3-Day Midrange Safari to Tarangire & Ngorongoro Crater

You will be picked up from Kilimanjaro International Airport or Arusha Airport and transferred to your accommodation in Arusha. If time allows, you can do an Arusha city tour, visiting the famous art gallery (Cultural Heritage), local market, and Masai market. Overnight at Njiro Legacy Hotel • Mid-range hotel located in Arusha (City).

Your safari begins the moment you walk out of Kilimanjaro International Airport. A Serengeti Wakanda guide is waiting with your name on a board and the words every traveller wants to hear: karibu Tanzania, welcome to Tanzania.

We transfer you to your lodge in the Arusha foothills, where you can shower, change into safari clothes and settle in. Your driver-guide joins you for a relaxed welcome dinner, walks through tomorrow's plan in detail and answers every last question. An early night sets you up for the days ahead.

Where you sleep tonight

Njiro Legacy Hotel

Mid-range hotel in Arusha

Quiet, friendly hotel in Njiro, Arusha. Modern rooms, garden pool and an easy first night before the bush.

Today, your safari adventure begins! After breakfast, we will pick you up from the lodge at 8:00am and drive to Tarangire National Park for two hours. The park is well known for its large elephant herds and abundance of ancient baobab trees (the largest trees on the continent). From the open roof of the vehicle, you will experience the seasonal swamps, savanna, and Tarangire River, which is full of wildlife ranging from a large variety of birds to giraffes, impalas, zebras, lions, leopards, eland, warthogs, and elephants. You will have your picnic lunch at a picnic site with a spectacular view! Finally, you continue with game viewing as we head towards Ngorongoro Marera Mountain View Lodge for dinner and an overnight stay. Overnight at Ngorongoro Marera Mountain View Lodge • Mid-range lodge located outside Ngorongoro Crater.

Tarangire is the elephant capital of northern Tanzania. In the dry season the Tarangire River is the only permanent water for miles, and herds of up to 250 elephants come down to drink, calves tumbling between their mothers' legs.

You spend the day on a private game drive through baobab-studded floodplains: lions resting in the shade, giraffe browsing acacia tops, fringe-eared oryx and the strange dwarf mongoose colonies. We pack a hot picnic lunch so you can stay in the park while the light is good.

Where you sleep tonight

Ngorongoro Marera Mountain View Lodge

Highland lodge near Ngorongoro

Spacious highland lodge with sweeping views, full-board dining and a fireplace lounge — perfectly placed for an early crater descent.

Get ready for an early start at 6:00am as you hop into the safari vehicle and descend into the Ngorongoro Crater with a packed breakfast. This mesmerizing place boasts a wide range of indigenous East African wildlife, including the rare black rhinos—if luck is on your side, you might catch a glimpse of one! Spanning about 20km in diameter, expect to spend five to six hours exploring the crater’s beauty. After the unforgettable adventure, you will return to Arusha, marking the end of your safari.

Karatu is the green coffee town between Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, cool, fertile and a perfect base. Many travellers prefer to overnight here instead of on the cold crater rim and descend fresh the next morning.

Use a half-day for a coffee farm tour, a walk to the Elephant Caves in Ngorongoro Forest or a Iraqw village visit. Otherwise simply rest by the lodge fire before tomorrow's crater dawn.