7-Day Off-Peak Tanzania Safari

After breakfast in Arusha, you set off on the drive to Tarangire National Park, a distance of about 120 kilometres that takes roughly two hours. The park is known for its large elephant population, and you may also encounter wildebeest, zebra, impala and giraffes as you explore. Lions and leopards are present here too, though sightings are never certain, and the park's baobab trees give the landscape its distinctive character.

You spend the day on game drives, with a break for lunch, before continuing to your accommodation for the night. Dinner and the rest of the evening are at The Castle at Ngorongoro, on a full board basis. Tomorrow the route turns towards the Serengeti, so an early night is worthwhile.

After breakfast, leave Tarangire behind and travel towards the Serengeti, a drive of roughly 280 kilometres that takes about six hours. The route carries you across the highlands and through changing countryside, with the landscape shifting as you go.

You reach the Serengeti in the afternoon and game drive your way to camp, so the wildlife viewing begins before you have even unpacked. Buffalo, elephants, giraffes and several species of antelope are all at home in these grasslands, and lions and cheetahs may also be seen. Your guide will read the day as it goes and choose the most rewarding route towards Enkirari Wilderness Camp, where you settle in for the night. Dinner and the evening are spent at camp, with a full day of exploring the Serengeti waiting tomorrow.

You have a full day to explore the Serengeti at your own pace, with game drives shaped around what your guide finds on the day. The park's open plains and wooded areas give you the chance to look for lions and cheetahs, along with the zebras, gazelles and other herbivores that share this ecosystem. Your guide will take you to the spots where wildlife is most likely to be seen, and you can spend as long as you wish watching and photographing the animals and the landscapes around them.

Game drives are usually best in the early morning and late afternoon, when wildlife tends to be more active, so your day may include time out in the cooler hours with a break during the middle of the day. Meals are served at Enkirari Wilderness Camp, where you return in the evening after your final drive.

Your second full day in the Serengeti gives you the freedom to follow the wildlife at an unhurried pace. With no long transfer ahead, you can set out early, when the plains are cool and animals are most active, and stay out through the morning before returning to camp for lunch and a rest during the heat of the day.

In the afternoon you head out again, perhaps towards a different part of the park, so that the two days together show you more of the Serengeti's varied landscapes and the animals that live across them. Lions, cheetahs, zebras and gazelles may all be seen, though sightings always depend on the day. Your guide will read the conditions and choose the routes accordingly. Back at Enkirari Wilderness Camp, dinner is served under the open sky before an early night ahead of tomorrow's drive to the Ngorongoro Crater.

After breakfast, drive to the Ngorongoro Crater for a full-day tour. This UNESCO World Heritage site is home to approximately 20,000 mammals, including rare black rhinos, making it one of the best places in Tanzania to see these endangered animals. The crater also boasts one of the world’s highest carnivore densities, with lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and jackals commonly spotted.

After breakfast, you leave Karatu and drive to Lake Manyara National Park for a morning game drive. The park is known for its tree-climbing lions, and you may also spot flamingos and hippos around the lake. Your guide will make the most of the morning hours, when the light is soft and the animals are often active, before you begin the drive back to Arusha.

The drive to Arusha brings your safari to a close. You arrive in the city in time for your onward arrangements, whether that is a day room, a night's stay, or a transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight home. It is the end of your seven days in Tanzania, with the quiet-season landscapes of Tarangire, the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara behind you.