Northern Tanzania Safari

What this journey covers

Tarangire National Park. Tarangire is the closest of the northern parks to Arusha and is often the first stop on a northern circuit. It is defined by baobabs, by rolling country rather than flat plains, and by the river that runs through it.

Serengeti National Park. The Serengeti covers roughly 15,000 square kilometres of grassland, woodland and riverine forest in northern Tanzania. Its name comes from the Maa word for endless plains, and on the southern short-grass plains that is exactly what it looks like.

Ngorongoro Crater. The crater is what remains of a volcano that collapsed in on itself. The rim stands at around 2,300 m and the floor about 500 m below, enclosing roughly 260 square kilometres of grassland, swamp, forest and a soda lake.

The rhythm of a day

• An early start. The first hours after sunrise are when predators are still active and the light is at its best.
• Back to camp mid-morning for breakfast and a few hours out of the heat, when most animals are resting anyway.
• Out again from late afternoon until the park closes, which is usually the second-best period of the day.
• Full days with a packed lunch are an option wherever the driving distances justify staying out.

Who it suits

• First-time visitors who want the headline parks without rushing
• Anyone with roughly a week on the ground
• Travellers who would rather see three parks properly than five briefly

How we adjust it

Every one of our journeys is a starting point. We lengthen or shorten them, make them private, change the comfort level, swap a park, or add the coast. Tell us your dates and what matters most and we will shape it around you.