5-Day Safari · 1 comfort levels
From
$3,250
per person
Package price per person for 2 adults sharing, flights included. Your written quote confirms the final price.
A private, unhurried safari through Tarangire, the Ngorongoro Highlands and Crater and the Serengeti, with a crater-rim walk and a Maasai visit, ending with a flight from the Serengeti to Zanzibar.
This safari is built around a relaxed rhythm. The main game drives happen in the cool early hours, when animals are most active. You return for a proper hot lunch and time at the lodge in the heat of the day, then head out again for a shorter afternoon drive.
You travel in your own Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof and a guide who stays with you from start to finish, sharing what they know about wildlife, photography, conservation and Tanzanian culture. Nobody else shares your vehicle.
The route runs from Tarangire's elephants and baobabs to a guided walk on the Ngorongoro Crater rim, a Maasai village, a full morning in the crater and two nights at a tented camp in the Serengeti. On the last morning, you have a final game drive before flying to Zanzibar, with no long drive back to Arusha.
Best months to travel: Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · 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 $3,250per person
about $650 per day
Ombeni's premium mid-range package: selected lodges, a tented camp in the Serengeti and a private guide and vehicle throughout.
This is Ombeni's package price per person, based on 2 adults sharing a room and a private safari vehicle. It includes the flights listed in the itinerary.
Flight fares and camp rates change with the season, so we confirm the price for your dates in writing before you pay a deposit.
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 guide collects you from your Arusha hotel at about 6:15 am for the 2 to 3 hour drive to Tarangire National Park, famous for its elephant herds and baobab trees. You enter the park in the cool of the morning, looking for elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, buffaloes and the park's many birds, and take your time wherever the wildlife is good.
You stop for a hot lunch, then explore a different part of the park in the afternoon as the animals become active again. Afterwards, you drive on to your lodge in Karatu, arriving with time to settle in and relax before dinner.
Day 2
This day is about the highlands on foot, with no game drive. You drive through farmland and coffee country to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where a ranger leads a guided walk along the crater rim in the cool of the morning. Walking inside the crater isn't allowed, but the rim gives you wide views across it, montane forest and birdlife, at a pace that suits you.
After a hot lunch, you visit a Maasai boma, subject to the community's availability, to learn about their homes, their cattle, their clothing and family life. You then check in at your lodge on the crater rim with time to enjoy the view before dinner.
Day 3
After breakfast, you descend about 600 metres onto the crater floor for a long private game drive. Lions, elephants, buffaloes, hippos, zebras, wildebeest, hyenas and flamingos live here, and there's a chance of the endangered black rhino. You have lunch at a picnic site in the crater, so there's no need to rush out.
In the afternoon, you drive into the Serengeti, game viewing on the way as the highlands give way to the open plains, and arrive at your tented camp with time to enjoy it.
Day 4
If you've added the balloon safari, you leave camp at about 5:00 am for the launch site and float over the plains at sunrise for about an hour, followed by a bush breakfast. You then return to camp to rest, shower and enjoy a hot lunch, instead of heading straight out on a long drive.
Without the balloon, you head out early for a morning game drive and come back for lunch. Either way, the afternoon brings a shorter game drive, and you return to camp in good time for sunset and a relaxed last dinner in the Serengeti.
Day 5
After an early breakfast, you set out on a final morning game drive, one of the best times to find lions, leopards and cheetahs. Your guide keeps an eye on the flight time and brings you back to camp to collect your bags and freshen up.
Depending on the flight, you have lunch at camp or on the way to the airstrip, then fly directly from the Serengeti to Zanzibar to begin the beach part of your holiday.
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.
Your nights on this trip
Night 1
Garden lodge
Karatu, Ngorongoro Highlands
A relaxed lodge set in about eleven acres of gardens in Karatu, the highland farming town between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater. It is a short drive from the Ngorongoro gate, so it works well before or after a day in the crater.
