7 Days Northern Circuit Comfort Safari

Overview

For travellers who want more comfort and more time. You stay in upper mid-range lodges and tented camps with pools, views and excellent food, and the extra day lets you explore Tarangire properly, with a full day of game viewing beside the river. After Lake Manyara and the highlands, two nights in the Serengeti give you unhurried time on the plains, and a night on the Ngorongoro rim sets up the crater at dawn.

• Two nights in Tarangire for long, quiet game drives
• Upper mid-range lodges and tented camps with pools and views
• Two nights in the Serengeti and a night on the crater rim
• Picnic lunches in the bush on full-day drives
• Seven relaxed days with short daily drives

Day-by-day itinerary

1. Day1 Arusha to Tarangire

   Drive to Tarangire, arriving in time for a picnic lunch and an afternoon game drive among elephants, baobabs and birdlife.

   Stay: Upper mid-range lodge or tented camp in Tarangire Meals: Lunch, dinner

2. Day2 Full day in Tarangire

   Enjoy a full day of game viewing along the Tarangire River and the Silale Swamp, with a long picnic lunch in the bush. Look for elephant herds, lion, leopard, oryx and the tree-climbing python.

   Stay: Upper mid-range lodge or tented camp in Tarangire Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner

3. Day3 Tarangire to Lake Manyara and Karatu

   Drive to Lake Manyara for an afternoon game drive through the forest and along the lake shore. Continue up the escarpment to your lodge in the Karatu highlands, set among coffee farms.

   Stay: Upper mid-range lodge in Karatu Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

4. Day4 Karatu to the Serengeti

   Cross the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the plains to the Serengeti with game drives en route, arriving at your camp for sundowners.

   Stay: Upper mid-range tented camp in the central Serengeti Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner

5. Day5 Full day in the Serengeti

   Follow the action around Seronera and the river valleys from dawn to dusk. Optional sunrise balloon flight over the plains.

   Stay: Upper mid-range tented camp in the central Serengeti Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner

6. Day6 Serengeti to Ngorongoro rim

   Take a final morning game drive, then leave via Olduvai Gorge to your lodge on the crater rim, with time to relax and watch the sunset over the caldera.

   Stay: Upper mid-range lodge on the Ngorongoro rim Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner

7. Day7 Ngorongoro Crater and return to Arusha

   Descend into the crater at first light for a half-day game drive, then drive back to Arusha.

   Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch

Where you'll go

Serengeti

Ngorongoro Crater

Tarangire

Lake Manyara