5 Day Maasai safari Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti Plains and Lake Manyara
ITINERARY
| Starting point: |
Arusha |
| End point: |
Arusha |
| Duration: |
5 Days |
Tour Description
Our 5-day African safaris, tours, travel and trekking packages, which specifically include the Tarangire National Park, have been designed to offer you a total Tanzanian northern circuit safari experience in the shortest possible travel time. You will experience the excitement of game viewing in some of the most spectacular national wildlife game parks in Africa.
This unforgettable Tanzanian safari journey will take you to the Ngorongoro Crater, featuring one of the highest concentrations of game in Africa. Here you will witness an amazing spectacle of African wildlife - inside a self-contained world teeming with animals. The tour will further take you to the Serengeti National Park, into the heart of wild Africa, a massive wilderness of 14500 square km, where every day brings a new landscape and a new adventure. You will visit the Lake Manyara National Park, one of Tanzania's most dramatically located wildlife areas, consisting of a shallow but huge soda lake, at the foot of the Great Rift Valley's western escarpment. Your African safari tour will also take you to the Tarangire National Park, which features some of the greatest concentration of game in Tanzania - second only to the Ngorongoro Crater - but less crowded and unspoiled - possessing a wild and unkempt beauty.
This is a suggested or sample Tanzanian safari itinerary - it can be adapted to suite your own personal needs and preferences, as well as for any seasonal changes or migratory animal movements. . As with all our African safaris, tours, travel and trekking packages, we have offered you a wide variety of accommodation options - directly impacting on the total safari costs - in order to offer you the widest possible tour budget options. Please do not hesitate to contact one of our tours consultants directly, should you require any further assistance or more detailed information, regarding any of our African safaris, tours, and travel and trekking packages - we will gladly assist you.
The vehicles we use are specifically chosen to be suitable for the area. Some of the areas we travel comprise very thick sand, other is clay surfaces, and still others can comprise a hard surface overlaying a pool of treacherous mud. All of these surfaces can change rapidly under varying conditions. In addition to close-up encounters with wildlife, our adventures also provide a diverse an in-dept encounter with many of the folk who contribute to the land we travel in, to really appreciate the beauty of Africa in all its facets.
This is designed as an adventure trip, and the unexpected can be expected. Be prepared.
Tour summery
Note that although we endeavour to abide by the primary itinerary indicated below, unexpected situations and circumstances beyond our control can result in small (or, occasionally, substantial) changes. This should then be taken as a general guideline.
Day 1: Arusha-Lake Manyara National Park
Day 2: Lake Manyara National Park-Serengeti Plains
Day 3: Serengeti Plains
Day 4: Ngorongoro Crater - Tarangire National Park
Day 5: Tarangire National Park-Arusha
Tour costing
Kindly refer to the section of this proposal after the detailed tour itinerary for some comments and explanations, as well as details about what is included and excluded.
A deposit of 50% would be required in advance to secure the various bookings en route. We would suggest this be done on confirmation of your booking.
Payments made in foreign currency will be subject to the effective rate of exchange prevailing at the time of transfer.
We supply a copy of our detailed “Terms and Condition” should you indicate your interest in this proposal.
Day 1 - Arusha - Lake Manyara National Park
After breakfast you are met by our professional tour guide/driver, who will deliver a short safari info briefing, after which we head east to the Great Rift Valley and the Lake Manyara National Park. We will drive through the agricultural and fresh produce market town of Mto Wa Mbu, which is situated next to the entrance of the Lake Manyara National Park. The town is a souvenir hunters paradise, harbouring thousands souvenir salesmen - ready to pounce at your slightest invitation.
Lake Manyara 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 African animals, including one of Africa's largest concentrations of elephants, Manyara's famous tree-climbing lions, as well as large flocks of flamingos, attracted by the algae in the lake. We will enjoy a picnic lunch inside the park and an exciting late morning and afternoon game drives, in search of the tree-climbing lions.
Dinner and overnight in the Lake Manyara area, as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 2 - Lake Manyara National Park - Serengeti Plains
After an early breakfast we head towards the Serengeti National Park, via the beautiful high lying farmland of Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We will stopover at Olduvai Gorge, boasting with a history dating back to the dawn of time. It was here, that the anthropologists Drs. Lois and Mary Leakey discovered the skulls of 'Nutcracker Man' and 'Handy Man', both very significant links in the chain of human evolution.
