Safari in Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Zanzibar

Day 1 - Welcome to Tanzania and transfer to Karatu village

Our safari guide will be waiting for you at the airport and we proceed driving to Karatu village, crossing Arusha and Lake Manyara. On the way, we can stop in local villages and markets for a short walk or we can drive straight to the lodge for a bit of relaxation before dinner.

Day 2 - Serengeti Park

Today after breakfast, we drive to Serengeti National Park crossing Ngorongoro Highlands. Once we reach the Serengeti Naabi Hill gate, you can climb to the viewpoint while the guide will handle the formalities for the entry quickly. We will then continue with a game drive in the Serengeti until arriving at the lodge or camp.

 

Optional Activity: Maasai Boma visit

Optional Activity: Olduvai Gorge visit

Day 3 - Serengeti National Park

This day is fully dedicated to enjoying the game drive in the endless plain of Serengeti National Park where we can see wild predators, such as leopards, cheetahs and lions, but also, the great herbivores, such as wildebeests. The Serengeti National Park is the leading national park in all of Africa.

 

Optional Activity: Sunrise Balloon Safari in Serengeti

Day 4 - Ngorongoro Crater

Day 4 - Ngorongoro Crater After breakfast, we drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Today we will explore Ngorongoro Crater and the surrounding area. This is one of the most evocative landscapes in the world where we can spot the dormant volcano and the nature that surrounds it. In the park, it will be possible to see the "Big Five:" elephants, buffalos, lions, leopards, and rhinos. However, you should pay attention to the 30,000 animals and a great variety of birds in that area.

Day 5 - Transfer to Zanzibar

After breakfast, we leave the lodge and proceed to Arusha Airport. On the way, it is possible to stop for shopping or walk around in the local village. You can catch a domestic flight to Zanzibar and a private transfer to your beach resort.

 

Optional Activity: Iraqw Boma visit.

Day 6 to Day 12 - Zanzibar

Relax and unwind on Zanzibar Beach. Besides the sea and the beaches, you can opt to visit Stone Town, the spice plantations, snorkel, dive, and canoe.

The Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti National Park is the most popular national park worldwide. UNESCO recognize the park as world Heritage Site and Biosphere reserve due to large concentration of flora and fauna.

Every year, the Serengeti National Park host one of the most spectacular sightseeing, the annual great migration. This involves millions of wildebeest, zebra and gazelles crossing between Grumeti and Mara River Serengeti searching for good pastures and water. The annual migration is one of the top wish list for many traveler who plan to visit Serengeti National Park. Another spectacular sightseeing in Serengeti is the calving season that take place in the southern Serengeti or Ndutu Area. This involves millions of wildebeest during the month of February give birth to new calves a concept known as synchronized calving. The greatest attraction is the concentration of other predators in which ecologically they function to control large number of herbivores and ensure sustainability of nature in relation to its resources available.

Luxury Safari in Serengeti

The Luxury safari in Serengeti offers you a fantastic moment to spot wildlife and overnight in luxurious accommodation ranging from five Stars to three Stars properties. The western and northern parts of Serengeti are the most area with luxurious activities and accommodation as well. The central part does have luxurious activities and accommodation but it is very busy throughout the year. Some of the luxurious accommodations in Tanzania have their private reserve that serves their clients only and no vehicles from other companies allowed entering within the reserve and doing a game drive. This makes Serengeti a dream destination for many luxurious travelers from all over the world.

Wildlife in Serengeti and Ngorongoro

Both Serengeti and Ngorongoro are the best park in Tanzania. By starting with Serengeti, in Serengeti, there are a lot of animals to see here such as groups of Buffalo, Elephant, Giraffe and many other interesting animals. Some of the Big five animals such as Lion, Elephant, Buffalo, and Leopard can be seen easily in this park. The central part of this park famous known as Seronera, is the best area to spot rare animals like Leopard and residential animals. In this park, you find groups of antelopes mostly Wildebeests and are animals making the Serengeti Park a famous park in the world by being Africa's Leading National Park since 2005 up to date by World Travel Awards. The reason for this is that, Wildebeest animals do migrate in this park. You can’t speak about the annual Great Migration in the Serengeti without mentioning wildebeest animals because are the ones doing Migration in this park. Not only animals found here but also Serengeti is the best destination for bird lovers. Some bird species available just to mention few are Fischer's lovebird, Grey-breasted spurfowl, Kori bustard, Rufous-tailed weaver, and Secretary bird.

In the meantime, the Ngorongoro Crater is a breathtakingly beautiful setting and the best place in East Africa to see the Big Five. It’s one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A visit to this place is an experience of a lifetime as you see many animals in a few hours or a day. The Ngorongoro Crater has high wildlife densities and mostly seen here are Elephants, Black Rhinoceroses, Leopards, Buffalo, Zebras, Warthogs, Wildebeests, Grant’s, Thomson’s gazelles, and others. In other parks of Tanzania, it’s difficult to spot Black Rhinoceroses but here you have a high chance to see them. The Crater is also home to some bird species especially great flocks of pink flamingos found at Lake Magadi.

The Great Migration in the Serengeti

The Great Migration refers to annual Wildebeests migration accompanied by large numbers of zebra migrating throughout the year, constantly seeking fresh pastures and water. It’s one of the greatest natural wonders of the World. The migration crosses the Serengeti National Park in the northern circuit of Tanzania and Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya. This is the special event that you can’t afford to forget for your entire life. And this is the main reason you should visit Serengeti National Park when you travel to Africa.

