DETAILED ITINERARY
Day 1: Arusha to Tarangire National Park
Early morning after breakfast at your accommodation in Arusha, you will be picked up by your private driver guide and take you straight to Tarangire National Park which takes approximately 2 hours. Tarangire National Park is one of the largest parks of Tanzania that covers an area of 2,600 square kilometres. Tarangire National Park is most popular for its large elephant herds and giant baobab trees. It also has a mini-wildlife migration that takes place during the dry season which consists of about 250,000 animals enter the park. More than 300-strong herds of elephant, visitors will find big groups of buffalo and healthy populations of lions and leopards. During the dry season, Tarangire has the highest concentration of mammals in the country. There are wild dogs and rare antelopes such as gerenuk, plus more than 550 species of birds to spot throughout the year. You will have picnic lunch boxes where you will have them inside the park in the afternoon. After lunch and further game viewing, you will drive straight to your accommodation in Karatu for relaxation, dinner and overnight.
Day 2: Serengeti National Park
Early morning after breakfast at your accommodation you will drive straight to Serengeti National Park passing through the Ngorongoro Conservation area where you will have a stop at the crater’s viewpoint before you proceed to Serengeti.
The park consists of animals such as buffalos, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, warthogs, jackals, hartebeests, etc. The park is also home to more than 500 bird species including the Maasai Ostrich. Serengeti’s scenery is renowned for its grassland plains in the southeast. The northern part of Serengeti is hillier and rocky. To the west on the Grumeti, valleys, rivers, and forests can be found. Serengeti has ‘kopjes’, granite outcrops rising up from the plains. It’s an immense landscape and quite stunning – big sky country that feels like untamed wilderness. Depending on the season, you will witness the migration of thousands of animals for which this park is famous. During the short rainy season in November and December, the herds move from the hills in the north to the plains in the south. During the longer rainy season from April to June, they return up north. After lunch and a game drive inside the park, you will drive straight to your carefully selected accommodation for dinner and overnight
Day 3: Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Early morning after breakfast at your accommodation, you will proceed with another game drive inside the Serengeti National Park looking for the big cats as well as other animals. It is known as the endless plains, therefore, you will have a great chance of seeing as much wildlife as possible, visiting the hippo pools and other attractions. Later after lunch, you will drive straight to your accommodation in Ngorongoro at the rim of the crater for dinner and overnight.
Day 4: Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha
Early morning after breakfast, you will descend the crater. The Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera forming a spectacular bowl of about 265 square kilometres, with sides up to 600 metres deep, and is home to approximately 30,000 mammals. The crater floor consists of several different habitats that include grassland, swamps, forests, and Lakes filled by the Munge River. All these various environments attract wildlife to drink, wallow, graze, hide, or climb.
The crater offers a breathtakingly beautiful scenery and is the best place in East Africa to see the ‘Big Five’ (elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion and rarely leopard). Any safari in northern Tanzania should ideally include a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater. It is one of the most beautiful nature safari locations in the world and an extraordinary place to meet people from the Massai tribe.
The Ngorongoro Crater offers excellent birding, with over 500 species. You will have packed picnic lunch boxes with you and after having lunch at the picnic site, you will ascend the crater and drive straight to Arusha.
- Destination: Ngorongoro crater
- Meal plan: Breakfast & Lunch
