Overview

The full northern circuit, followed by a genuine change of pace on Zanzibar's beaches — a natural way to close out a photography-focused trip with a few days that aren't about being up before sunrise. Camera gear aside, it's a real rest after a demanding shooting schedule.

Like every itinerary Millennia Safaris runs, this one is a starting point rather than a fixed package — tell us your dates and what matters most to you, and we'll adjust the route, pace and accommodation level to fit.

Route this trip's real destinations, in order

Serengeti National ParkStart

Ngorongoro CraterSafari stop

Tarangire National ParkSafari stop

Lake Manyara National ParkSafari stop

ZanzibarEnd

Tour Features

🏘

Tailor-madeAccommodation level and pace adjusted to you.

⚖

Can be customizedRequest changes to this itinerary any time before booking.

👥

Private tourOrganized for you and your group only.

📅

Can start any daySubject to availability.

🚗

Private vehicleYour own 4x4 safari jeep and driver-guide.

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Start / EndSerengeti National Park to Zanzibar

Accommodation & Meals

Accommodation	Confirmed together with you — see the Rates tab for general comfort levels we work with.
Meals	Full board on safari days; meals as specified for any city/beach nights, per your final itinerary.

Next: Day by Day →

Day by Day (12 days)

Day 1

ARRIVE IN TANZANIA

Arrive anytime at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). Millennia Safaris will arrange a private transfer from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Arusha.
Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania, proceed to get your Tourist Visa at the cost of $100 USD per person. This visa is for American and Canadian passport holders, with fees to be paid in exact cash. You will also need a yellow fever vaccination certificate. Your passport has to be valid for six months past your return date, and most have empty pages. After clearing customs and immigration, our representative will meet you and assist you with the transfer to the hotel in Arusha.

Accommodation:

🛑 Comfort-level lodge or camp near Arrive in Tanzania — confirmed at booking

Day 2

GAME DRIVE IN TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK

Today we head to Tarangire National Park. The park, which has its own source of water, comes into its own in the dry season as a birdlife congregation on the Tarangire River and herds of giraffe, zebra, buffalo, and, in particular, elephants can be seen. Predators such as lions and leopards are also regularly spotted here. Our lodge is located within the park. It has a large lookout area from where sundowners can be had whilst watching the game on the sweeping plains below.

Accommodation:

🛑 Tarangire Safari Lodge

Day 3

GAME DRIVE IN LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK

We depart from your lodge and proceed to Lake Manyara National Park. Although small in size, this park is one of the most diverse reserves in the country. Lake Manyara covers two-thirds of the park. In the backdrop is the wall of the Great Rift Valley, before which lays the groundwater, forest, areas of open grassland near the lake foreshore, and the Soda Lake. We enjoy a picnic lunch in this area, which consists of open grassy areas, hot springs, dense woodlands, and steep mountainsides. Lake Manyara National Park is a birding paradise that has more than 350 species of birds. The park is also famed for its unique and elusive tree-climbing lions.
In the afternoon, we drive back to our special safari lodge.

Accommodation:

🛑 Kirurumu Manyara Lodge

Day 4

GAME DRIVE IN THE CENTRAL SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

We head towards the Serengeti National Park. En route, there is an opportunity to visit Olduvai Gorge. It is within this steep-sided ravine that Louis and Mary Leakey made some of the world’s most important archaeological discoveries in the 1950s. Here is a small museum, where we are able to see evidence of our ancestors that dates back 2.5 million years. After lunch, we drive into the Serengeti itself, and the rest of the afternoon is spent game viewing in the vast plains that are broken only by stands of acacia trees and the occasional kopje. In December, January, and February, we will normally meet the migration with large herds of wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle. There are always plenty of resident animals, such as giraffes, buffalo, and elephants, and many large predators such as lions, cheetahs, and leopards. We return to our special tented camp for the night.

Accommodation:

🛑 Engiterata Adventure Camps

Day 5

GAME DRIVE IN THE CENTRAL SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK

We have another full day in this wonderful park, rising early to make the most of our time. Our guides will choose the best spotting locations for the time of year; we can spend time at the Hippo pool watching these majestic animals laze about in the cool water happily living alongside the crocodiles, watch a big pride of lions, be in the middle of the migration, sometimes surrounded by wildebeest, sometimes by zebras, which travel with the wildebeest. We journey from the wide-open plains to the kopjes: these volcanic rocky outcrops provide protection and shelter for a wide variety of animals and from the top, we can look out across the vast grasslands of the Serengeti. This diverse and interesting landscape will provide us with the ultimate in game viewing, we will hopefully see all of the plain games; elephants, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, lions and if you are lucky the elusive leopard and cheetah, as well as huge amounts of the interesting birdlife, from the elegant secretary birds to the flightless ostrich. We return to our special tented camp for the night.

Accommodation:

🛑 Engiterata Adventure Camps

Day 6

GAME DRIVE IN NGORONGORO CRATER

We start the day with an early morning game drive before heading to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Ngorongoro is a special place in that it is a Conservation Area, not a National Park; this means that the whole area is managed for both the animals and the local Masai people who graze their cattle alongside the indigenous wildlife. During the drive-in Ngorongoro, we have a chance to glimpse something of the Masai way of life. After stopping at the entrance gate, where there is a chance to learn more about this fascinating volcanic landscape, we will drive around the rim of the Crater itself, and from here we can look down and see the herd of wildebeest or buffalo. Finally, we descend into the crater. The crater walls provide a natural sanctuary for the animals, which means there is plenty to see: lions, elephants, buffalo, rhinos, and leopards (if you are lucky). The only animal you won’t see in here is a giraffe, whose long legs are unable to cope with the steep sides of the crater. In the late afternoon, we travel back to our special lodge.

Accommodation:

🛑 Ngorongoro Farm House

Day 7

FLY TO ZANZIBAR

Short flight from Arusha/Kilimanjaro to Zanzibar for a complete change of pace -- beaches and Indian Ocean coastline after the dust of the parks.
On arrival at Zanzibar Airport, you will meet us at the arrival point of the airport, and there will be a private pickup transfer to Stone Town at your Hotel.

Accommodation: