6-Day Tanzania Safari: Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro Crater & Serengeti Adventure

Day 1 – Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park

Depart Arusha in the morning and travel to Lake Manyara, arriving in time for lunch. Stretching for 50 km along the base of the rusty-gold, 600-metre-high Rift Valley escarpments, Lake Manyara is a true scenic gem. Ernest Hemingway described it as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa.”
The compact game-viewing circuit offers a microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience, with forests, lakeshores, and floodplains teeming with wildlife. Enjoy an afternoon game drive to explore the park.
Meals and overnight at a lodge.

Day 2 – Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Start the day with a morning game drive in Lake Manyara. After breakfast, depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, arriving in time for lunch.
Descend 2,000 feet to the crater floor in a 4×4 vehicle for an afternoon game drive. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders, celebrated for its dramatic scenery and high density of wildlife. It borders Serengeti National Park to the north and west and forms part of Tanzania’s northern safari circuit.
Dinner and overnight at a lodge.

Day 3 – Full Day in Ngorongoro Crater

After breakfast, descend again into the crater for a full-day exploration, including a picnic lunch on the crater floor.
Also called “the eighth wonder of the world”, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers approximately 8,300 sq km and combines stunning landscapes, abundant wildlife, Maasai culture, and rich archaeological heritage.
The crater’s volcanoes, grasslands, forests, and wetlands support a remarkable variety of animals, including lions, elephants, buffalo, hyenas, and the endangered black rhino.
In the evening, ascend to the lodge for dinner and overnight.

Day 4 – Ngorongoro to Serengeti via Olduvai Gorge

After breakfast, depart for the Serengeti, passing through Olduvai Gorge—the site where the Leakey family discovered fossils of early humans and animals dating back nearly two million years.
The Serengeti ecosystem is among the oldest on Earth, with its climate, vegetation, and wildlife largely unchanged for over a million years. Life, death, migration, and adaptation here have followed ancient patterns for millennia.
Meals and overnight at a lodge in the Serengeti.

Day 5 – Full Day in the Serengeti

Spend a full day exploring the Serengeti Plains with morning and afternoon game drives.
The park is renowned for the Great Migration, when over a million wildebeest and approximately 200,000 zebras move south to the plains during the short rains in October–November, then return north after the long rains in April–June.
Their instinct to migrate is so strong that no drought, gorge, or crocodile-infested river can stop them, making this one of the most spectacular wildlife events in the world.
Meals and overnight at a lodge.

Day 6 – Serengeti to Arusha

After breakfast, depart the Serengeti and return to Arusha, arriving in time for lunch. Arusha serves as the gateway to Tanzania’s northern safari circuit and is the ideal starting point for onward travel.