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A couple laughing over dinner at a table laid out in the bush, a fire burning in the foreground and lanterns hung in the trees behind them

Great Migration

6-Day Luxury Tanzania Great Migration Calving Safari

Duration
6 Days
From
US$ 3,882 per person

Overview

Five nights by road for the calving season: Tarangire’s elephant first, then two nights on the southern Serengeti plains at Ndutu while the wildebeest give birth, and the Ngorongoro Crater to finish.

  • The Great Migration calving season on the Ndutu plains
  • Two nights in the southern Serengeti, close to the herds
  • Strong chances of predator action around the calving
  • Tarangire, home to Tanzania’s largest elephant herds
  • A Big Five morning on the Ngorongoro Crater floor
  • Luxury lodges and tented camps throughout
  • A private 4×4 and a professional guide throughout
Duration
6 days, 5 nights
Destination
Tarangire, Ndutu & Ngorongoro
Stops
4
Experience
Great Migration
Best time
December – March

The route, and how far apart these places are

Arusha · Tarangire · Ndutu · Ngorongoro

Route Map

Day by day

Every day here is private — your own guide and your own vehicle — so the order holds but the hours are yours to move.

Day 1 01

Arrival in Arusha

You are met at Kilimanjaro International Airport and driven to Gran Meliá Arusha.

The rest of the day is yours, in the hotel’s gardens, before the safari starts in the morning.

Meals
Dinner
Overnight
Gran Meliá Arusha
Gran Melia Arusha, Arusha

Your Stay

Gran Melia Arusha

Day 2 02

Tarangire National Park

After breakfast, west to Tarangire — ancient baobabs, a seasonal river and one of the largest elephant populations in East Africa.

A full day’s game drive through it, looking for elephant, lion, giraffe and zebra, with the birdlife thrown in, and then Elephant Springs by Karibu Camps for the night.

Meals
Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Overnight
Elephant Springs by Karibu Camps, Tarangire
Elephant Springs by Karibu Camps, Tarangire (inside park)

Your Stay

Elephant Springs by Karibu Camps

Optional today

Day 3 03

Through Ngorongoro to Ndutu

The road west through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and down onto the southern Serengeti plains at Ndutu, where the migration gathers for the calving.

The drive is a game drive as you go — the big herds of wildebeest, zebra and gazelle, and the predators keeping pace with them — and it ends at Serengeti Woodland Camp by Karibu Camps.

Meals
Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Overnight
Serengeti Woodland Camp by Karibu Camps, Ndutu
Serengeti Woodland Camp by Karibu Camps, Ndutu

Your Stay

Serengeti Woodland Camp by Karibu Camps

Day 4 04

A Full Day on the Calving Grounds

A whole day on the southern plains with your guide, following the herds.

This is when the calves take their first steps, a great many of them each day, and when the lion, cheetah, leopard and hyena are most active around them.

Meals
Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Overnight
Serengeti Woodland Camp by Karibu Camps, Ndutu (Cont.)
Highlight
A full day among the calving herds

Optional today

Day 5 05

Ndutu to the Ngorongoro Highlands

A last morning game drive on the southern plains, then the road back into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

You finish at Lion’s Paw Camp on the crater rim, with the view and the afternoon to yourselves before an early start.

Meals
Breakfast, lunch & dinner
Overnight
Lion’s Paw Camp, Ngorongoro Crater rim
Lion's Paw Camp, Ngorongoro crater rim

Your Stay

Lion's Paw Camp

Day 6 06

The Ngorongoro Crater & Departure

An early breakfast and down onto the crater floor for a half-day game drive — the best chance on this trip at all of the Big Five, the black rhino among them.

Then back to Arusha and on to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward flight.

Meals
Breakfast & lunch

What the rate covers

Everything below is settled before you travel. What isn’t covered is listed just as plainly, so nothing on this trip arrives as a surprise.

Included

  • A pop-up roof 4×4 safari vehicle, with unlimited mileage on game drives
  • A professional safari guide throughout
  • All accommodation during the safari
  • All meals, catered for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and halal diets
  • All activities, unless marked as optional
  • Park fees
  • Airport transfers, and all transport by road
  • Binoculars to use on safari
  • Unlimited bottled water, and beer and wine in the vehicle
  • Taxes and VAT

Not included

  • International flights
  • Tanzania entry visa — US$ 50, or US$ 100 for US citizens
  • Travel insurance, souvenirs and other personal items
  • Tips — our guideline is US$ 20 per person per day
  • Optional activities, such as the balloon flight or a walking safari

FAQs

When is the calving season?
December to March. January and February bring the most newborn wildebeest on the southern Serengeti plains.
What makes the southern Serengeti special at this time of year?
The herds come down onto the short-grass plains around Ndutu to give birth, and the lion, cheetah, leopard and hyena come with them.
Will we see the Big Five?
The Ngorongoro Crater gives you one of the best chances in Africa of all five in a single game drive. Nobody can promise the rhino, but the crater is where it is most often found.
Is this a private safari?
Yes. The vehicle, the guide and the itinerary are yours alone — you share the day with nobody outside your own party.
Can the itinerary be changed?
Yes. Because it is private, the nights, the lodges, the activities and the pace can all move. Tell us what you have in mind and we will redraft it.

Travel this one

Four questions — what you'd like to see, who is coming and roughly when — and the team in Arusha comes back with dates, the camps that are open and what the 6-day rate looks like for your party. We reply within one working day.

Or reach them directly — +255 654 592 688 or WhatsApp.

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