodge).

An early start is unavoidable today. At first light you drive up into the crater highlands again and then slowly down the steep crater walls into the crater.

Besides vast grass savannahs and acacia woodland, the crater floor is home to almost every representative of the East African savannahs. On the shores of Lake Magadi, huge flocks of flamingos also gather seasonally, putting on a colourful spectacle.

In the crater, all members of the “Big Five” can sometimes be observed within a few hours.

After extensive game drives and a picnic in the crater, you leave the Ngorongoro highlands again in the afternoon and drive back to your lodge to spend another night there.

After a relaxed breakfast you head back to Arusha, which you will reach around midday. This is where your eventful 7-day safari through Tanzania ends, in the city or at one of the airports (Arusha/Kilimanjaro).