What you can do here
Lodge on a working coffee farm
Karatu, Ngorongoro Highlands
A lodge on a coffee farm in the Karatu highlands, close to the Ngorongoro Crater. The farm also grows vegetables and keeps livestock, which gives the place a warm, rural feel after a day in the park.
What you can do here
Mid-range tented camp
Ngorongoro Highlands
A mid-range tented camp in the highlands, close to the descent road into the crater, which suits an early start.
What you can do here
Lodge on a coffee farm
About 20 minutes from Karatu
A lodge on a large coffee farm, about 15 minutes from the Lodoare gate of the conservation area, with a pool and evening campfires.
What you can do here
Lodge on a working coffee farm
Edge of Karatu town
A lodge on an active coffee farm at the edge of Karatu, with rooms in private cabins, a pool and a spa.
What you can do here
Mid-range lodge
Karatu
A mid-range lodge of cottages and spacious tents in landscaped gardens, with a pool, a bar and a restaurant.
What you can do here
Mid-range hilltop lodge
Hilltop near Karatu
A comfortable mid-range lodge on a scenic hilltop near Karatu, with a pool, a lounge and a restaurant.
What you can do here
Good-value cottage lodge
Eastern edge of Karatu town
Affordable cottage-style rooms at the edge of Karatu, about 30 minutes from both the crater and Lake Manyara.
What you can do here
Good-value lodge
Karatu
A comfortable and affordable lodge in Karatu, offering a good base for exploring the crater.
What you can do here
Night 2
Lodge on the crater rim
Ngorongoro Crater rim
Built into the rim of the crater, with traditional decor and sweeping views over the crater floor. Sleeping on the rim puts you close to the descent road for your morning game drive.
What you can do here
Large lodge on the crater rim
Eastern rim of the Ngorongoro Crater
A large lodge on the quieter eastern rim of the crater, with its rooms set around a central swimming pool. Your Ngorongoro stay here comes with views over the crater floor.
What you can do here
Simple lodge near the crater rim
Ngorongoro Crater rim
A simple, good-value lodge in the forest close to the crater rim, with 24 en-suite rooms. It puts you close to the crater for much less than the bigger rim lodges.
What you can do here
Nights 3–4
Luxury tented suites
Eastern Serengeti
A boutique camp of canvas suites in the eastern Serengeti, each with a private deck and plunge pool. The area is known for excellent predator viewing, particularly cheetah.
What you can do here
Hillside tented lodge
Central Serengeti
Spacious tents raised on wooden platforms on a ridge overlooking the central plains, about half an hour from Seronera. It is a comfortable base for the Seronera Valley, with big views from the camp.
What you can do here
Not every day is a full day in the vehicle. The plan is to be out early, when the wildlife is most active, back for a hot lunch and some rest in the heat of the day, then out again for a shorter afternoon drive or an experience, returning in time to enjoy the lodge in the evening.
Wildlife doesn't keep a timetable, so your guide can always stay longer at an exceptional sighting. On the last morning, the flight time sets how long you can stay in the park.
Flights between Zanzibar, Arusha and the Serengeti are scheduled services on small aircraft, landing at airstrips close to the game-drive areas. Your guide meets you on the airstrip, so the safari starts as soon as you land.
Schedules and fares are set by the airlines and change with the season, so we confirm your flight times before your booking is final and plan the game drives around them.
Tell us your travel dates, the number of travellers and where you're staying before and after the safari. We check the flights and camp availability for your dates and confirm the final price in writing before you pay.
Still have questions? Ask Ombeni directly on WhatsApp.
Free, no-fluff guides from the people who run the trips.
Where to go, when to travel, what a day looks like and what it costs — everything you need to plan a northern Tanzania safari.
Read guide →Safari · 8 min readA month-by-month guide to the wildebeest migration — calving in the south, the Mara River crossings in the north, and everything in between.
Read guide →Safari · 8 min readTanzania's flagship park — endless plains, the Great Migration and the finest big-cat viewing in Africa.
Read guide →Ready to go?
Package price per person for 2 adults sharing, flights included. Your written quote confirms the final price.
From
$3,250
per person
