No doubt that this 9-day camping safari + 2 nights at the lodge before and after the safari allows you to experience northern Tanzania’s very best areas for wildlife, scenery, and culture. The extra days allow a more relaxed pace and the opportunity to visit several remote reserves and add on interesting cultural visits, including the hike and bike in the Mto wa Mbu area.
- Trip Outline
- Trip Includes
- Trip Excludes
- Gallery
- Booking
- FAQ
Day 1: Arrival and airport pick
Day 2: Drive to Lake Manyara for an afternoon game drive
Day 3: Drive to scenic Lake Natron, afternoon activity
Day 4: Explore Lake Natron / Morning and afternoon activities
Day 5: Drive to the Serengeti / Afternoon game drive
Day 6: Serengeti Game Drives
Day 7: Morning Serengeti Game Drive, Olduvai Gorge, Ngorongoro Highlands
Day 8: Ngorongoro Crater game drive
Day 9: Hiking/biking near Mto Wa Mbu, visit the local medical clinic and orphanage
Day 10: Tarangire game drive, return to Moshi/Arusha
Day 11: International departures
Itineraries
Day 1
Time : 2:00 am
Arrival and airport pick
Our representative will meet and pick you up at the Kilimanjaro International Airport and drive you to Arusha/Moshi town, at your arranged hotel. You will meet your driver guide who will brief you on your upcoming safaris. Take advantage of available hours to rest for the next day’s game drive.
Day 2
Time : 7:00 am
Drive to Lake Manyara for an afternoon game drive
Drive approximately 2-3 hours from either Arusha or Moshi to Lake Manyara National Park with a picnic lunch en route and an afternoon game drive. Lake Manyara National Park, rimmed by the scenic 600-meter cliffs of the Rift Valley escarpment, protects a large alkaline lake and is home to a wildlife-rich savannah-forest mix. It makes an outstanding introduction to Africa’s wildlife, with elephants, wildebeest, giraffes, buffalo, zebra, impala, waterbuck, and waterbuck roaming the park in healthy numbers while lions are also present. Dik-dik antelope and Klipspringer call the rocky escarpment landscape home. Huge troops of baboons frolic in the forest openings, with blue monkeys present on the forest edge. Manyara also features nearly 400 different species of birds, including crowned eagles, crested guinea fowl, and the silvery-cheeked hornbills among a host of water-related birds.
Meals included: Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Fanaka campsite
Day 3
Time : 7:00 am
Drive to scenic Lake Natron, afternoon activity
Just after breakfast, go ahead and drive to scenic, surreal Lake Natron, a high-alkaline soda lake surrounded by gorgeous desert scenery and traditional Maasai hamlets. The driving distance between Lake Manyara and Lake Natron is approximately 3.5 hours. Arrive in time for lunch at the camp. Allow for some time to rest, and then enjoy an afternoon activity. One of the great benefits of a private safari like this is you can decide, with your guide, what you’d like to do. Please see Day 3 for details on recommended activities.
The best months to visit, temperature-wise can be June-July and December-January however the peak flamingo season, when the entire region’s population of flamingos come here to nest and are situated here in unreal numbers, is between August and October.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Lake Natron campsites
Day 4
Time : 8:00 am
Explore Lake Natron / Morning and afternoon activities
Today enjoy a few activities around Lake Natron. Among the experiences on offer, include:
See Flamingos
Lake Natron is uniquely outstanding for bird watching. You can walk from your camp or from the road out on the mudflats to the edge of the water. In the dry season, this may be a half-mile walk. Flamingos breed here August-October, creating a birding spectacle that rivals almost any, anywhere in the world. However, there will be some flamingos around all year. Endemic desert birds provide a wonderful bonus for the avid birdwatcher
Canyon Hike to the Waterfalls
This is a 20 to 30-minute guided hike one-way up a scenic rocky river gorge. Wearing your Chaco or Teva-style sandals, you will be scrambling and walking through the river (sometimes waist-deep). It is an excellent swim in the river and under the pretty waterfalls for a nice cool-down from the hot sun.
