8-Day Tanzania Safari: From Tarangire to the Northern Serengeti

Day 1: Arrive in Tanzania – Kilimanjaro Airport to Arusha

Your Tanzanian adventure starts at Kilimanjaro International Airport.

Once you have collected your luggage and stepped outside, our driver will be waiting to welcome you and take you to Arusha. There is no need to rush into the safari straight away. Depending on your arrival time, the rest of the day is yours to relax, enjoy the lodge and settle into your new surroundings.

Arusha is the starting point for many of Tanzania's great northern safaris. Tomorrow, the city will give way to open countryside and your first wildlife destination.

---

Day 2: Arusha to Tarangire – Into Elephant Country

After breakfast, your safari vehicle leaves Arusha and heads towards Tarangire National Park.

The landscape begins to change as you approach the park. Tarangire is different from the Serengeti you may have seen in photographs. Here, enormous baobabs rise above the grassland and woodland, and the Tarangire River draws wildlife to the area, especially during the dry season.

Once inside the park, the road becomes your game trail.

Elephants are one of Tarangire's great attractions, but they are far from the only animals you may encounter. Giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, buffalo, impala, warthogs and many bird species are regularly seen, while lions and other predators can also be found.

Your guide will take time to explore rather than simply follow a fixed route. Sometimes the best sighting comes from stopping where there seems to be nothing happening.

Later in the day, you leave Tarangire and continue towards Karatu, where you will spend the night near the Ngorongoro highlands.

---

Day 3: Ngorongoro Crater – A Day Inside the Crater

Today you visit one of the places that makes northern Tanzania so special: the Ngorongoro Crater.

After breakfast, you make your way towards the crater rim. From above, the crater looks almost like another world below you. Then the vehicle begins its descent, taking you down onto the crater floor.

Once inside, there is no need to hurry.

The grasslands, small lakes and wooded areas support a remarkable amount of wildlife in a relatively small area. You may come across large groups of zebra and wildebeest, buffalo resting in the grass, hippos around the water and elephants moving through the woodland.

Predators are also part of the picture. Lions and hyenas are regularly seen, while the crater is one of the places where you may have the opportunity to see the endangered black rhinoceros.

Your guide will choose the route according to the conditions and wildlife activity on the day.

After your crater exploration, return to your lodge and enjoy a quieter evening in the cool Ngorongoro highlands.

---

Day 4: Ngorongoro to Central Serengeti – Following the Plains

Today the journey changes again.

After breakfast, you leave the Ngorongoro area and make your way towards the Serengeti National Park. As you travel, the highlands gradually give way to wider grasslands, and eventually the horizon seems to stretch much farther than it did in the morning.

This is the Serengeti.

Your game viewing begins as soon as you enter the park. There may be zebras crossing the road, giraffes standing above the grass, antelope moving across the plains or a group of wildebeest travelling in the distance.

The Central Serengeti is particularly valuable because wildlife lives here throughout the year. It is also an important area for predators, and your guide will be watching the surroundings carefully for signs of lions, cheetahs and leopards.

You arrive at your camp or lodge later in the day and have the evening to relax.

---

Day 5: Full Day in Central Serengeti – A Day to Follow the Wildlife

There is no long transfer today.

Instead, you have a full day to enjoy the Central Serengeti.

This is one of the days when safari feels less like a schedule and more like an adventure. You can leave early while the air is still cool, when many animals are active after the night. Your guide can then decide where to go based on recent sightings, tracks and the time of year.

You might spend time watching a pride of lions resting after a hunt. You could come across a cheetah scanning the plains from a small rise, elephants moving through the grass or thousands of wildebeest spread across the horizon.

And sometimes the most memorable sighting is something much smaller, a secretary bird walking through the grass, a pair of jackals beside the road or a leopard hidden so well that you only notice it after your guide points it out.

There is no script for a day like this.

You simply follow the wildlife and see where the Serengeti takes you.

Return to your camp or lodge in the evening for dinner and another night under the Serengeti sky.

---

Day 6: Central Serengeti to Northern Serengeti – Into the Quiet North

After breakfast, you continue north.

The further you travel, the more the Serengeti begins to feel remote. The busy areas fall behind, the landscape opens up, and the number of vehicles you encounter can become much smaller.

This is the Northern Serengeti.

The region is known for its beautiful open country, rocky kopjes and wildlife, but it is especially famous during the months when the Great Migration moves through the north.

If the herds are in the area during your visit, your guide will follow their movements and look for opportunities to see the migration. Depending on the timing and conditions, this can include the famous Mara River crossings.

But the northern Serengeti is worth visiting even when the migration is elsewhere. Lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest and other resident wildlife continue to make this region their home.

Arrive at your camp in the evening and settle in for your first night in the north.

---

Day 7: Full Day in Northern Serengeti – Wildlife Without the Rush

Today belongs entirely to the Northern Serengeti.

Start the morning with an early, head out with your guide for a full day on the plains. There is no need to pack your bags or drive to another destination, so the day can follow the wildlife.

If you are travelling during the migration season and the herds are near the Mara River, your guide will keep track of their movements. River crossings are completely natural events and cannot be promised on a particular day, sometimes the animals gather at the river for hours before finally deciding to cross.

That uncertainty is part of what makes the experience so exciting.

Away from the migration, there is still plenty to look for. The northern Serengeti has its own resident wildlife and offers a quieter side of the park that many visitors never get to experience.

Return to camp in the evening for your final night in the Serengeti.

---

Day 8: Northern Serengeti – Flight to Arusha

Your final morning begins in the Serengeti.

Depending on your flight time, you may have breakfast at camp and enjoy a short morning game drive before heading to the airstrip. If your schedule allows, this can be your last chance to watch wildlife from the safari vehicle before leaving the park.

Then it is time to say goodbye to the Serengeti and take a flight to Arusha.

Flying back saves you a long drive and gives you one final view of the landscape that you have spent the past few days exploring from the ground.

On arrival in Arusha, your safari ends, or we can arrange your onward transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport, Zanzibar or your next destination in Tanzania.

Download Safari PDF

---