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6-Day Tanzania Northern Circuit Safari: Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro

6 Days 5 Nights

A Tanzania safari 6 days covering the complete northern circuit from Arusha — Tarangire's baobab elephant country, Lake Manyara's lakeshore forest, two days following the Great Migration across the Serengeti, and a full Ngorongoro Crater descent.

  • 95
  • Combined & Multi-Experience Trips, Cultural Tours, Safari
  • Easy
  • June – October (dry season — optimal Big Five visibility; peak Serengeti migration in central zone July–October); January – March (calving season, Serengeti Ndutu plains)
  • Not included — required
  • 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof throughout

Overview

This Tanzania safari 6 days itinerary is Tanzania's northern circuit in its most essential form — four of the country's iconic protected areas, five nights in the bush, and enough game-drive time to actually follow the wildlife rather than check boxes from a van window.

The circuit opens in Tarangire National Park: 2,850 km² of miombo woodland where the Tarangire River draws enormous elephant herds to the only permanent water in the dry season. Some herds number 100 animals or more, moving through ancient baobab trees that can live for a millennium. This is also one of Tanzania's best parks for tree-climbing lions — though the behaviour is rare and opportunistic, not guaranteed on any given drive.

Lake Manyara follows on Day 2 — a compact and diverse park where alkaline lakeshore meets groundwater forest and open floodplain in a sequence of habitats that supports one of Tanzania's highest bird diversities (over 400 species). The lake's alkaline shallows attract flamingos when conditions are right; the forest fringe holds leopards, baboons, and giraffes.

Days 3 and 4 are the Serengeti: two full days in the Seronera central zone, which holds the highest year-round density of big cats in the park ecosystem — multiple resident lion prides, cheetah families, and leopards using the ancient granite kopjes as elevated hunting platforms. From July onwards, the Great Migration's southward-returning herds flow back through the central Serengeti before the calving season begins on the southern Ndutu plains (January–March). Your guide navigates toward wherever the concentration is highest on your travel dates.

Day 5 exits the Serengeti via Naabi Gate with a morning game drive and a lunch stop at Naabi Hill — the rocky ridge at the park's eastern boundary with a sweeping view back across the plains. An optional stop at Oldupai Gorge (formerly Olduvai) gives access to one of the world's most important paleoanthropological sites — the place where Mary and Louis Leakey uncovered hominin fossils that rewrote the timeline of human evolution in the 1950s and 60s. Overnight on the Ngorongoro crater rim prepares you for the best possible crater descent on Day 6.

Day 6 descends into the Ngorongoro Crater — 260 km² of enclosed caldera floor supporting approximately 30,000 permanently resident animals: black rhinos, lion prides, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, elephant bulls, hippos, and flamingos on the alkaline Lake Magadi. After a picnic lunch at the hippo pool, ascend the rim and drive back to Arusha.

Trip Highlights

  • Elephant herds in the thousands among thousand-year-old baobab trees in Tarangire National Park
  • Game drives through Lake Manyara's lakeshore forest — flamingos on the alkaline lake, tree-climbing lions in the fig-tree woodland (seasonal/opportunistic behaviour)
  • Two days tracking the Big Five and the Great Migration across the Serengeti's Seronera central zone
  • Optional Maasai village cultural visit at Mto wa Mbu (Day 2) and optional hot air balloon safari over the Serengeti (Day 4)
  • Stop at Oldupai Gorge — one of the world's most significant early hominin fossil sites — on the drive from the Serengeti to Ngorongoro
  • Descend into the Ngorongoro Crater on a half-day game drive — one of Africa's most reliable black rhino sightings and a closed ecosystem with all Big Five present
  • All Tanzania park and conservancy fees included; full board throughout

Your 6-Day Tanzania Northern Circuit Safari

  • Day
    01

    Arusha to Tarangire National Park

    After breakfast, depart Arusha and drive southwest to Tarangire National Park (approximately 2–3 hours). Enter the park and begin an afternoon game drive. Tarangire's 2,850 km² of miombo woodland and seasonal swamp concentrate wildlife dramatically in the dry season — the Tarangire River is the only permanent water source across a vast area, drawing massive elephant herds, lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, and one of Tanzania's highest giraffe densities. The park's ancient baobab trees — some estimated over 1,000 years old — are themselves a defining photographic feature. A picnic lunch is taken inside the park. Drive to Figi Campsite near Mto wa Mbu for dinner and overnight — a small town at the base of the Rift Valley escarpment that serves as the staging point for both Tarangire and Lake Manyara.

