This is the standard northern circuit stretched out to seven days, which mostly means more time in the Serengeti rather than more driving. Three full days there let you actually settle into an area and follow what the cats are doing, rather than pushing through in a day and a half. It's bookended by Tarangire's baobab country, where the elephant herds are the draw, and a full day inside the Ngorongoro Crater at the end. Lodges and tented camps throughout, full board, one driver-guide the whole trip: a relaxed way to see the parks most people come to Tanzania for.
Safari HighlightsYour driver-guide picks you up from your Arusha hotel or Kilimanjaro International Airport and drives you to Tarangire National Park. After lunch, you head out for an afternoon game drive through the baobab-studded plains, looking for the elephant herds that gather along the river here.
🏨 Overnight: Tarangire Simba LodgeA full day exploring Tarangire's swamps and riverine forest, an area known for its elephant density along with giraffe, resident lion prides and birdlife that favours the old baobabs.
🏨 Overnight: Tarangire Simba LodgeAfter breakfast, the drive continues to the Serengeti, climbing through the Ngorongoro Highlands with a stop at the Oldupai Gorge viewpoint. You'll reach the park with time for an afternoon game drive out on the open plains.
🏨 Overnight: Serengeti Acacia Tented CampToday's focus is the Seronera Valley, the central part of the ecosystem with wildlife present year-round and a good concentration of predators around its granite kopjes.
🏨 Overnight: Serengeti Acacia Tented CampYou head further out to a different part of the Serengeti today, tracking wildlife movements that shift with the season, with a picnic lunch out on the plains between drives.
🏨 Overnight: Serengeti Acacia Tented CampAn early departure for the Ngorongoro Crater, descending onto the caldera floor for a full day among lion, elephant, buffalo, wildebeest and, with some luck, the crater's resident black rhino. Lunch is a picnic beside the Lerai Forest.
🏨 Overnight: Karatu Simba LodgeAfter a relaxed breakfast, it's back down through the Rift Valley to Arusha, timed to reach the airport in good time for your onward flight from Kilimanjaro International Airport.
✈ Transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport| Season | Per Person (sharing) | Group of 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Peak Season (Jul–Sep, late Dec) | $4,810 | $24,530 |
| High Season (Jun, Oct) | $4,210 | $21,470 |
| Low Season (Mar–May) | $3,508 | $17,890 |
June to October is the strongest window for this route, with dry conditions concentrating wildlife around water sources across all three parks. November's short rains bring greener landscapes and fewer other vehicles on the tracks, while March to May, the long rains, brings the lowest prices of the year along with big skies and, in the south, the calving season, though some roads get harder going after heavy downpours.
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