5 days Serengeti & Crater, from Zanzibar
Five days off the island and into the northern parks, flying both ways — Tarangire, the Serengeti and the crater, with no day lost to the coast road.
Wildlife
Manyara, Serengeti & the Crater
The three parks most people come north for, at a pace that leaves a full day in the Serengeti and a full day in the crater rather than half of each.
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At a glance
- Destinations
- Lake Manyara · Serengeti · Ngorongoro
- Best for
- Wildlife safari, Culture & history
- Travel style
- Mid-range · Drive
- Activity level
- Easy — most of the day is spent in a vehicle or on a boat
- Best time to travel
- June to October usually gives drier game drives across Manyara, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. January and February offer greener landscapes; the Serengeti herds may be elsewhere, so migration viewing needs camps chosen for your dates.
- Start and end
- Starts and ends at Kilimanjaro Airport
Why this journey
- A full day in the Serengeti rather than an afternoon
- A full crater day, descending early before the vehicles arrive
- Lake Manyara on the way in, with its forest and birdlife
- Mto wa Mbu — irrigation farming, a market, and a banana beer or two
- Six days, which is about the shortest this loop works in
Day by day
A straightforward northern loop with the driving spread so that no day is spent entirely in the vehicle. It closes with a cultural day at Mto wa Mbu, the market town below the escarpment where several communities farm the same valley.
Day 1 — Arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport (JRO)
Meet and greet at the airport or another agreed point in Arusha on the arrival evening, then transfer to accommodation in Arusha town.
Stay Arusha Melia Hotel Meals Lunch & Dinner
Day 2 — Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park
After breakfast, travel with a packed lunch to Lake Manyara for an afternoon and evening game drive, then back for dinner and overnight.
Stay Lake Manyara Kilimamoja Luxury Lodge / Lake Manyara Serena Hotel / Migombani Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 3 — Lake Manyara to Serengeti National Park
Early departure toward the Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge. Visit the gorge museum for lectures on the exhibits and archaeological discoveries, then continue into the Serengeti with game viewing en route.
Stay One Nature Hotels / Tanzania Bush Camps / Serengeti Public Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 4 — Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Early morning game drive in the Seronera area before a late breakfast, then depart with lunch boxes to the Ngorongoro crater rim with game viewing en route.
Stay Acacia Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 5 — Ngorongoro Crater tour
Early breakfast before descending into the crater for a full-day game drive. The crater holds around 25,000 animals, including the Big Five. Lunch at the picnic site, then game viewing continues until evening, when you ascend to Karatu for dinner and overnight.
Stay Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury / Kudu Lodge / Fig Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 6 — Mto wa Mbu culture tourism
A morning walk with a local guide visiting rice fields, banana plantations, markets, a primary school and an orphanage, with a meal prepared by a local family at their home. An afternoon visit to a Maasai boma hosted by the community, with dance and chanting. Return to the agreed drop-off point in Arusha.
Meals Breakfast & Lunch
Stay and travel
Comfortable mid-range lodges and tented camps, inside the parks wherever the route allows.
A 4×4 with a roof hatch and a window seat for everyone, driven by your guide throughout.
Camps fill, and roads change with the rains. Where something has to change we substitute at the same level and tell you before you travel, not after.
Included and excluded
What is included
- Every activity named in the day-by-day
- Accommodation as listed, or a similar alternative if a camp is full
- Meals as noted against each day
- Transfers between the agreed pick-up and drop-off points
- Park, reserve and conservation area fees
- An English-speaking Tanzanian driver-guide
- A 4×4 with a roof hatch, or the vehicle the route calls for
- Drinking water through the day
- Government taxes
- Boat safari and transfers
- TANAPA armed ranger where the park requires one
- Ngorongoro crater service fee
Not included
- International flights, airport taxes and visa fees
- Travel, medical and baggage insurance
- Personal spending — drinks, laundry, telephone
- Tips for your guide and crew
- Anything not listed as included
Practical information
- Visas, insurance and tipping
- A visa is arranged before travel or on arrival. Travel and medical insurance is a condition of booking. Tipping is customary and we will suggest a range rather than set one.
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Every route here can be changed
Tell us what you would keep, what you would drop and how long you have. We will send back a version that is yours.