5 DAYS TARANGIRE, NGORONGORO & SERENGETI MID-RANGE SAFARI

After breakfast, you will leave Arusha and drive southwest towards Tarangire National Park. As you enter the park, the landscape transforms into a dramatic vista of grassy savannah dotted with ancient, bulbous baobab trees and termite mounds. Known as the “Elephant Playground,” this park hosts the largest concentration of elephants in the region. You will spend the day game driving, watching family herds dig for water in the riverbeds and spotting other residents like giraffes, wildebeest, and the rare fringe-eared oryx. In the late afternoon, you will exit the park and ascend the Great Rift Valley escarpment to the town of Karatu, a cool, green agricultural hub where you will spend the night.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Accommodation: Acacia Farm Lodge

Today involves a scenic drive as you traverse the cool, misty highlands of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. You will stop at the crater rim viewpoint for a breathtaking look at the caldera before descending onto the vast plains of the Serengeti. As you pass Naabi Hill Gate, the trees disappear, replaced by the “endless plains” that give the park its name. You will enjoy a game drive en route to the Central Serengeti (Seronera), arriving at your camp in the late afternoon. This area is predator central, and you might spot your first pride of lions or a cheetah scanning the horizon before dinner.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Accommodation: Malaika Seronera Luxury Camp

After a final morning game drive in the Serengeti to track any wildlife you may have missed, you will bid farewell to the plains and drive back towards the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This return journey offers a second chance to spot wildlife across the plains, such as hyenas and jackals. You will ascend into the crater highlands, arriving at your lodge on the crater rim (or in nearby Karatu) in the late afternoon. The evening is spent relaxing and enjoying the spectacular views, preparing for the descent into the crater the next day.

Meal: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Lions Paw

You will start this final day very early to maximize your time in the crater. It is a short drive from Karatu to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate, where you will descend 600 meters to the crater floor. This ancient volcanic caldera is a self-contained ecosystem teeming with wildlife, including the Big Five. You will spend the morning exploring the crater floor, with high chances of spotting lions, hyenas, and the critically endangered Black Rhino. After a picnic lunch near the hippo pool, you will ascend the steep walls and begin the drive to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). The drive takes you past Arusha and on to the airport, arriving in the early evening.

Meal: Breakfast & Lunch

Important Flight Note: Please note that your safari ends at around 18:00 hours at Kilimanjaro International Airport. Please plan your outbound flight to depart after 20:00 hours for domestic flight and 21:00 hours for International Flight. If you have an earlier flight please consider adding an extra night in Arusha.