4-Day Tanzania Lodge Safari from Arusha with Ngorongoro Crater

You will be picked up at Kilimanjaro International Airport and transferred to your arranged hotel in Moshi town or Arusha. There, you will meet your driver-guide, who will brief you on your upcoming safari before you rest until the following morning.

After breakfast, your driver-guide will pick you up and begin the 2-hour journey to Lake Manyara National Park, one of the smallest yet most diverse parks in Tanzania. The shallow, alkaline Lake Manyara covers a large area of the park and is the seasonal home to thousands of flamingos - an awesome pink sight. More than 400 other bird species are also found here, along with wonderful mammals.

Troops of monkeys live in the forests, while giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, and wildebeests roam the grassy plains, and elephants and lions inhabit the acacia woodlands. From the open roof of the vehicle, you will be able to watch the animals and absorb the stunning landscape of the park and the Great Rift Valley.

In the evening, you will drive to Karatu for your overnight stay at the arranged lodge. On the way, you will stop at a viewpoint over Lake Manyara and enjoy stunning views of the lake and its surroundings.

After an early breakfast, you will have a short drive to the Ngorongoro entrance, and within a few minutes you will begin descending 600 m down into the crater for a game drive. The Ngorongoro Crater is almost 600 m deep and approximately 20 km wide, and this massive caldera is home to an amazing variety of animals.

On your game drive, you will have the possibility of seeing many different kinds of mammals, ranging from the Big Five - lion, elephant, buffalo, rhino, and leopard - to Grant's and Thomson's gazelles and mountain reedbucks. You might also see spotted hyenas, as well as some of the more than 500 bird species found in the area.

After a picnic lunch in the crater and more game viewing, you will leave the crater in the afternoon and travel back to Karatu.

After breakfast, you will pack your things and check out from your lodge as you continue to Tarangire National Park. The drive is about an hour, covering approximately 67 km to reach Tarangire Park.

This park, with its endless grasslands, huge baobab trees, the perennial Tarangire River, and seasonal swamps, is home to the largest elephant herds in northern Tanzania. Animals gather at the river, and you should be able to see elephants, giraffes, bushbucks, hartebeests, dik-diks, waterbucks, warthogs, and reedbucks all year round.

Furthermore, the park is also home to buffaloes, zebras, and wildebeests, which are closely followed by a range of predators such as lions, leopards, and cheetahs, although they are rarely spotted. After an extensive game drive, you will exit the park and drive back to Arusha town.