5-Day Best of Tanzania Safari Northern Circuit

With this 5-day Tanzania Lodge and Tented Camp Safari, we can discover the top attractions of the Northern Safari Circuit.

Starting Date - Any Date
Starting Point - Arusha
Ending Point - Arusha
Customizable? - Yes
Type - Budget
Accommodation Level - Lodge & Tented Camp

Destination:

Tarangire, Ngorongoro , Serengeti & Lake Manyara .

Detailed Tour Itinerary:

5-Day Best of Tanzania Safari Northern Circuit

Day 1 Arrival in Arusha

You will be picked up from the airport by a Major Treks representative and conveyed to your accommodation in Arusha where you will overnight, relax, and prepare in anticipation of the adventures to come.

DAY 2

Tarangire National Park

Our safari guide will pick us up from the lodge after breakfast for a two-hour drive to Tarangire National Park. The park is famous for its elephant herds, savannah, baobab trees, and seasonal swamps, all centered around the Tarangire River. The river is a popular spot for animals to gather, including giraffes, bushbucks, and hartebeest. We may also see buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest, who are closely monitored by predators such as Simba the King and his cousin, the leopard. Throughout the day, we’ll observe the wildlife and soak in the landscape from the open roof of our state-of-the-art Safari Truck. We’ll also enjoy a varied picnic lunch, complete with coffee and soft drinks. At the end of a full day of exploration, we’ll head to our accommodation for dinner in beautiful surroundings before retiring to our comfortable quarters at our leisure.

DAY 3

Ngorongoro Crater – Serengeti National Park

Following an early morning meal, we set off towards the Ngorongoro Crater, which is the largest volcanic caldera in the world, spanning almost 20km in width and approximately 600m in depth. The caldera is renowned for its rich and varied wildlife and was formed after the eruption of a volcano some three million years ago. At one point in time, it was taller than Mount Kilimanjaro. The caldera is a self-contained paradise and boasts an abundance of the finest animal life on the planet, including the Big Five. The numerous springs in the area also attract other animals, such as wildebeest, gazelle, reedbuck, and over 500 species of birds. We depart for the Serengeti at approximately 2:00 p.m. and reach our destination, a top-grade tented camp, at approximately 6:00 p.m. The Serengeti National Park, known as the “Endless Plain” in Maa, the language of the Maasai people, is the largest park in Tanzania and is home to a variety of landscapes and habitats, such as grassy plains, swamps, lakes, savannahs, and mountains, along with the creatures that inhabit them.

DAY 4

Serengeti – Karatu

We will enjoy another early morning meal before embarking on a game drive around 6:30 am, spending approximately 6-7 hours exploring the amazing Serengeti National Park. The park is home to a plethora of wildlife, including impalas, buffalos, crocodiles, and hippos. However, it is most renowned for its large migrating herds of zebras (250,000), wildebeests (1.5 million!), and antelopes (500,000). The animals’ migration patterns are determined by rainfall and vary from year to year. In addition to the migrating herds, we may encounter predators, such as leopards, cheetahs, and lions, carrying out their predatory activities. We will head back to Karatu for an overnight stay at approximately 2:00 p.m.

DAY 5

Lake Manyara National Park to Arusha

After enjoying breakfast, we embark on a brief drive to Lake Manyara National Park. Located 120km to the west of Arusha, Manyara is a relatively small yet varied park, named after the shallow salt lake that covers around seventy percent of its lands. The soda lake floods and dries out seasonally and serves as a habitat for thousands of flamingos and over 500 other bird species. During our tour of the park, we will encounter various animals, including monkeys, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, buffalos, elephants, and, with some luck, lions lazing in the trees. The park’s diverse landscapes include not only open grassy plains but also primate-filled woodlands and cliffs dotted with baobab trees. Following lunch, we return to Arusha, and unfortunately, our adventure comes to an end, with our arrival scheduled for around 5:00 p.m.