Best of Tanzania
The Serengeti is 15,000 square kilometres and the crater is 260. One is the largest intact grassland migration on earth; the other is a collapsed volcano with everything living inside it. They are two hours apart.
A starting point, not a packagewhere the herds are in your month decides the route
fromUSD 3,250per personfrom, per person, two sharing, full board
The Serengeti is not one place.
Your month decides which part you stay in.
Most Tanzania itineraries put you in the central Seronera valley whatever the month, because it is where the lodges are. It is good year round and it is rarely where the migration is.
Between December and March the herds are on the southern short grass plains calving, which is the densest concentration of newborn animals and therefore predators anywhere in Africa. From June the columns move north and west, and by July and August they are at the Grumeti and Mara rivers. Staying in the wrong third of the park in the wrong month is the commonest mistake on this circuit.
Ngorongoro is the opposite problem. Everything is there, all the time, in 260 square kilometres with a wall around it, including the most reliable black rhino sighting in East Africa. One full day in the crater is enough and two is too many.
Highlights
The journey
Kilimanjaro, Arusha and into Tarangire
We meet you at Kilimanjaro International. If you land late the first night is Arusha, which is a working town rather than a sight, and a sensible place to sleep off a flight.
Tarangire is two and a half hours south west, and in the dry season it holds the densest elephant population in northern Tanzania, drawn to the river when everything around it has dried. The baobabs are the other reason to come: enormous, ancient and scattered across the whole park.
2h 30m from Arusha
LuxuryLodge on the Tarangire escarpment
PremiumTented camp near the park gate
Three nights in the Serengeti
North west over the Ngorongoro highlands and down onto the plains. The drive is long and the moment the grassland opens out is worth it.
Where you stay depends entirely on your month. December to March we put you on the southern short grass plains for the calving, and the predator density there is unmatched anywhere. From June we move you north and west toward the Grumeti and the Mara River.
The balloon is here if you want it: lifting off before dawn, drifting low over the grass, landing to breakfast laid out on a table in the middle of nowhere.
4h from Tarangire
LuxuryMobile camp that follows the herds
PremiumTented camp in the relevant sector
One full day on the crater floor
East to the crater rim, and down at dawn. Ngorongoro is a collapsed caldera twenty kilometres across with around 25,000 large animals living inside it and nowhere to go, which makes it the most concentrated game viewing in Africa and the most reliable black rhino sighting in the east.
It is also busy, and it is the one place on this route where you will see other vehicles constantly. Up by mid afternoon, because the light on the rim at the end of the day is the better photograph.
3h from the Serengeti
LuxuryLodge on the crater rim
PremiumLodge in the Karatu highlands
The road back to Kilimanjaro
Four hours east through Karatu's coffee country and the Mto wa Mbu escarpment, back to Kilimanjaro for an evening flight.
If you are going on to Zanzibar, there are direct flights from the Serengeti airstrips and from Kilimanjaro, and it is the natural way to end this trip. If you are going on to Kenya, the Mara is the same ecosystem over the northern border.
4h, or 1h 30m flying
Departure, or onward to Zanzibar or Kenya
The lodges worth staying in hold few rooms, and dry season dates go first.
Give us an approximate date and we check availability against it. No payment, no obligation.
What your trip includes
Full board throughout
Private 4x4 with a pop-top roof and driver-guide
All park fees, including the Ngorongoro crater descent
Airport collection and return
Bottled water in the vehicle
What it does not cover
International flights
Tanzania visa, USD 50
Balloon over the Serengeti, about USD 600
Tips, alcohol and personal items
Single room supplement
Not quite the trip you had in mind? Every departure is private, so the length and the lodges are yours to change. Tell us what you want.
What we tell everyone before they book
What to bring
- Binoculars, one pair per person
- A long lens and a genuinely dust-proof bag
- A warm layer for the crater rim, it is cold at 2,200 metres
- Neutral colours
- Sun hat and high factor sunscreen
- Insect repellent
Before you ask
When should I come for the migration?
December to March for the calving on the southern short grass plains, which is the densest concentration of newborn animals and predators anywhere in Africa. June to October for the northern river crossings. Your month decides which third of the park you sleep in, and that matters more than the lodge.
Is one day in the crater enough?
Yes. It is 260 square kilometres with a wall around it. A second day costs the fees again and shows you the same animals in a different order. We would rather put that night in the Serengeti.
Why is Tanzania more expensive than Uganda?
Park fees, mainly. Ngorongoro charges for entry and again for the crater descent, which is several hundred dollars per vehicle per day on its own, and Serengeti entry is high. We show them as a line rather than folding them into a round number.
Will I see black rhino?
Ngorongoro is the most reliable place in East Africa for it, and most crater days produce one, usually at distance. It is not a guarantee and anyone offering you one is selling something that is not theirs to sell.
What happens if I need to cancel?
Nothing is paid when you enquire. Camps in the migration sectors hold their own deposit terms in high season and we pass those on to you exactly as they are charged to us. Your deposit amount and balance date are put in writing before you pay anything.
How soon will you reply?
Within one working day, with a route, a price with nothing hidden in it and a straight answer about where the herds will be in your month.
Tell us roughly when
hello@wildroutetours.com
A trip designer replies within one working day.