Footprints of ancient man
Visit the impressive prehistoric human footprints in the nearby mudflats.
Scenic Drive
Full-day scenic drive around the south and west side of Lake Natron. In this area, you can drive off-road. There may be animals right around the camp, but it is still safe to walk around because there are no dangerous animals in this area.
Maasai Village
There are many authentic Masaai villages in the area to visit. Here you have a chance to get to know authentic Maasai families and see what real life is like for the locals. You can visit homes, and walk with them from boma to boma, meeting the children along the way, and even helping them milk the cows.
Sundowners
Join your guide and head to a nearby hill for 360-degree views of the surreal landscape and looming Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano (Mountain of God), Tanzania’s third-highest peak.
Climb Ol Doinyo Lengai (extra cost)
A very difficult climb with lots of exposure. Contact us for details however we can arrange for a local mountain guide to steer you up the steep, loose scree slopes.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Lake Natron campsite
Day 5
Time : 7:00 am
Drive to the Serengeti / Afternoon game drive
Drive to the Serengeti, via the wild Loliondo region, with a picnic lunch at the Visitor’s Center. The fabulous Serengeti is a singular safari destination in Africa. The oldest and largest intact land-based ecosystem in the world, the Serengeti is celebrated for its wealth of leopards and lions. Serengeti, meaning ‘endless plains,’ is home to the largest annual overland migration of mammals in the world, with over a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelles along with a range of other antelope species gradually undergoing an over 800-km long trek seeking new grazing grounds.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Seronera Pimbi/Nyani campsite
Day 6
Time : 9:00 am
Serengeti Game Drives
Enjoy a full-day game drive in the Serengeti or a morning and afternoon game drive with a break and rest in between back at your campsite. You also have the option too of a scenic hot-air balloon safari early this morning at extra cost. Today we’ll explore more of this remarkable wildlife reserve.
The crucial characteristics of the Serengeti ecosystem have changed little in over a million years. Serengeti’s boundless plains are sprinkled with wooded hills, towering termite mounds, rocky kopjes, and rivers lined with acacia trees. Big cats and a huge host of grazing animals roam freely, but here you also can see other unique species like mongoose, hyrax, warthog, bat-eared fox, jackals, bushbabies, monkeys, baboons, and much more.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Seronera Pimbi campsite
Day 7
Time : 4:00 am
Morning Serengeti Game Drive, Olduvai Gorge, Ngorongoro highlands
This morning, drive from the campsite to the lush Ngorongoro highlands enjoying a game drive en route. Along the way, you’ll have the option to visit Olduvai Gorge.
The Oldupai Gorge delivers substantial evidence of the earliest signs of humankind, with rare hominid footprints preserved in solid rock from 3,600,000 years ago.. Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest caldera measuring nearly 2,000 feet in depth while covering 250 square kilometers in area.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Simba campsite
Day 8
Ngorongoro Crater game drive
Wake early and join your guide for a sunrise game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater. Due to official park regulations, game drives are limited to about 6 hours, but this gives us plenty of time to take in the sweeping scenery and impressive wildlife found here. The Crater is akin to a fishbowl of classic African wildlife, with herds of giraffes, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, and a variety of antelopes calling the Crater floor home. Huge elephants dot the distance while rhinos still graze freely here. We suggest enjoying a picnic lunch inside the Crater and enjoying the hippo pool, where we also usually find a load of interesting wetland bird species too. Return to your Crater area lodge and enjoy a little downtime to relax.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Fanaka campsite
Day 9
Hiking/biking near Mto Wa Mbu
From around December through mid-March, you may consider adding another night in the Crater area to enjoy something close by and more active like a Crater rim walk, a biking excursion in the highlands, or perhaps something cultural, like a local village visit, etc. essentially local explorations of the pastoral highlands and higher altitude forest found here. Your guide can help with suggestions and we can also help you pre-plan an activity.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Twiga Campsite/ Fanaka Campsite
Day 10
Tarangire game drive, return to Moshi/Arusha
This morning, we’ll drive into Tarangire National Park for a morning game drive and enjoy the classic African scenery and tremendous wildlife found here much of the year. In the afternoon, we’ll return to Arusha/Moshi
Day 11
International departure
Your driver will be ready for airport transfer HRS before your departure. All international departures needed to be at the airport 3 hours before.
