Tanzania Rewilded

The parks of a 6-day high-end Tanzania safari
 
 
 Private high-end safari · 6 days
Tarangire
 
Serengeti
 
Ngorongoro
 
Lake Manyara
A true taste

Of Tanzania

A 6-day high-end Tanzania safari in the best-known parks of the north, with two full nights in the central Serengeti. You stay at some of the finest lodges on the circuit, from a coffee-estate suite in Arusha to a classic tented camp on the plains, and eat well all the way.

6days
5 nights
4
Parks
$3,900
From, per person
Plan this safari
Day by day ↓
Download PDF ↓
 ArushaDay 1
 TarangireDay 2
 KaratuDay 2
 SerengetiDays 3–4
 CraterDay 5
 ManyaraDay 6
Safari permit
TR · TT06H
A True Taste · High-End
 
Duration
6 days · 5 nights
Daily departures, your dates
Start / finish
Kilimanjaro Airport
Ends in Arusha on Day 6
Best months
June – October
Dry season, clear skies, short grass
Travel style
Private · High-end
Coffee estate, highland lodge & tented camp
Group
1 – 6 guests
Your own 4×4 & guide, never shared
Pace
Steady · All ages
A full day in one place in the middle

Why this6-Day High-End Tanzania Safari Works

Six days is the point where a northern safari stops feeling rushed. You still see all four big parks, but you get a full day in the Serengeti with no drive to another lodge at the end of it, so you can stay out with a lion pride or wait at a kopje for as long as you like.

This is the high-end version. Nights are at places like Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge, Gibb’s Farm and Lemala Nanyukie, chosen for their setting as much as their rooms. Meals are included from the day you land, and drinks with meals from Day 2 to Day 5.

The route

Six Stops, Two Serengeti Nights

Around 950 km in your private Land Cruiser, including a full day of game drives in the Serengeti. Tap a stop to see where it sits on the map.

  1. 01

    Arusha

    A suite on a coffee estate outside town

    1 night
  2. 02

    Tarangire National Park

    Baobab woodland and big elephant families

    Day visit
  3. 03

    Karatu

    A high-end lodge in the green crater highlands

    1 night
  4. 04

    Central Serengeti

    Two nights and a full day on the plains

    2 nights
  5. 05

    Ngorongoro Crater

    The crater floor, then back to Karatu

    1 night · Karatu
  6. 06

    Lake Manyara National Park

    A morning in the forest and by the lake

    Day visit
Road ≈ 950 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 above the savannah
Kilimanjaro over the plains
Day01
Kilimanjaro Airport → Arusha

A Quiet Start on the Coffee Estate

Your guide meets you as you come out of Kilimanjaro International Airport and introduces the trip over the first few kilometres. The drive to Arusha takes about an hour.

Tonight you stay just outside town, among coffee bushes on the lower slopes of Mount Meru. Your meals are included from today, so there is nothing to organise: unpack, eat well and sleep off the flight.

  • Transfer≈ 1 hr by road
  • OvernightElewana Arusha Coffee Lodge or Hamerkop House
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Giants & baobabs
Day02
Arusha → Tarangire National Park → Karatu

Tarangire's Elephant Families

The drive south to Tarangire National Park takes about three hours. Tarangire is a park of big, old baobab trees and big elephant families, and in the dry season the river draws in huge numbers of zebras, wildebeest and buffalo from the land around it.

Spend the day on game drives along the river and out towards the swamps, where lions and leopards hunt. Lunch is a picnic in the park. In the late afternoon you drive about two hours to Karatu, in the farmland just below the Ngorongoro highlands.

Field note

Ask your guide about Tarangire’s tree-climbing pythons. They sometimes rest in the hollow trunks of the baobabs and along the river.

  • Drive≈ 3 hrs to the park · 2 hrs to Karatu
  • OvernightNeptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge or Gibb’s Farm
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Endless plains
Day03
Karatu → Central Serengeti

Over the Highlands to the Serengeti

After breakfast you climb through the forest onto the Ngorongoro crater rim, stop at the viewpoint for your first look down into the caldera, then follow the road west through Maasai country towards the Serengeti. It takes about four hours, with game to watch for most of the way.

You enter the park at Naabi Hill and stop there for a picnic lunch. The afternoon is a slow game drive north across the plains to the Seronera area, where your camp is. The Serengeti’s name comes from the Maasai word for endless plains, and here you will see why.

  • Drive≈ 4 hrs, with game en route
  • OvernightLemala Nanyukie or Elewana Serengeti Pioneer Camp
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
A boy with binoculars in a safari jeep
A full day to look, and look again
Day04
Central Serengeti

A Full Day With the Big Cats

Today there is no lodge to reach, so the whole day is yours. Head out early, when lions and cheetahs are most active, and follow the Seronera River where leopards spend the day up in the trees. Take a picnic lunch and stay out, or come back to camp for a rest in the heat of the day.

