7 Day Taste of Tanzania Safari Tour

Brief Overview

Day 1 Our 7-Day Taste of Tanzania Safari Tour departs from Arusha for Tarangire National Park. Enjoy game drives in the area with a picnic lunch included. Overnight at a Tarangire lodge. Picnic lunch, dinner and breakfast.

Day 2 Morning game drive in Tarangire before continuing to the highlands of Karatu, where you'll stop to enjoy the views of Manyara and the escarpment below. Overnight at a Ngorongoro Crater lodge. Full board.

Day 3 Full morning game drive and picnic lunch in the Ngorongoro Crater before leaving for the Serengeti eco-system. Overnight will be at a Serengeti or Ndutu wilderness camp, depending on the time of the year. All meals and local drinks.

Day 4 A full day to explore the Serengeti in all its glory. An optional hot air balloon safari is available but must be booked in advance at an additional cost. Overnight in a wilderness camp. All meals and local drinks.

Day 5 Depending on the time of year, you may move camps to get closer to the Great Migration. We'll spend another full day exploring the Serengeti in pursuit of wildlife sightings. Overnight in a wilderness camp. All meals and local drinks.

Day 6 Another full day in the Serengeti. Game drives may be morning and afternoon or full day. All meals and local drinks.

Day 7 From Serengeti Central or Ndutu area, either drive back to Arusha or fly (optional extra). From Serengeti NORTH, the flight to Arusha/Kilimanjaro is compulsory as it's too far by road.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1

Arusha — Tarangire National Park

This 7-Day Taste of Tanzania Safari Tour starts and ends in Arusha. It is best to arrive in Arusha the night before the safari. After an early morning briefing, we head to nearby Tarangire National Park, a lesser-known safari highlight in northern Tanzania.

Tarangire is a beautiful and often under-appreciated game reserve that draws massive migratory herds of elephants and many other species, especially during the dry season from June to September. Tarangire is less crowded than the ever-popular Ngorongoro and Serengeti wildlife areas. We spend most of the day game viewing as we explore the dramatic landscapes of Tarangire with a picnic lunch included.

Day 2

Tarangire National Park — Ngorongoro Crater

After a morning game drive in Tarangire, we head through the scenic highlands of Karatu, a rich farming area on the outer slopes of Ngorongoro Crater, stopping to view Manyara along the way. We overnight at a safari lodge overlooking the Ngorongoro forest bordering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

One of the world's natural wonders, Ngorongoro Crater is a volcanic caldera that offers spectacular game viewing. You're almost guaranteed to see four of the Big Five, a plethora of birds and many other animals against the unique backdrop of the green, forest-like crater walls.

Day 3

Ngorongoro Crater — Serengeti

Our morning game drive in Ngorongoro Crater exploring the almost surreal microcosm of forest, grasslands, freshwater and soda lakes, is followed by a picnic lunch on the crater floor. After lunch, we head to the Serengeti, where over three million large mammals roam the vast horizonless plains. For the next four nights, we overnight at Serengeti Wilderness Camp or Ndutu Wilderness Camp or a combination of both camps, depending on the time of year and the location of the great herds.

Days 4, 5 and 6

Serengeti

Enjoy three full days exploring the endless Serengeti plains and the wildlife drama that unfolds at certain times of the year when over a million wildebeest trek through the area in columns of up to 40km long in search of good grazing.

Of course, the wildebeest mega herds attract opportunistic predators of every kind, as well as other species that like to accompany them, such as zebra, Thomson's gazelle, impala and other antelope.

From January to March, the herds often congregate in the southern area around Ndutu to birth their young before moving northwards in June and July through Central Serengeti and Western Corridor. They then split off to the west and north as they make their way toward the Mara River, which sees dramatic river crossings from August to October. The wildebeest herds return to the south in November to repeat this gripping migration anew.

Our blog, The Great Wildebeest Migration: A complete guide, explains in detail how the migration works and what the best time to go on a migration safari is.

Optional Balloon Safari

Treat yourself to a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that takes you soaring effortlessly and silently (mostly) above the vast Serengeti plains in a hot air balloon.