8 Day Tanzania Northern Circuit Safari

Arusha to Tarangire National Park

Meet your BLS Safaris driver in Arusha after breakfast and travel towards Tarangire. Allow around 2.5 to 3 hours to reach the park, depending on traffic and stops. Complete the entry formalities and begin your first game drive.

Follow tracks between baobabs, grassland and river woodland. Watch elephants feeding among the trees and look for giraffes, zebras, buffaloes and antelopes. In dry conditions, the river becomes an important place to search for drinking animals.

Stop for lunch and continue the afternoon game drive. Your driver will leave time with sightings before taking you to Tarangire Simba Lodge outside the park for dinner and your first overnight.

Morning Tarangire drive and Lake Manyara safari

Have an early breakfast and return to Tarangire for a shorter morning drive. Search the river corridor and nearby woodland before leaving for Lake Manyara.

Allow around 1.5 to 2 hours for the road transfer between the park areas, with extra time for gate formalities and stops. Have lunch before your afternoon drive through Lake Manyara National Park .

The landscape changes to groundwater forest beneath the Rift Valley escarpment. Watch baboons along the tracks, blue monkeys in the canopy and elephants moving between the trees.

Look across the open areas for buffaloes and giraffes, and scan suitable trees for resting lions. Flamingo numbers depend on lake conditions. After the drive, continue to Country Lodge Karatu for dinner and overnight.

Karatu through the highlands to central Serengeti

Leave Karatu after breakfast and travel through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Climb into the cooler highlands, then continue towards the open country leading into Serengeti National Park .

Allow around 5 to 7 hours to reach central Serengeti, with timing affected by road conditions, gate stops and animal sightings. Carry lunch for the journey.

Once inside the park, the approach to your lodge becomes a game drive. Watch the grasslands for zebras, gazelles and wildebeest, then check the kopjes and shaded areas for predators.

Arrive at Serengeti Safari Lodge, settle in and have dinner. The next 2 days are kept free of long transfers so you can spend more time on the game tracks.

Full day central Serengeti game drive

Set off after an early breakfast for a full day in the Serengeti. Carry a picnic lunch so the route can extend beyond the areas close to your lodge.

Search open grassland for cheetahs and lions, scan rocky kopjes and follow river valleys where leopards use trees and thicker cover. Elephants, giraffes, buffaloes and grazing herds add plenty to watch between cat sightings.

Your driver will use recent animal activity to shape the day. Spend time watching feeding, resting and movement instead of rushing between distant sightings.

Stop at a designated picnic area for lunch and continue the afternoon drive before returning for dinner and your second Serengeti night.

Another Serengeti day and seasonal herd searches

Spend another full day on game drives, returning to promising areas or taking a different route through the central plains. Having a second day allows you to follow fresh activity without moving accommodation.

When migrating herds are within reach of the central Serengeti, spend time with the wildebeest and zebras. Predators can follow these concentrations, while resident animals remain part of the search throughout the year.

Keep your binoculars ready for secretary birds, vultures, rollers and other birds along the tracks. Break for lunch and continue game viewing through the afternoon before returning to the lodge.

Morning Serengeti drive and transfer to Karatu

Take a final morning drive after an early breakfast. Follow the route towards the park exit, stopping for animals along the way before continuing through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The plains gradually give way to cooler highland scenery. Allow several hours for the transfer, with additional time for game viewing, entry formalities and lunch. Your driver will plan the departure around the day's road conditions.

Continue to Ngorongoro Farm House in the Karatu area. Check in and rest after the journey. Before dinner, confirm tomorrow's early departure for the crater.

Ngorongoro Crater game drive

Leave early after breakfast with a packed lunch. Travel through the conservation area to the crater rim, then descend to the floor for your game drive.

Search the grasslands for zebras, wildebeest, buffaloes and gazelles. Watch lions and hyenas near the herds, then check the marshes and woodland edges for elephants and other animals.

Scan the open ground for black rhinos and keep binoculars close for more distant sightings. Around the pools and lake margins, look for hippos and waterbirds.

Have your picnic lunch at an authorised stop. Continue game viewing within the permitted crater visit, then ascend to the rim and return to Ngorongoro Farm House for dinner.

Karatu to Arusha, end of safari

Enjoy breakfast before checking out and beginning the return drive to Arusha. Allow about 3 to 4 hours, depending on stops, traffic and your final drop-off point.

An optional community visit can be arranged along the route at an additional cost. Keep enough time for the visit if you also have a flight that day.

Your safari ends at your agreed Arusha hotel or drop-off point. Transfers to Arusha Airport or Kilimanjaro International Airport can be added to match your onward travel.

For time beside the ocean after the safari, compare our Tanzania safari and Zanzibar holiday . Flights and beach accommodation are arranged separately from this 8 day road safari.