Our affordable private Tanzania Safari is a winner if you are on a budget, or short on time, and don't want to camp.
First, this wildlife safari visits Lake Manyara National Park, renowned for its tree-climbing lions, beautiful scenery, and rich birdlife. From Lake Manyara, we drive into the Tanzanian highlands where we enjoy spectacular views. Next, we explore the legendary Serengeti National Park, staying in the Seronera region famous for its exceptional big cat sightings. Then we go game viewing in the celebrated Ngorongoro Crater home to Africa's Big 5 and an abundance of other wildlife. We then take a scenic journey via the Great Rift Valley from Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha.
This budget African safari offers an unforgettable wildlife adventure to leading Tanzania safari destinations with comfortable tented lodge stays.
This 4-day Tanzania Safari explores three of Tanzania's best wildlife parks. First, you'll travel to Lake Mayara, then Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater, all of which are located on the Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit.
Our Tanzania Safari starts with a short tour briefing in Arusha before we set off west to Lake Manyara National Park. Our first Tanzania safari destination, this compact national park is one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in Tanzania. Our drive takes us through the scenic landscapes of northern Tanzania, via the diverse village of Mto wa Mbu, into the Great Rift Valley.
This afternoon we embark on the first wildlife adventure of our Tanzania Safari. We explore the beautiful Lake Manyara Park on a 4x4 game drive, enjoying the stunning scenery and spotting wildlife. This national park lies in the Great Rift Valley, along the base of the steep Rift Valley escarpment, incorporating shallow soda lake and woodland areas. Our game drive is conducted in an open-topped safari vehicle, ideal for wildlife and bird watching. The diverse national park is dominated by Lake Manyara, an alkaline Great Rift Valley lake. Lake Manyara attracts a wide variety of waterbirds with over 400 bird species recorded here. Sightings include migrant species and water birds, such as cormorants, geese, pelicans, and storks. In some seasons, flamingoes flock to the lake in the thousands.
Lake Mayara National Park is famous for its tree-climbing lions, massive baboon troops, and abundance of elephants, including big bull elephants with impressive tusks. Other animals that we might come across include buffalos, cheetahs, wildebeest, zebras, Masai giraffes, hippos, monkeys, and various antelope species. There are also plenty of warthogs, hippos, mongooses, monkeys, and some elusive leopards.
In the late afternoon, we leave lovely Lake Manyara and drive to our nearby lodge on the edge of the Great Rift Valley escarpment. Settle in at the comfortable tented lodge and admire the breathtaking views of Lake Mayara and the Great Rift Valley below.
Day two begins with breakfast at the tented lodge overlooking the Rift Valley. Then our affordable Tanzania Safari travels to Serengeti National Park via the Ngorongoro highlands of Tanzania. Along the way, you can see the farmlands of the Iraqw people where wheat, coffee, and corn are grown. Then we pass the Ngorongoro Crater before dipping down to the plains of Serengeti.
At about noon we enter Tanzania's top wildlife park and get our first taste of the legendary Serengeti Plains. Tanzania's largest and most famous national park, the Serengeti National Park is often rated as the best safari destination in Africa. This diverse wildlife park hosts prolific animal life throughout the year. It incorporates a diversity of vegetation zones, habitats, and landscapes in northern Tanzania, bordering Masai Mara in Kenya. En route to our tented camp, we drive through some of the many habitats of Serengeti, which range from grassy plains and savannahs to dense scrub, wetlands, and lakes. You'll see the strange rocky outcrops (known as kopjes) dotting the open plains where wildlife abounds.
Depending on the time of year you may witness the Great Migration in Serengeti National Park. This world-famous wildlife spectacle sees thousands of herbivores move between Serengeti and Masai Mara every year. If you are on safari during the short rainy season in November and December you may see the herds migrating from the northern hills to the southern plains. This movement of the herds depends on the rainfall in any given year and thus both the exact locations and the timing of the migration varies. Your experienced guide takes you to the best places in Serengeti to see wildlife at the time of your safari, ensuring that you get the most out of your time, whether or not you catch the migration.
