3 Days Ngorongoro & Serengeti Safari

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Arusha to Serengeti: The Road to the Wild

Early morning pick-up from your lodge or hotel in Arusha. It’s still cool outside as you settle into your private safari vehicle, your guide already chatting about the drive ahead like it’s a road trip with an old friend. The landscapes change fast—coffee farms, rolling hills, Maasai herders walking beside the road. You’re heading west, up through the Ngorongoro highlands and onto the vast grasslands of the Serengeti.

The moment you enter the park, the air shifts. It smells like dust and acacia and something else—something ancient. Giraffes walk across the track like they own it. Wildebeest graze in loose herds. Elephants, dusted red by the earth, loom quietly near a watering hole.

By late afternoon, you’re in the heart of the Serengeti. A game drive leads you through the golden light, watching lions stretch in the shade, maybe even a cheetah scanning the horizon. You’ll reach your camp just as the sun dips low, painting the sky in fire.

Dinner is served by lantern light. You eat under stars, and somewhere out there a hyena whoops. Your kids fall asleep fast. You lie awake a little longer, grinning in the dark.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite
Budget: Into Wild Africa
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 2 – Serengeti to Ngorongoro: Sunrise, Lions, and Crater Dreams

You’re up before the sun. Not because someone made you, but because something inside you told you to. Coffee is hot, the engine purrs, and you’re off—tracking big cats while the world is still quiet. This is when the predators move, and if you’re lucky, you’ll catch a moment most people only see on nature shows.

After breakfast in the bush, you start the journey toward Ngorongoro. But it’s not goodbye just yet. The Serengeti throws a few last surprises—a leopard maybe, tucked in the branches, or a herd of elephants crossing right in front of your vehicle.

You climb back into the highlands by afternoon, where the temperature drops and the green returns. You reach the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater just in time for that first look down. It’s like staring into another world. You settle into your lodge with a view over the rim, clouds drifting past your balcony. You’ve been awake for hours, but you’re not even tired. This place rewires your energy.

Accommodation:
Camping: Simba A Campsite
Budget: Rhino Lodge
Standard: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge
Luxury: Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Day 3 – Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha: A Morning Inside Eden

Down you go. After an early breakfast, you descend into the crater, the mist still clinging to the rim behind you. You drive into a world that hasn’t changed in thousands of years—grassy plains dotted with zebras, hippos bobbing in crater lakes, buffalo standing stubborn in the road.

If you’re lucky (and the guides at Serengeti Lion Safaris usually are), you’ll spot a black rhino, elusive and quietly grazing far from the crowds. Lions are almost guaranteed. Hyenas, jackals, and warthogs too. And the sheer density of life inside this crater makes it feel almost unfair—like nature pressed fast-forward on everything.

You’ll have a picnic lunch by a hippo pool. Kids might throw pebbles, you’ll sip juice from a flask, and everyone will try to stretch these last moments a little longer.

By early afternoon, you ascend and begin the drive back to Arusha. The music on the ride home hits different. You’re tired, dusty, and forever changed. This wasn’t just a trip. This was something else entirely.

Accommodation:
Camping: N/A
Budget: Drop-off at your Arusha hotel
Standard: Drop-off at your Arusha hotel
Luxury: Drop-off at Arusha Coffee Lodge or airport if flying out