9-Day Serengeti, Ngorongoro & Balloon Safari Tanzania

Meet and greet on arrival — our friendly team warmly welcomes you at Kilimanjaro or Arusha Airport and transfers you to Raha Wildlife Lodge. Relax, unwind, and enjoy a delicious dinner as you settle in, meet your guide, and prepare for the safari adventure ahead.

Accommodation

Raha Wildlife Resort Resort Mid-range

+7 +6

After breakfast, depart for Tarangire National Park, one of Tanzania's most underrated gems, named after the river that winds through it. The park is famous for its dramatic landscape of towering ancient baobab trees, rolling savannah, and seasonal swamps that draw wildlife from miles around. Tarangire is renowned above all for its elephants — home to some of the largest herds in Tanzania. Enjoy a full day of game drives searching for giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, and predators like lion and leopard, plus over 500 bird species. After a picnic lunch in the bush, settle in at your lodge to relax and enjoy dinner.

Accommodation

Tarangire Sopa Lodge Lodge Mid-range

+6 +5

Highlights: Tree-climbing lions, elephants, and flamingos along the lake shore.

After breakfast, descend the Rift Valley escarpment into Lake Manyara National Park, a compact but wonderfully diverse park set beneath towering red cliffs. Explore its lush groundwater forest, open grassland, and the shores of the alkaline lake, home to thousands of pink flamingos and over 400 bird species. Manyara is famous for its rare tree-climbing lions, often seen draped in the branches of acacia trees, as well as large herds of elephant and buffalo, giraffe, zebra, hippo, and troops of baboons. In the evening, ascend to the cool green highlands of Karatu for dinner and your overnight stay.

Accommodation

Ngorongoro Marera Mountain View Lodge Lodge Mid-range

Outside Park Ngorongoro Crater

+5 +4

Highlights: Guided walking safari on the Crater rim, then afternoon game drive into the Serengeti

This morning, set out on a guided walking safari along the Ngorongoro Crater rim, accompanied by an armed ranger. Stretch your legs along the forested rim with breathtaking views down into the caldera, learning about the plants, birds, and smaller creatures often missed from a vehicle. Afterward, journey onward across the vast plains toward the legendary Serengeti National Park, descending into a landscape of endless golden grasslands. Enjoy an afternoon game drive as you enter the park, watching for lion, cheetah, and gazelle before reaching your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation

Serengeti Kifaru Tented Lodge Lodge Mid-range

Inside Park Serengeti National Park

+7 +6

Highlights: Full day across the Serengeti plains, picnic lunch, prime predator country

Spend a full day exploring the Serengeti, the most famous safari destination on earth, whose name means "endless plains" in the Maasai language. Venture into the eastern or western reaches depending on wildlife movements and, in season, the position of the Great Wildebeest Migration. Your guide will track the Serengeti's legendary predators — lion, leopard, and cheetah — alongside elephant, giraffe, and vast herds of wildebeest and zebra sweeping across the grasslands. A relaxed picnic lunch out in the park lets you stay among the action from sunrise to golden hour, maximizing your time in this extraordinary wilderness.

Accommodation

Serengeti Kifaru Tented Lodge Lodge Mid-range

Inside Park Serengeti National Park

+7 +6

Highlights: Another full day on the Serengeti plains, capped with a bush lunch or bush dinner under the sky

Enjoy a second full day in the Serengeti, venturing into further reaches of the plains and following the wildlife your guide has been tracking. With more time to explore, you can seek out river crossings, big cat sightings, kopje-dwelling prides, and quiet corners away from other vehicles. Today's highlight is a special bush dining experience — a relaxed bush lunch out among the wildlife, or a magical bush dinner beneath a canopy of stars, with the sounds of the savannah all around. It's an unforgettable sense of occasion that turns an ordinary safari day into a lasting memory.

Accommodation

Serengeti Kifaru Tented Lodge Lodge Mid-range

Inside Park Serengeti National Park

+7 +6

Highlights: Sunrise hot air balloon safari, bush breakfast, then scenic transfer to Karatu

Rise before dawn for the safari of a lifetime — a sunrise hot air balloon safari drifting silently over the Serengeti plains. Float gently above the golden grasslands as the sun rises, watching elephant, giraffe, and herds of game stir to life far below, with your pilot sharing the landscape from a perspective few ever see. Land to a celebratory bush breakfast served in the wild, complete with a champagne toast. Afterward, depart the Serengeti and travel to Karatu via the scenic Endulen highlands, winding through traditional Maasai country and dramatic Rift Valley scenery before reaching your lodge.

Accommodation

Farm Of Dreams Lodge Lodge Mid-range

+2 +1

Highlights: Full descent into the Crater, Big Five and black rhino, picnic lunch on the floor

After breakfast, descend approximately 600 meters into the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact volcanic caldera on earth and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This natural amphitheatre shelters an astonishing density of wildlife within its walls, making it one of Tanzania's most reliable Big Five destinations. Spend a full day on the crater floor searching for the endangered black rhino, dense lion prides, elephant, buffalo, and vast herds of zebra and wildebeest, with flamingos gathered on the soda lake. Enjoy a picnic lunch inside the crater before ascending in the late afternoon to your lodge.

Accommodation

Farm Of Dreams Lodge Lodge Mid-range

+2 +1

Highlights: Cultural walking and cycling tour in Mto wa Mbu, then airport transfer or beach extension

On your final morning, enjoy a cultural walking and cycling tour through the vibrant, multi-tribal village of Mto wa Mbu, exploring local farms, banana plantations, and markets at the foot of the Rift Valley escarpment. Afterward, transfer to the airport for your departure flight — or continue seamlessly to a luxurious beach extension in Zanzibar, Mafia, or Kilwa.