Tanzania Safari & Zanzibar Beach: Kilimanjaro to Spice Island

★★★★★★★★★★ 3.00 (5 reviews)

Free cancellation

1/13

Duration9d

GroupPrivate

LanguagesEN · DE +3

PickupAt your hotel

Eight days tracking lions and elephants, then trading dust for sand

You spend five days on safari across four parks—Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire—with a professional guide handling all driving and timing, then fly to Zanzibar for two beach days. The package includes all park entry, game drives, accommodations, meals at the lodges, airport pickup in Arusha, and the one-way flight to the island. You arrange your own activities in Stone Town and on the spice islands if you want them.

Step-by-step itinerary

Day 1 — Arrival and rest in Arusha

Arrive at Kilimanjaro Airport
Transfer to hotel in Arusha
Relax and explore Arusha

Day 2 — Drive to Lake Manyara National Park

Breakfast and briefing
Drive to Lake Manyara National Park
Explore park wildlife and birds

Day 3 — Serengeti full day game drive

Breakfast in savanna
Full day game drive in Serengeti
Lunch break midday
Rest after lunch
Afternoon game viewing

Day 4 — Serengeti to Ngorongoro rim

Early breakfast
Morning game drive in Serengeti
Drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Overnight at Ngorongoro rim

Day 5 — Ngorongoro crater and Maasai visit

Breakfast and packed lunch
Visit traditional Maasai village
Descend to Ngorongoro crater floor
Picnic lunch in crater
Afternoon game drive in crater
Drive to Karatu for overnight

Day 6 — Tarangire National Park and return

Breakfast
Game drive in Tarangire National Park
Return to Arusha in afternoon
Overnight in Arusha

Day 7 — Flight from Arusha to Zanzibar

Depart Arusha at noon
Flight to Zanzibar
Transfer to hotel in Zanzibar

Day 8 — Relax on Zanzibar beaches

Free day to relax on beach

Day 9 — Optional Stone Town tours

Full day Spice and Prison Island tour
Explore Stone Town landmarks

The Experience

The Serengeti is already moving when you arrive. Herds are shifting across the short grass plains—1.3 million wildebeest, 250,000 gazelles, 200,000 zebras—and your guide knows where to find them. You start in Arusha after landing at Kilimanjaro International Airport, rest one night, then head straight into Lake Manyara National Park the next morning. The park is only 330 square kilometers, but 70 percent of it is water, and the wildlife density is something you have to see to believe. Tree-climbing lions live in the acacia woodland between the lake and the Rift Valley—a behavior so rare that spotting one feels like luck, though your guide will know the patterns.

From there the safari deepens. You drive into the Serengeti for a full day of game viewing, breaking for lunch around midday and resting before the afternoon push when the light turns gold and the animals move again. The next morning comes early—worth it, the itinerary promises—and you head toward Ngorongoro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site built inside a 260-kilometer-wide volcanic crater. The descent to the crater floor happens after breakfast, and you'll eat a packed lunch at one of the picnic sites near Lerai Forest or Hippo Pool, watching for black rhinos in the grass. A detour through a traditional Maasai village lets you see how people live on these plains, though that visit costs extra. Tarangire comes last—famous for African elephants and baobab trees that grow 30 meters tall—before you return to Arusha for the night.

Then the rhythm changes completely. A midday flight takes you from Arusha to Zanzibar, arriving at 4 p.m., and your driver meets you at the airport. Two full days on the island are yours to spend however you want—the white sand beaches are the point, but Stone Town, the oldest town in East Africa, sits waiting if you want to walk its coral-stone streets, visit the House of Wonders, or tour the spice plantations and prison island. The accommodations throughout are lodges and beach cottages, not luxury resorts, which means you're close to the rhythm of the place without the distance of a resort compound.

What’s included

Your eight days include airport pickup at Kilimanjaro and transfer to your hotel in Arusha, accommodations at five safari lodges and two nights at a beach cottage in Zanzibar, all game drives and park entry fees across Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and Tarangire, meals at the lodges, private transportation throughout the safari, and a one-way flight from Arusha to Zanzibar at midday on day seven. Maasai village visits, Olduvai Gorge, and Stone Town tours are optional and cost extra.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Nature Bound Africa

Is this one for you?Choose this if you want the main East African safari parks in one trip without arranging guides, permits, and logistics separately, then want to end on a beach instead of flying straight home—the fixed itinerary and included flight handle both halves so you only book once.