8-Days: Migration of the Wildebeest Camping/Lodge Safari
Witness the thundering herds of wildebeest as they migrate across the Serengeti, and take in the extraordinary vistas in Tanzania’s most beautiful national parks on this 8-day adventure!
Every year between April and July, nearly two million wildebeest, zebra and antelope gather up their young and start the long journey north from Tanzania's Serengeti National Park to Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve in search of greener grasslands. This annual trek is known as the Great Migration and is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and a must for any safari aficionado!
Serengeti National Park is famous for this spectacular event where you will see giant herds of wildebeest, zebras, elands and gazelles speeding across the plains while the unexpected abundance of food attracts predators such as lions, cheetahs, leopard and hyenas.
The spectacle continues on the Mara riverbank where huge herds of animals gather before attempting to cross the crocodile infested waters. Crocodile kills and swarms of panicked animals are a sign that the river crossings are not for the faint-hearted. They do however offer some of the most dramatic scenes one can witness on safari and are particularly gratifying for photographers.
Your safari will also include extensive game drives in the other areas of Serengeti National Park, as well as a visit to the famous Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park.
A safari fully adaptable to your needs
As with all of our safari packages, this suggested itinerary can be adapted to suit your own personal preferences. Departure dates are also completely flexible.
Accommodation
On this safari, you will spend most of your nights in basic campsites with facilities, with the exception of days 4 and 5 where you will be sleeping in a mid-range tented lodge.
Please note however that we have something to offer for every budget, from basic campsites, to mid-range accommodation, to superior and luxury tented camps and lodges.
If you wish to enquire about the price for another accommodation category for this safari package, or if you would like to add any additional visits or experiences to your itinerary (e.g.: a cultural visit at Mto wa Mbu village on your last day) please do not hesitate to contact us.
Itinerary
Day 1
Moshi or Arusha - Tarangire National Park
Activities: Travel (4 hours from Moshi or 2 hours from Arusha) / Afternoon game drive in Tarangire National Park
Meals: Lunch & dinner
Accommodation: Camping
You will be picked up at your hotel in Moshi or Arusha after breakfast and will be taken on a picturesque drive across gently rolling Massai plains with scattered acacia trees in the direction of Tarangire National Park. Along the way, you will spot many Massai in their colourful traditional dress walking alongside the road or herding cattle. You will arrive at Tarangire National Park in time for lunch, followed by your first game drive.
Tarangire National Park runs along the Tarangire River and is made up of low-lying hills on the Great Rift Valley floor. The park is defined by lush grasslands studded with giant baobab trees and sun-baked termite hills, and is a key staging ground of the annual Great Migration. Tourists who prefer to visit its more famous neighbours often ignore this lesser-known game reserve; yet during the dry season, it has a greater concentration of wildlife per square kilometre than any other park in Tanzania. The huge swamp areas in the south attract large numbers of animals such as zebras, wildebeest, buffalos and giraffes, to name just a few. Moreover, the reserve is not only notorious for having some of the largest elephant herds in Africa, but also for being home to three very rare species that are almost impossible to find in other Tanzanian parks – the Oryx, the Elk and the Greater Kudu.
After an extensive afternoon game drive, you will retire to your camp for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 2
Tarangire National Park - Esilalei Maasai Boma - Mto wa Mbu town
Activities: Half-day game drive in Tarangire / Travel (2 hours) to Mto wa Mbu with en-route Maasai village visit
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Accommodation: Camping
This morning you will wake up very early in order to experience your first sunrise game drive in Tarangire National Park. Breakfast will be served within the park at the Metete picnic site, one of the most beautiful picnic sites in the park, overlooking the Tarangire River and the acacia covered plains. This half-day game drive will take us to regions of the park that we did not explore the previous day and will continue until mid-day when we finally leave the park and drive towards the town of Mto wa Mbu, stopping at Esilalei Massai village along the way for a 2-hour visit.
When we reach Mto wa Mbu we will check-in to our camp for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 3
Mto wa Mbu - Serengeti National Park
Activities: Travel (2 hours) to Serengeti National Park with en-route game drive / Game drive in Serengeti
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Accommodation: Camping
After breakfast at the camp we will hit the road for a 2-hour drive to the entrance of Serengeti National Park. Along the way, you will bear witness to the sublime landscapes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area which provides a home for Maasai pastoralists who live in relative harmony alongside the region’s abundant wildlife. Travel time between Mto wa Mbu & Serengeti s approximately 2 hours. Nonetheless, you will already begin to see animals when entering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as it is home to an incredible abundance and diversity of wildlife, including Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, giraffes, wildebeest, zebra and large herds of buffalo.
