5-Day Tarangire, Serengeti Migration & Crater Safari

Highlights: Full-day game drive among baobabs and elephant herds, overnight in Karatu

Depart from Arusha or Karatu for Tarangire National Park, famous for its towering ancient baobab trees, seasonal swamps, and some of the largest elephant herds in Tanzania. Named after the Tarangire River that draws wildlife from miles around, the park offers superb, uncrowded game viewing. Enjoy a full day of game drives in search of elephant, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, and predators such as lion and leopard, plus over 500 bird species, with a picnic lunch at a scenic site. In the evening, head to the green highland town of Karatu, arriving at your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Highlights: Scenic drive to the Serengeti, afternoon game drive in the central plains, overnight at Ikoma

After breakfast, travel to the legendary Serengeti National Park, crossing the Ngorongoro highlands with dramatic scenery before descending onto the vast central plains. Enjoy a picnic lunch, then continue with a game drive through the central Serengeti — one of the park's richest year-round wildlife areas — in search of lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, and vast herds of plains game. In the late afternoon, make your way to your tented lodge at Ikoma, on the edge of the Serengeti, for dinner and overnight.

Highlights: Head north to the Kogatende region, full day tracking the migration and Mara River crossings

After breakfast, journey north into the Kogatende region of the northern Serengeti, the stage for the migration's famous Mara River crossings. Spend the day tracking the Great Migration and, in season, witnessing the dramatic crossings — one of nature's most thrilling spectacles as wildebeest and zebra plunge across crocodile-filled waters. Your guide will position you patiently at the river and follow the herds across the plains, with excellent chances of big cat action. Enjoy a picnic lunch out in the wild before returning to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Highlights: Full descent into the Crater, Big Five and black rhino, then transfer to Karatu

After breakfast, depart the Serengeti and travel to the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater, descending approximately 600 meters onto the caldera floor — the largest intact volcanic caldera on earth and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Spend the day game viewing in this natural amphitheatre, one of Tanzania's most reliable Big Five destinations, home to black rhino, dense lion prides, elephant, buffalo, and vast herds of zebra and wildebeest. Enjoy a picnic lunch inside the crater before ascending and continuing to Karatu for dinner and overnight.

Highlights: Hadzabe and Datoga cultural experience at Lake Eyasi, then airport drop-off

After breakfast, visit Lake Eyasi, home to the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers — one of the last remaining such communities in Africa — and the Datoga people. Join an early activity to learn about traditional hunting, gathering, and craft-making, gaining rare insight into ancient ways of life. Enjoy a picnic lunch, then transfer to the airport for your departure flight. This itinerary connects seamlessly to a beach extension in Zanzibar, Kilwa, Mafia, or Pemba on request. We're here to help — get a free quote.