6-Day Great Migration Serengeti Safari

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Arusha → Ngorongoro Highlands → Serengeti Seasonal Sector → Central Serengeti → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Arusha to Ngorongoro Highlands

   Bags are loaded after breakfast and you depart Arusha bound for Ngorongoro Highlands, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through a collapsed volcanic caldera roughly six hundred metres deep, with grassland, soda lake and fever-tree forest on its floor. There is the possibility of seeing lion, elephant, buffalo, flamingo and one of the few remaining populations where black rhino may be seen, depending on movement and conditions on the day. The crater floor holds a resident concentration of wildlife year-round because the caldera walls create a largely self-contained ecosystem. Transport and game drives are shared with other travellers on this joining departure. The evening is spent at your Ngorongoro Highlands accommodation, with dinner and overnight there.

2. Day 2

   Ngorongoro Highlands to Serengeti

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Ngorongoro Highlands for the drive to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Continue toward the confirmed Serengeti sector with wildlife viewing en route and realistic time for gates and road conditions. Your guide works the area for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, with sightings varying by season and conditions. 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. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Serengeti.

3. Day 3

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Follow current herd information and habitat conditions on a full game-drive day without promising a fixed migration encounter. You travel through vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, working the areas your guide judges most productive on the day. 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. You return to your camp or lodge for dinner and a second night at Serengeti.

4. Day 4

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Use another complete day in the selected area, preserving patience and flexibility around natural movement. The drives cover vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, moving between habitats as conditions change. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, though wild sightings are never guaranteed. 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. The evening returns you to your Serengeti accommodation for dinner and overnight.

5. Day 5

   Full-Day Central Serengeti Safari

   Shift toward Central Serengeti for resident wildlife and a complementary landscape, or retain the seasonal base if conditions support it. The drives cover vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, moving between habitats as conditions change. There is the possibility of seeing lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra, though wild sightings are never guaranteed. 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. The evening returns you to your Central Serengeti accommodation for dinner and overnight.

6. Day 6

   Serengeti to Arusha

   The day opens in Serengeti with a morning departure for Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. The drive brings you back into Arusha in the afternoon, where the safari comes to a close. Arusha is the staging point for the northern Tanzania circuit and where most safari briefings take place. You are dropped at your Arusha hotel or the airport in the late afternoon.