Depending on the month, your guide may go looking for the migration herds, visit the hippo pool at Retima, or search the kopjes for lion prides. Evening drives end at sunset, when the park closes to vehicles.

Honest note

The migration herds are usually near the central Serengeti in April, May, November and early December. In the dry season they are mostly further north, but the big cats of Seronera stay all year.

  • ActivityFull day of game drives
  • OptionalSunrise balloon flight, ask us for the price
  • OvernightLemala Nanyukie or Elewana Serengeti Pioneer Camp
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Garden of Eden
Day05
Serengeti → Ngorongoro Crater → Karatu

Down Into Ngorongoro

Leave camp after breakfast for the three-hour drive back to the crater rim, then take the steep road down to the Ngorongoro Crater floor. It is a closed world about 20 km across, with grassland, swamps, a soda lake and a small forest, and animals live there all year.

Look for black rhino out on the open grass, lions near the swamps and huge old elephant bulls in the Lerai forest. Lunch is a picnic at the hippo pool. You drive out in the afternoon and return to your lodge in Karatu for the night.

Good to know

The crater road is steep and the rim is often misty early in the day. Your guide knows the timing well and will make sure you are down in good time.

  • Drive≈ 3 hrs to the crater rim
  • ActivityCrater game drive, about 5 hrs
  • OvernightNeptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge or Gibb’s Farm
  • Meals
    BreakfastLunchDinner
Lake country
Day06
Karatu → Lake Manyara → Arusha

Lake Manyara, Then Home

It is a 30-minute drive down to Lake Manyara National Park at the foot of the Rift Valley wall. The park is small but varied: a spring-fed forest with blue monkeys and baboons, open woodland with elephants and giraffes, and a shallow lake that often holds flamingos and pelicans.

Your guide keeps an eye on the acacia branches, because Manyara’s lions are known for sometimes resting in trees. After a picnic lunch in the park you drive about three hours back to Arusha, where the tour ends.

Where you sleep

Three Lodges, Five Nights

High-end places with a strong sense of where they are: a coffee estate below Mount Meru, a highland lodge near the crater, and a quiet camp in the central Serengeti for two nights.

Lemala Nanyukie
Lemala Nanyukie

Central Serengeti · East of Seronera · 2 nights on this trip.

1night

Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge

Arusha · Coffee estate

Plantation-house suites among the coffee bushes, 20 minutes from town, with fireplaces and deep baths. Or Hamerkop House, same standard.

PoolSpaGarden dining
1night

Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge

Karatu · Crater highlands

Spacious cottages close to the crater gate, with a pool, a spa and views across the highland farms. Or Gibb’s Farm, same standard.

PoolSpa
2nights

Lemala Nanyukie

Central Serengeti · East of Seronera

Large luxury tents in a quiet corner of the central Serengeti, away from the busier roads. Or Elewana Serengeti Pioneer Camp, same standard.

Luxury tentsPool
1night

Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge

Karatu · Crater highlands

The same highland lodge again after the crater, a short drive from Lake Manyara. Or Gibb’s Farm, same standard.

PoolSpa

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

The dry months from June to October give the easiest game viewing and the clearest skies. The central Serengeti is a good choice all year because its big cats stay put, and the herds pass close by in April and May and again from November. April and May are the wettest months, with the lowest prices.

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$8,370USD per person$8,370USD per person$7,561USD per person
2guests$6,670USD per person$6,670USD per person$4,230USD per person
3guests$7,210USD per person$7,210USD per person$4,350USD per person
4–6guests$6,260USD per person$6,260USD per person$3,900USD per person
 Check dates →Check dates →Check dates →

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 / 09

  • 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
  • Drinks with meals, Days 2–5Premium wines and spirits may be extra

Not included / 07

  • 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
  • Local and domestic flights
Good questions

Before You Book

The lodges. You stay at places like Elewana Arusha Coffee Lodge, Gibb’s Farm and Lemala Nanyukie, chosen for their setting and their service. Meals are included from the day you land, and drinks with meals from Day 2 to Day 5 (premium wines and spirits may be extra). The route, vehicle and guide are the same high standard on every version of this trip.

Yes. With two nights in the central Serengeti, a sunrise balloon flight on Day 4 fits in well. It is optional and not in the price; ask us and we’ll send you the current cost and check availability for your dates.

Yes. It covers the four parks most people come to Tanzania for, the longest drives are about four hours, and the full day in the Serengeti gives you time to settle in. If you have more time, it is easy to add a beach stay on Zanzibar at the end.

It is possible to fly between the Serengeti and Arusha to save time on the road. That changes the route and the price, so tell us and we’ll send you a version with flights. Local flights are not included in the standard trip.

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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Six days,

Four Great Parks

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A True Taste · High-End
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