Trip Overview
This 4-day safari is an action-packed journey designed to showcase the diversity of Tanzania’s wildlife in a short timeframe. You will experience three distinctive ecosystems: the baobab-studded savannahs of Tarangire, known for its massive elephant herds; the lush groundwater forests and alkali shores of Lake Manyara; and the prehistoric Ngorongoro Crater, a natural enclosure for the Big Five. This itinerary offers a perfect blend of birds, big cats, and giants, culminating in a convenient drop-off at the airport for your journey home.
Highlights
Itinerary
Your Tanzanian adventure begins as you touch down at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), the gateway to the safari circuit. On a clear day, you may catch a glimpse of Mount Kilimanjaro’s snow-capped peak from the tarmac. You will be welcomed by a representative and transferred to your hotel in Arusha, a vibrant city nestled at the foot of Mount Meru. Depending on your arrival time, you safari briefing may take place today or early tomorrow meaning.
Meal: Dinner
Accommodation: Four Points by Sheraton Arusha
After breakfast, you will leave Arusha and drive southwest towards Tarangire National Park. As you enter the park, the landscape transforms into a dramatic vista of grassy savannah dotted with ancient, bulbous baobab trees and termite mounds. Known as the "Elephant Playground," this park hosts the largest concentration of elephants in the region. You will spend the day game driving, watching family herds dig for water in the riverbeds and spotting other residents like giraffes, wildebeest, and the rare fringe-eared oryx. You will overnight in a lodge within or near the park, surrounded by the sounds of the African bush.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Accommodation: Tarangire Sopa Lodge
On this day, you will drive a short distance to Lake Manyara National Park. Although smaller than other parks, Manyara is incredibly diverse. You will enter through a lush groundwater forest resembling a tropical jungle and teeming with baboons and blue monkeys before the landscape opens up into grassy floodplains and the alkali lake itself. Keep your eyes peeled for the park’s legendary tree-climbing lions resting in the acacia branches and the pink flocks of flamingos along the shoreline. In the late afternoon, you will ascend the Great Rift Valley escarpment to the town of Karatu, a cool, green agricultural hub where you will spend the night.
Meal: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Accommodation: Acacia Farm Lodge
You will start this final day very early to maximize your time in the crater. It is a short drive from Karatu to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area gate, where you will descend 600 meters to the crater floor. This ancient volcanic caldera is a self-contained ecosystem teeming with wildlife, including the Big Five. You will spend the morning exploring the crater floor, with high chances of spotting lions, hyenas, and the critically endangered Black Rhino. After a picnic lunch near the hippo pool, you will ascend the steep walls and begin the drive to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). The drive takes you past Arusha and on to the airport, arriving in the early evening.
Meal: Breakfast & Lunch
Includes/Excludes
Cost Included
- All accommodations
- All transportation (Unless labelled as optional)
- Meals (As specified in the day- by-day section)
- Taxes / VAT
- Activities (as specified in the day-by-day section)
- Park fees
- Professional guide
Cost Excluded
- Additional accommodation before and at the end of the tour
- International & Domestic flights
- Option Balloon Safari (On offer for US $ 550 per person)
- Personal items (Souvenirs, travel insurance, visa fees, etc.)
- Tips (Tipping guideline US$15.00 pp per day)
- Travel Insurance & Health Insurance
- Government imposed increase of taxes and/or park fees