8-Day Serengeti & Ngorongoro Budget Migration Safari

Karibu Tanzania. Our team meets you at Kilimanjaro or Arusha airport and drives you to your hotel in Arusha, about an hour away. Your guide explains the route, which part of the Serengeti the herds are in this month and why the plan follows them. The afternoon is free. Arusha has a good local market and craft shops if you want to stretch your legs, and our guide can show you where to change money safely.

Where you sleep: Budget: Gold Crest Hotel · Mid-range: Four Points by Sheraton Arusha · Luxury: Gran Meliá Arusha

Meals: Breakfast

Guide's tip: Buy a local SIM card in Arusha. Network coverage reaches most Serengeti camps and it is much cheaper than roaming.

After breakfast you drive about two hours to Tarangire National Park for your first game drive. Tarangire is known for its big elephant families, baobab trees and the river that draws animals in the dry season, and lion, giraffe, zebra and buffalo are common. After a picnic lunch and an afternoon in the park, you drive about 2 hours up to Karatu, a green farming town on the edge of the Ngorongoro highlands, for the night.

Where you sleep: Budget: Marera Valley Lodge · Mid-range: Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge · Luxury: Ngorongoro Meliá Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: Ask for a packed breakfast if you want to be at the Tarangire gate when it opens. The first hour of the day is the best for cats.

An early start takes you over the Ngorongoro highlands, with a stop at the crater viewpoint, and down to the Serengeti plains. The drive to the Central Serengeti takes about 5 to 6 hours with game viewing on the way, so it is really a long game drive rather than a transfer. You reach the Seronera area, the park's big-cat centre, in the afternoon and check in to your tented camp. Expect lion, cheetah, giraffe, hyena and large herds of resident gazelle and topi.

Where you sleep: Budget: Into Wild Africa Tented Camp · Mid-range: Arukore Simba Camp · Luxury: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: Bring a scarf or buff for the dusty stretch after Naabi Hill. In the dry season the plains road is very dusty.

Today you continue north through the Lobo hills towards the Mara River, about 5 hours of driving with game viewing all the way. The landscape becomes greener and hillier, with fewer vehicles. From July to October this is where the main migration herds gather, and on the way you may already meet long lines of wildebeest. You arrive at Heritage Mara Camp in the afternoon, in time for a short game drive near the river before dinner.

Where you sleep: Budget: Heritage Mara Camp · Mid-range: Malaika Migration Camp, Kogatende · Luxury: Singita Mara River Tented Camp

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: Keep an eye on the vultures. A circle of them in the sky often means a recent kill, and lions or hyenas nearby.

A full day in the northern Serengeti focused on the migration. Your guide takes you to the Mara River, where the herds gather on the banks and, on good days, cross between Tanzania and Kenya. Crocodiles, hippos and lions follow the herds, so the action can be dramatic. You take a picnic lunch so you can wait at the river as long as needed. If the herds are not crossing that day, the wide plains around Kogatende are full of wildebeest, zebra and the predators that follow them.

Where you sleep: Budget: Heritage Mara Camp · Mid-range: Malaika Migration Camp, Kogatende · Luxury: Singita Mara River Tented Camp

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: Crossings are unpredictable. Settle in with water, a snack and patience; turning the engine off makes the herds less nervous.

After a morning game drive in the north, you drive back south to the Central Serengeti, about 5 hours, through some of the park's most beautiful scenery. The afternoon is spent around the Seronera River, where leopards rest in the sausage and acacia trees and lion prides live on the kopjes. You spend the night in a tented camp in the heart of the park and fall asleep to the sound of lions and hyenas.

Where you sleep: Budget: Into Wild Africa Tented Camp · Mid-range: Arukore Simba Camp · Luxury: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: Listen at night. A lion's roar carries up to 8 km; in the morning your guide can often tell you which pride it was.

After an early breakfast you leave the Serengeti and drive to Ngorongoro, about 3 hours, then descend 600 metres into the crater for game viewing. The crater floor holds a dense population of animals all year: lion, buffalo, zebra, wildebeest, elephant, hyena and black rhino, with flamingos on the soda lake. You have a picnic lunch by the hippo pool before climbing out and driving to Karatu for the night.

Where you sleep: Budget: Marera Valley Lodge · Mid-range: Ngorongoro Coffee Lodge · Luxury: Ngorongoro Meliá Lodge

Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Guide's tip: The crater has a six-hour limit for vehicles. Your guide will use it well, so you do not need to hurry him.

After breakfast you drive about 3 hours back to Arusha and on to the airport for your flight. On the way you can stop at a craft market or a local café. If you have a late flight, we can arrange a day room in Arusha.

Where you sleep: No overnight: transfer to the airport

Meals: Breakfast

Guide's tip: If you want to say thank you, a written review on SafariBookings or Tripadvisor helps your guide as much as a tip.