Tanzania Rewilded

The Serengeti on a 5-day Tanzania safari
 
 
 Private mid-range safari · 5 days
Tarangire
 
Ngorongoro
 
Serengeti
 
Lake Manyara
Crater first,

Then the Serengeti

A 5-day Tanzania safari around the northern parks at a friendly price. You go down into the Ngorongoro Crater straight from Karatu, spend the night on the Serengeti plains, and finish with elephants and baboons at Lake Manyara. Comfortable lodges, your own guide and vehicle.

5days
4 nights
4
Parks
$1,600
From, per person
Plan this safari
Day by day ↓
Download PDF ↓
 ArushaDay 1
 TarangireDay 2
 CraterDay 3
 SerengetiDay 3
 KaratuDay 4
 ManyaraDay 5
Safari permit
TR · AU05M
Beyond the Mainstream · Mid-Range
 
Duration
5 days · 4 nights
Daily departures, your dates
Start / finish
Kilimanjaro Airport
Ends in Arusha on Day 5
Best months
June – October
Dry, clear days with short grass
Travel style
Private · Mid-range
Guest house, valley lodge & tented camp
Group
1 – 6 guests
One private 4×4, just for your group
Pace
Full days · Families welcome
Longest drive ≈ 4 hrs, through the parks

Why this5-Day Tanzania Safari Works

The usual five-day loop leaves the Ngorongoro Crater for the end. This one does it the other way round: you sleep in Karatu, 30 minutes from the gate, and go down into the crater on Day 3 while it is still quiet, then carry on to the Serengeti in the afternoon.

That puts your Serengeti night in the middle of the trip, with an early game drive on the plains the next morning, when lions and cheetahs are most active. You stay in friendly, well-run mid-range places: a guest house in Arusha, a lodge in the green Karatu valley and a tented camp out in the central Serengeti.

The route

Four Parks, One Loop

Roughly 850 km on the road in your own Land Cruiser, most of it through parks and conservation land. Tap a stop to see where it sits on the map.

  1. 01

    Arusha

    Airport welcome and a relaxed first night

    1 night
  2. 02

    Tarangire National Park

    A day with the elephants, then up to Karatu to sleep

    1 night · Karatu
  3. 03

    Ngorongoro Crater

    Morning on the crater floor, lunch by the hippo pool

    Day visit
  4. 04

    Central Serengeti

    A tented camp on the plains and a dawn game drive

    1 night
  5. 05

    Karatu

    Back across the highlands to the same valley lodge

    1 night
  6. 06

    Lake Manyara National Park

    A last game drive below the Rift Valley wall

    Day visit
Road ≈ 850 kmParks 4Ends Arusha
Day by day

The Journey

✦

This is how the trip usually runs. Your guide will adjust each day around the weather, the wildlife and what you most want to see.

Kilimanjaro rising above the plains
Kilimanjaro, seen on a clear arrival day
Day01
Kilimanjaro Airport → Arusha

Welcome to Arusha

When you come out of arrivals at Kilimanjaro International Airport, your guide is waiting with your name on a board. You get a short briefing on the trip, then drive about an hour west to Arusha, past maize fields, banana farms and Maasai villages.

Your guest house is quiet and green, a good place to sleep off the flight. If you land early, you can walk in the garden or sort out cash and a local SIM before the safari starts.

Good to know

Meals on arrival day are not included, because flights land at all hours. You simply pay for what you eat that day.

  • Transfer≈ 1 hr by road
  • OvernightKahawa House or Arusha Villa Karamu Coffee
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Elephant country
Day02
Arusha → Tarangire National Park → Karatu

The River of Elephants

Leave Arusha after breakfast for the three-hour drive south to Tarangire National Park. The park follows the Tarangire River, and when the rest of the land dries out, elephants, buffalo, zebras and wildebeest all walk in to drink.

Your guide works the river bank and the big baobab woodland, stopping for a picnic lunch in the park. Keep watch for lions resting in the shade and for the small dik-dik antelope under the bushes. Late in the day you drive about two hours north-west to Karatu, where the air is cool and the nights are quiet.

