9-Days Mid-Range Lodge Safari Tanzania – Serengeti Great Migration (July –October)

DAY 0: ARRIVE IN TANZANIA

You will be met at the Kilimanjaro International Airport and transferred to your accommodation in Arusha town, where you will be briefed about your upcoming safari by your guide.

Your safari guide will provide you with all of the necessary information regarding your safari.

• Hotel check in starts at 12:00pm.
• Overnight at: SG Premium Resort
• Note: No meals included

DAY 1: ARUSHA – TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK

Your Serengeti Wildebeest Migration safari will begin with a pick-up from your hotel in Moshi or Arusha at 7:30 a.m. With everyone on board, you’ll travel to Tarangire National Park in Tanzania. The 140-kilometer drive from Arusha will take roughly 2 hours.

For its diverse scenery and nine different vegetation zones, the national park is well-known and unique. As you begin your game drive, you will be greeted by ancient and massive Baobab trees, which dwarf even the largest animals such as the giraffe.

The game drive lasts until late afternoon, with a brief halt for a picnic lunch. The Tarangire River flows through the 3,000-square-kilometer park, giving it its name. The river draws a wide variety of species, including elephants, giraffes, lions, antelopes, and zebras, which you should be able to see.

After the game drive, you’ll depart the park late in the afternoon and drive to the lodge for the night.

• Distance: 140 km
• Overnight at: Marera Valley Lodge
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner are all Included

DAY 2: TARANGIRE – CENTRAL SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

After breakfast, we drive to the Serengeti National Park, passing through Karatu’s beautiful highland farmland and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We leave the highlands behind and descend into the Serengeti National Park, the heart of untamed Africa, with its vast grasslands stretching as far as the eye can see.

We travel to the Seronera area of the central park, one of the park’s finest wildlife habitats, which includes the Seronera River, which serves as a vital water source for the area and hence draws wildlife that is representative of the Serengeti’s species. We arrive just in time for lunch and go on an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti’s center region.

You will be transferred to your lodge where you will spend the night after your tour of the park.

• Distance: 205km
• Overnight at: Embalakai Tented Camp
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner are all Included

DAY 3: CENTRAL SERENGETI TO NORTH SERENGETI

After a filling breakfast, you will depart at 8 a.m. to explore the Serengeti National Park’s central region before moving to the park’s northern region. Residents will provide mild action on the enroute game drive to the Kogatende region.

As you get closer to the Serengeti’s northern reaches, the terrain changes from plain grassland to a more hilly and broken terrain. Residents include zebras, topis, gazelles, buffaloes, leopards, and lions in the northern region.

During the day’s drive, a picnic lunch will be prepared. Depending on your arrival time, you may be able to spend a few hours by the Mara River. The day comes to a close with a hearty dinner and a restful night’s sleep in your lodging.

• Distance: 150km
• Overnight at: Mbugani Tented Camp
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner are all Included

DAY 4 & 5: NORTH SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

You’ll finish a good breakfast and get started on your day by 8 a.m., as is customary. The migration can be found in this region from mid-June to September. The Mara River in this region offers the most dramatic river crossing of the great migration from mid-June to September.

The river, which is fierce, deep, and heavily rain-fed, takes a huge toll on the migrating wildebeest. It’s an unforgettable sight to see the wildebeest rushing through the torrential flood, some drowning and others falling prey to lurking crocodiles. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to see this natural wonder and watch nature take its course on your lucky day.

If you’re following the Great Migration, you might end up in the Lobo Valley. Woodlands, plains, hills, and the famous granite Kopjes dot the pristine lobo valley. It has an abundance of big cat game, including lions, leopards, and cheetahs.

During the dry season, the valley’s permanent water sources attract a large number of resident and migratory animals, providing excellent game viewing opportunities. During the full-day game drive, you’ll have a chance to stop for a picnic lunch. The day comes to a close with a delicious dinner and a good night’s sleep in your chosen lodging.

• Overnight at: Mbugani Tented Camp
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner are all Included

DAY 6: NORTH SERENGETI – CENTRAL SERENGETI

You’ll start your day at 8 a.m., after a hearty breakfast, and head south towards the Serengeti’s central region. The four-hour drive to the Serengeti’s heartland will provide mild enroute game. The road south from the Mara river valley passes through hill country, the Lobo area, woodlands, and finally back into Seronera territory.

The Serengeti’s central region, known as Seronera, is one of the park’s most diverse wildlife habitats. It includes the Seronera River, which serves as a vital water source for the area, attracting wildlife that is representative of the Serengeti’s species. As you progress into the Seronera region, you’ll notice that the hilly and broken terrain gives way to plain grasslands.

In Seronera, keep an eye out for the many lion prides that call the area home. These lion prides’ interactions and survival provide excellent game viewing opportunities all year. During the day’s journey, a picnic lunch will be prepared.

• Distance: 150km.
• Overnight at: Embalakai Tented Camp
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner are all Included

DAY 7: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK – NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA

You’ll go on another game drive in the Serengeti National Park after breakfast, and you might see animals you haven’t seen in the previous two days. The “Big Five” – lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino, and leopard – also call the Serengeti home, and you might be able to see all five today.

You will drive in the direction of the Ngorongoro Crater after lunch at a picnic site, and as soon as you reach the crater’s edge, the caldera opens up before you. This UNESCO World Heritage Site has a diameter of about 20 kilometers and is home to over 25,000 animals. You’ll travel to the lodge, where you’ll be able to watch the sun set over the crater.

• Distance: 145 km
• Overnight at: Rhino Lodge
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner are all Included

DAY 8: NGORONGORO CRATER – KARATU

Rise and shine! At daybreak, you drive down into the crater after breakfast. Black rhinos, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, lions and leopards can all be found inside the world’s largest caldera, as well as elephants and mountain reedbucks in the forests on the slopes.

Buffaloes, spotted hyenas, and some of the area’s more than 500 bird species are all possible sightings. After a game drive and a picnic lunch, you will depart the crater in the afternoon to travel to the Karatu lodge.

• Distance: 25 km
• Overnight at: Marera Valley Lodge 
• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner are all Included

DAY 9: KARATU – LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK – MOSHI/AIRPORT

The small Lake Manyara National Park is home to over 400 bird species, primate-filled forests and grassy plains. A large area of the park is covered by the alkaline Lake Manyara, which is home to colonies of flamingos and other water birds.

Apart from giraffes, hippos, wildebeests and impalas on the grassy plains, you might see lions lounging in the trees and elephants feeding on the acacias in the woodlands. While the forest near the lake is filled with noisy troops of blue monkeys, extended baboon families hang around the roads.

After the game drive you will return to Moshi in the late afternoon.

• Distance: 175 km
• Overnight at: Park View Hotel
• Meals: Breakfast & Lunch are all included

DAY 10: DEPARTURE DAY

After a night’s rest in the hotel, you’ll be transferred to the airport.

Check-out time for hotels is 11:00 a.m. If you need to check out late due to an evening flight, you can pay an extra fee to extend your hotel stay until 6:00pm.