8-Day Serengeti Migration Safari - Mara River Crossing

Morning pick-up from your hotel in Arusha or Moshi for the drive to Tarangire National Park, famous for large elephant herds, ancient baobab trees and a high concentration of wildlife along the Tarangire River. You'll enjoy a full game drive with a picnic lunch inside the park, then continue in the afternoon to your accommodation for dinner and overnight.

Distance: Approx. 120 km from Arusha, full day including game drive

Activity: Full-day game drive in Tarangire National Park

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in the Karatu area

Meals: Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast, you drive west through the Ngorongoro Highlands and descend onto the Serengeti plains via Naabi Hill Gate. You'll spend the afternoon on a game drive through the central Serengeti (Seronera area), known for its resident lion prides and high leopard density, before arriving at your lodge or tented camp for dinner and overnight.

Distance: Approx. 200 km, 4-5 hours driving plus afternoon game drive

Activity: En-route game drive into central Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After an early game drive around Seronera, you drive north toward the Mara River area, passing through the Lobo and Mbuzi Mawe regions, both known for excellent resident wildlife outside of migration season. The landscape opens into rolling hills as you approach the river. You arrive at your camp in the northern Serengeti in the afternoon, in good position for the next two days of river-crossing watches.

Distance: Approx. 100-120 km, half-day drive with game viewing along the way

Activity: Drive north via Lobo and Mbuzi Mawe, game viewing en route

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in northern Serengeti, near the Mara River

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

A full day positioned along the Mara River, watching for herds gathering on the riverbanks. When a crossing happens, it's one of the most intense wildlife spectacles in Africa: wildebeest and zebra plunging into the water in their thousands, Nile crocodiles waiting in the current, and lions, leopards and hyenas working the chaos on both banks. Between crossings, the northern Serengeti itself is excellent game-viewing territory, with good chances of elephant, giraffe, topi and eland alongside the predators that follow the herds.

Distance: Game drives along the river, distances vary by herd movements

Activity: Full-day river-crossing watch and game drive along the Mara River

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in northern Serengeti, near the Mara River (second night)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

A second full day in the same area, since crossings don't follow a schedule, an extra day meaningfully improves your chances of witnessing one, or of seeing a different stretch of river if the herds have moved overnight. Your guide stays in contact with other guides in the area to track where the herds are gathering. Even without a crossing, this is some of the least-visited and most rewarding game-viewing territory in the Serengeti.

Distance: Game drives along the river, distances vary by herd movements

Activity: Second full-day river-crossing watch and game drive

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in northern Serengeti, near the Mara River (third night)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After a final morning game drive, you begin the long drive south, retracing the route via Lobo, Mbuzi Mawe and the central Serengeti with a picnic lunch and game viewing along the way, lion, cheetah, leopard, elephant and giraffe are all possible on this stretch. You exit the park at Naabi Hill and continue into the Ngorongoro Highlands, arriving at a lodge near the crater rim in the evening.

Distance: Approx. 250-280 km, full day driving with game viewing en route

Activity: Long drive south through central Serengeti with game viewing, on to Ngorongoro

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp near the Ngorongoro crater rim

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

After an early breakfast, you descend over 600 metres into the Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site sheltering close to 30,000 animals within its enclosed walls, including the Big Five. Zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, warthog, hippo, flamingo and one of Tanzania's most reliable black rhino populations are all found on the crater floor, with the changing light on the crater walls adding to the spectacle. After a picnic lunch, you ascend the rim road and return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.

Distance: Crater floor game drive, then return to your lodge

Activity: Full Ngorongoro Crater floor game drive

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp near the Ngorongoro crater rim (second night)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

After breakfast, drive to Lake Manyara National Park, a narrow strip of park squeezed between the Manyara escarpment and the lake shore, known for its lush groundwater forest, large troops of baboons, flamingos, and the tree-climbing lions that rest in the branches of acacia and sausage trees during the heat of the day. After a game drive through the park, you exit in the afternoon and continue to Arusha or Moshi, or transfer to the airport as arranged.

Distance: Approx. 1.5-2 hours from Karatu to Lake Manyara, then 1.5-2 hours back to Arusha

Activity: Game drive in Lake Manyara National Park, then return to Arusha/Moshi

Accommodation: N/A, end of safari

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Extend your trip

• Travelling outside July to October? Our 7-Day Tanzania Lodge Safari covers the same core parks on a route built for year-round game viewing.
• Want to add the Mara on the Kenyan side too? Ask us about combining this itinerary with our 3-Day Maasai Mara Safari for a cross-border migration experience.
• Combining with a Kilimanjaro climb or a Zanzibar beach stay? This safari pairs well as a pre- or post-climb add-on, ask us about a combined itinerary.