8-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 is celebrated for its vast landscape of nine vegetation zones, ancient baobab trees, and the Tarangire River — the park's only permanent water source, which draws extraordinary concentrations of wildlife. Elephants, lions, leopards, buffalo, zebras, giraffes, antelope, and over 500 bird species are all regularly encountered. A picnic lunch is taken at an observation point with river views.

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

A second full day in Tarangire allows for early morning drives when predators are most active, followed by midday exploration of the park's remote sectors. The Tarangire River corridor is particularly productive for elephant families, and the diverse vegetation zones — from open grassland to dense acacia woodland — support a wider variety of wildlife than any single-day visit can fully reveal. Lesser kudu, oryx, and gerenuk, which are rarely seen elsewhere in the northern circuit, are also found here.

Distance: Game drives within Tarangire National Park

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

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in Tarangire

Meals: Full Board

Departing after breakfast, the drive heads northwest to the surreal shores of Lake Natron. The lake is highly alkaline and unusually shallow — averaging just one metre in depth — and its vivid mineral-stained waters are one of East Africa's most striking natural spectacles. After arriving 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 consistent breeding site for lesser flamingos in East Africa, hosting up to two million birds during the breeding season (peak September to January).

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

Activity: Flamingo shoreline walk with a Maasai guide

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. After returning for breakfast, the drive heads toward Serengeti National Park. The journey passes through varied terrain — savannah, forest, and Maasai territory — with wildlife sometimes visible en route. You enter the Serengeti in the afternoon for your first game drive, with wildebeest, zebras, gazelles, and lions all commonly encountered in the central Seronera 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 central Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

The first of two full days exploring the Serengeti. The central Seronera area is one of the most wildlife-rich habitats in the park, anchored by the Seronera River which attracts a wide cross-section of the Serengeti's species. Lions are well established across the kopjes and riverine woodland; leopards can regularly be found in the acacia trees; and cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, elephants, and vast herds of plains game keep the drives varied throughout the day. Lunch is taken as a picnic in the field.

Distance: Game drives within Serengeti National Park

Activity: Full-day game drives in the central Serengeti

Accommodation: Lodge or tented camp in central Serengeti

Meals: Full Board

A second full day in the Serengeti provides the opportunity to explore different game drive circuits and seek out species or sightings not yet seen. Your guide will select circuits based on recent wildlife activity, ranging from the hippo pools and riverside woodland of the Seronera River to the open grasslands of the southern plains. Cheetah hunts, lion pride activity, and large aggregations of wildebeest and zebra are all regularly found across the central area.

Distance: Game drives within Serengeti National Park

Activity: Full-day game drives exploring different circuits in the central Serengeti

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, covering whichever circuits your guide recommends based on current wildlife conditions. 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 the 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 crater floor covers approximately 260 square kilometres and is home to one of the highest wildlife densities in Africa. A five-hour game drive offers excellent chances to see elephants, buffalo, black rhino, hippos, hyenas, cheetahs, and lions — including the black-maned males for which the crater is particularly well known. A picnic lunch is taken at the hippo pool before the ascent back to the rim and the four-hour drive to Arusha.

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 a Zanzibar beach extension after your safari, or include Lake Eyasi and Lake Manyara for an even fuller northern circuit. For a shorter 6-day version of this route, see our 6-day Tarangire, Lake Natron, Serengeti and Ngorongoro safari.