Tanzania · Camping Safaris

4 Days Safari Serengeti & Ngorongoro Crater – Budget Camping

4 daysArusha • Serengeti • Ngorongoro Crater

Duration: 4 days / 3 nights
Country: Tanzania
Style: Camping Safaris, Private Safaris, Tanzania Safaris, Wildlife Tours
Stay: Camping (dome tents)
Travel: Tailor-made

Overview

The most affordable way to see the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater with your own private vehicle and guide. You camp at public campsites inside the parks: two nights in the Serengeti and one on the crater rim.

Simple dome tents and sleeping mats keep the price low, while your cook makes sure you eat well.

Route

1Arusha
2Serengeti
3Ngorongoro Crater

Day-by-day itinerary

Day01 Arusha – Serengeti National Park
Your guide collects you from your Arusha hotel early in the morning for the drive west. The road climbs through the green highlands of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, with views over the crater rim, before dropping down onto the endless short-grass plains of the Serengeti.

After a picnic lunch at Naabi Hill Gate, you game-drive the rest of the way to the Seronera area in the heart of the park. The Seronera river valley has one of the highest densities of big cats in Africa, so even the first afternoon often brings lions, cheetahs or a leopard draped over a sausage tree.

You arrive at your campsite in central Serengeti (Seronera) around sunset for dinner and the night.
- Meals Lunch & Dinner
- Overnight Dome tent at a public campsite, central Serengeti (Seronera)
Day02 Serengeti National Park
A full day of game drives in the Serengeti, with a picnic lunch out on the plains so you don't have to cut the day short. Your guide shares news with other guides over the radio to find the best sightings of lions, cheetahs, leopards, elephants, giraffes and hyenas.

Depending on the season, you may also meet part of the Great Migration: more than a million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebras that circle the Serengeti and Maasai Mara ecosystem all year.

An optional sunrise hot-air balloon flight over the plains can be arranged at extra cost; ask us when you book.
- Meals Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Overnight Dome tent at a public campsite, central Serengeti (Seronera)
Day03 Serengeti – Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Enjoy an early-morning game drive in the Serengeti, when the cats are most active, before heading back across the plains towards the Ngorongoro highlands.

On the way you may pass Maasai herders with their cattle and, if time allows, stop at Olduvai Gorge, one of the world's most important sites for the study of early humans (entry at extra cost). You reach your campsite in Simba campsite on the Ngorongoro Crater rim in the late afternoon.
- Meals Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Overnight Dome tent at a public campsite, Simba campsite on the Ngorongoro Crater rim
Day04 Ngorongoro Crater – Arusha
After an early breakfast you drive up to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and stop at the viewpoint. The view is unforgettable: a 600-metre-deep, 20-kilometre-wide volcanic caldera with lakes, swamps, forest and grassland laid out below you.

Then you descend to the crater floor for your game drive. The steep walls keep most animals inside all year, so wildlife is dense and easy to see: lions, elephants, buffalo, hyenas, zebras, wildebeest, hippos and flamingos are all regulars. The crater is also one of the best places in Tanzania to look for the endangered black rhino, which takes patience to find.

After a picnic lunch by the hippo pool you climb back out of the crater in the afternoon and drive back to Arusha, arriving in the early evening.
- Meals Breakfast & Lunch

What’s included

Included

All park entrance fees, campsite fees and government taxes
All meals prepared by your camp cook
Bottled drinking water (at least 3 litres per person per day)
Airport transfers on arrival and departure
Camping equipment: tents, mattresses, bedding, camp chairs and tables
Private 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof
Professional English-speaking driver-guide and camp cook

Not included

International and domestic flights (unless listed above)
Tanzania visa fee
Tips for your guide, driver and camp crew
Travel insurance
Alcoholic drinks and personal items
Optional activities such as a hot-air balloon flight

Gallery

5 Days Tanzania Mid-range Safari – photo 4

7 Days Tanzania Explorer Safari – photo 3

7 Days Tanzania Explorer Safari – photo 2

7 Day Tanzania Wilderness Safari – photo 4

Frequently asked questions

When is the best time for this safari?

Northern Tanzania is good all year. The long dry season (June to October) is best for general game viewing, January to March is calving season in the southern Serengeti, and the April–May rains bring green landscapes and lower prices.

Can I change the accommodation or add days?

Yes. Every itinerary can be tailored: upgrade or change lodges, add extra nights, or combine your safari with Zanzibar or a Kilimanjaro climb. Tell us what you have in mind when you enquire.

What should I pack?

Light, neutral-coloured layers, a warm fleece for early mornings (the Ngorongoro rim gets cold), a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, insect repellent, binoculars and a camera with a spare battery. Soft bags pack into safari vehicles and light aircraft more easily than hard suitcases.

Tailor-made