4-day luxury fly-in safari: the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater

Day-by-day itinerary

Times and drives are approximate. Your guide adjusts each day to the weather, the wildlife and you.

1. Day 1: Fly into the Serengeti

   

   A morning transfer to Arusha airport for your light-aircraft flight to the central Serengeti. Within an hour you have swapped city traffic for endless grass, and your guide is waiting at the airstrip with the vehicle, roof up and cold drinks in the cooler. The game drive starts right away.

   The Seronera valley is the Serengeti’s wildlife-rich centre, where the river keeps the trees green and the animals close. Lion prides rest on the kopjes, the granite outcrops that break up the plains, and leopards sometimes drape themselves over sausage-tree branches. We reach your luxury lodge for a late lunch and a rest, then head out again in the late afternoon. The evening brings a hot shower, dinner by candlelight and the sounds of the Serengeti at night: hyenas whooping, perhaps a lion calling far away.

   Overnight

   Serengeti Explorer or similar

   Meals

   Lunch, dinner

   Travel

2. Day 2: A full day in the Serengeti

   

   An early coffee at the lodge and out before sunrise, when the cats are still active and the light is soft and golden. Your guide chooses the area based on that week’s sightings and the season. From December to March the herds are calving in the south, and from July to October the action is in the north. In the central Serengeti the resident game is excellent all year: lions, cheetahs on the open plains, elephants, giraffes, and big herds of buffalo and topi.

   We stop for a bush breakfast under an acacia. In the heat of the day you can go back to the lodge for lunch and the pool, or stay out with a picnic. The afternoon drive ends with sundowners on a kopje, watching the sun set over the plains.

   Overnight

   Serengeti Explorer or similar

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

   Travel

3. Day 3: Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater rim

   

   After breakfast we check out and drive through the Serengeti towards the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with wildlife sightings along the way. We reach your lodge on the crater rim in time for a hot lunch, and you spend the afternoon relaxing and taking in the panoramic views over the crater.

   Overnight

   Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge or similar

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch, dinner

   Travel

4. Day 4: Ngorongoro Crater game drive and return to Arusha

   

   After an early breakfast we descend into the Ngorongoro Crater for a memorable game drive across its varied landscapes, searching for lions, elephants, buffaloes, hippos and, with luck, the endangered black rhino. After a picnic lunch at a designated site on the crater floor, we continue the game drive.

   In the afternoon we climb out of the crater and drive back to Arusha, arriving in the late afternoon or evening depending on the roads. Alternatively, a charter flight from Lake Manyara Airstrip to Arusha or Zanzibar can be arranged on request, subject to availability.

   Overnight

   Meals

   Breakfast, lunch

   Travel