4 Days Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Serengeti & Lake Manyara Safari
Big Time pick
Tarangire · Ngorongoro · Serengeti · Lake Manyara
Stays are in camps or lodges.
Tanzania · Budget
5 Days Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro Budget Safari
A 5-day budget safari through Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Stays are in camps or lodges.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Route
- Lake Manyara → Serengeti → Ngorongoro
- Comfort
- Budget
- Transport
- 4×4 Land Cruiser
- Accommodation
- Other stops: overnight at a camp or lodge.
Price
Price on request
The way through.
- 01Lake Manyara
- 02Serengeti
- 03Ngorongoro
Places as named in the journey title. Nights in each are set out in your itinerary.
Day by day
Your itinerary, day by day.
Starts in Arusha · finishes in Arusha
The route, days and named stays are as planned. What is included at each stop, from food, park fees and drinking water to room types, permits and border arrangements, and any camp or lodge not named here, is set out in your written quotation. Game drives on travel days depend on arrival and departure times, timings can change with road and park conditions, and wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. Photographs illustrate each day’s destination; they are not pictures of a particular departure.
A buffalo in the marsh of Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (CC BY 2.0) From Arusha to Manyara
Arusha → Lake Manyara
The first day takes the 4×4 Land Cruiser west from Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park, a compact park of just under 650 square kilometres on the northern circuit. Lake Manyara is often combined with Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, as here, and it makes a varied first stop: groundwater forest at the foot of the escarpment, open ground and the soda lake where lesser flamingos feed. TANAPA notes that stays range from limited lakeside camps inside the park to lodges and guesthouses in Mto wa Mbu and Karatu.
- Overnight
- Camp or lodge at Lake Manyara, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
A cheetah in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Giles Laurent (CC BY-SA 4.0) Across the highlands to the Serengeti
Lake Manyara → Serengeti
Today’s drive crosses the Ngorongoro highlands and descends to the Serengeti, the park TANAPA describes as reachable by road on a long but scenic journey. On arrival, the vastness of the plains is the first impression, and a game drive begins the search for the herds and the predators. The Serengeti has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981, and its guides must be certified.
- Overnight
- Camp or lodge in the Serengeti, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
Wildebeest on the Great Migration in the northern Serengeti, Tanzania. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (CC BY 2.0) Following the herds
Serengeti
A full day in the Serengeti is about following the season. TANAPA suggests the dry months of June to October for the migration and January and February for the calving season, when the herds give birth around Ndutu on the edge of the southern Serengeti. Because the herds follow the rain, where they are in a given week changes from year to year, and the drives are planned accordingly. Lions, leopards and elephants are present throughout the year.
- Overnight
- Camp or lodge in the Serengeti, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
Shafts of light falling across the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Giles Laurent (CC BY-SA 4.0) Serengeti to the crater
Serengeti → Ngorongoro
Where time allows, a morning drive in the Serengeti comes before the journey back towards the crater highlands. The Ngorongoro Crater is accessible all year round, and the NCAA notes that lodges, special campsites and a public campsite are found on and near the rim. Arriving later in the day, there may be time to look down into the caldera from above before the descent tomorrow.
- Overnight
- Camp or lodge in the Ngorongoro area, named in your quotation
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
The grassland and crater walls of the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Illustrative photograph. Photograph: Pavel.shyshkouski (CC BY-SA 4.0) The crater floor, then Arusha
Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha
Descending into the crater early, the day is spent among its resident wildlife: the NCAA counts more than 25,000 animals on the floor, including all of the Big Five. The crater is about 610 metres deep, and its walls enclose grassland, swamps and rivers that support animals all year. After the crater drive, the Land Cruiser climbs out and returns to Arusha by the end of the day, closing a short but full circuit of the north.
- Meals
- Set out in your written quotation
Like the shape of these days? Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and our team will set out the stays, meals and inclusions in a written quotation.
Where you stay.
Other stops: overnight at a camp or lodge. The camp or lodge is discussed with you during planning and confirmed with your itinerary, subject to availability. How accommodation works on our safaris
Places along the way.
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Your journey begins with a conversation
Make this journey your own.
Tell us your dates, who is travelling and anything you would like to change. Our team will tell you what this journey can include.