Four days is a short window, but this route makes good use of it. Starting from Arusha, you'll head into Tarangire, where elephants move through the baobabs in some of the biggest herds you'll find anywhere in the country, then on to Lake Manyara to look for its tree-climbing lions against a backdrop of forest and alkaline lake. A full day down in the Ngorongoro Crater follows, with dense wildlife including all of the Big Five, and the trip closes with a walk through Mto wa Mbu village before the transfer to the airport.
Safari HighlightsYour guide picks you up from your Arusha hotel or Kilimanjaro International Airport and drives southwest to Tarangire National Park. After lunch, head out on an afternoon game drive through baobab country, following the Tarangire River where the park's elephant herds tend to gather.
🏨 Overnight: Tarangire Treetops (Luxury)After an early breakfast, transfer to Lake Manyara National Park for a game drive. This is one of the few places in Africa where lions climb trees, though there's no promising you'll catch one up there, plus forest elephants and, water levels permitting, flamingos along the shore. In the afternoon, continue on to Karatu, on the rim of the Ngorongoro Highlands.
🏨 Overnight: Escarpment Luxury LodgeDescend at dawn into the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the largest intact volcanic calderas on earth, for a full day of game viewing among dense concentrations of lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and wildebeest. A picnic lunch by the crater's Lerai Forest breaks up the day before you climb back out to your lodge in the late afternoon.
🏨 Overnight: Escarpment Luxury LodgeThis morning, visit Mto wa Mbu, a farming village where people from more than a dozen ethnic groups have settled side by side. A guided walk takes you past banana-beer brewers, wood carvers, and the local market, before the transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your departure flight.
✈ Transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport| Season | Per Person (sharing) | Group of 6 |
|---|---|---|
| Peak Season (Jul–Sep, late Dec) | $3,818 | $19,686 |
| High Season (Jun, Oct) | $3,329 | $16,752 |
| Low Season (Mar–May) | $2,782 | $13,464 |
June through October is the safest bet for this route. The dry season thins the grass and brush, which generally makes wildlife easier to spot, and travel conditions across Tarangire and the Ngorongoro Highlands are at their most comfortable. November's short rains green everything up and thin the crowds. The long rains from March to May bring the lowest prices of the year, dramatic skies, and, in some years, newborn wildlife, if you don't mind the odd wet afternoon.
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