4 days Tarangire, Serengeti & Crater — Camping
The same four-day camping loop entered through Tarangire instead of Manyara — baobabs and elephant herds on the first day rather than forest.
Wildlife
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.
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At a glance
- Destinations
- Tarangire · Serengeti · Ngorongoro
- Best for
- Wildlife safari
- Travel style
- Luxury · Fly-in, Drive
- Activity level
- Easy — most of the day is spent in a vehicle or on a boat
- Best time to travel
- June to October generally gives drier driving conditions in Tarangire, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro. Choose safari dates around the parks you will visit; a Zanzibar departure does not change herd movements or guarantee migration sightings.
- Start and end
- Starts and ends in Zanzibar
Why this journey
- Flights from Zanzibar at both ends of the safari
- Tarangire, the Serengeti and the crater in five days
- A full day of game driving in the Serengeti
- Luxury tented camps rather than roadside lodges
- Designed to slot into a beach holiday without unpicking it
Day by day
Northern Tanzania reached from the wrong end of the country. Flights from Zanzibar to the Arusha area and back turn what would be a two-week undertaking into five days, with tented camps between the parks.
Day 1 — Zanzibar to Tarangire National Park
Fly from Zanzibar to Arusha, then transfer to Tarangire. An afternoon game drive follows, featuring elephants and the park's characteristic landscapes.
Stay Panorama Safari Camp / Tarangire Safari Lodge / Lake Manyara Kilimamoja Lodge Meals Lunch & Dinner
Day 2 — Tarangire to Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, drive through the Ngorongoro Highlands toward the Serengeti with wildlife viewing stops en route, then an evening game drive on arrival.
Stay Seronera Public Campsite / Serengeti Kati Kati Tented Camp / Ole Serai Luxury Camp Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 3 — Full-day game drive in the Serengeti
A full day exploring the vast plains searching for big cats, elephants and wildebeest, with a picnic lunch in the wild and a sunset return to camp.
Stay as listed on the page — Empakai Campsite Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 4 — Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
A morning game drive in the Serengeti followed by the transfer to Ngorongoro with scenic viewpoints and wildlife sightings en route, overnighting near the crater rim.
Stay Simba Public Campsite / Ngorongoro Serena Lodge / Olden Mountain Luxury Lodge Meals Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Day 5 — Ngorongoro Crater and return to Zanzibar
A morning wildlife safari descending into the crater. After lunch, the return drive to Arusha and the flight back to Zanzibar.
Meals Breakfast & Lunch
Stay and travel
Premium camps and lodges, chosen for where they sit rather than how many rooms they have.
Light aircraft on the routed sectors, with a road vehicle and guide waiting at each strip.
Camps fill and light aircraft schedules move. Where something changes 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
- Luggage on light aircraft
- Bush flights cap baggage at around 15 kg in a soft bag. Anything else can wait at your first hotel.
- 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.
Related journeys
4 days 
6 days 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.
Wildlife & Culture
2 days Mikumi & the Chizua Waterfall
A game drive on the floodplain and a walk into the Uvidunda hills behind it, where the Chizua falls come down through the forest.
Wildlife & Hiking
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.