6-Day Northern Tanzania Camping Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Arusha → Tarangire National Park → Lake Manyara National Park → Serengeti National Park → Ngorongoro Conservation Area → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Arusha to Tarangire

   The day opens in Arusha with a morning departure for Tarangire, driving south-west from Arusha through Maasai grazing country. Once you reach Tarangire there is time to check in before heading out among rolling country of ancient baobabs, seasonal swamps and the year-round Tarangire River. Your guide works the area for large elephant herds, zebra, wildebeest, eland and a notably rich birdlife, with sightings varying by season and conditions. In the dry season the Tarangire River draws wildlife from a wide area, and the park is famous for its baobab-studded landscape. This is a joining departure, so the safari vehicle is shared with other guests. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Tarangire.

2. Day 2

   Tarangire to Lake Manyara

   The morning starts in Tarangire, from where you continue overland to Lake Manyara, driving west from Arusha past Maasai settlements and the escarpment wall. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into groundwater forest, open floodplain and an alkaline lake beneath the Rift Valley escarpment. There is the possibility of seeing elephant, baboon troops, hippo, giraffe and large numbers of waterbirds including flamingo, depending on movement and conditions on the day. Manyara is known for its groundwater forest fed by springs at the base of the escarpment, and for lions that are sometimes seen resting in trees. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Lake Manyara.

3. Day 3

   Lake Manyara to Serengeti

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Lake Manyara for the drive to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. This is good country in which to look for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Serengeti.

4. Day 4

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Today is spent entirely in Serengeti, beginning with a game drive shortly after first light. The drives cover vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, moving between habitats as conditions change. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, though wild sightings are never guaranteed. The scale of the plains rewards a full day, with time to work several areas rather than rushing between them. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. Dinner and overnight are again at your Serengeti camp or lodge.

5. Day 5

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   You leave Serengeti after breakfast and head for Ngorongoro, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Arrival is followed by check-in and a first drive into a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. This is good country in which to look for lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. The evening is spent at your Ngorongoro accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

6. Day 6

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   The day opens in Ngorongoro Crater with a morning departure for Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across northern Tanzania's safari gateway town below the slopes of Mount Meru. Arusha is the staging point for the northern Tanzania circuit and where most safari briefings take place. You are dropped at your Nairobi hotel or the airport in the late afternoon.