6 days
The Nayara Classic
Tarangire's elephants, the Ngorongoro Crater floor and two full days in the central Serengeti. If you have one week and one shot at…
$2,780per person, from
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Every trip on this page is a starting point
These are the routes we build most often, priced honestly and described without adjectives we cannot defend. Roughly eight in ten guests change something — a night here, a camp there, a park swapped out because of where the herds are that week. That is the point of a private trip.
Showing 9 of 9 itineraries.
6 days
8 days
Serengeti River Crossings
July to October in the far north, camped within twenty minutes of the Mara River. We move with the herds, not to a fixed schedule…
$4,690per person, from
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7 days
Ndutu Calving Season
Roughly 8,000 wildebeest are born a day in February on the short-grass plains around Ndutu. Where there are calves there are…
$3,950per person, from
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4 days
Northern Circuit in Four Days
The shortest route that still does the northern circuit justice: Manyara's forest, Tarangire's elephants and a full morning on the…
$1,340per person, from
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7 days
Family Safari, Properly Planned
Shorter drives, camps with pools, guides who are good with children, and a pace that leaves room for a swim at three o'clock. Built…
$2,980per person, from
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10 days
Plains & Islands Honeymoon
Five nights of safari with a balloon flight and a private bush dinner, then four nights on the north-east coast of Zanzibar. The…
$6,450per person, from
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9 days
Photographic Expedition
Beanbags, a 4x4 with the roof off and no more than three photographers aboard. We plan every day around light, not around lunch,…
$7,200per person, from
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8 days
Wild North — Natron, Eyasi & the Serengeti
The northern circuit without the convoy. Walk the Ngare Sero gorge below Ol Doinyo Lengai, hunt at dawn with Hadzabe men above Lake…
$4,100per person, from
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5 days
Budget Camping Adventure
The old-fashioned way: canvas tents, a cook who works miracles on two burners, and hyena calling somewhere past the fire. Same…
$1,150per person, from
ViewNothing matches that combination — but we almost certainly build it anyway. Tell us what you want.
Scroll on for the full detail of each itinerary — day by day, with the camps, the driving times and what actually happens each morning.
6days, from $2,780 per person
Mid-range lodges & tented camps
The Nayara Classic
Tarangire's elephants, the Ngorongoro Crater floor and two full days in the central Serengeti. If you have one week and one shot at Tanzania, this is the route we build most often.
- Two nights central Serengeti for unhurried big-cat time
- Full crater descent with an early gate entry
- Tarangire in the dry season, when the river pulls in the herds
- Private 4x4 Land Cruiser and your own guide throughout
Route: Arusha → Tarangire → Serengeti (Seronera) → Ngorongoro → Arusha
Best months: June to October, and January to March
Day 1
Arrive Kilimanjaro, transfer to Arusha
Met at JRO and driven the hour to Arusha for a briefing over dinner. Your guide walks you through the route, the vehicle, and what the light does in each park.
Night: Arusha Coffee Lodge or similar
Day 2
Arusha to Tarangire National Park
South-west through Maasai country to Tarangire. Afternoon game drive along the river where elephant families gather in family groups of forty and more beneath the baobabs.
Night: Tarangire tented camp
Day 3
Tarangire to Serengeti via the Rift escarpment
An early start, up the Great Rift wall past Manyara, across the Ngorongoro highlands and down onto the plains. Arrive Seronera for the last two hours of afternoon light.
Night: Central Serengeti camp
Day 4
Full day, central Serengeti
Dawn to dusk on the plains with a packed breakfast in the vehicle. The Seronera valley holds the highest resident lion and leopard density in the ecosystem.
Night: Central Serengeti camp
Day 5
Serengeti to Ngorongoro Crater rim
A slow morning drive out through the Naabi Hill gate, arriving on the crater rim in the afternoon for sundowners above the caldera.
Night: Ngorongoro crater rim lodge
Day 6
Crater floor, then Arusha
Descend at 06:30 before the gate crowd. Six hours on the floor — black rhino, tusker elephants, the Lerai forest — then the drive back to Arusha or JRO.
Night: Departure
8days, from $4,690 per person
Luxury mobile camps in the north
Serengeti River Crossings
July to October in the far north, camped within twenty minutes of the Mara River. We move with the herds, not to a fixed schedule — and we wait, because crossings do not run to a timetable.
- Three nights at Kogatende, in crossing country
- Mobile camp that moves with the herds each season
- Full-day drives with no fixed return time
- Optional hot-air balloon over the northern plains
Route: Arusha → Tarangire → Central Serengeti → Kogatende (north) → Ngorongoro → Arusha
Best months: Late July through mid October
Day 1
Arrive Arusha
Arrival, briefing and an early night before the drive north.
