8-Day Big 5 Camping Safari & Visiting the Hadzabe

You will be picked up from either Kilimanjaro or Arusha Airport and dropped off at Karibu Heritage House. If time allows (depending on your arrival), you will have the option to do an Arusha city tour, visiting the famous art gallery, the Cultural Heritage Centre, the local market, and the Maasai market. Overnight at Karibu Heritage House • Budget hotel located in or near Arusha.

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

Karibu Heritage House

Guesthouse in Arusha

Warm, owner-run guesthouse in Arusha — the trusted first/last-night base for our camping and trekking guests.

Today our safari Adventure begins! After breakfast, pick up from your hotel and drive for 2 hours and 20 minutes to Tarangire National Park. The park is well known for its large elephant herds and abundance of Ancient Baobab trees (the largest trees in the continent). From the open roof of the vehicle we 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, elands, warthogs and elephants. The picnic site has a spectacular view. We will have our picnic lunch there and proceed with game viewing before continuing to the campsite inside the park for dinner and overnight. Overnight at Budget Camping • inside Tarangire NP.

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

Budget camping inside Tarangire NP

Public campsite, Tarangire NP

Authentic public campsite inside Tarangire — dome tents, bush kitchen, elephants drinking from the river below.

Today you will wake up early in the morning for a sunrise game drive. After breakfast, you will continue with game drive in Tarangire in the morning and depart for Lake Manyara. On your exploration of the park, you will see monkeys, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, buffalo, elephants, and with some luck, lions lounging in the trees. The park is known for its diverse landscapes; not only open grassy plains but also primate-filled woodlands and baobab dotted cliffs. Later, you will exit the park and drive for 5 minutes to your accommodation for dinner and overnight. Overnight at Fig Tree Lodge & Camp • Budget hotel located just outside Lake Manyara NP.

Lake Manyara is a small park with an outsized reputation: a Rift Valley wall on one side, a shallow soda lake on the other and a strip of groundwater forest crammed between them. Tree-climbing lions, large baboon troops and clouds of flamingos.

You travel along the Rift escarpment with sweeping views over the lake, then drop into the forest for a half- or full-day game drive. Birders bring binoculars: more than 400 species have been recorded here.

Where you sleep tonight

Fig Tree Lodge & Camp

Lodge & camp near Tarangire NP

Family-run lodge and camp just outside Tarangire's main gate, with simple chalets, pool and bush dinners under the figs.

Today, your journey takes you to Lake Eyasi, starting right after breakfast. This day holds an authentic encounter with the Hadzabe and Datoga community, known for their distinct cultural practices. You’ll start with visiting the Datoga people, famous for their craftsmanship, then followed with a visit to the Hadazbe community. The Hadza’s traditional lifestyle involves hunting small game like dik-diks and hare and gathering honey. Later in the evening, you’ll have the unique opportunity to join them in hunting activities, as they are skilled hunters and gatherers. Their dwellings are simple and easily constructed or abandoned. Communicating in a click language, the Hadzabe offers an immersive cultural experience. After engaging with the community, you’ll head to your campsite for dinner and overnight. Overnight at Budget camping.

Lake Eyasi is a soda lake in the floor of the Rift Valley and home to the Hadzabe, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in Africa, and the Datoga, master blacksmiths whose copper rings the Hadzabe trade for honey.

You leave before sunrise with a Hadzabe interpreter to join the men on a real hunt with hand-made bows and poisoned arrows. Later you visit a Datoga compound to see arrows being forged from melted padlocks. It is the most honest cultural visit on the circuit.

Where you sleep tonight

Budget camping inside Tarangire NP

Public campsite, Tarangire NP

Authentic public campsite inside Tarangire — dome tents, bush kitchen, elephants drinking from the river below.

After breakfast, you will begin your journey to Serengeti. The route ahead will take you through a long and occasionally bumpy road, providing you with approximately 5 to 6 hours of captivating game viewing as you ascend the crater highlands towards the vast plains of Serengeti. If the weather conditions allow and visibility is clear, a 10-minute stop will be made at Ngorongoro Viewpoint, offering you a glimpse of the breathtaking caldera before continuing the drive to Serengeti. You will enjoy a delightful picnic lunch along the way, allowing you to refuel and take in the surrounding scenery. Upon reaching the park, an afternoon game drive will be arranged for you to fully immerse yourself in the abundance of wildlife. As the sun begins to set, you will make your way to your campsite, where a delicious dinner will be served, followed by a restful overnight stay in the tranquility of the Serengeti. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Camp • Mid-range tented camp located inside Central Serengeti NP.