  • Day
    02

    Lake Manyara National Park

    After breakfast, drive to Lake Manyara National Park — a compact 330 km² park that transitions from groundwater forest to open grassland to alkaline lakeshore within a narrow strip bounded by the Rift Valley escarpment on the west and Lake Manyara on the east. This habitat compression produces unusually high biodiversity: the forest fringe supports leopards and baboons; the open grassland holds large hippo and elephant populations; the lake margin attracts flamingos, pelicans, and over 400 bird species when water conditions are right. Lake Manyara's fig-tree woodland is associated with occasional tree-climbing lion behaviour — a rare and opportunistic adaptation documented at the park, though not reliably reproducible on any specific drive. Lunch is a picnic inside the park. Optional afternoon activity: a visit to the Mto wa Mbu village market or a Maasai community encounter (~$20 per person). Dinner and overnight at a campsite near Lake Manyara.

  • Day
    03

    Lake Manyara to Serengeti National Park

    After breakfast, drive from Lake Manyara through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area — a highland plateau route past the Ngorongoro crater rim and through montane forest — to enter the Serengeti National Park via Naabi Gate. The transition from NCA highland forest to Serengeti open grassland is one of Tanzania's most dramatic landscape shifts. Begin an afternoon game drive in the Seronera central zone: the Seronera Valley holds the highest year-round density of big cats in the park ecosystem, supported by a network of seasonal rivers and granite kopjes where multiple resident lion prides and cheetah families maintain established territories. Leopards hunt the kopje zone at dusk. Dinner and overnight at Seronera Campsite inside the park.

  • Day
    04

    Full Day in Serengeti National Park

    Spend the full day on game drives across the Serengeti — the longest single wildlife day of the circuit. Your guide uses radio contact with other vehicles throughout the park to navigate toward active sightings: lion kills in the Seronera Valley, cheetah families with cubs, large elephant herds in the eastern woodlands, or — from July onwards — returning wildebeest herds on their southward migration route. A picnic lunch is taken inside the park in the midday shade. Optional add-on: a hot air balloon safari departing at first light over the Serengeti plains (~USD 550–600/person — must be pre-booked; see Extra Services). Dinner and overnight at Seronera Campsite.

  • Day
    05

    Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area

    After an early breakfast, begin a morning game drive across the Serengeti as you travel east toward Naabi Gate. Stop at Naabi Hill — the rocky outcrop at the park's eastern boundary — for a picnic lunch with a sweeping view back across the open Serengeti plains. Exit the park and enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Optional stop: Oldupai Gorge (also known as Olduvai Gorge — the officially revised spelling is Oldupai) is a 50-km paleoanthropological site approximately 45 minutes off the main NCA road. Mary and Louis Leakey's discoveries here in the 1950s and 60s — including hominin fossils of Australopithecus boisei and early Homo habilis and Homo erectus — fundamentally extended the understood timeline of human evolution. A small museum at the site provides context; a guide leads a short walk to the fossil-bearing gorge. Continue to Simba Campsite on the Ngorongoro crater rim (altitude ~2,200m). The temperature drops sharply from the lowland NCA — pack a fleece. Dinner and overnight on the rim.

  • Day
    06

    Ngorongoro Crater Descent — Return to Arusha

    After an early breakfast, descend into the Ngorongoro Crater via the steep access track. The crater's 260 km² floor holds approximately 30,000 permanently resident animals in an enclosed ecosystem — black rhinos (one of East Africa's most reliable sighting locations), resident lion prides, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, elephant bulls, hippos at the swamp, buffalo in large herds, zebras, wildebeest, and flamingos on the alkaline Lake Magadi. A picnic lunch is served at the hippo pool picnic site inside the crater. Ascend the rim in early afternoon and drive east to Arusha (approximately 4–5 hours), arriving in the evening. Drop-off at your Arusha hotel or JRO airport.

The Cost Includes

  • 5 nights' accommodation as specified per package tier
  • All meals — full board throughout (breakfast, lunch, dinner
  • All Tanzania park and conservancy entry fees
  • All game drives as per the itinerary
  • 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof throughout
  • Professional English-speaking safari guide and driver
  • Arusha hotel or JRO airport pickup (Day 1) and return drop-off (Day 6)
  • Drinking water in vehicle throughout

The Cost Excludes

  • Tanzania eVisa — USD 50 per person (single entry) — apply at visa.immigration.go.tz
  • International flights to/from Arusha or Kilimanjaro
  • Travel insurance (required)
  • Optional Maasai village cultural visit, Mto wa Mbu (Day 2) — ~$20 per person
  • Optional Maasai boma visit en route to Ngorongoro (Day 5) — ~$20 per person
  • Optional Oldupai Gorge visit (Day 5) — ~$30 per person (guide + museum entrance)
  • Hot air balloon safari — Serengeti (Day 4) — ~$550–600 per person, must be pre-booked
  • Tips and gratuities for guide and camp staff (guideline: USD 10/person/day for guide; USD 10/person/night for camp crew)
  • Personal alcoholic beverages
  • Personal items, laundry, and souvenirs

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