Leaving the highlands behind, we descend into the heart of wild Africa - the Serengeti National Park - with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We spend 11/2 days in this incredible untamed African wilderness, where literally millions of animals roam. We head to the central park area, known as the Seronera area, one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park, featuring the Seronera River, which provides a valuable water source to this area and therefore attracts wildlife well representative of most of the Serengeti's species. After a late picnic lunch we do an afternoon drive along the Seronera River Circuit, which starts at the Seronera Hippo Pool and follows the river. This rewarding circuit offers sightings of hippo, lion, leopard, crocodiles, giraffe, waterbuck, vervet monkeys and various other African animals, including many African birds.
Dinner and overnight in the Seronera area, as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 3 - Serengeti Plains - Ngorongoro Crater
We do an after breakfast game viewing drive in the Simba Kopjes on our way out of the park and will do a morning game drive area. The kopjes are named after the lions, which frequently use these kopjes to just lie and bath in the sun. You may also see baboon, giraffe and some interesting birds in this area. We then head to the Ngorongoro Crater, via the beautiful Ngorongoro Conservation Area. After an early lunch we descend 600m into this magnificent crater for an afternoon game drive. The crater is one of the most densely crowded game areas in the world and is home to an estimated 30,000 animals including some of Tanzania's last remaining black rhino.
Dinner and overnight on the Crater Rim area, as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 4 - Ngorongoro Crater - Tarangire National Park
After breakfast we depart for the Tarangire National Park. The park runs along the line of the Tarangire River and is mainly made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. Its natural vegetation mainly consists of Acacia woodland and giant African Baobab trees, with huge swamp areas in the south. Both the river and the swamps act like a magnet for wild animals, during Tanzania's dry season. The Tarangire National Park is reputed to contain some of the largest elephant herds in Africa. This African national park is also home to three rare species of animals - the Greater Kudu, the Fringed-eared Oryx, as well as a few Ashy Starlings. After a picnic lunch we do an afternoon game drive.
Dinner and overnight in the Tarangire National Park area, as per the standard and type of accommodation option requested.
Day 5 - Tarangire National Park - Arusha
We enjoy an early morning game drive in the Tarangire National Park, followed by breakfast at the lodge. We will then transfer back to Arusha. Upon arrival in Arusha will we have lunch and then we will end our African safari adventure. The group should tip the guide around $20 a day. You will be taken to your hotel, which ends our safari services.
Departure dates
The departure dates for all our African safaris, tours, travel and other trekking packages are totally flexible according to your own personal needs. Please contact us for further and more detailed information, as well as information on our photographic packages, safaris, tours, travel and other trekking packages into Tanzania.
Some details
| 5 Days: Lake Manyara / Serengeti / Ngorongoro / Tarangire |
| |
Day 1 |
Day 2 |
Day 3 |
Day 4 |
Day 5 |
| National Park |
Lake Manyara |
Serengeti |
Serengeti / Ngorongoro |
Ngorongoro / Tarangire |
Tarangire |
| Game viewing drives |
PM |
PM |
AM / PM |
PM |
AM |
| Other activities |
Crafts market / Canoe ride |
Olduvai Gorge |
Hot air balloon* |
Masai Village |
Crafts market |
| Non game-viewing travel time |
2½ hours |
6 hours |
4 hours |
3½ hours |
2½ hours |
| Accommodation options |
| Luxury lodges (option 1) |
Lake Manyara Serena Lodge |
Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge |
Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge |
Tarangire Sopa Lodge |
- |
| Luxury lodges (option 2) |
Kirurumu Tented lodge |
Serengeti Sopa Lodge |
Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge |
Tarangire Sopa Lodge |
- |
| Standard Wildlife lodge |
Lake Manyara Hotel |
Serengeti Seronera Lodge |
Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge |
Tarangire Safari Lodge |
- |
| Adventure camping (different itinerary) |
Twiga Campsite |
Dik Dik Campsite |
Simba Campsite |
Kigonsgoni Campsite |
|
| Board |
LDB |
BLDB |
BLDB |
BLDB |
BL |
BL = Breakfast & Lunch, BLDB = Breakfast Lunch Dinner & Bed, LDB = Lunch Dinner Bed
Am = Morning game viewing drive / Pm = Afternoon game viewing drive
* optional extras. |
Kindly note the following aspects:
Accommodation and activities are subjected to availability at the time of booking, and, in some cases, depending on other conditions prevailing on arrival. It may not always be possible to use the proposed establishment, and in some cases an alternative must be found. Early bookings help prevent variations of this nature
Lunches provide en route are normally of the picnic variety, due to the unavailability or unsuitable of places to stop along the route
