6-Day Tanzania Safari - Tarangire, Lake Natron, Serengeti & Ngorongoro

After arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport or your hotel in Arusha, you depart for Tarangire National Park for a full-day game drive. Tarangire covers a diverse landscape of nine distinct vegetation zones, with ancient baobab trees — some among the largest in Africa — dominating the skyline. The Tarangire River meanders through the park and is the only permanent water source, drawing extraordinary concentrations of elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, zebras, giraffes, and antelope throughout the year. A picnic lunch is taken at an observation point inside the park, where wildlife regularly gathers at the river.

Distance: Approximately 120 km from Arusha to Tarangire

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

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in Tarangire

Meals: Full Board

Departing after breakfast with packed lunches, the drive takes you approximately 3.5 hours from the Mto Wa Mbu area to Lake Natron. The lake is a highly alkaline, shallow body of water averaging just one metre in depth, and one of the most otherworldly natural environments in East Africa. After checking in at your lodge, you join a Maasai guide for a walk along the shoreline in search of lesser flamingos. Lake Natron is the most important and most consistent breeding site for lesser flamingos in all of East Africa, supporting up to two million birds during the breeding season (peak September to January). The walk also passes through striking volcanic landscape.

Distance: Approximately 170 km from Tarangire to Lake Natron, around 3.5 hours

Activity: Flamingo shoreline walk with a Maasai guide at Lake Natron

Accommodation: Lodge or camp at Lake Natron

Meals: Full Board

The day begins early at around 6:00 AM with a guided hike to the Ngare Sero waterfalls, a short walk through a scenic volcanic ravine where cool water cascades down the rock face. After returning to the lodge for breakfast, the drive heads west and south toward Serengeti National Park. The road passes through towns, villages, savannah, and forest, with occasional wildlife visible en route. You enter the Serengeti in the afternoon for your first game drive across the endless plains, with wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and lions all commonly encountered in the central area.

Distance: Approximately 250 km from Lake Natron to central Serengeti, around 4-5 hours

Activity: Morning hike to Ngare Sero waterfalls; afternoon game drive in the Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

A full day of game drives in the Serengeti. The central Seronera area is one of the most productive wildlife habitats in the park year-round, anchored by the Seronera River which provides a permanent water source and attracts a wide cross-section of the Serengeti's species. Lions are particularly well established here, with several resident prides easily found on the kopjes and riverine woodland. Leopards are regularly spotted in the acacia trees along the river. Cheetahs, elephants, giraffes, hippos, and vast herds of plains game round out a full day of sightings. Lunch is taken as a picnic in the field.

Distance: Game drives within Serengeti National Park

Activity: Full-day game drives in central Serengeti with morning and afternoon sessions

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

After breakfast you depart with a packed lunch and spend the morning on a final game drive through the central Serengeti. Your guide will focus on whichever game drive circuits have been most productive and tailor the morning to your specific wildlife interests. In the afternoon you transfer to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, arriving at the crater rim in the evening for dinner and overnight.

Distance: Approximately 145 km from Serengeti to the Ngorongoro crater rim

Activity: Morning game drive in Serengeti; afternoon transfer to Ngorongoro

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp on the Ngorongoro crater rim

Meals: Full Board

An early descent at around 6:30 AM into the Ngorongoro Crater — the world's largest intact, inactive volcanic caldera. The crater floor covers approximately 260 square kilometres at a depth of over 600 metres and is home to one of the highest densities of wildlife in Africa. A five-hour game drive on the crater floor gives excellent opportunities to see African elephants, buffalo, black rhino, hippos, hyenas, cheetahs, and lions. A picnic lunch is taken at the hippo pool before you ascend back to the rim. The drive back to Arusha takes approximately four hours, arriving by early evening.

Distance: Approximately 200 km from Ngorongoro to Arusha

Activity: Early crater descent; full game drive with picnic lunch; return to Arusha

Accommodation: N/A – departure day

Meals: Full Board

Extend your trip

Add extra nights in the Serengeti for migration season viewing, or combine this route with a Ngorongoro and Lake Eyasi cultural extension. For a longer version of this itinerary, see our 8-day Tarangire, Lake Natron and Serengeti safari.