7-Day Tanzania Family Safari: Tarangire, Ngorongoro & Serengeti

Day-by-day itinerary

Route: Arusha → Tarangire → Karatu → Ngorongoro Crater → Serengeti → Arusha

1. Day 1

   Arrival in Arusha

   Meet the team and settle into the confirmed family-room arrangement, keeping the first day free of unnecessary road travel. Arusha is 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. This is a joining departure, so the safari vehicle is shared with other guests. Dinner and overnight are at your hotel in Arusha.

2. Day 2

   Arusha to Tarangire

   Breakfast is taken before you set out from Arusha for the drive to Tarangire, driving south-west from Arusha through Maasai grazing country. You arrive in time to settle in, and the day continues with a game drive across rolling country of ancient baobabs, seasonal swamps and the year-round Tarangire River. There is the possibility of seeing large elephant herds, zebra, wildebeest, eland and a notably rich birdlife, depending on movement and conditions on the day. In the dry season the Tarangire River draws wildlife from a wide area, and the park is famous for its baobab-studded landscape. Dinner is served at your Tarangire camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

3. Day 3

   Tarangire to Karatu

   You leave Tarangire after breakfast and head for Karatu, climbing the forested crater highlands to the rim viewpoint. After check-in and a chance to freshen up, you head out into 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. Dinner and overnight are at your camp or lodge in Karatu.

4. Day 4

   Ngorongoro Crater to Serengeti

   Following an early breakfast, the day begins with the road transfer from Ngorongoro Crater to Serengeti, crossing the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and descending onto the open plains. Lunch and check-in come first, then an afternoon drive through vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. Look for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra as the light softens through the afternoon. 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 is served at your Serengeti camp or lodge, where you spend the night.

5. Day 5

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Use manageable morning and afternoon drives with a lodge or camp break during the hotter middle hours. Much of the day is spent among vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses. Keep watch for lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra as you move between the different habitats. 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. Dinner and overnight are again at your Serengeti camp or lodge.

6. Day 6

   Full-Day Serengeti Safari

   Explore another area at a pace shaped by family interest and current wildlife movement, without chasing a fixed sightings list. The drives cover vast short-grass plains broken by granite kopjes and seasonal watercourses, moving between habitats as conditions change. Species commonly associated with the area include lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe and immense herds of wildebeest and zebra. 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. Dinner and overnight are again at your Serengeti camp or lodge.

7. Day 7

   Serengeti to Arusha

   After breakfast you leave Serengeti and travel on toward Arusha, continuing through the farmland and Maasai country below Mount Meru. You reach Arusha in the afternoon, with the final stretch of road giving time to look back over the journey. 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.