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Fine lodges, two nights in the Serengeti and a night on the crater rim
This is the classic northern circuit at a slower pace and in style. You stay in tree-house suites in Tarangire, a lodge in the heart of the Serengeti for two nights, and on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater with the caldera below your balcony. Days are spent on long, unhurried game drives with a senior guide in a private vehicle. The price is per person sharing at luxury lodges, including all park and concession fees.
Dry season and the Mara River crossings: the best game viewing, book early
Short rains: quieter parks, lower prices, lush scenery
Holidays and the calving season on the southern plains
Warm, end of the calving season, good value
Long rains: green and very quiet, our lowest prices
After breakfast drive about 2.5 hours south-west from Arusha to Tarangire National Park. Tarangire is elephant country, with herds of up to several hundred along the Tarangire River, ancient baobab trees, tree-climbing pythons and over 500 bird species. Game drive through the day with a picnic lunch in the park.
Drive from Tarangire through Mto wa Mbu and up through the Ngorongoro highlands, stopping at the crater viewpoint, and down onto the short-grass plains to Naabi Hill Gate. Game drive into the central Serengeti, where lion, cheetah and leopard are seen year round, arriving at camp for sunset.
A full day of game drives in the central Serengeti, with an early start when the predators are most active and a picnic lunch under an acacia. The Seronera valley is famous for big cats: lion prides on the kopjes, cheetah on the plains and leopard in the sausage trees along the river. Optional sunrise hot air balloon flight.
Private transfer between Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) or Arusha Airport and your hotel in Arusha or Moshi, one way, for up to 4 people with luggage.
One more night in a mid-range Arusha hotel with breakfast, per person sharing a double room.
About one hour aloft at sunrise over the central Serengeti, followed by a champagne bush breakfast. Booked through a licensed balloon operator; flights depend on the weather.
Visit a Maasai boma to meet a family, see traditional dances and learn about daily life. The fee goes to the village.
Flight from Arusha or Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar, transfers, three nights in a Nungwi beach hotel on half board and Zanzibar visitor insurance. Per person sharing.
Tell us your dates and party size — we'll confirm availability and send a clear quote.
Another full day in the Serengeti, exploring the Moru Kopjes, where rock paintings and lion prides share the granite outcrops, and the river valleys where leopard rest in the trees.
Leave the Serengeti early and descend 600 m into Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest unbroken volcanic caldera and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On its 260 square kilometre floor you can see black rhino, lion, elephant, hippo, hyena and thousands of wildebeest and zebra in a single day. Picnic lunch by the hippo pool, then climb out in the afternoon.
After breakfast drive from the crater rim back to Arusha (about 2.5 to 3 hours) for lunch. Optional lunch at a coffee farm near Arusha. Transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your evening flight, or to your Arusha hotel.