8-Day Tanzania Wildlife & Cultural Safari - Serengeti & Eyasi

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) you are collected by your driver-guide and transferred to your hotel in Arusha. Depending on your arrival time you may have the opportunity to explore Arusha town and its vibrant market. The evening is free for relaxation ahead of an early start the following morning.

Distance: Approximately 75 km from the airport to Arusha

Activity: Transfer and orientation

Accommodation: Hotel in Arusha

Meals: Dinner and Overnight

After an early breakfast you drive to Tarangire National Park. Covering approximately 2,600 square kilometres, Tarangire is celebrated for its dense elephant population — home to around 2,500 individuals — and its iconic giant baobab trees. The Tarangire River is the only permanent water source in the park and draws extraordinary concentrations of wildlife during the dry season. Elephants, lions, zebras, wildebeest, buffalo, warthogs, and an impressive 550-plus bird species are all regularly encountered. Tarangire is also one of the few places in Tanzania where oryx and gerenuk can be seen.

Distance: Approximately 120 km from Arusha, around 2 hours

Activity: Full-day game drives in Tarangire with picnic lunch

Accommodation: Lodge or camp near Karatu

Meals: Dinner and Overnight

After breakfast you drive to the Serengeti National Park, passing through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area highlands. You reach the Serengeti gate around midday and enjoy a packed lunch at the entrance before beginning your afternoon game drive. The central Serengeti — known as the Seronera area — offers reliable year-round wildlife viewing, with lions, leopards, cheetahs, and large herds of elephant and plains game all regularly encountered.

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

Activity: En route game drive and afternoon game drive in the Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Dinner and Overnight

A full day exploring the Serengeti at leisure. Morning drives focus on the watering holes and hippo pools of the Seronera area, where predators are often found in the early hours. At midday you enjoy a bush picnic on the open plains before continuing afternoon game drives through one of the world's greatest concentrations of grazing animals.

Distance: Game drives within Serengeti National Park

Activity: Full-day game drives with morning and afternoon sessions; picnic lunch in the Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

After breakfast you begin with a morning game drive in the Serengeti before travelling to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area via Olduvai Gorge, one of the world's most significant paleoanthropological sites. You arrive at the crater rim in the late afternoon, in time for dinner and an early night before tomorrow's crater descent.

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

Activity: Morning game drive; en route stop at Olduvai Gorge; transfer to Ngorongoro

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp on the Ngorongoro crater rim

Meals: Dinner and Overnight

After breakfast you descend into the Ngorongoro Crater for a full-day game drive. The crater floor is home to one of the highest densities of wildlife in Africa and offers excellent chances to encounter lions — including the famous black-maned males — the rare black rhino, elephants, buffalo, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and a wide variety of antelope and waterbirds including flamingos. In the late afternoon you ascend back to the rim and drive to Karatu for the evening.

Distance: Within the crater, approximately 20 km across; Karatu is around 20 km from the crater rim

Activity: Full-day crater game drive with picnic lunch

Accommodation: Lodge or camp near Karatu

Meals: Dinner and Overnight

After breakfast your guide drives you to Lake Eyasi for a cultural encounter with the Hadzabe, one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer communities in East Africa. Accompanied by a local Hadzabe guide, you walk into the bush to witness and take part in traditional hunting practices. You also visit the Datoga, semi-nomadic pastoralists and skilled blacksmiths who forge knives and arrowheads that they trade with the Hadzabe. The shores of Lake Eyasi are also a birding highlight, with colourful species found along the water's edge.

Distance: Approximately 60 km from Karatu to Lake Eyasi

Activity: Guided cultural walk with the Hadzabe; Datoga community visit

Accommodation: Lodge or camp near Karatu

Meals: Full Board

After breakfast you drive to Lake Manyara National Park for a game drive with a picnic lunch. The park's varied habitats — from lush groundwater forest to open alkaline lake shore — support one of the highest concentrations of elephants in northern Tanzania, the famous tree-climbing lions, large flocks of flamingos, and a wide range of other wildlife. Following the game drive, you visit a Maasai community for a cultural introduction before driving back to Arusha or Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight.

Distance: Approximately 130 km from Karatu to Arusha via Lake Manyara

Activity: Game drive in Lake Manyara with picnic lunch; Maasai community visit; transfer to Arusha or airport

Accommodation: N/A – departure day

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Extend your trip

Add a Zanzibar beach extension after your safari, or combine this tour with a climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Explore our full range of Serengeti safari packages and Ngorongoro itineraries for further options.