6-Day Serengeti Migration Safari - Mara River & Ngorongoro

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport you are met by your guide and transferred to your hotel in Arusha, Tanzania's safari gateway city at the foot of Mount Meru. Check in and relax after your journey. Your guide will brief you on the itinerary and what to expect during the safari, covering the Great Migration, wildlife spotting tips, photography guidance, and park safety regulations.

Distance: Approximately 75 km from Kilimanjaro Airport to Arusha

Activity: Transfer and evening safari briefing

Accommodation: Hotel in Arusha

Meals: Half Board

After breakfast you depart for Tarangire National Park, famous for its giant baobab trees and large elephant herds. A full-day game drive with a picnic lunch inside the park gives you time to observe elephant families, tree-climbing pythons, lions, leopards, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, and the seasonal swamps that attract a remarkable diversity of wildlife. In the late afternoon you drive to your lodge or campsite for dinner and overnight.

Distance: Approximately 120 km from Arusha to Tarangire, around 2 hours

Activity: Full-day game drive in Tarangire National Park with picnic lunch

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in Tarangire

Meals: Full Board

After breakfast you depart for the Serengeti National Park via the scenic Ngorongoro highlands, passing Maasai villages along the way. You enter the park through Naabi Hill Gate and begin an afternoon game drive in the Seronera region, one of the most wildlife-productive areas of the Serengeti year-round. Lions resting under acacia trees, cheetahs scanning the plains, elephants, giraffes, and large herds of zebra and wildebeest are all regularly encountered.

Distance: Approximately 200 km from Tarangire to central Serengeti, around 4 hours

Activity: Afternoon game drive in the central Serengeti Seronera area

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

An early morning game drive in the central Serengeti before heading north toward the Mara River. The northern Serengeti is the focal point of the Great Migration river crossings (July to October), when hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra brave crocodile-filled waters. The afternoon game drive focuses on the Mara River zone, where wildebeest crossings, lion prides, leopards in riverine forest, elephants, and buffalo may all be encountered.

Distance: Approximately 100 km from central to northern Serengeti, around 2-3 hours

Activity: Morning game drive in central Serengeti; afternoon game drive at the Mara River

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in northern Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

A full day in the northern Serengeti with morning and afternoon game drives focused on the Mara River and the surrounding grasslands. This is the prime viewing area for the Great Migration river crossings, along with high concentrations of Nile crocodiles, lion prides, and leopards along the riverine forest. In the late afternoon you exit the Serengeti and travel south, arriving at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area crater rim for dinner and overnight.

Distance: Approximately 250 km from northern Serengeti to Ngorongoro crater rim, around 4-5 hours

Activity: Morning game drives at the Mara River; afternoon transfer to Ngorongoro

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp on the Ngorongoro crater rim

Meals: Full Board

After an early breakfast you descend 600 metres into the Ngorongoro Crater for a half-day game drive. This UNESCO World Heritage Site contains one of the highest wildlife densities in Africa. You may encounter black rhinos, lions, hyenas, large elephant bulls, hippos in freshwater pools, and seasonal flamingo flocks. After lunch, you drive back to Arusha and transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your departure flight.

Distance: Approximately 200 km from Ngorongoro to Arusha/airport

Activity: Half-day Ngorongoro Crater game drive; return to Arusha and airport transfer

Accommodation: N/A – departure day

Meals: Half Board

Extend your trip

Add a Zanzibar beach stay at the end of your safari, or upgrade to our 7-day migration safari for an extra day at the Mara River. For a full northern circuit with cultural experiences, see our 8-day Tanzania wildlife and cultural safari.