5-Day Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater Wildebeest Safari

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 – Arusha to Serengeti (via Ngorongoro highlands): Into the Herdlands

Your journey starts early. With the sun just breaking, you leave Arusha or Moshi behind and head west. The road cuts through the green curves of the Ngorongoro Highlands—volcanic, quiet, scattered with Maasai herders.

Then the plains begin to unfold. The Serengeti opens wide, and somewhere out there, the wildebeest are moving. By afternoon, you’re in the central or northern region (depending on the season) and already spotting movement. Zebras. Topi. And then the big wave—tens of thousands of wildebeest, heads down, marching forward like they’ve been doing it for centuries.

Your first game drive will leave you quiet. Your camp waits with hot food, cold drinks, and soft beds under canvas.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite (Central) or Lobo Campsite (North)
Budget: Into Wild Africa
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 2 – Serengeti National Park: Where the Wildebeest Roam

Wake up to the low moans of wildebeest in the mist. This is migration country. Your guide knows where they move, and you follow—sometimes along dusty trails, sometimes off-road (where allowed), always chasing the rhythm of the herd.

It’s not just the wildebeest, of course. Where they go, the predators follow. Lions, alert and ready. Cheetahs perched on termite mounds. Hyenas, laughing with cruel confidence.

You’ll spend the full day out there. Stop for bush meals, stretch your legs under lone acacia trees, take in a view that doesn’t fit in a camera frame.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite (Central) or Lobo Campsite (North)
Budget: Into Wild Africa
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 3 – Serengeti National Park: Predators & Plains

You’ve seen the movement. Today, you go deeper. Another full game drive with options to explore a different region depending on where the herds are—maybe toward the river crossings, maybe closer to the kopjes where lions stretch in the heat.

The day unfolds slowly, as it should. You don’t rush the wild. The Serengeti gives what it wants, when it wants. Your guide keeps you where the action is, but never intrudes. You’re a respectful visitor in a world older than any city.

Tonight, you dine with stars above and the sound of distant hoofbeats in the dark.

Accommodation:
Camping: Seronera Campsite (Central) or Lobo Campsite (North)
Budget: Into Wild Africa
Standard: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp
Luxury: Kubu Kubu Tented Lodge

Day 4 – Serengeti to Karatu via Ngorongoro Crater: Earth’s Bowl of Life

After breakfast, you bid farewell to the Serengeti and head east toward the Ngorongoro Crater. But it’s not a goodbye. It’s a transition but an exciting one. Upon arrival in Ngorongoro crater, you’ll descend into the crater floor—a collapsed volcano with its own ecosystem of predators, prey, lakes, and forest.

Within minutes, you’ll see herds of buffalo, grazing zebras, lions in the road, and maybe even the rare black rhino. Elephants stroll through the Lerai forest. Hippos grunt in crater lakes. It feels like stepping into another dimension.

After lunch beside a hippo pool, you ascend the rim and continue to Karatu, a small town tucked in the lush highlands with a warm lodge waiting to wrap up the day.

Accommodation:
Camping: Panorama Campsite
Budget: Eileen’s Tree Inn
Standard: Country Lodge Karatu
Luxury: The Retreat at Ngorongoro

Day 5 – Mto wa Mbu Cultural Stop & Return to Arusha

Your final day in Tanzania with us starts with a visit to Mto wa Mbu—a brilliant village full of artists, farmers, and stories. With a local guide, you’ll explore markets, banana, coffee plantations, and family-run workshops. You’ll taste, laugh, and learn.

After lunch, you head back to Arusha or Kilimanjaro International airport with dusty boots and incredible memories of Tanzania.

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