5 Days Memorable Tanzania Safari

After a short morning briefing you are driven to Tarangire National Park. With its endless tree savannah, impressive baobabs and seasonal marshes, the park is home to the largest elephant herds in northern Tanzania. You are also likely to spot giraffe, buffalo, lion, zebra, wildebeest (gnu) and other antelopes and gazelles.

At the park your guide opens the roof of the vehicle and the game viewing begins. Lunch is at a picnic spot, and in the afternoon you see more of the park before driving back to your accommodation late in the day.

After breakfast you head towards the Rift Valley, passing through Mto wa Mbu and Karatu in the cooler crater highlands. You enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and stop for a short look into the crater from the viewpoint.

Continuing around the crater rim, you descend the other side, enjoying a free 'African massage' on the bumpy road, past Maasai villages on your way to Serengeti National Park. At Naabi Hill entrance gate you can walk up to a viewpoint with wide views over the Serengeti savannah. You then continue to the Seronera area in the central Serengeti. The park is home to a wealth of wildlife, including the Big Five – lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard. Lunch is taken on the way.

After breakfast you spend the whole day on a game drive in the Serengeti, with lunch at a picnic spot. Depending on the time of year, you may witness the Great Migration, with vast herds of wildebeest, zebra and Thomson's gazelle.

During the short rains in October and November, the herds typically move from Kenya's Masai Mara through the north-west of the Serengeti to the southern plains. After the long rains in April, May and June, they slowly travel back through the western and north-western Serengeti. Rainfall varies, so this timetable can change and the animals may move at different times and by different routes. Your guide will do his utmost to find them and make sure you see them from the best spot in the park. The migration also draws predators, and with luck you may see a kill.

After breakfast at daybreak you set off early from the Serengeti back to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, leaving the Seronera Valley behind. Predators are more active in the cooler hours, so you may see them in action. Lunch is taken on the way at a designated picnic spot.

At the crater's edge the 19 km-diameter caldera opens up before you, and you descend to the floor on an adventurous track. This World Heritage Site is seasonally home to over 25,000 animals, including a wide variety of birds, hyenas and the Big Five – lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard. You leave the crater by a different road.

Today you can also stop at Olduvai Gorge for photographs, with your guide explaining its story. In the evening, after your game drive, you drive to Karatu for dinner and the night.

After a relaxed breakfast you return to Arusha, arriving around noon, with lunch on the way. If you are combining this safari with Zanzibar, you can fly from the local Arusha Airport or from Kilimanjaro International Airport.