5-Day Safari: Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorrongoro Crater from Arusha

Day 1: Arusha – Lake Manyara National Park

You will be picked up from your hotel at 8 am. After your breakfast you will be driven to Lake Manyara National Park. This impressive National Park is one of Tanzania’s most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a massive but shallow soda lake (covering two-thirds of the park) at the foot of the Great Rift Valley’s Western escarpment.

The park’s varied habitat attracts a wide variety of animals, including one of Africa’s largest concentrations of elephants. Manyara is famous for its tree-climbing lions, as well as large flocks of flamingos attracted by the algae in the lake. Dinner and overnight at the Alasamo campsite.

Day 2: Serengeti National Park

After the breakfast, depart from the camp and drive to Serengeti via Ngorongoro Conservation Area and later arrive on the great Serengeti plains for a different but just as spectacular wildlife viewing experience. You will pass one of the world’s greatest prehistoric archaeological sites, called Olduvai Gorge, and then continue your way over the scrub lands. Like no other, this stretch embodies the meaning of the word 'Serengeti', which derives from the Masai 'Siringet' and has been artistically translated as 'the land that flows on forever'.

Serengeti National Park covers 6,000 square miles of pristine land and offers not only expansive vistas, but the largest migration of mammals on earth, including 1.5 million wildebeest. Dinner and overnight at the Seronera campsite.

Day 3: Full day at Serengeti National Park

After the breakfast you will have a full day game viewing at Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti, Tanzania’s largest National Park, covers nearly 6,000 square miles of grassland plains, Savannah, kopjes, hills, woodlands, and river line forests. Beyond the heralded migration of wildebeest and zebra, the Serengeti is best known for its big predators, including cheetah and leopard, as well as large prides of lions and clans of hyenas. Dinner and overnight at the Seronera campsite.

Day 4: Serengeti N. Park – Ngorongoro

Your day starts with a morning game drive central of the Serengeti. For animals, that’s an active time of the day as it is not hot yet so there is a lot of wildlife to see out there until approximately 11:30 am. Then return back to the camp for brunch. On your way back, stop at Olduvai Gorge. It’s a fascinating archaeological site where you will learn about local history and the Masai tribes. Dinner and overnight at Simba campsite.

Day 5: Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha

Your last day starts very early in the morning. Equipped with a picnic lunch you descend 2000 ft. down to the crater floor by 4×4 wheel drive vehicle for game viewing. Late afternoon you will be driven back to Arusha and you will be dropped at your hotel.