  • Drive≈ 3 hrs to the park · 2 hrs to Karatu
  • OvernightMarera Valley Lodge or Marera View Lodge
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Into the caldera
Day03
Karatu → Ngorongoro Crater → Central Serengeti

Crater Morning, Serengeti Night

It is only 30 minutes from Karatu to the crater gate, so you can be on the Ngorongoro Crater floor in the soft morning light. The crater is a collapsed volcano about 20 km wide, and its grassland supports buffalo, zebras, lions, spotted hyenas and a few black rhino.

After a picnic lunch at the hippo pool, you climb back to the rim and drive west, down past Olduvai Gorge and out onto the open Serengeti plains. The drive to the central Serengeti takes about three hours, and gazelles, zebras and the odd cheetah are often seen along the way.

Field note

Crater game drives are limited to about six hours a day. An early start gives you the most time on the floor before other vehicles arrive.

  • ActivityCrater game drive, about 5 hrs
  • Drive≈ 3 hrs to Central Serengeti, with game en route
  • OvernightEmbalakai Authentic Camp or Into Wild Africa Luxury Camp
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Lions resting in the golden morning light
Lions after a night’s hunting
Day04
Central Serengeti → Karatu

Dawn on the Plains

Breakfast is early so you can be out at first light, the best time to find lions and cheetahs on the move. Your guide heads for the Seronera River, where leopards rest in the sausage trees, and the kopjes, the granite outcrops where lion prides like to lie in the sun.

Late in the morning you start back east, still on a game drive until you leave the park at Naabi Hill. The road climbs up past the crater rim and down the other side to Karatu, about four hours in all. You spend the night at the same valley lodge as before.

Honest note

Where the migration herds are depends on the month. The central Serengeti keeps its resident lions, leopards and cheetahs all year, so a morning here is good in any season.

  • ActivityEarly morning game drive
  • Drive≈ 4 hrs to Karatu, with game en route
  • OvernightMarera Valley Lodge or Marera View Lodge
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Monkey forest
Day05
Karatu → Lake Manyara → Arusha

Below the Rift Wall

Drive 30 minutes down the escarpment to Lake Manyara National Park, a narrow park squeezed between the Rift Valley wall and a shallow soda lake. You start in tall, shady forest, fed by springs, where troops of olive baboons sit along the road.

Further in, the trees open up and you may find elephants, giraffes, hippos in the pool and many water birds on the shore. Lunch is a picnic in the park. In the afternoon you drive about three hours back to Arusha, where the tour ends.

Good to know

The tour ends in Arusha in the late afternoon. If you fly home that night, tell us and we will drive you to Kilimanjaro Airport, or add a hotel night in Arusha.

Where you sleep

Three Places, Four Nights

Comfortable, friendly places to sleep, chosen for good food and a good location: a guest house near Arusha, a lodge in the Karatu valley for two nights, and a tented camp in the central Serengeti.

Marera Valley Lodge
Marera Valley Lodge

Karatu · Crater highlands · 2 nights on this trip.

1night

Kahawa House

Arusha · Guest house

A friendly, comfortable guest house with a garden, good home cooking and an easy drive to the airport. Or Arusha Villa Karamu Coffee, same standard.

GardenHome cooking
1night

Marera Valley Lodge

Karatu · Crater highlands

A comfortable lodge in the green farming valley below the crater, with good food and a quiet garden. Or Marera View Lodge, same standard.

GardenValley views
1night

Embalakai Authentic Camp

Central Serengeti

A proper safari tented camp, simple and comfortable, with the sounds of the plains at night. Or Into Wild Africa Luxury Camp, same standard.

Tented campBush dinners
1night

Marera Valley Lodge

Karatu · Crater highlands

The same valley lodge again on the way home, a short drive from Lake Manyara. Or Marera View Lodge, same standard.

GardenValley views

Lodges are shown “or similar”. If one is full we’ll swap in a lodge of the same standard in the same area, and you’ll approve it first.

Timing & price

When to Go

You can do this trip in any month. June to October is dry and clear, and animals are easy to find near water. January to March is green, with the migration herds on the plains to the south, and April and May are the wettest and cheapest months.

