The Private Tanzania Safari is an exclusive small group tour, traveling with at most six people. Escape the maddening crowds on this Tanzania lodge and camping tour by staying at a combination of private camps (not public campsites) and well-selected safari lodges.
Explore the famous Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit, game viewing in four of the country's best safari parks in just one week! Go on safari in Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park, and Lake Manyara Park, starting and ending in Arusha.
This affordable Tanzania Safari is ideal for nature lovers and slightly more discerning budget travelers, offering camping with a bit of glamour, otherwise known as Glamping. No participation is required with cooking or setting up camp, as the tour price includes a guide, a cook, and camp assistants.
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This week-long Private Tanzania Safari starts with collection in Arusha city, Tanzania's safari capital located at the foot of Mount Meru.
The small group safari begins with a short tour briefing in the morning before departing from Arusha, the gateway to the Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit.
We travel southwest to the Tarangire National Park, our first safari destination on the Northern Tanzania Circuit. Tarangire Park is one of East Africa's best places to see elephants up close, hosting about 4000 elephants. The national park is home to the second-highest concentration of wildlife in Tanzania, after the Serengeti Ecosystem. Wildlife includes Maasai giraffes, buffalos, lions, leopards, baboons, and a variety of antelopes and gazelle species. This diverse Tanzanian park covers 2600 km² of diverse habitats, ranging from grassy savannahs and seasonal marshlands to woodlands and giant old baobab trees.
After game viewing in Tarangire National Park, we head to our private campsite inside the game park. We enjoy dinner and an overnight stay at the private camp, under African skies.
On day two of our Private Tanzania Safari, we explore Tarangire National Park on game viewing drives.
The Tarangire River is the only permanent water source in the park, during the dry season (July to October), attracting numerous animals to its banks. Herds of buffalo and wildebeests, as well as elephants, are frequently sighted along the river. We also keep an eye out for various birds on our game drives, as Tarangire is also home to over 100 bird species.
We overnight at the private camp inside Tarangire again on our second night in Tanzania.
Today we move on from Tarangire National Park after breakfast. We travel through Mto Wa Mbu village en route to our next Tanzania safari destination, Lake Manyara National Park.
Most of day three is spent in Lake Manyara National Park, encountering animals and birds, and taking in the bush scenery on game viewing drives. The national park is dominated by the Great Rift Lake of Lake Manyara, a shallow alkaline lake attracting numerous water birds. Lake Manyara is best known for the huge seasonal flamingo flocks fringing its shores, along with various other waterfowls.
The national park is also known for its tree-climbing lions, often spotted sleeping in the trees or in the shade below, as well as its big baboon troops. On our game drive, we lookout for elephants, hippos, buffalos, banded mongooses, monkeys, klipspringers, and numerous gazelle and antelope species.
Later in the afternoon, we exit Lake Manyara Park, taking a scenic drive towards the Serengeti and Ngorongoro to the northwest. We travel up the side of the Great Rift Valley, stopping to take photographs and admire the breathtaking views over Lake Manyara and the floor of the lush valley.
We spend the third night in tented rooms with en suite bathrooms, at a comfortable safari lodge, set on the edge of the Great Rift Valley. The lodge is flanked by the fertile Ngorongoro Highlands and offers panoramic views of Lake Manyara, and the Rift Valley floor below, as well as distant Mount Losimingori. Lodge facilities include a serviced dining room and bar, with a viewing deck.
Leaving the Lake Manyara area today, we travel to Serengeti National Park, the highlight of our Private Tanzania Safari!
Our drive takes us via Karatu and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We pass through the Ngorongoro Crater Highlands, with the southern Serengeti Plains opening up before us as we get closer to our next camp in Tanzania. This scenic journey reveals the vast rolling plains of Serengeti dotted by rocky hills called “kopjes” (inselbergs). The Serengeti aptly derives its name from “Siringitu”, the Maasai word for endless plain. The plains of the southern Serengeti truly appear to stretch on infinitely, providing prime hunting territory for Africa's big cats, especially cheetahs.
In the afternoon, we arrive at our private camp in the Serengeti.
Day five is set aside for a full-day Serengeti Safari in Tanzania's premier national park! Spend the day game viewing on the game-rich plains of Serengeti Park, one of Africa's best game reserves.
We explore top areas for sighting wildlife, visiting the best viewpoints to get fantastic photos, and enjoying the scenic landscapes, teeming with animals. Your knowledgeable guide takes you to areas where wildlife spottings are most likely, ensuring that you get the most out of your game drives.
The Serengeti is most famous for the Wildebeest Migration, one of the world's most spectacular wildlife phenomena. Witness the awe-inspiring stampede when hundreds of thousands of hooved animals migrate north at the end of the rainy season (April to June). During the minor rainy season (October and November), the herds of grazers migrate back south from the Maasai Mara in Kenya to the Serengeti Plains. Seasonal variations and changes in the rainfall, do however affect the migration times and routes. A visit to the Frankfurt Zoological Institute, based in Serengeti Park, is available by arrangement (optional activity).
Night five is spent at the private Serengeti camp again.
On day six of our Private Tanzania Safari, we enjoy a final game drive in the renowned Serengeti National Park.
Keep a lookout for wildebeest, zebra, and the occasional lion, cheetah or leopard, found in the Seronera Valley area as we leave Serengeti. We stop at a picnic spot before leaving the national park and heading to the Ngorongoro Crater, known as the Eden of Africa.
Reaching the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater we are met by the spectacular sight of the huge caldera below. We continue through the conservation area, driving to Karatu, where we overnight at one of the beautifully located Tanganyika Wilderness Adventure Lodges. The lodges are set close to a coffee estate about 30 minutes from the entrance gate of the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area and offer lovely views over the lush crater highlands. If there is time after our arrival we may take a walk in the coffee plantations.
Our final breakfast on this Private Tanzania Safari is served as the day breaks before we head into the Ngorongoro Crater.
Descending into the largest unflooded caldera in the world we embark on a game drive in search of the amazing abundance of wildlife found here. The Crater is home to Africa's Big Five (lions, elephants, buffalos, rhinos, and leopards) and these are frequently sighted over the short space of a few hours. The conservation area is home to over 25 000 larger animals, the highest density of animals inhabiting any one area in Africa.
After our thorough exploration of Ngorongoro, our last Northern Tanzania safari park, we ascend the crater walls and make our way back to Arusha, where this exclusive camping safari started.
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.
This itinerary may have some long travelling days, and we would therefore not recommend this trip for children under the age of 6 years.
Families with younger children who are confident and comfortable with travelling long distances, are of course welcome.
Please contact African Budget Safaris for information regarding private tours and quotations.
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