Built around Tarangire, Ngorongoro and Lake Manyara, this 3-day safari staying in comfortable tented camps and established safari lodges throughout. 2 nights on safari, priced on request.
Tarangire - Lake Manyara - Ngorongoro
About this safari
The route opens in Tarangire — baobabs, a life-giving river and the circuit's greatest elephant numbers — and works through 2 further destinations over 3 days. It stays within Tanzania; the final proposal will confirm transfer times and the balance between travel and game viewing. Accommodation is at the mid-range standard: comfortable tented camps and established safari lodges. The balance most travellers settle on — proper beds, en-suite bathrooms and well-run lodges in good positions, without the premium that the top end of the market commands. Like every safari in this catalogue, it is priced on request rather than sold at a published rate, because park fees, permits, group size and contracted accommodation all change the figure.
Day by day
Written out in full before you book, so you can see exactly how the days are paced and where each night is spent.
Day 1
This planning outline starts in Arusha and continues towards the first park; the meeting point and timing are confirmed in the final proposal. Heading back towards Tarangire, the country dries out again after the highlands and the baobabs return to the skyline. In the dry months the park draws wildlife from a far wider area than its boundaries, because the river holds water when nothing around it does — which is exactly why it is such a productive stop. In the dry season Tarangire holds the largest elephant concentrations on the northern circuit, drawn from a huge surrounding area to the only permanent water for miles. Herds of several hundred gather along the riverbed, digging for water in the sand and moving between the baobabs in long files. It is the most reliable elephant viewing in Tanzania and the reason the park earns its place. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Tarangire
Day 2
Leaving the previous stop behind, today's route brings you up into the Ngorongoro highlands, where the temperature drops with the altitude and cloud sits in the forest along the rim. The conservation area is shared with Maasai pastoralists, and you will pass cattle and manyattas on the way — it is one of the few places where people and wildlife share protected land by design. Ngorongoro is the most dependable place in East Africa to see black rhino, though they are usually out on the open floor at some distance and best appreciated through binoculars or a long lens. Around them the floor carries wildebeest, zebra, eland and both Grant's and Thomson's gazelle in permanent residence, with flamingo working the soda shallows of Lake Magadi. Birding at Manyara is exceptional, with over 400 recorded species across forest, floodplain and lake habitats. Within a single drive you can move from forest species like the crowned eagle and silvery-cheeked hornbill to thousands of flamingo and pelican working the shallows, with storks, spoonbills and waders along the shoreline between. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Ngorongoro
Day 3
If this optional activity is included in your written quotation, the crater descent is the centrepiece of any northern circuit, and it starts before first light to make the most of a permit that runs to about six hours. Down on the floor the scale reverses — walls rising on every side, weather moving across in visible fronts, and 25,000 large animals concentrated in an area you can cross in an hour. Lion, hyena, elephant, buffalo and gazelles may be encountered; black rhino are present but sightings can be distant and no species is guaranteed. The final road section is planned towards Arusha. Citrus will confirm the exact end point and time.
Safari ends
Where you stay
Accommodation below is the suggested standard for this package, taken from the Citrus catalogue. Where an entry describes a standard rather than a named property, we confirm the exact camp or lodge with your quotation. Named properties are suggestions and are substituted with comparable alternatives if they are unavailable for your dates.
Source catalogue listing
Tarangire Sopa + Manyara Serena + Ngorongoro Serena
This is reproduced exactly from the catalogue. The written quotation will allocate nights and confirm each available property before booking.
These are planning examples, not confirmed inclusions for this package. Your written quotation will confirm exactly what is included.
The quotation will identify every separate cost before you confirm.
Where this safari goes
Tanzania
Baobabs, a life-giving river and the circuit's greatest elephant numbers
ExploreTanzania
A collapsed volcano holding its own complete ecosystem
ExploreTanzania
Groundwater forest beneath the Rift escarpment
ExploreTanzania
The northern circuit's starting line, beneath Mount Meru
ExploreBefore you ask
The catalogue sets the route and travel standard, but it does not publish a fixed price or a contracted inclusion list. Citrus will prepare a written quotation for your dates, party and rooming, showing the exact transfers, activities, accommodation, meals, fees and permits before you confirm.
No. It is suggested accommodation from the source catalogue. Availability and any proposed alternative are confirmed in the written quotation before a booking is made.
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Tell us your dates and who is travelling, and we will come back with availability, honest advice on timing and a written quotation for this route.