Where the herds are, month by month Highlighted: high season
MonthWhere the herds areWhat’s happeningPrice season
JanuarySouthNdutu plainsThe herds graze the short, rich grass of the southern plains.Mid season
FebruarySouthNdutu plainsCalving season. Thousands of calves are born every day.Mid season
MarchSouthNdutu plainsCalves grow stronger while lions and cheetahs hunt close by.Mid season
AprilSouth → CentralMoru & SeroneraThe long rains start and the columns begin to move north.Low season
MayCentralSeroneraMating season. Long lines of wildebeest head west.Low season
JuneWestGrumeti RiverFirst river crossings, with big crocodiles in the Grumeti.High season
JulyNorthKogatendeThe first Mara River crossings of the year.High season
AugustNorthMara RiverPeak season. Crossings happen almost every day.High season
SeptemberNorthMara River & LamaiHuge herds cross back and forth over the river.High season
OctoberNorthLobo & MaraThe last crossings, then the herds turn south.Ask us
NovemberCentralLobo → SeroneraThe short rains arrive and the herds stream south.Ask us
DecemberSouthNdutu plainsThe herds are back on the green southern plains.High from 20th
Price per personYour groupDry seasonHigh seasonJune 1 + August + September+ 20 December – January 10Mid seasonJanuary 11 – March 31Warm, green and quietBest valueLow seasonApril 1 – May 31Long rains, fewer vehicles
1solo guest$3,138USD per person$3,138USD per person$2,938USD per person
2guests$2,100USD per person$2,100USD per person$1,965USD per person
3guests$1,915USD per person$1,915USD per person$1,780USD per person
4–6guests$1,740USD per person$1,740USD per person$1,600USD per person
 Check dates →Check dates →Check dates →
19%

Travel as a bigger group and save. A group of 4–6 pays up to 19% less each than two, because you share the vehicle and guide.

Prices are in US dollars, per person, sharing one private vehicle and guide. High season also covers 1 – 10 January. For October to mid-December, ask us for a quote.

No surprises

What's Included

Included / 08

  • Private 4×4 Land Cruiser with pop-up roofCharging points, cool box and binoculars on board
  • Your own professional English-speaking safari guide
  • All park, crater and conservation fees on the route
  • Game drive inside the Ngorongoro Crater
  • Accommodation as listed, or similar, including camp concession fees
  • All meals as shown in the day-by-day
  • Drinking water, coffee and tea on safari
  • Airport transfers on arrival and departure

Not included / 08

  • International flights to Kilimanjaro (JRO)
  • Tanzania visaSee our visa guide
  • Travel insuranceRequired. See our insurance guide
  • Optional activities and sightseeing not on the itinerary
  • Tips for guides and lodge staff
  • Laundry, drinks not listed and personal items
  • Drinks with meals
  • Local and domestic flights
Good questions

Before You Book

The route, the guide and the vehicle are just as good. The difference is where you sleep: mid-range lodges and camps are comfortable and clean with good food, but the rooms are simpler and there are fewer extras like spas. Drinks with meals are not included at this level.

Because you are already sleeping in Karatu, close to the gate, you can go down early before most vehicles arrive. You then drive on to the Serengeti the same afternoon, so no time is lost.

Yes. Serengeti camps are built for this, and the staff explain the simple safety rules when you arrive. Hearing hyenas and lions calling at night is part of sleeping on the plains.

Yes. There is a lot of driving on Days 3 and 4, but the vehicle is yours, so you can stop for breaks whenever you like. See our family safari guide for tips on travelling with kids.

Add to your trip

Related Activities

Ideas that fit well with this safari. Ask us and we’ll add any of them to your plan.

Wildlife

The Great Migration

Where the herds are each month, and how to plan a trip around them.

Read more →
Up at dawn
Add-on

Hot-air balloon safari

An hour over the Serengeti at sunrise, with a bush breakfast after landing.

Read more →
Meet the people
Culture

Maasai & cultural visits

Spend time in a Maasai village or with the Hadzabe near Lake Eyasi.

Read more →
Beach

Zanzibar beach days

Finish with warm sea, white sand and Stone Town’s old streets.

Read more →
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At a Fair Price

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