Six days is enough time to cover Tarangire, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater properly, without feeling like you're just ticking parks off a list. You start among Tarangire's elephant herds and baobab trees, then get two full days to work the Serengeti's open plains before finishing with a full day down inside the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the more reliable spots in Tanzania for seeing a real spread of wildlife in a single day. Throughout, you're in quality lodges and tented camps with full-board meals and the same driver-guide the whole way, which makes this a solid choice if this is your first safari in the country.
Safari HighlightsYour driver-guide meets you at your Arusha hotel or at Kilimanjaro International Airport and drives you south-west to Tarangire National Park. After a light lunch, you head out for an afternoon game drive through baobab country, keeping an eye out for the elephant herds that tend to gather along the riverbanks here.
🏨 Overnight: Tarangire Simba LodgeAfter breakfast it's a long but scenic drive to the Serengeti, climbing through the Ngorongoro Highlands with a stop at the Oldupai Gorge viewpoint along the way. You should arrive with enough daylight for an afternoon game drive as you enter the park, watching for lion and the grazing herds spread across the plains.
🏨 Overnight: Serengeti Acacia Tented CampToday is a full day in the Seronera Valley and central Serengeti, an area known for its resident predator population. You'll search the kopjes for lion, leopard and cheetah, with a picnic lunch out on the plains between drives. Sightings vary day to day, but this stretch of park is one of the better ones for cats.
🏨 Overnight: Serengeti Acacia Tented CampOne more morning game drive before you leave the Serengeti and climb back up through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to your lodge on the crater rim. You'll get there with time to settle in and watch the light change over the caldera at sunset.
🏨 Overnight: Karatu Simba LodgeYou descend into the Ngorongoro Crater at dawn for a full day on the caldera floor, one of the more compact wildlife-viewing areas in East Africa and home to lion, elephant, buffalo, wildebeest and one of the country's few remaining black rhino populations. Lunch is a picnic near the Lerai Forest, then it's back up to the lodge by late afternoon.
🏨 Overnight: Karatu Simba LodgeAfter breakfast, it's back down through the Rift Valley to Arusha, timed to connect with your onward flight from Kilimanjaro International Airport or a night's stay if you're continuing on from there.
✈ Transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport| Season | Per Person (sharing) | Group of 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Peak Season (Jul–Sep, late Dec) | $4,350 | $22,190 |
| High Season (Jun, Oct) | $3,810 | $19,430 |
| Low Season (Mar–May) | $3,175 | $16,190 |
June through October is the safest bet for this route. Dry conditions pull wildlife toward Tarangire's rivers and keep the Serengeti's central plains relatively easy to read. November's short rains green everything up and thin out the other vehicles in the parks, while March to May brings the lowest prices of the year, moody skies, and calving season on the southern plains, though a few tracks can get muddy in the heaviest downpours.
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