This 8-day tour will give you the best chance to visit all the famous national parks in the Northern circuit of Tanzania, including Lake Natron. In 8 days, you will visit Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, the famous Serengeti plains and Lake Natron. This tour includes all accommodations, meals, and transportation. Accommodation on the last day can be arranged upon request.
8-Day Authentic Tanzania Safari
This 8-day tour will give you the best chance to visit all the famous national parks in the Northern circuit of Tanzania, including Lake Natron. In 8 days, you will visit Tarangire National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, the famous Serengeti plains and Lake Natron. This tour includes all accommodations, meals, and transportation. Accommodation on the last day can be arranged upon request.
We pick you up from Kilimanjaro or Arusha Airport and drive to your hotel in Arusha for check-in. Then, depending on your arrival time, we drive into Arusha town to explore (this activity is free and optional). Arusha is situated at the foot of Mount Meru and is the most famous city as a gateway to the Northern safari circuit. You will overnight at the Green Mountain Hotel.
We will pick you up from your hotel after breakfast and drive you to Tarangire National Park for a morning game viewing. Have a picnic lunch, then go for a game drive in the afternoon. The vast number of baobabs will catch your eye as you enter Tarangire National Park. The gently rolling countryside is dotted with these majestic trees, which seem to dwarf the animals that feed beneath them. Herds of up to 300 elephants roam in the park with the migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest, and eland. You will overnight at Eileen's Trees Inn in Karatu town.
We will depart for Serengeti National Park via the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We will drive down to the Ngorongoro Crater for morning game viewing and a picnic lunch. The Ngorongoro Crater is also known as the Eighth Wonder of the World. This heritage center shelters the most beautiful wildlife heaven on earth. Ngorongoro has over 20,000 large animals, including some of Tanzania's last remaining black rhinos, protected within its rim.
After lunch, you will do a game-viewing drive on the way out and exit the crater through the Ngorongoro Crater rim forest to the Serengeti plains. You will overnight at Osero Serengeti Tented Camp in the park.
Today, we have a full day in the park. After breakfast, with your lunch box, we depart for a morning game drive on the northwestern Serengeti plains. After the picnic lunch, we have a late afternoon game drive on the way to your hotel in the south-central part of the Serengeti. We will overnight at Osero Serengeti Tented Camp in the park.
Today is our last day in the Serengeti plains. After breakfast, we depart for game viewing in Serengeti National Park on our way out of the park. We will then go on a morning game drive in the northeastern Serengeti towards the Loliondo area. We will drive to Lake Natron for the night and overnight at Maasai Giraffe Eco Lodge in the park.
After breakfast, we will meet our guide to start a 2-hour cultural tour. We will explore the local Maasai villages and culture and then return for lunch and a restful afternoon. After lunch, we can go for an afternoon walk or enjoy the swimming pool. We will have a relaxed day and overnight at Maasai Giraffe Eco Lodge.
After breakfast, we will do a slow 2 to 4-hour guided walk to Lake Natron. Lying in a beautifully scenic area below the Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Natron has such a high concentration of sodium that the water is often viscous to the touch. There is a good chance to see some wildlife and birding in this harsh landscape with dry country species such as kudu and oryx. We might occasionally see giraffe and zebra. Lake Natron is also the only known breeding ground for East Africa's millions of lesser flamingos, which cover the lake between August and October. We will overnight at the Green Mountain Hotel.
After breakfast, we will pick you up and drive to Arusha town to explore or to Kilimanjaro International Airport for departure, depending on your flight departure time.