Tanzania safaris,Serengeti to the crater

Tanzania is the other half of the East African story, and it is built on scale. The Serengeti runs to the horizon in every direction. The Ngorongoro Crater holds its own contained world, 600 metres below the rim you sleep on. Between them sit Lake Manyara’s escarpment and the Rift Valley lakes.

We book Tanzania in two grades: the Serena and Sopa lodges for a straightforward first safari, and camps like Meliá Serengeti, Lions Paw and Kilimamoja when the trip is the occasion.

The Serengeti

Bordering Kenya, Lake Victoria and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Serengeti is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the few places where the whole predator-prey machinery is visible in a morning: cheetah on a termite mound, elephant crossing open ground, a lion pride asleep in the shade of a kopje.

The migration moves through the year. June and July bring the northern river crossings. December to March is calving season in the south, with fewer vehicles and abundant activity. March to mid-May is the long rains: many camps close, and the ones that stay open are quiet and better priced.

Getting there is usually a flight into Kilimanjaro International, then a light aircraft to the airstrip nearest your camp. Multiple airstrips serve different regions of the park, which is why the routing is set once your camps are chosen.

Practical notes

Draft: awaiting owner verification. Indicative only; your travel designer confirms routing, timings and fees in writing with your quote.

• Season notes above come from our own Serengeti guide and are a planning guide, not a guarantee. The herds do not read calendars.
• Internal flights are the efficient way to move around the park. Road transfers are available and often combined with a scenic route through Ngorongoro.
• Tanzania is straightforward to combine with Kenya, and with Zanzibar for the week after.