Night: Arusha lodge
Day 2
Tarangire National Park
Dry-season Tarangire: elephants, baobabs and the Silale swamp edge.
Night: Tarangire camp
Day 3
To the central Serengeti
Long transit day with game viewing all the way in, arriving Seronera by mid-afternoon.
Night: Seronera camp
Day 4
Central Serengeti
Big cats, kopjes, and a leopard search along the Seronera river line.
Night: Seronera camp
Day 5
Fly or drive to Kogatende
Move north to the Mara River. Afternoon reconnaissance of the crossing points and the state of the herds.
Night: Mobile camp, Kogatende
Day 6
Full day on the river
Out at first light with breakfast and lunch aboard. When a crossing builds we hold position — sometimes for hours.
Night: Mobile camp, Kogatende
Day 7
Second full day north, fly to Ngorongoro
Morning on the river, then the airstrip and a light aircraft south. Sunset on the crater rim.
Night: Crater rim lodge
Day 8
Crater floor and departure
Early descent, a long morning on the floor, and the road back to Arusha.
Night: Departure
7days, from $3,950 per person
Seasonal camps on the southern plains
Ndutu Calving Season
Roughly 8,000 wildebeest are born a day in February on the short-grass plains around Ndutu. Where there are calves there are cheetah, and the predator action here is the most concentrated of the year.
- Four nights on the southern short-grass plains
- Calving peak in February, with cheetah and hyena in constant attendance
- Off-road driving permitted in the Ndutu conservation area
- Dramatic green-season skies for photographers
Route: Arusha → Lake Manyara → Ndutu → Central Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Arusha
Best months: Mid January to mid March, peaking in February
Day 1
Arrive Arusha
Arrival and briefing.
Night: Arusha lodge
Day 2
Lake Manyara National Park
Groundwater forest, baboon troops and flamingo lines on the soda flats.
Night: Manyara area lodge
Day 3
Into Ndutu
Across the Ngorongoro highlands and down onto the short-grass plains. First afternoon among the herds.
Night: Ndutu seasonal camp
Day 4
Full day, Ndutu
Calving, cheetah hunts on open ground, and the Marsh pride at Lake Masek.
Night: Ndutu seasonal camp
Day 5
Ndutu to central Serengeti
North through Naabi Hill with a full day of game viewing.
Night: Seronera camp
Day 6
Serengeti to crater rim
Morning drive, then east to the Ngorongoro highlands.
Night: Crater rim lodge
Day 7
Crater floor and departure
Early descent and the return to Arusha.
Night: Departure
4days, from $1,340 per person
Comfortable lodges, small group or private
Northern Circuit in Four Days
The shortest route that still does the northern circuit justice: Manyara's forest, Tarangire's elephants and a full morning on the crater floor. Ideal bolted onto a Kilimanjaro climb or a business trip.
- No internal flights, no wasted days
- Crater descent on the final morning
- Can run as a private trip or a scheduled small group
- Pairs neatly with a Zanzibar extension
Route: Arusha → Lake Manyara → Tarangire → Ngorongoro → Arusha
Best months: Year round; best June to October
Day 1
Arusha to Lake Manyara
Afternoon in the groundwater forest and along the lake shore.
Night: Karatu lodge
Day 2
Tarangire National Park
A full day among the baobabs and the elephant herds of the Tarangire river.
Night: Karatu lodge
Day 3
Ngorongoro Crater
Early descent, a long morning on the floor, then up to the rim for the afternoon.
Night: Karatu lodge
Day 4
Return to Arusha
Optional Mto wa Mbu cultural walk en route, arriving Arusha by mid-afternoon.
Night: Departure
7days, from $2,980 per person
Family suites and camps that welcome children
Family Safari, Properly Planned
Shorter drives, camps with pools, guides who are good with children, and a pace that leaves room for a swim at three o'clock. Built around what actually works with a seven-year-old in a Land Cruiser.
- Maximum three hours of driving in any leg
- Family tents and connecting rooms held from booking
- Junior ranger activities, spoor casting and bush skills
- Cultural morning in Mto wa Mbu with a local family
Route: Arusha → Tarangire → Karatu → Ngorongoro → Serengeti → Arusha
Best months: June to October and the December holidays
Day 1
Arrive Arusha
Arrival, pool afternoon and an early dinner.
Night: Arusha lodge
Day 2
Tarangire National Park
Short morning drive in, afternoon game drive, swim between.
Night: Tarangire family camp
Day 3
Tarangire to Karatu
Game drive out, then the Mto wa Mbu cultural walk — rice paddies, a banana-beer brewery and a school visit.
Night: Karatu farm lodge
Day 4
Ngorongoro Crater
Descent at dawn with hot chocolate on the rim, out by early afternoon.
Night: Karatu farm lodge
Day 5
To the Serengeti
Drive in across the plains with a picnic at Naabi Hill.
