This affordable Tanzania Safari to Serengeti & Beyond is the African wildlife safari of a lifetime!
Highlights on this wildlife lodge safari include:
Stay at comfortable safari lodges while you explore Tanzania's best wildlife parks, world-famous for their superb game viewing and scenic beauty.
This affordable Tanzania Safari to Serengeti & Beyond starts in the bustling town of Arusha, the gateway to the famous Northern Tanzanian Safari Circuit.
You will be collected from the airport and transferred to your boutique hotel in Arusha. The town of Arusha is located at the foot of Mount Meru, the 5th highest mountain in Africa.
If time allows you can explore the leafy grounds of the hotel, take a swim in the pool or enjoy some of the optional activities on offer here.
On the morning of day two, we depart from Arusha after breakfast at the hotel. We travel via Arusha town, stopping to shop for last-minute supplies before embarking on our unforgettable African safari experience.
Our first game viewing destination is Tarangire National Park where we pause for lunch before taking the first game drive this wildlife safari.
Tarangire Park is an incredibly diverse area, boasting a unique mix of habitats within the northern safari circuit. Tarangire is renowned for its huge elephant population, hosting the highest density of elephants in Tanzania. The game reserve is also well known for its abundance of baobab trees, as well as tree-climbing lions.
This 2850 km² game park is the central wilderness area on the annual migratory route through northern Tanzania. This wildlife migration sees up to 3000 elephants, 25,000 wildebeest, and 30,000 zebras stampeding across the plains in search of greener grass.
Today starts with a morning coffee before we make our way to Lake Manyara National Park for an early morning game drive.
This scenic national park protects the north-western part of Lake Manyara, running along the base of the Great Rift Valley's western escarpment. The shallow soda lake attracts over 380 bird species and is known for its large flamingo flocks. This compact and diverse game park is also home to the elusive tree-climbing lion.
After a rest at the lodge during the heat of the day, we head out on a short afternoon game drive in Manyara National Park.
Day four of this Tanzania Safari to Serengeti & Beyond starts with an early breakfast, before driving to the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater of Tanzania. We ascend the crater wall on our scenic drive to the entrance of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Next, we dip into the crater and explore the floor of the game-rich caldera, stopping for a picnic lunch in this wildlife haven.
The Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the Big Five of Africa (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, and buffalo). Known as the Eden of Africa and considered the 8th Natural Wonder of the World, Ngorongoro hosts around 25000 large animals, one of the highest concentrations of big game in Africa. Wildlife found in the crater includes hyena, wildebeest, zebra, serval cat, cheetah, Thompson, and Grant gazelles, as well as about 400 bird species.
After our rewarding wildlife safari experience in the world's largest unflooded caldera, we drive from the Ngorongoro Crater to the world-famous Serengeti National Park, enjoying some game viewing en route.
Entering the vast Serengeti Park we cross the southern plains en route to our next safari lodge. This scenic southern region of Serengeti features open grasslands and rocky outcrops where resident wildlife populations roam.
We spend a full day on safari in Serengeti National Park, exploring the open plains of the Seronera region. This central area of Serengeti hosts an abundance of wildlife with the Seronera River attracting animals year-round. Seronera is known for its healthy big cat populations, with excellent sightings of lions, cheetahs, and even leopards.
Starting with an early morning game drive after breakfast, we take a picnic lunch and explore the Serengeti on game drives. The Serengeti is home to lion, leopard, zebra, Thompson gazelle, impala, Grant’s gazelle, buffalo, and many more. This vast Tanzania wildlife park is dominated by open grassland, dotted with isolated granite hills and acacia woodlands.
The Serengeti Plains are renowned for the massive annual wildebeest migration and the large resident predator population, especially big cats. The Serengeti Park, the most popular and oldest national park in Tanzania, is the iconic wildlife safari setting of untamed Africa. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Serengeti is one of the most important game reserves in Africa. From February to May, a herd of over a million wildebeest (gnu), along with more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle migrate for the Western Corridor of the park, in search of greener pastures.
We return to the safari lodge after our thrilling game drives in time for dinner and an evening of relaxation.
On day six of our Budget Tanzania Safari, we take a morning game drive through Serengeti to add to our wildlife sightings.
Then we retrace our steps to Ngorongoro Crater, stopping for a picnic lunch along the way. Then we continue south, keeping an eye out for wildlife as we drive through the game-rich Ngorongoro Conservation Area of Tanzania.
We stop at Olduvai Gorge, where you have the chance to visit the fascinating museum. The Olduvai Gorge museum documents the discovery of 1.8 million-year-old fossil remains of our earliest human ancestors.
The final day of our Tanzania Safari to Serengeti & Beyond kicks off with breakfast, before visiting Mto-wa-Mbu.
Spend some time exploring this lively and ethnically-diverse town. You can also do some curio shopping in Mto-wa-Mbu and take last-minute photographs before we return to Arusha where our budget African safari ends.
On this Budget Tanzanian Safari, we stay at quality mid-range and high-end lodge accommodation.
The safari lodges are situated either in national parks, on riverbanks, or in other places of interest. Accommodation will be in a mix of safari lodges, chalets, and tented camps with en-suite bathrooms. Some of the safari lodges feature swimming pools and/or bar areas. On this combined tour, camping and lodge safari clients travel together in a group.
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.
Please contact African Budget Safaris for further information, should you be travelling with children.
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