Tanzania · Fly-in Safaris

4 Days Serengeti and Ngorongoro Fly-in Lodge Safari from Zanzibar

4 daysZanzibar • Serengeti • Ngorongoro Crater

Duration: 4 days / 3 nights
Country: Tanzania, Zanzibar
Style: Fly-in Safaris, Lodge Safaris, Private Safaris, Tanzania Safaris, Wildlife Tours, Zanzibar Holidays
Stay: Mid-range lodges
Travel: Tailor-made

Overview

Fly from Zanzibar directly into the Serengeti for two nights on the plains, including a full day of game drives, then drive to the Ngorongoro highlands for a final day in the crater.

Private vehicle and guide throughout, with return flights from Zanzibar included.

Route

1Zanzibar
2Serengeti
3Ngorongoro Crater

Day-by-day itinerary

Day01 Zanzibar – fly to the Serengeti
We collect you from your hotel in Zanzibar in the morning and transfer you to the airport for your scheduled light-aircraft flight to the Seronera airstrip, a scenic hop over the coast and the Maasai Steppe.

Your guide meets you at the airstrip with your safari vehicle, and the game drive starts straight away across the Serengeti plains. Even in the first few hours you have a good chance of lions, cheetahs, giraffes and big herds of wildebeest and zebras.

In the late afternoon you check in to your lodge in central Serengeti (Seronera) for dinner and the night.
- Meals Lunch & Dinner
- Overnight Mid-range lodge in central Serengeti (Seronera) (or similar)
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 Mid-range lodge in central Serengeti (Seronera) (or similar)
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 lodge in Karatu in the late afternoon.
- Meals Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Overnight Mid-range lodge in Karatu (or similar)
Day04 Ngorongoro Crater – fly to Zanzibar
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 drive back up the crater wall to the Lake Manyara airstrip for your scheduled flight back to Zanzibar, where you are met and transferred to your hotel.
- Meals Breakfast & Lunch

What’s included

Included

All park entrance fees and government taxes
All meals as listed in the itinerary
Bottled drinking water (at least 3 litres per person per day) and soft drinks in the vehicle
Hotel–airport transfers in Zanzibar
Accommodation during the safari (private room)
Private 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof, for your group only
Vehicle inverter for charging, communications radio, cool box and filtered water
Professional English-speaking driver-guide
Scheduled light-aircraft flights as listed in the itinerary

Not included

International flights
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