Tonight we stay at a comfortable tented safari camp in central Serengeti, a region renowned for its superb big cat sightings and abundance of other wildlife.
On day three of our short Tanzania Safari, we venture back out into Serengeti National Park on a thrilling early morning game drive. Witness a serene sunrise over the wide Serengeti Plains while we watch wildlife roaming the bush in the early morning light.
In the Seronera region of central Serengeti herds of wildebeest, zebras, and other grazers are often seen nearby prowling predators. With luck, we may spot lions, cheetahs, and even leopards while in Serengeti National Park.
After our rewarding game drive, we return to our tented camp for a hearty breakfast. Then we make our way out of Serengeti, scanning the plains for wildlife as we go. Leaving the magnificent Serengeti Plains we drive up into the highlands and our final Tanzania safari destination, the famous Ngorongoro Crater. This afternoon we reach the crater rim and survey the spectacular scenery. Then we continue to our tented camp east of Ngorongoro Crater's rim, within the park. Settle in and soak up the beautiful scenery as the sun sets over the Ngorongoro Crater highlands.
On the last day, we have an early breakfast at our tented camp on the crater rim. Then we drive down into the famous Ngorongoro Crater for the final 4x4 wildlife adventure of our budget Tanzania Safari. The forests of the steep crater slopes soon give way to acacia-studded savannahs teeming with wildlife. You will quickly see why the Ngorongoro Crater is known as Africa's Garden of Eden.
Ngorongoro is part of the Serengeti ecosystem, teeming with African wildlife. It is a massive caldera spanning an impressive 18 km in diameter with walls as high as 600m. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the densest mammalian population in Africa, with around 25,000 large animals. The diverse habitats found on the fertile crater floor support a wide variety of wildlife, including elephants, monkeys, hyenas, jackals, hippos, and herds of zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, and other antelope species.
The Ngorongoro Crater hosts the Big 5 of Africa, boasting one of the highest concentrations of lions in the world. Almost all of the wild animal species found on the savannahs of East Africa are represented in this compact crater. Ngorongoro Crater offers world-class game viewing and is considered one of the best places to capture the endangered black rhino on film
After an action-packed morning of game viewing, we stop for a picnic lunch in the Ngorongoro Crater. Then we ascend the steep crater walls and leave the cool highlands behind. We travel back to Arusha where this affordable Tanzania Safari started. En route we drive through the Great Rift Valley, known for its beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife, stretching over 6000 km north to south from Syria to Mozambique in Southern Africa.
In the early evening, we arrive back in Arusha, where this unforgettable journey on the Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit ends.
This short and affordable Tanzania Safari is the ideal add-on to Zanzibar Holiday Trips or Tanzania Hiking Tours. For more details contact African Budget Safaris.
Please note that the Wildebeest Great Migration is seasonal. As a natural wildlife phenomenon, it is fluid and unpredictable. For this reason, seeing the Great Migration cannot be guaranteed.
The wildebeest and other wild herbivores migrate between Masai Mara in Kenya and Serengeti in Tanzania. These herds move in a massive circular route covering some 1200 miles (1931km). It is a continuous movement of wildlife that can be seen in different areas at different times of the year. During certain phases of this annual trek the animals disperse or slow down, whilst at other times the migration picks up speed, with the herds becoming larger and denser. Not only does the Wildebeest Great Migration vary from place to place and season to season but the movement of these large wildlife herds varies from year to year.
Please talk to a travel expert from African Budget Safaris about seeing the Wildebeest Great Migration on your safari to find out more. Also, check out our detailed article about the Great Migration in Serengeti and Masai Mara.
This tour does take children.
Due to the many hours that are spent in the vehicle, we don’t recommend this trip for children under the age of 6 years. However, if parents can confidently say that their children are comfortable in travelling long distances, they are of course welcome. However, parents are responsible for their children at all times.
Please contact African Budget Safaris for information regarding private tours and quotations.
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