Lake Eyasi is a soda lake in the floor of the Rift Valley and home to the Hadzabe, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in Africa, and the Datoga, master blacksmiths whose copper rings the Hadzabe trade for honey.

You leave before sunrise with a Hadzabe interpreter to join the men on a real hunt with hand-made bows and poisoned arrows. Later you visit a Datoga compound to see arrows being forged from melted padlocks. It is the most honest cultural visit on the circuit.

Where you sleep tonight

Lala Salama Serengeti Camp

Tented camp, Serengeti

Classic tented camp pitched in the heart of the Serengeti — warm hosting, hearty bush meals and easy access to the plains right from your tent flap.

Today, you’re spending the entire day in the Serengeti National Park. You start your exploration at sunrise with a full-day game drive, searching for the Big 5. After returning to the campsite for breakfast, you head out for an afternoon full day game drive. There is more to Serengeti than large mammals. The Serengeti is also home to over 500 bird species, including ostriches, secretary birds, and black eagles. You’ll continue searching for wildlife until sunset, then return to camp for dinner and an overnight stay. Overnight at Lala Salama Serengeti Camp • Mid-range tented camp located inside Central Serengeti NP.

The Seronera valley is the heart of the Serengeti and a year-round game-viewing area. Permanent water, rocky kopjes and short-grass plains create the highest density of big cats in Africa: roughly 1 lion per 10 km², and the best leopard sightings on the circuit.

Mornings start before sunrise to catch the cats while they are still active; midday is a slow picnic in the shade of an acacia. In the afternoon we work the riverine fig trees for leopards and the kopjes for resting prides. Distances are long but every stop is worth it.

Where you sleep tonight

Lala Salama Serengeti Camp

Tented camp, Serengeti

Classic tented camp pitched in the heart of the Serengeti — warm hosting, hearty bush meals and easy access to the plains right from your tent flap.

Today’s adventure begins early as you depart from the campsite with a packed breakfast for a sunrise game drive, offering the best opportunity to spot animals when they are most active. A stop at a picturesque picnic site allows you to enjoy breakfast in the heart of the wilderness. Following this, the game drive will resume, keeping you captivated until you return to the camp around noon for a satisfying hot lunch. Once you’ve had lunch and loaded up your vehicle, it’s time to bid farewell to the camp and set off for Ngorongoro. The day concludes with dinner and an overnight stay at Simba campsite in Ngorongoro. Overnight at Ngorongoro Simba Campsite • On the crater rim of Ngorongoro Crater.

The Seronera valley is the heart of the Serengeti and a year-round game-viewing area. Permanent water, rocky kopjes and short-grass plains create the highest density of big cats in Africa: roughly 1 lion per 10 km², and the best leopard sightings on the circuit.

Mornings start before sunrise to catch the cats while they are still active; midday is a slow picnic in the shade of an acacia. In the afternoon we work the riverine fig trees for leopards and the kopjes for resting prides. Distances are long but every stop is worth it.

Where you sleep tonight

Ngorongoro Simba Campsite

Public campsite, crater rim

Legendary crater-rim public campsite — dome tents pitched on the very edge of Ngorongoro at 2,400 m.

Today, your game-drive begins early at 6 am as you board the safari vehicle. You’ll descend into the Ngorongoro Crater with your packed breakfast. This remarkable location is home to nearly every species of wildlife native to East Africa, including the elusive black rhino, which, if luck is on our side, we might spot. The crater spans an area of 260 square kilometers and boasts a diameter of around 20 kilometres, so exploring its wonders will take approximately 5 hours. You’ll ascend back to the campsite for a satisfying hot lunch and then begin your return journey to Arusha, concluding your safari adventure. Anticipated arrival time in Arusha is between 5 pm and 6 pm.

The Ngorongoro Crater is a 260 km² collapsed caldera with 600 m walls, and the highest density of large mammals on Earth. Inside the crater floor live around 25,000 large animals, including the densest population of black-maned lions and one of the last strongholds of the eastern black rhino.

We descend at first light when the floor is still in shadow and the cats are working. A picnic breakfast on the rim, a full morning circuit past the soda lake's flamingos and Lerai Forest's elephants, then a climb back up the escarpment in time for a late lunch.