When we arrive, we will head straight to the central Serengeti region where our game drive will continue until sunset. The central Serengeti area known as Seronera, is one of the richest wildlife habitats in the park. Here, the Seronera River provides a valuable water source to the area and therefore attracts an abundance of wildlife, well representative of most of the species common to Serengeti. Lunch will be served within the park.
We will continue our game drive in the afternoon along the Kopjes Circuit, which goes anti-clockwise around the Maasai Kopjes. This area usually attract a number of lions and some large cobras. Kopjes are weathered granite outcrops, scattered around the plains, most of which are miniature ecosystems providing shade and drinking water in pools left in the rocks after the rains. This makes the kopjes particularly good for spotting wildlife in the dry season – including lions, which like to lie in wait of other animals that go there to quench their thirst.
At nightfall, we will head to our camp for dinner and an overnight stay.
Days 4 & 5
Serengeti Plains & Mara River Area
Activities: Full-day game drives on both days
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Accommodation: Tented lodge
After breakfast on Day 4 we will drive approximately 2 hours from our camp to the northern part of Serengeti. On these two incredible days, you will be driven across remote locations within the endless plains of the Serengeti for a chance to see the incredible wildebeest migration and to search for the predators that stalk the vast herds.
At sundown, you will be driven to your tented lodge for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 6
Serengeti - Ngorongoro Crater
Activities: Morning game drive in Serengeti / Travel (3 hours) to Ngorongoro Crater with en-route game drive
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Accommodation: Camping
After breakfast at the lodge, we will head back to the central Serengeti area for our last game drive in this world renowned national park, visiting areas that we had not yet seen on our first day in this region.
After lunch, we will leave the park and drive towards Ngorongoro Crater, passing once again through the beautiful Ngorongoro Conservation Area and spotting much wildlife along the way.
We will arrive at our camp in the early evening for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 7
Ngorongoro Crater
Activities: Full day game drive in Ngorongoro Crater
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Accommodation: Camping
After breakfast, we will enter the majestic Ngorongoro Crater - the world’s largest intact and unfilled caldera for a full-day adventure.
The crater alone is home to approximately 25,000 game animals, all of whom live together in this natural enclosure including some of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhinos. Here you will spot the Big Five (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo and rhinoceros) as well as a multitude of other wild animals, from the pink flamingos of Lake Makat, to large herds of wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes, elands, and warthogs. Another big attraction in this picturesque national park is its dense population of predators, which includes hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot.
We will have lunch within the park in a beautiful area surrounded by hippos and many species of birds.
In the early evening, we will head back to our camp for dinner and an overnight stay.
Day 8
Ngorongoro – Mbo Wa Mtu – Arusha or Moshi
Activities: Travel from Ngorongoro to Mto wa Mbu town (1.5 hours) / Travel from Mto wa Mbu to Arusha (4 hours) or Moshi (6 hours)
Meals: Breakfast & Lunch
After breakfast, we leave the Ngorongoro Crater area and head to Mbo Wa Mtu where we will stop for lunch and an optional cultural tour before heading back to Arusha or Moshi.
Included in package
- Professional English speaking driver/guide
- Pick-up at your hotel or at Kilimanjaro/Arusha Airports if arriving the day before the start of your safari or in the early morning on Day 1
- Drop-off at your hotel or Kilimanjaro/Arusha Airports on Day 8
- All meals prepared by and experienced cook, except breakfast on Day 1 & dinner on Day 8
- Bottled water
- Campsite accommodation with common showers, flush toilets & common dining area except on Days 4 & 5 when you will be staying in a tented lodge
Not included in package
- Flight tickets
- Visa fees
- Travel insurance
- Soft drinks & alcoholic beverages
- Any personal items or purchases
- Optional cultural tour on Day 8 at Mto wa Mbu village (extra cost is $50 per person)
- Tips for your safari guide and cook (suggested amount: $30 per day per vehicle for your guide / $15 per day per vehicle for your cook)