Night: Serengeti family camp
Day 6
Full day, Serengeti
Morning drive, siesta, afternoon drive, junior ranger session with the camp guides.
Night: Serengeti family camp
Day 7
Fly back to Arusha
Light aircraft from Seronera to Arusha, connecting on or overnight.
Night: Departure
10days, from $6,450 per person
Luxury lodges and a barefoot beach finish
Plains & Islands Honeymoon
Five nights of safari with a balloon flight and a private bush dinner, then four nights on the north-east coast of Zanzibar. The classic Tanzanian pairing, done without a single rushed morning.
- Hot-air balloon over the Serengeti with a champagne breakfast
- Private sundowner and bush dinner arranged for two
- Direct Serengeti–Zanzibar flight, no Dar es Salaam backtrack
- Ocean-front suite with a private plunge pool
Route: Arusha → Tarangire → Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Zanzibar
Best months: June to October; December to February on the coast
Day 1
Arrive Arusha
Private transfer and a night at a coffee-estate lodge.
Night: Arusha Coffee Lodge
Day 2
Tarangire National Park
Afternoon among the elephants, sundowners on the escarpment.
Night: Luxury Tarangire camp
Day 3
Fly to the Serengeti
Light aircraft to Seronera and an afternoon drive.
Night: Luxury Serengeti camp
Day 4
Serengeti balloon flight
Lift off before sunrise, land to a full breakfast in the grass. Afternoon at leisure.
Night: Luxury Serengeti camp
Day 5
Serengeti to Ngorongoro
Fly or drive to the crater rim; private bush dinner under the stars.
Night: Crater rim lodge
Day 6
Crater floor, fly to Zanzibar
Morning descent, then the afternoon flight to the island.
Night: Zanzibar beach resort
Day 7
Zanzibar — at leisure
Nothing scheduled. Reef, hammock, repeat.
Night: Zanzibar beach resort
Day 8
Sunset dhow and Stone Town
Afternoon in Stone Town's alleys, sunset under sail.
Night: Zanzibar beach resort
Day 9
Mnemba atoll snorkelling
Boat out to the atoll for the clearest water on the island.
Night: Zanzibar beach resort
Day 10
Depart Zanzibar
Transfer to ZNZ for your onward flight.
Night: Departure
9days, from $7,200 per person
Private vehicle, three seats maximum
Photographic Expedition
Beanbags, a 4x4 with the roof off and no more than three photographers aboard. We plan every day around light, not around lunch, and we stay out through it.
- Three guests maximum per vehicle, every seat a window seat
- Full-day drives with breakfast and lunch carried
- Guide chosen for tracking ability and patience at a sighting
- Beanbags, charging inverters and a hard-drive backup station in camp
Route: Arusha → Tarangire → Ndutu or Kogatende (season dependent) → Central Serengeti → Ngorongoro
Best months: February for calving; August to October for crossings
Day 1
Arrive Arusha
Kit check, sensor clean and a route briefing with your guide.
Night: Arusha lodge
Day 2
Tarangire
Backlit elephant dust and baobab silhouettes at last light.
Night: Tarangire camp
Day 3
Tarangire
Full day, working the swamp edge and the river bends.
Night: Tarangire camp
Day 4
To the Serengeti
Transit with the cameras out; arrive for golden hour.
Night: Serengeti camp
Day 5
Serengeti
Dawn to dusk. Kopjes at first light, cats through the middle of the day.
Night: Serengeti camp
Day 6
Serengeti
Second full day in the same area — the way you actually get the shot.
Night: Serengeti camp
Day 7
Migration zone
North or south depending on the herds, with a mobile camp positioned for it.
Night: Mobile camp
Day 8
Migration zone
Full day at the herds.
Night: Mobile camp
Day 9
Ngorongoro and departure
Crater floor at dawn, then Arusha.
Night: Departure
8days, from $4,100 per person
Small camps, walking and cultural time
Wild North — Natron, Eyasi & the Serengeti
The northern circuit without the convoy. Walk the Ngare Sero gorge below Ol Doinyo Lengai, hunt at dawn with Hadzabe men above Lake Eyasi, then drop into the Serengeti from the north-east.
- Sunrise hunt with a Hadzabe family group at Lake Eyasi
- Waterfall walk in the Ngare Sero gorge at Lake Natron
- Optional overnight ascent of Ol Doinyo Lengai, 2,962m
- Empakaai Crater rim walk down to the flamingo lake
Route: Arusha → Lake Natron → Empakaai → Serengeti → Lake Eyasi → Ngorongoro → Arusha
Best months: June to October; the Natron road is hard going after heavy rain
Day 1
Arrive Arusha
Briefing and kit check for a trip with real walking in it.
Night: Arusha lodge
Day 2
To Lake Natron
North past Longido and Engaruka to the Rift floor. Afternoon at the flamingo flats.
