3-Day Safari · 4 comfort levels
From
$1,365
per person
Indicative price per person for 2 adults sharing a private vehicle, at Mid-range level. Your written quote confirms the final price.
A short, focused safari for travellers whose priority is the Great Migration: two nights and a full day in the Ndutu calving grounds of the Southern Serengeti.
If your priority is seeing the Great Migration rather than simply visiting the Serengeti, this itinerary concentrates your limited time where it matters. During the calving season, enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra gather across the Ndutu plains.
The landscape can become exceptionally active. Thousands of calves are born, while lions, cheetahs, hyenas and leopards take advantage of the abundance of young prey.
This is not a conventional three-day northern circuit safari. It is a focused migration itinerary designed around Ndutu, with no time lost trying to fit in too many parks.
Best months to travel: Dec · Jan · Feb · Mar
The route stays the same at every level. What changes is where you sleep, how you travel and how much is arranged for you.
From $1,365per person
$455–$555 per day · $1,365–$1,665 for 3 days
A comfortable, well-organised safari with excellent wildlife viewing and good value, without paying for extensive luxury services.
From $2,265per person
$755–$1,200 per day · $2,265–$3,600 for 3 days
Upgraded lodges and premium tented camps with stylish interiors, excellent dining and attentive hospitality, while the safari stays focused on wildlife.
From $3,900per person
$1,300–$2,200 per day · $3,900–$6,600 for 3 days
Exceptional camps and lodges with premium suites, refined cuisine and personal service, chosen for location and exclusivity.
From $6,900per person
$2,300–$5,000 per day · $6,900–$15,000 for 3 days
Created for special celebrations and discerning travellers. Inclusions are tailored to the property and flights you choose, because not every camp offers every service.
These are indicative private-safari planning ranges per person, based on 2 adults sharing one private safari vehicle and a room. They are not confirmed quotations.
Your final cost depends on your travel dates, the number of guests, camp availability, flight fares and the exact services you choose. Ndutu camps can fill early in the calving season, so we confirm your price and accommodation in writing before you pay a deposit.
To request a price for one traveller or a group of three to six, select your group size in the booking box and Ombeni will quote you directly.
Your private vehicle and guide are shared only by your own party, so the more of you there are, the less each person pays.
Day 1
Your safari begins with a pickup at Kilimanjaro International Airport by your Trust Tours safari guide. After a short briefing, you drive west through northern Tanzania. Depending on your arrival time, there may be a chance for a short stop in Arusha before you continue over the Ngorongoro highlands.
As you descend towards the southern Serengeti ecosystem, the scenery changes dramatically, from cultivated highlands to open grasslands and acacia-dotted plains.
Once you reach the Ndutu area, your first game drive begins. It is designed around where the herds actually are, not a fixed route. You may find huge concentrations of wildebeest, zebra herds, newly born calves, Thomson's and Grant's gazelles, lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas, leopards, jackals and ostriches. You arrive at your camp or lodge for dinner and the night.
From the airport to your first game drive among the migration herds.
Day 2
Today is the heart of the safari. After an early breakfast, you leave with a picnic lunch for a full-day game drive around Ndutu and the surrounding Southern Serengeti plains. The entire day is dedicated to following the migration and searching for wildlife activity.
The early morning is particularly valuable for photography. Your guide will search for large groups of wildebeest and zebra, sometimes forming enormous moving herds. During the peak calving period, you may see very young calves staying close to their mothers. The concentration of prey attracts predators, so you may also meet lions, cheetahs, hyenas and other carnivores. Ndutu's birdlife is impressive too, with raptors and large ground birds.
You enjoy your picnic at a designated spot, surrounded by the landscape. There is no need to return to camp, which gives you much more time with the wildlife. In the afternoon, your guide adjusts the route to the herds, recent sightings, predator activity, the weather, road conditions and the best light for photography.
As the afternoon cools, you continue your game drive before returning to camp for dinner and, depending on the property and weather, an evening around the campfire.
A whole day following the Great Migration across the plains.
Day 3
Wake early for breakfast and your final safari experience. Depending on your flight time, we recommend an early morning game drive around Ndutu before you begin the journey back. The morning can bring lions returning from the night's activity, cheetahs hunting, hyenas, wildebeest and zebra, young calves, giraffes, gazelles, birds of prey and beautiful sunrise photography.
