7-Day Serengeti Migration Safari - Mara River Crossing

After breakfast your safari begins with a drive to Tarangire National Park, one of the most rewarding parks on the northern circuit. The park ranks fifth in size among Tanzania's national parks and is famous for its elephant population of over 6,000 individuals, its ancient giant baobab trees, and the Tarangire River — the only permanent water source in the area and a magnet for wildlife throughout the year. Elephants, lions, leopards, hyenas, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, and over 400 bird species including the endemic ash starling can all be seen here. A picnic lunch is served inside the park.

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 near Karatu

Meals: Lunch and Dinner

Depart for the Serengeti National Park, entering through the Naabi Hill Gate. The central Serengeti — the Seronera area — is famous for its year-round concentration of predators. Lions are regularly found on the granite kopjes, leopards in the acacia trees along the Seronera River, and cheetahs scanning the open grasslands. Elephants, giraffes, hippos, ostriches, jackals, and hyenas are also frequently spotted on afternoon drives.

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

Activity: Afternoon game drive in the central Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

After breakfast you enjoy a morning game drive in the central Serengeti, focusing on the Seronera area for predator sightings. Around midday, you drive north via the Retima Hippo Pool — home to hundreds of hippos — where you stop for lunch and enjoy one of the Serengeti's most memorable scenes. Continuing north through the Lobo area, wildlife becomes increasingly concentrated as the migration front approaches. Giraffes, elephants, buffalo, impalas, and a shifting horizon of wildebeest and zebra are encountered along the way.

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

Activity: Morning game drive in central Serengeti; en route drive north via Retima Hippo Pool

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in northern Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

An early start brings you to the Mara River for a full day of watching one of nature's greatest spectacles. During the peak migration period (July to October) vast columns of wildebeest and zebra mass at the riverbanks before making the crossing, chased by Nile crocodiles and stalked by lion prides on the far bank. Even outside the main crossing season, the northern Serengeti supports outstanding predator densities. Hippos, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, and — with luck — the endangered black rhino may also be encountered during the day.

Distance: Game drives along the Mara River corridor in northern Serengeti

Activity: Full-day Mara River game drives with morning and afternoon sessions

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in northern Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

A second day based in the northern Serengeti, with morning and afternoon game drives focused on the Mara River and its surrounding grasslands. No two days on the river are identical: predator hunts, new herd arrivals, and repeat crossing attempts by nervous wildebeest keep the action unpredictable and the sightings fresh. This extra day significantly improves the odds of witnessing a major river crossing event.

Distance: Game drives in the northern Serengeti Mara River zone

Activity: Full-day game drives along the Mara River

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in northern Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

After breakfast you depart camp with a picnic lunch and begin a long en route game drive southward through the Serengeti, passing through the Lobo area, Mbuzi Mawe, and the central plains. Lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, and giraffes are all commonly seen along this route. In the late afternoon you arrive at the Ngorongoro Conservation Area crater rim for dinner and overnight.

Distance: Approximately 250 km from northern Serengeti to Ngorongoro rim

Activity: En route game drive southward through the Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp on the Ngorongoro crater rim

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

After an early breakfast you descend 600 metres into the Ngorongoro Crater for a morning and midday game drive with a picnic lunch. The crater shelters around 30,000 animals within its walls, including the full Big Five: zebras, buffalo, lions, wildebeest, warthogs, baboons, elephants, flamingos, ostriches, hippos, and the rare black rhino are all regularly encountered. The dramatic caldera walls and shifting clouds create one of Africa's most striking landscapes. In the afternoon you drive back to Arusha.

Distance: Approximately 200 km from Ngorongoro to Arusha, around 3-4 hours after the crater drive

Activity: Ngorongoro Crater game drive with picnic lunch; transfer back to Arusha

Accommodation: N/A – departure day

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Extend your trip

Add a Zanzibar beach stay after your safari, or extend northward into Kenya. Explore our Serengeti safari packages and Ngorongoro itineraries for further options.