Night: Natron tented camp
Day 3
Ngare Sero gorge
Morning waterfall walk, afternoon at leisure under Ol Doinyo Lengai.
Night: Natron tented camp
Day 4
Empakaai Crater
Descend 300 metres through montane forest to the lake floor and its flamingos.
Night: Highlands camp
Day 5
Into the Serengeti
Down the north-east road onto the plains.
Night: Serengeti camp
Day 6
Full day, Serengeti
Game drives with the day shaped around what the guides find.
Night: Serengeti camp
Day 7
Lake Eyasi
Afternoon with a Datoga blacksmith family; early night before a dawn start.
Night: Eyasi camp
Day 8
Hadzabe morning, then Arusha
Out with the hunters at first light, then the road home.
Night: Departure
5days, from $1,150 per person
Public campsites, full camp crew
Budget Camping Adventure
The old-fashioned way: canvas tents, a cook who works miracles on two burners, and hyena calling somewhere past the fire. Same parks, same guides, a third of the price.
- Full camp crew — cook, camp hand, guide
- Public campsites inside Serengeti and on the Ngorongoro rim
- Sleeping bags and mats supplied, no kit to buy
- Departures shared with a maximum of six travellers
Route: Arusha → Tarangire → Serengeti → Ngorongoro → Arusha
Best months: June to October; camping is grim in heavy rain
Day 1
Arusha to Tarangire
Drive in, afternoon game drive, camp near the park gate.
Night: Tarangire public campsite
Day 2
Tarangire to Serengeti
Long day across the highlands with a picnic at Naabi Hill.
Night: Seronera public campsite
Day 3
Full day, Serengeti
Morning and afternoon drives from the campsite.
Night: Seronera public campsite
Day 4
Serengeti to Ngorongoro rim
Game drive out, camp on the rim with the crater below you.
Night: Simba public campsite
Day 5
Crater floor and Arusha
Descend early, then the long road back.
Night: Departure
What is included
No surprises at the gate
Every price on this page includes the following, and our written quotes itemise each park fee separately so you can see exactly where the money goes.
- All national park, conservation area and crater permit fees
- Private 4x4 Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof, fridge and charging points
- A professional, Tanzania Tourist Board licensed guide throughout
- All accommodation as listed, and all meals while on safari
- Filtered drinking water in the vehicle — no single-use bottles
- Airport transfers from Kilimanjaro International (JRO)
- Flying Doctors AMREF emergency evacuation cover
- Government taxes and VAT
What is not
And what you will pay for separately
- International flights and your Tanzania visa
- Travel and medical insurance (a condition of booking)
- Tips for your guide and camp staff
- Drinks, laundry and personal items
- Optional extras: balloon flights, night drives, walking safaris
A note on park fees
Serengeti entry is US$70 per adult per day. A Ngorongoro Crater vehicle permit is US$295. Concession fees inside camps add US$60–100 a night. On a mid-range trip that is a third of the total, and it is not negotiable by any operator — so be suspicious of quotes that come in far below the rest.
Timing
When to run the northern circuit
June to October is the dry season: thin vegetation, animals concentrated at water, and the Mara River crossings from late July. January to March brings calving on the southern plains, green landscapes and far fewer vehicles. April and May are the long rains — some camps close, but rates fall sharply and the light is extraordinary.
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Prime time
Good, fewer vehicles
Green season · lowest rates
In their words
Nine hundred trips, and counting
“We have been on six safaris across four countries and Nayara ran the best of them. Emmanuel found us a leopard with a kill on our first afternoon and then, more impressively, knew when to leave a sighting alone. The whole trip was calm, unhurried and beautifully judged.”Margaret & David Hulme · Bristol, UK · 8-day northern circuit
“I climbed Lemosho with them in August and summited on my first attempt at 61. The pacing was maddeningly slow and completely correct. The crew were paid properly, fed properly and treated as colleagues — you can tell within an hour whether that is true.”Jan Verhoeven · Utrecht, Netherlands · 8-day Lemosho
“They planned a ten-day trip for our family of five, including two teenagers who claimed in advance that they would be bored. They were not. The Mto wa Mbu day and the balloon flight were the two things they still talk about a year later.”The Okonkwo family · Lagos, Nigeria · Family safari & Zanzibar
“What sold me was the quoting. Every park fee, every concession fee, everything itemised, and no pressure at all. Three other operators sent me a single number and a stock photo. Nayara sent me a plan I could actually check.”Priya Raman · Singapore · 6-day Nayara Classic
“Our February trip to Ndutu was extraordinary — calving in every direction and a cheetah hunt on the second morning. Green season, half the price, and we saw maybe four other vehicles all week.”Tom & Alicia Brenner · Denver, USA · 7-day calving season
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