The Northern Circuit

In the morning you will start your safari with a drive to the Tarangire National Park. The park is roughly the size of Luxemburg and covers an area of about 2,600 km². Bush savannah, seasonal swamps and giant baobab trees make up the landscape of this nature reserve and the park is probably one of the best places in East Africa to see elephants. From the open roof of the safari vehicle you will be able to watch them and absorb the landscape. Apart from elephants, the park is also home to Masai giraffes, various gazelles, antelopes, buffaloes, lions, leopards, baboons and more than 500 types of birds. After an extensive game drive, you will leave the park in the afternoon and drive to the Sangaiwe Tented Lodge for your overnight stay.

Today you will visit the small but beautiful Lake Manyara National Park. A large area of the park is covered by the alkaline Lake Manyara, which is home to colonies of flamingos and other water birds. Apart from giraffes, hippos, wildebeests and impalas on the grassy plains, you might see lions lounging in the trees and elephants feeding on the acacias in the woodlands. While the forest near the lake is filled with noisy troops of blue monkeys, extended baboon families hang around the roads. After extensive game drives, you will leave the park in the afternoon to make your way to the cooler regions of the Ngorongoro highlands. You will spend the night at the Marera Valley Lodge.

After breakfast you set off to the famous Serengeti. Travelling through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area you might stop for a breath-taking view over the Ngorongoro Crater before you continue to the Serengeti National Park. Serengeti means “endless plains” in the language of the Masai and you will see the grassland savannah stretching to the horizon. Bizarre rock formations dot the grassy landscape where predators roam. Blue wildebeests, Thomson’s gazelles, zebras and buffaloes are on their menu… Through the high and open roof of the safari vehicle you will be able to enjoy the diversified habitats and landscapes of the park. You will arrive in the Seronera Valley for an evening meal and overnight stay at the Kati Kati Tented Camp.

The entire day is dedicated to game viewing in the Serengeti National Park. The areas that you will visit will depend upon where the migrating herds are to be found. Predators usually follow closely behind the trekking animals. During the short rainy season in November and December the herds move from the hills in the north to the plains in the south. During the longer rainy season from April to June they return up north. As the migration depends upon the yearly rains, the location of the herds might vary from year to year, but your guide will know where to see them best. You will spend another night at the Kati Kati Tented Camp.

After breakfast you will join another game drive in the Serengeti National Park and you might spot animals you haven’t seen during the last two days. The Serengeti is also home to the Big Five – lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard – and today you might be able to see all the members of this group. After lunch at a picnic site, you will drive in direction of the Ngorongoro Crater and as soon as you have reached the edge of the crater, the caldera opens up before you. This approximate 20 kilometre wide crater is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to over 25,000 animals. You will drive to the Ang’ata Ngorongoro Camp from where you can witness the sunset over the crater.

Rise and shine! At day-break you drive down into the crater. Inside the world’s biggest caldera you will see a diversity of wildlife ranging from black rhinos, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, lions and leopards, to elephants and mountain reedbucks in the forests on the slopes. You might also see buffaloes, spotted hyenas, rare wild dogs and some of the more than 500 bird species of the area. After an extensive game drive and a picnic lunch you will leave the crater and drive back to Arusha where you will arrive in the early evening and your northern Tanzania safari comes to an end.