5-day luxury safari

5 Days Luxury Tanzania Safari

Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire & Lake Manyara

Safari overview

This carefully designed 5-day luxury Tanzania safari offers an unforgettable journey through the highlights of the Northern Safari Circuit, combining spectacular wildlife encounters with diverse and breathtaking landscapes. Despite its shorter duration, this itinerary provides an enriching and immersive safari experience, allowing travellers to witness some of Africa’s most iconic national parks in comfort and style.

Day-by-day itinerary

Day 1 Arrival in TanzaniaWelcome to the Start of Your Safari

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) or Arusha Airport (ARK), you will be warmly welcomed by your private professional safari guide who will assist with your luggage and transfer you to your luxury hotel in Arusha.

The transfer takes approximately 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, offering your first introduction to Tanzania’s welcoming atmosphere, scenic landscapes, and views of Mount Meru on clear days.

Your overnight stay at Gran Meliá Arusha provides a relaxing and elegant start to your safari. Surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens and offering excellent service, the hotel allows you to unwind after your journey and prepare for the adventure beginning the following morning.

Stay
Gran Meliá Arusha

Meals
Bed & Breakfast
Day 2 Lake Manyara National ParkForest Wildlife and Rift Valley Scenery

After breakfast, your safari begins with a scenic drive of approximately 2 to 2.5 hours towards Lake Manyara National Park, located beneath the dramatic escarpment of the Great Rift Valley.

Lake Manyara is a beautiful and ecologically diverse park known for its lush groundwater forest, open plains, and shallow alkaline lake which attracts seasonal flamingos and a variety of water birds. The entrance of the park passes through a dense forest where large troops of baboons are often seen along the roadside, offering an exciting introduction to wildlife viewing.

The park is also famous for its tree-climbing lions, a rare behaviour occasionally observed as lions rest on branches of acacia trees. During your game drive of approximately 4–5 hours, you may also encounter elephants, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, hippos, blue monkeys, and numerous bird species.

After a picnic lunch in the park, you will continue the short drive to Karatu in the Ngorongoro Highlands, where cooler temperatures and green scenery create a peaceful environment for relaxation.

Stay
Kitela Lodge

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 3 Ngorongoro Crater & Serengeti National ParkBig Five and Endless Plains

After an early breakfast, you will depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, arriving at the crater rim where breathtaking views reveal the vast volcanic caldera below.

Descending approximately 600 metres into the crater floor offers one of the most rewarding wildlife experiences in Africa. The Ngorongoro Crater is home to one of the highest concentrations of wildlife on the continent, including lions, elephants, buffalo, zebras, wildebeest, gazelles, hyenas, hippos, and a rich variety of birdlife. The crater is also one of the best places in Tanzania to see the endangered black rhino.

After enjoying a picnic lunch inside the crater, you will ascend the crater walls and continue towards Serengeti National Park, with game viewing en route as the landscape gradually opens into vast golden plains.

Arriving in Serengeti in the late afternoon, you will proceed to your luxury tented lodge for dinner and overnight in the heart of the wilderness.

Stay
Kubu Kubu Luxury Tented Lodge

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 4 Serengeti National ParkWildlife in the Endless Savannah

After breakfast, you will enjoy a morning game drive across the remarkable Serengeti ecosystem, one of the most famous wildlife destinations in the world.

The Serengeti is home to extraordinary numbers of animals and offers excellent opportunities to observe predators such as lions, cheetahs, and leopards in their natural environment. The park’s diverse habitats support elephants, giraffes, buffalo, hyenas, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, and numerous antelope species.

Depending on the time of year, you may also encounter part of the Great Migration, when large herds of wildebeest and zebra move across the plains in search of fresh grazing.

After lunch, you will continue with an en-route game drive as you depart Serengeti towards the Ngorongoro Highlands, enjoying further wildlife sightings along the way.

Stay
Kitela Lodge

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Day 5 Tarangire National ParkElephants and Baobab Landscapes

After breakfast, you will depart for your final safari destination, Tarangire National Park, a drive of approximately 2 to 3 hours through scenic countryside.

Tarangire is famous for its iconic baobab trees and large populations of elephants, often seen gathering along the Tarangire River, which provides an essential water source for wildlife. The park offers a classic African safari landscape with open plains, acacia woodland, and seasonal swamps.

During your game drive of approximately 4–5 hours, you may encounter elephants, giraffes, zebras, buffalo, wildebeest, hartebeest, and numerous bird species. Lions and leopards are also present within the park’s ecosystem.

After an extensive game drive and picnic lunch, you will return to Arusha, a drive of approximately 2.5 hours, where you will be transferred to the airport for your onward flight or continue your journey to Zanzibar if desired.

This marks the end of your unforgettable 5-day luxury Tanzania safari, a journey filled with remarkable wildlife encounters and memorable landscapes.

Meals
Breakfast & Lunch