- Pick-up at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO);
- Transfer to a hotel in Arusha and back to the airport;
- Accommodation before and after safari (double rooms, breakfast included);
- New SUV (2016-2019) Land Cruiser 4x4 with the pop-up roof;
- Experienced English-speaking safari guide;
- 24/7 phone support;
- All park fees;
- All accommodation under your program;
- Three meals per day on safari;
- Bottled water and soft drinks throughout the tour;
- Thermos with hot tea/coffee;
- Medical kit;
- Binocular (1 per SUV);
- Wet wipes.
- Air tickets;
- Visa fee;
- Lunch and dinner in the hotel (only before and after the safari);
- Insurance;
- Tips to your safari guide
The duration of an ideal Tanzania safari can take between 5 to 10 days, to ensure you hit all the top spots on your safari. The length though can depend on how long you'd like to stay and enjoy a specific place/hotel/park on your itinerary
It's okay to ask questions of your guides. ...
Bring a good DSLR camera and a high-quality zoom lens. ...
If you can, bring a back-up camera in case your DSLR goes on the fritz. ...
Anti-malarial medication gives you CRAZY dreams. ...
Ticks. ...
Bring extra camera batteries.
Basically, there's no one better than the other here, both Serengeti and Masai Mara are amazing safari destinations. Masai Mara is probably slightly more concentrated (year-long) from a wildlife point-of-view, but Serengeti has mind-blowing vastness. There are pros and cons to going on safari in both.
The best time to visit Tanzania is from July to October when the country is at its driest. This coincides with the migration river crossings, however, all the parks offer amazing wildlife sightings at this time as the grasses and bush are at their least dense.
Jeans are a must-have when it comes to what to wear on safari! You'll also want to have a comfortable pair of pants that you can wear around the campsite at night. Safari Packing Tip: Make sure you're packing light. You should need no more than 5 pairs of safari pants.
If you can only spend three to four days on safari, it's probably not worth the travel and cost. ... Since every single day and hour is unique on an African safari, the more time you have to explore and see what the wildlife has to offer, the better
Ngorongoro crater is well-known for its high concentration of wildlife worldwide with its per capita being the highest compared to Serengeti national park
Towns and cities are more liberal about shorts than villages but the general rule is that you avoid wearing shorts to avoid offending the local people, whether in a town or a village
Avoid black and dark blue clothing (both colors attract tsetse flies), and leave bright-white items at home; safari parks are often dusty, and white clothes may get dingy. You want to see wildlife on safari, not look like it!
Part of Tanzania's northern circuit, Tarangire is often visited together with the Serengeti or Ngorongoro Crater, usually starting in Arusha. From Arusha, it's a two-hour drive to the park entrance. This is the hot, dry season.
Regions in Tanzania's mainland consume different foods. Some typical mainland Tanzanian foods include wali (rice), ugali (maize porridge), nyama choma (grilled meat), mshikaki (marinated beef), samaki (fish), pilau (rice mixed with a variety of spices), biriyani, and ndizi-nyama (plantains with meat).
The Serengeti encompasses Serengeti National Park and a number of protected game reserves and conservation areas maintained by the governments of Tanzania and Kenya. The region hosts the largest mammal migration in the world and is a popular destination for African safaris.
Tea is the most popular drink in Tanzania with the locals preferring chai tea. Coffee is another favourite and is often sold by street vendors. Local beers include Kibo Gold, Serengeti Lager and Tusker, while mbege is a beer made from bananas.