The Great Migration is seen in different parts of the Serengeti park depending on the season or month, below you find the trend where and when the great migration is happening.

Mid December to March

At this time the Wildebeest migration has already moved from Masai Mara Reserve in Kenya and congregates in the Southern part of the Serengeti famous known as Ndutu. This time is also mating and calving season and you may see the young walking with the herd, protected from predators and able to run at an incredible speed at only a few days old.

Great Migration April to May

The Wildebeest migration moves into Central Serengeti part. This period is still the rainy season in Tanzania. Heavy and prolonged rainfalls give animals fresh grass for their nutrition.

Grat Migration in June

The Wildebeest migration moves to the Western Corridor of Serengeti then crosses the Mbalageti and Grumeti rivers.

Great Migration July to early October

The herd gathers and crosses along the banks of the Mara River to Masai Mara reserve in Kenya. It is a truly exciting thing to watch and seeing it all live, in-person can never be matched with a television episode. The migration happening here is an unforgettable event and most tourists prefer to witness this Migration happening at this time.

This cycle of Migration continues every year, hence an endless event in the Serengeti National Park.

Frequently Answer Question about Family Safari

We list some common questions about Family Safari in Serengeti, if you have other questions or need clarifications you can contact our office.

How many days would you recommend for a family Serengeti safari?

The number of days for a family safari in Serengeti depends on the length of the holiday, the client’s budget and the particular season in Serengeti. For our experience, we recommend 4 Days for safari when clients travel from the months of June to September and 3 Days from the month of January to Early March. We do not recommend traveling in the months of April and May due to heavy rain. Also sometimes family wishes to add more days due to the amazing experience, they got and especially kids wish to stay much longer so that they can continue to learn more about wildlife and nature.

What if one of us gets sick while on Safari in Serengeti?

Normally within our Safari package, we include a flying doctor package so that if our client get sick while doing a game drive or at the lodge in the Serengeti Park, we inform them and the doctor flies up to where client reside for medical care procedures. Apart from that, we recommend our clients to obtain travel insurance that includes emergency medical evacuation.

Are kids pay full price as adult when going for safari in Serengeti?

Most of the properties in Serengeti offers free of charge for children under 5 years of age provided they share a room with their parents. Additionally, these accommodations offer discounted prices for children under 15 years old. Concerning government charges like park and concession fees, children under 15years old pay discounted prices. Therefore when traveling to Serengeti guarantees the clients have discounted prices for their children.

Which kid's activity do you recommend apart from game drives?

Yes, In Serengeti apart from game drives there are many activities such as the balloon safari and walking safari with an armed ranger. Another good idea is some of the luxurious lodges do have swimming pools where kids can go swimming and sometimes have special children playing rooms and children are taking care with staff that specializes in taking care of the children

How long does the Serengeti safari take?

Serengeti is a huge park and since it is not possible to visit every corner within the park, we normally recommend clients to have at least a minimum of two days in order for a game drive in either central, Northern or Western Serengeti. If you wish to combine, two or three-zone then we recommend at least four days in Serengeti. By doing, that you will be able to spot the animals and especially the Great Migration as well as other attractions found within the park. In Serengeti you will also need

Is Serengeti Safari safe?

Serengeti National Park is safe to visit as long as you follow the rules and guidelines set out by the park staff and your guide. Regarding incidents with wildlife are extremely rare on safaris, especially when everyone is there to respectfully view animals in their natural habitats. You are perfectly safe while on safari, but there are some common rules you should follow to ensure you have the best possible safari experience:

• Don't feed the animals because this can not only introduce them to unhealthy foods, but it can also lead animals to approach tourist vehicles as a source of food.
• Keep your arms and head inside the car even though it's fine to have your windows open to snap photos and to stand with to look out of the pop-top roof but have your arms sticking out of the car.
• Never walk unaccompanied even though you'll rarely leave your vehicle during your safari, but if you do need to make use of the 'bush toilet', follow your guide's instructions and don't wander off. When walking around your camp or lodge especially at night, make sure to stay within the boundaries you learned in your briefing and don't walk alone after dark.
• For those traveling with children, it is very important to stay with your child at all times. This is because many larger predators can confuse children with small primates that they view as prey animals.
• Don't shout because animals have keener hearing than people. Shouting or talking loudly at animals will only agitate them and drive them away. It can also be disrespectful to other people on safari in the area.

Do you need malaria pills for Serengeti?

Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite called plasmodium that attacks red blood cells. It is mainly transmitted through the bites of the Anopheles mosquito similar to common mosquitoes. In Serengeti and Tanzania in general, the risk of getting malaria is low but it is possible. While on your safari in Serengeti we recommend you use mosquito nets provided by the camp/lodge in your room, do not leave windows/doors open after sunset, use repellent and dress in long pants and long sleeves to avoid bites. We highly take care of malaria to customers doing safari within Serengeti and other parks by making sure all the lodges and tented camps provide mosquito nets, spray insecticide in the room every day to kill mosquitoes. All in all, to carry malaria pills for your safari in Serengeti remains ultimately a personal choice, therefore you can carry or not.

Is there wifi in the Serengeti?

Aside from a few permanent lodges, Wi-Fi is almost not available out on the Serengeti, especially at tented camps and campsites. Although many Tanzanian phone providers do offer limited coverage on the Serengeti, do not expect it to be reliable or especially fast. But many African safari vehicles have Wi-Fi hotspots that can be charged separately but other tour companies provide it for free.