Destination

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Duration
5 Days 4 Nights
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Tour Type
Vacation Tour
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Group Size
6 People
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Tour Guide
1 People
Tanzania Big 5 Safaris

Best of Northern Tanzania Safari

white SUV near tree during daytime

A five-day safari will take you to Tanzania’s best areas for wildlife viewing. Lake Manyara is scenic and home to many classic African animals plus it’s Tanzania’s premier bird-watching hotspot. The inimitable Ngorongoro Crater is the largest intact crater in the world abundant with wild game including elephants, rhinos, lions, leopards, and hyenas.

Tarangire is a beautiful park filled with huge baobabs and lovely acacia woodlands that play home to a large variety of game such as lions, zebras, giraffes, and waterbuck but is best known for its massive elephant herds from June to November.

Five days on safari also allows you to visit the Serengeti, Tanzania’s most famous and largest national park and one of the most spectacular parks in the world. The “endless plains” cover some 14,763 square kilometers including large plains, short grass plains, kopjes, and lakes.

INCLUDES:

  • All accommodations per itinerary
  • All meals per itinerary
  • All tours and entrance fees per itinerary (unless listed as excluded)
  • All transportation and transfers per itinerary
  • Professional English-speaking naturalist driver/guide
  • Transportation in a custom safari 4×4 with a viewing roof and guaranteed window seating
  • Safari vehicles have an inverter for charging batteries, a communications radio, an electric cooler, and filtered water
  • National Park gate fees, Park Commission, and Government taxes (based on current rates)

EXCLUDES:

  • International and domestic flights
  • Meals not listed
  • Tips for guides, drivers, hotel staff
  • Optional tours
  • Personal expenses (visas, airport taxes, Internet, etc.)
  • Optional tours (Olduvai Gorge and Maasai Village visit)
  • Holiday supplement December 20 – January 5
  • Discount for kids under 15 years old

Details

Depart for Lake Manyara National Park with picnic lunch and game drive till late afternoon. Lake Manyara is tucked beneath the Rift Valley wall. A thin green band of forest flanked by the 600 metres sheer high red and brown cliffs of the escarpment and the shores of the soda lake which gives name to the park. Famous for its tree-climbing lions, Manyara features nearly 400 different species of bird, red-billed quelea, pelicans, cormorants and thousands of flamingos. OR Depart for Tarangire National Park with picnic lunch and game drive till late afternoon. Tarangire is famous for its huge herds of elephant and baobab trees. Throughout the dry season, thirsty antelope and elephants trek hundreds of kilometers to drink at the Tarangire River. Meals included: Lunch, Dinner Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Endoro Lodge Mid-Range Accommodations: Escarpment Luxury Lodge Luxury Accommodations: Tarangire River Camp Elite Accommodations: Lemala Tarangire Camp
Drive 3-4 hours to the Serengeti for afternoon game drive. Arguably Africa's greatest national park, the Serengeti (meaning "endless plains") is a massive park and home to a yearly migration of more than a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle undertaking their long trek to new grazing grounds. In return, a wealth of predators including lions, leopards, cheetah and hyena also inhabit the region. Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Serengeti Halisi Camp Mid-Range Accommodations: Serengeti Kati Kati Tented Camp Luxury Accommodations: Kubu Kubu Tented Camp Elite Accommodations: Lemala Ewanjan Camp (Seronera)
Full-day game drive in Serengeti, lunch at Visitor's Center. The crucial characteristics of the Serengeti ecosystem have changed little in over a million years. Serengeti's boundless plains are sprinkled with wooded hills, towering termite mounds, rocky kopjes, and rivers lined with acacia trees. Big cats and a huge host of grazing animals roam freely, but here you also can see other unique species like mongoose, hyrax, warthog, bat-eared fox, jackals, bushbabies, monkeys, baboons, and much more. Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Serengeti Halisi Camp Mid-Range Accommodations: Serengeti Kati Kati Tented Camp Luxury Accommodations: Kubu Kubu Tented Camp Elite Accommodations: Lemala Ewanjan Camp (Seronera)
Drive Serengeti to Ngorongoro with game drive en route. Optional visits to the Olduvai Gorge and Maasai village. The Olduvai Gorge delivers substantial evidence of the earliest signs of humankind, with rare hominid footprints preserved in solid rock from 3,600,000 years ago. There are many authentic Masaai villages in the area to visit. Here you have a chance to get to know authentic Maasai families and see how real life is like for the locals. You can visit homes, watch traditional dances, and purchase homemade jewelry. Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Budget/Mid-Range Accommodations: Rhino Lodge Mid-Range Accommodations: Ngorongoro Serena Lodge Luxury Accommodations: Gibbs Farm Elite Accommodations: Lemala Ngorongoro Tented Camp
After breakfast descend down the crater for a half-day game drive. Ngorongoro Crater is a spectacular setting and contains an abundance of wildlife with over 20,000 large animals including Tanzania's remaining black rhino. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is unique in that it allows over 40,000 Masaai pastoralists with their cattle goats and sheep to live alongside the abundant wildlife in a natural setting. Late afternoon return to Moshi/Arusha or airport for onward journey. Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch