4-Day Serengeti & Ngorongoro Lodge Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Arusha → Serengeti National Park → Ngorongoro Conservation Area → Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Arusha to Serengeti

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Arusha to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. You return for dinner and an overnight stay at Serengeti.

2. Day 2

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   A full day in Serengeti allows you to explore well beyond the areas reached on a short visit. Much of the day is spent among vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. Sightings may include lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, depending on season and conditions. The scale of the plains rewards a full day, with time to work several areas rather than rushing between them. The Serengeti's wildlife moves with the seasons, so the sector visited is chosen to match where the herds and predators are likely to be at that time of year. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. The evening returns you to your Serengeti accommodation for dinner and overnight.

3. Day 3

   Serengeti to Ngorongoro

   You leave Serengeti after breakfast and head for Ngorongoro, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Once you reach Ngorongoro there is time to check in before heading out among a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. Wildlife commonly associated with this area includes lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. Dinner is served at your Ngorongoro camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

4. Day 4

   Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha

   You leave Ngorongoro Crater after breakfast and head for Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into northern Tanzania's safari gateway town below the slopes of Mount Meru. Arusha is the staging point for the northern Tanzania circuit and where most safari briefings take place. Arrival back is normally in the afternoon, with a drop-off at your hotel or the airport.