Serengeti and Ngorongoro 6 Day Private Safari

Day 1: Arrival in Arusha

1. Arusha
   8h
   Arrive at Kilimanjaro International Airport or Arusha Airport, where your representative meets you for a private transfer to Planet Lodge Hotel in Arusha.
   
   There is no scheduled safari activity on arrival day. The afternoon or evening is left open, allowing time to settle in, rest and adjust after your journey.

Day 2: Arusha → Lake Manyara

1. Lake Manyara National Park
   6h
   After breakfast, leave Arusha and travel towards Lake Manyara National Park.
   
   Explore the park by private 4x4, moving through groundwater forest, woodland, open areas and lakeshore habitats. Your driver-guide follows the conditions of the day, pausing where wildlife activity and the landscape invite a closer look.
   
   Wildlife is free-ranging, and sightings vary naturally according to season, weather and movement within the park.
   
   After the game drive, continue into the cooler Karatu highlands.
2. Lake Manyara National Park
   6h
   Set beneath the steep escarpment of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park brings an unusual variety of landscapes into a relatively compact area. Game drives move between groundwater forest, acacia woodland, open floodplains, wetlands and the alkaline lake shore, creating a constantly changing safari setting.
3. Lake Manyara National Park
   6h
   Enter Lake Manyara through its distinctive groundwater forest, where freshwater springs sustain a cool, green canopy of mature trees at the foot of the Rift Valley escarpment. The forest creates a striking transition from the surrounding drier landscapes and provides habitat for baboons, blue monkeys and forest birdlife.
4. Lake Manyara National Park
   30m
   Pause along Lake Manyara’s wetland areas, where reedy shallows and pools provide habitat for hippos and an array of waterbirds. These quieter sections of the park offer time to observe the relationship between wildlife, water and the changing lake-edge environment.
5. Lake Manyara National Park
   30m
   Where the day’s route and park conditions allow, stop at designated viewpoints and boardwalk areas for broader perspectives across Lake Manyara and the Rift Valley. These elevated or open viewpoints reveal the scale of the landscape beyond the close-range wildlife encounters of the game drive.

Day 3: Ngorongoro Crater → Serengeti

1. Ngorongoro Crater
   6h · Admission ticket included
   After an early breakfast, enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and travel towards the crater rim.
   
   Descend to the Ngorongoro Crater floor for an extended private game drive. Grassland, woodland, freshwater areas and seasonal wetlands create a compact but varied environment supporting a high concentration of resident wildlife.
   
   Your guide follows wildlife activity across the crater floor, with time to observe rather than move continuously between sightings.
   
   Later, ascend from the crater and continue across the Ngorongoro highlands towards the Serengeti.
   
   The landscape gradually opens as the journey enters the Serengeti, where you settle into Nyikani Camp for the first of two nights.
2. Ngorongoro Crater
   6h · Admission ticket included
   Begin among the volcanic highlands of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where the vast Ngorongoro Crater forms one of northern Tanzania’s most distinctive landscapes. Its floor brings together open grassland, woodland and wetlands within the walls of an ancient caldera, supporting a remarkable concentration of free-ranging wildlife.
3. Ngorongoro Conservation Area
   2h
   Travel west through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, leaving the crater highlands behind as the landscape opens toward the plains bordering the Serengeti. This transition reveals the scale and variety of northern Tanzania, moving through volcanic terrain, grasslands and pastoral landscapes on the journey toward the national park.
4. Ngorongoro Conservation Area
   1h
   Travel across the remote plains beneath the Gol Mountains, where open grasslands meet a rugged horizon on the eastern edge of the Serengeti ecosystem. The sense of space becomes increasingly pronounced here, marking a gradual transition from the Ngorongoro highlands toward the wider Serengeti.

Day 4: A full day in serengeti

1. Serengeti National Park
   6h
   A full day is set aside for exploring the Serengeti.
   
   With no need to change accommodation, the day's route can respond to wildlife activity, seasonal conditions and your interests rather than being shaped around reaching another lodge or camp.
   
   Your driver-guide determines the most appropriate areas to explore according to current conditions, allowing time to pause at meaningful sightings and experience the scale and changing character of the Serengeti landscape.
   
   Depending on the season, wildlife may be dispersed across the plains or concentrated around areas of water and grazing. Great Migration movements are governed by rainfall, grazing conditions and other natural factors and cannot be guaranteed for any particular date or location.
   
   Return to camp after the day's game viewing.
2. Serengeti National Park
   6h
   Spend the day exploring Serengeti National Park by safari vehicle, following a flexible game-drive route through open plains, woodland and seasonal water sources. Rather than following a fixed circuit, the day can respond to wildlife activity and conditions, allowing time for observation across one of East Africa’s great savanna ecosystems.
3. Serengeti National Park
   30m
   Stop at Retima Hippo Pool, a designated viewing area where the river system creates habitat for one of the Serengeti’s familiar aquatic residents. From the permitted viewing area, there may be opportunities to watch hippos in and around the water while taking a break from the day’s vehicle-based game drive.

Day 5: Serengeti → Arusha

1. Serengeti National Park
   8h
   After breakfast, begin the overland journey from the Serengeti back towards Arusha.
   
   This is intentionally a longer travel day and forms part of the geography of the itinerary. The journey provides a gradual transition from the open landscapes of the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro highlands back towards the settled country around Arusha.
   
   Arrive at Ilboru Safari Lodge for the final night.
   
   Positioning the last night in Arusha creates a more measured end to the safari and avoids planning an international departure immediately after the long drive from the Serengeti.

Day 6: Arusha Village Experience and Departure

1. Arusha
   5h
   The final morning includes a guided village experience offering an introduction to aspects of local community life, traditions and livelihoods around Arusha.
   
   The experience is intended as a respectful introduction to the people and everyday life of the area rather than a staged performance.
   
   Timing is coordinated with your confirmed departure flight. For early departures, the village experience may need to be shortened or omitted.
   
   Afterwards, transfer privately to Kilimanjaro International Airport or Arusha Airport for your onward journey.
2. Cultural Heritage Centre
   1h · Admission ticket included
   Visit the Cultural Heritage Centre in Arusha to explore African art, sculpture, crafts, gemstones and cultural collections. The centre brings together galleries, workshops and museum spaces, offering an accessible introduction to Tanzania’s artistic and cultural heritage.

Pickup details

Your professional driver-guide will be holding a sign with “Ibhanilfa Safaris” for easy recognition.

Please have your flight or hotel details ready so we can coordinate timing accurately.

Early morning pickups are arranged to maximize wildlife sightings during sunrise game drives.

For airport pickups, we monitor flight arrivals to ensure no delays affect your safari schedule.

If staying in remote lodges or private villas, please provide clear directions or GPS coordinates.

Pickups available within 20 km of Arusha, Private pickups outside this area can be arranged with prior notice.

Children and special assistance requests can be accommodated, just inform us in advance.

• Specialized infant seats are available
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness