Kilimanjaro Region: 5-Day Big Five Safari & Ngorongoro Crater

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.00 (6 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/7

Duration5d

GroupUp to 2

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Five Days Chasing the Big Five Across Tanzania's Northern Parks

You spend five days in three of Tanzania's premier northern parks — Lake Manyara, Serengeti and Ngorongoro — with a guide who knows where the animals congregate and when. Hotel pickup, lodge accommodation, all game drives and park entry are handled, which means you show up and the itinerary unfolds. The Ngorongoro Crater alone, with 20,000 animals in a contained space, is worth the trip.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Travel to Lake Manyara National Park

Pick up at hotel in morning
Drive to Lake Manyara National Park
Game drive in Lake Manyara National Park
Travel to lodge for overnight

Day 2 — Drive to Serengeti National Park

Breakfast at lodge
Drive through crater highlands
Arrive at Serengeti National Park plains
Reach lodge for overnight

Day 3 — Full day game drive Serengeti

Breakfast at lodge
Full day game drive in Serengeti
Optional visit to Serengeti Visitor Centre
Overnight at lodge

Day 4 — Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Breakfast at lodge
Morning game drive in Seronera Valley
Lunch at picnic spot
Drive to Ngorongoro Crater
Enjoy sunset at crater rim lodge

Day 5 — Ngorongoro Crater to Moshi/Arusha

Breakfast at lodge
Drive down into Ngorongoro Crater
Game drive in Ngorongoro Crater
Picnic lunch in crater
Drive back to Moshi or Arusha

The Experience

So you're thinking five days in the Serengeti sounds long until you realize how much ground there is to cover — and how easy it is to miss the animals if you're rushing. This safari starts with a morning pickup from your hotel in Moshi or Arusha and heads straight into Lake Manyara National Park, where the first surprise is usually the tree-climbing lions draped across acacia branches like they own the place. The park's shallow alkaline lake pulls in thousands of pink flamingos, and you'll spot elephants, giraffes, hippos and troops of baboons moving through the grassy plains and forest. The open-roof safari vehicle means nothing between you and the view — no glass, no barrier, just the sound of the engine and the birds. You're back at the lodge by late afternoon, which sounds relaxed until you realize you've already seen more wildlife than most people see in a year.

Day two is the long drive to the Serengeti, and it's worth the early start because the route takes you through the crater highlands where the landscape shifts from farmland — wheat, corn, coffee — to the endless plains that give the Serengeti its name (it means "the place of the plains" in Maasai). By midday you're in Tanzania's largest national park, and the scale hits you immediately. The Serengeti isn't one thing; it's short grass plains, savannah, thick bush, swamps and lakes all at once, and the animals move with the rains — hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebras migrate north in the longer rainy season (April to June) and back south in the shorter one (November to December). Your guide knows where the herds are likely to be, and that knowledge is what separates a good day from a wasted one. You spend two full days here, one driving the park on your own schedule, the other with time to visit the Serengeti Visitor Centre if you want to understand the research and history behind what you're seeing.

The Ngorongoro Crater comes on day four, and the approach is the thing — you drive toward it and then suddenly you're looking down into a caldera about 20 kilometers wide, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that holds over 20,000 animals in one enclosed space. The lodge sits on or near the rim, and the sunset from there is the kind of thing you remember without trying. On the final morning you descend the steep crater path for a full game drive inside, where the Big Five — lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino and leopard — live alongside zebras, hyenas, waterbucks, bushbucks and more than 500 bird species. The rare black rhino is here too. After a picnic lunch in the crater you drive back to Moshi or Arusha, arriving in the early evening.

The whole five-day lodge safari includes hotel pickup, all game drives, accommodation at lodges like Eileens Trees Inn and Tukaone Camps, and park entry fees. You're traveling in a safari vehicle with an open roof, which means you're exposed to the sun and the elements — bring sunscreen, a hat and layers because the mornings are cool and the afternoons can be hot. Infants sit on an adult's lap. The pace is steady but not strenuous; most of the day you're sitting and watching, though there's walking around the lodge and at the Visitor Centre if you choose it.

What’s included

Your five days include hotel pickup from Moshi or Arusha on the morning of day one and return in the early evening on day five.
All game drives across Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area are guided.
You stay four nights in lodges — Eileens Trees Inn near Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro, and Tukaone Camps or similar in the Serengeti — with the Ngorongoro lodge positioned on the crater rim.
Park entry fees for all three parks are included.
Meals at the lodges and picnic lunches during the game drives are part of the package.
The safari vehicle has an open roof for unobstructed viewing.
A visit to the Serengeti Visitor Centre is optional.

Good to know

Easy physical levelInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Bujo Tours

Is this one for you?A good fit if you want to see the Big Five and the Ngorongoro Crater without arranging transport, park permits or daily logistics yourself — the five-day structure is what makes visiting three major parks and staying in lodges on the crater rim possible in one trip. Expect early starts and long days in the vehicle; that's how the guide positions you for the best wildlife viewing.