6-Day Serengeti & Ngorongoro – Big Five Without Rush

Your guide will collect you from your Arusha hotel and transfer you to Arusha Airport for the morning scheduled flight to Seronera. After landing in the heart of the Serengeti, meet your private driver-guide and begin game viewing immediately instead of spending most of the day driving from Arusha. Enjoy a picnic lunch in the park and continue across the central plains, where lions, elephants, giraffes and other wildlife may be encountered. Arrive at camp in time to settle in, enjoy dinner and listen to the sounds of the bush. Flight schedules may change, and the day’s game-drive timing will be adjusted accordingly.

Begin with an early breakfast and choose the pace that suits you: a full-day game drive with a picnic lunch or separate morning and afternoon drives with a restful break at camp. Central Serengeti supports wildlife throughout the year, so your guide will use recent sightings, weather and animal movement to shape the route rather than follow a fixed checklist. Search river valleys, open plains and rocky kopjes for big cats, elephants, giraffes and abundant plains game. Return to the same camp, avoiding another checkout and allowing time to relax before dinner.

Spend a second complete day exploring Central Serengeti with the freedom that only a private vehicle provides. Your guide can return to a promising area, wait patiently at a sighting or change direction when fresh wildlife information arrives. This slower design creates space for animal behaviour, photography and quiet observation instead of rushing between distant lodges. A picnic lunch can be enjoyed in the park, or you may return to camp for a midday break before an afternoon drive. End the day at the same tented camp for your third Serengeti night.

After breakfast, enjoy a final morning game drive through Central Serengeti before beginning the overland journey toward the Ngorongoro Highlands. Travel through the southern plains and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with a picnic lunch and scenic stops along the way. Allow approximately five to six hours from Central Serengeti to the Karatu area, depending on wildlife sightings, road conditions, lunch stops and gate procedures. Arrive at the lodge in the late afternoon, check in for two nights and enjoy a relaxed dinner without needing to repack the following morning.

Leave after an early breakfast for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descend into the crater close to opening time. Spend the morning and early afternoon exploring the caldera floor with your private guide, looking for lions, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, hyenas and, with luck, the endangered black rhino. Enjoy a picnic lunch at a designated site before ascending from the crater. Return to the same Karatu lodge for a quiet afternoon, a hot shower and dinner. Wildlife sightings are never guaranteed, but the early start gives you the best use of the permitted crater hours.

Enjoy breakfast at the lodge before driving back to Arusha, with lunch and drinking water included. The journey normally takes about two and a half to three hours, depending on traffic and stops. You can be dropped at an Arusha hotel or transferred to the airport if your onward flight timing is suitable. No accommodation is included tonight, but an additional Arusha stay can be arranged for an extra cost. We recommend avoiding a tightly timed international departure immediately after the road transfer.