After the game drive, you travel back through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area towards Arusha, then transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight.
One last morning with the herds before the journey home.
Pick your comfort level, then choose a stay for each part of the route. Your choices go with your booking request. Ombeni confirms availability and your final price, and suggests a similar stay if one is full.
Nights 1 and 2
Mid-range seasonal tented camp
Ndutu, Southern Serengeti ecosystem
A mid-range tented camp on the Ndutu plains, open through the calving season from around December to March. Staying here means you wake up close to the herds, instead of spending the best hours of the morning driving in from the highlands.
What you can do here
Long-established lodge
Lake Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
A much-loved lodge of stone-and-thatch cottages overlooking Lake Ndutu, on the edge of the calving plains. Unlike the seasonal camps, it is here all year, with en-suite bathrooms and a private veranda at each cottage.
What you can do here
Seasonal tented bush camp
Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
A seasonal mid-range camp that opens for the calving months, with en-suite tents and solar lighting. It is a straightforward bush camp, right where the herds gather.
What you can do here
Seasonal mobile tented camp
Ndutu, Southern Serengeti ecosystem
A small mobile camp of about ten en-suite safari tents, set up in the south for the migration months and taken down after each season. It keeps the true feel of a bush camp.
What you can do here
Luxury tented lodge
Lake Masek, Ndutu area
Comfortable tented suites overlooking Lake Masek, close to Lake Ndutu and well placed for the calving grounds. It feels more solid than a mobile camp, which is a real comfort in the wet months.
What you can do here
Seasonal luxury tented camp
Ndutu, near the Southern Serengeti border
A seasonal luxury camp, open for the migration months from about December to March. It gives you the feeling of a true bush camp, close to the herds, with the comforts of a well-run tented suite.
What you can do here
Luxury tented lodge
Ndutu, Ngorongoro Conservation Area
A lodge of about twenty spacious tents, each raised on a wooden platform under a thatched roof, in the Ndutu area on the migration's path. Unlike the mobile camps, it has a swimming pool and permanent lodge facilities.
What you can do here
Permanent luxury tented camp
Kopjes of the southern Serengeti
A camp of 12 en-suite tents with raised wooden decks, set among rocky kopjes on the southern plains near the migration route. It is well placed for cheetahs.
What you can do here
High-end mobile camp by Asilia
Ndutu, from December to March
An intimate camp of nine tents that moves between the far north and Ndutu to follow the herds. Stargazing tents give wide views from your bed, so the plains stay with you through the night.
What you can do here
Small high-end mobile camp
Ndutu, from December to March
A small mobile camp of just a few canvas tents that moves through the year with the migration, and settles at Ndutu for the calving season.
What you can do here
High-end mobile tented camp
Moves with the migration
A high-end mobile camp that moves through the year to follow the Great Migration. We confirm its position for your dates, so that it suits your time at Ndutu.
What you can do here
With only three days, trying to see everything means seeing very little. This safari puts your two nights where the migration is normally concentrated in the early months of the year, so that you spend your time watching wildlife rather than moving between parks.
Rather than promising a particular wildlife encounter, it is built around giving you the best opportunities. Your guide decides each day where to go, based on the herds and the latest sightings.
December to March is the overall Ndutu season, with January and February the prime calving window. Here is what normally happens in each month.
| Month | What to expect |
|---|---|
| December | The migration begins gathering. The herds generally start concentrating in the south as the short rains bring fresh grass. |
| January | Calving begins. More wildebeest arrive and the first births take place. |
| February | Peak calving. Normally the core month, with huge concentrations of wildebeest, newborn calves and strong predator activity. |
| March | Late calving and transition. Newborn and predator sightings can still be excellent, especially early in the month, but the herds may begin moving north and west. |
Ndutu camps can fill early in the calving season, so we recommend confirming as early as you can. To receive an accurate quotation, tell us your travel dates, number of travellers, preferred comfort level, room-sharing arrangements and whether you will arrive at JRO, ARK or an Arusha hotel.
Still have questions? Ask Ombeni directly on WhatsApp.
Free, no-fluff guides from the people who run the trips.
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Indicative price per person for 2 adults sharing a private vehicle, at Mid-range level. Your written quote confirms the final price.
From
$1,365
per person
