7 days across Tarangire, Ndutu and Serengeti, with proper beds, good food and lodges that sit where the wildlife is. 6 nights on safari, priced on request.
Tarangire - Ndutu - Serengeti - Ngorongoro
About this safari
The route opens in Tarangire — baobabs, a life-giving river and the circuit's greatest elephant numbers — and works through 3 further destinations over 7 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. The road south-west from Arusha runs through Maasai grazing land before turning into Tarangire, and the change at the gate is immediate: baobabs. They stand alone across the open woodland, enormous and strange, and they give the park a landscape that exists nowhere else on the northern circuit. In the dry season the first elephants usually appear within minutes. 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 catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Tarangire
Day 2
Calving season is nature at its most concentrated and least sentimental. Wildebeest give birth in the open, calves are on their feet within minutes, and predators are never far away. Your guide will work the edges of the herds where the action is, and the day can swing between the ordinary business of thousands of animals grazing and sudden, brief intensity. It is the single best time of year to be on these plains. Leaving the previous stop behind, today's drive crosses into the Ndutu area on the boundary between the southern Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The ash-rich soil here grows grass unusually high in calcium and phosphorus, which is exactly what a lactating wildebeest needs — and the reason the herds return to give birth in this specific place every year. This outline assumes a comfortable safari stay near the route. The named property remains a suggestion until quoted.
Overnight: Ndutu
Day 3
Calving season is nature at its most concentrated and least sentimental. Wildebeest give birth in the open, calves are on their feet within minutes, and predators are never far away. Your guide will work the edges of the herds where the action is, and the day can swing between the ordinary business of thousands of animals grazing and sudden, brief intensity. It is the single best time of year to be on these plains. The short-grass plains make this exceptional photographic country. Horizons are low, backgrounds are clean, and the light in the first and last hours is superb. Beyond the herds themselves there are the soda lakes of Ndutu and Masek, which draw flamingo and waterbirds and give a different kind of scene to work with. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Ndutu
Day 4
The route then continues onward, heading north through the Serengeti, the landscape changes as you go: the short grass of the south gives way to taller grassland, then to rolling hills and river courses lined with fig and sausage trees. This is the country the herds move through on their way to the Mara River, and in the right months it carries an extraordinary weight of animals. Game drives here work several habitats at once. The open plain carries gazelle, topi and hartebeest with cheetah working the edges; the kopjes hold lion, leopard and klipspringer; and the river courses draw elephant, hippo and an extraordinary range of birds. Spotted hyena are everywhere and worth watching properly — they are far more effective hunters than their reputation allows. The catalogue suggests a comfortable mid-range stay here. The exact lodge, room basis and meals are confirmed in the quotation.
Overnight: Serengeti
Day 5
A full day in the Serengeti means covering distance, and that is no hardship. Between sightings the plains themselves hold attention — grass moving in wind, kopjes standing out of it, and the sense of space that no other park in East Africa quite matches. Your guide will usually pack lunch and stay out through the middle of the day, when many vehicles return to camp and the tracks empty. Game drives here work several habitats at once. The open plain carries gazelle, topi and hartebeest with cheetah working the edges; the kopjes hold lion, leopard and klipspringer; and the river courses draw elephant, hippo and an extraordinary range of birds. Spotted hyena are everywhere and worth watching properly — they are far more effective hunters than their reputation allows. The suggested standard is mid-range. Citrus will confirm the property and contracted services in writing before booking.
Overnight: Serengeti
Day 6
This travel day carries the route onward, 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. A mid-range camp or lodge is proposed for this night, subject to availability and written confirmation.
Overnight: Ngorongoro
Day 7
If this optional activity is included in your written quotation, the descent onto the crater floor is governed by permit and time limit, typically around six hours, so an early start makes a real difference — better light, more active animals and fewer vehicles. Once down, the drive covers the open grassland where lion, wildebeest and zebra concentrate, the Lerai forest for big-tusked elephant, and the shore of Lake Magadi for flamingo. Black rhino are the animal everyone hopes for and are seen more reliably here than anywhere else, usually at distance. 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 + Ndutu Safari Lodge/seasonal camp + Kubu Kubu + 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
Calving season, short grass and concentrated predator action
ExploreTanzania
Endless plains and the engine of the Great Migration
ExploreTanzania
A collapsed volcano holding its own complete ecosystem
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.
No. The route is designed around the usual Ndutu season, while rainfall and herd movement change from year to year. Citrus will advise on the available evidence for your proposed dates.
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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.