Ngorongoro 4 Day Camping Safari Extension

Most people think of wild animals when they think of a trip to Africa, and to see some of the world-famous species of African wildlife in their natural surroundings and visit one of the world's most famous wildlife watching destinations is an opportunity not to be missed. Safaris can be expensive though and for those wishing to have a more natural experience or on a budget, we have put together this alternative safari option. The Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara 4 day camping safari uses tents in designated campsites at some of northern Tanzania's best safari destinations - after all, the animals are just the same!

The world-famous Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park, and Lake Manyara National Park are three wonderful areas for watching African game. Each in a totally different setting and with individual characteristics, together they make an excellent group of parks for a safari experience providing a broad range of sightings. This itinerary makes the most of the 4 days available - with a total of 5 game drives (including an extended one for half a day in the Ngorongoro Crater).

At the end of your trek/walk, you are transferred by road to your hotel (generally the Impala Hotel) in Arusha for a very welcome hot shower, and to enjoy a relaxing overnight stay including dinner and breakfast. The next morning you leave the hotel after breakfast and transfer to Kigongoni campsite at the edge of Tarangire National Park. This is about a 3-4 hour drive so we will arrive in time for lunch and spend a couple of hours in camp before going into the park for our first game drive in the afternoon.

Tarangire National Park is 2,600 sq km and consists mainly of grassland savannah and acacia woodland. As with all parks, the numbers of game are greater in the dry season, with the greatest concentrations occurring in the June to October period. The park has lions and leopards, a great variety of birdlife, and much plains game including zebra, wildebeest, oryx, eland, and a large number of elephants. We have game drives in Tarangire National Park on the first afternoon and again on the next day in the morning, leaving Tarangire around midday to drive to Mto wa Mbu.

At Mto wa Mbu, we go to Jambo campsite on the edge of Lake Manyara National Park for our lunch and can relax for a couple of hours before an afternoon game drive in the park. Lake Manyara National Park covers around 330 sq kms, and around two-thirds of which (in the wet season) is the lake itself. Whilst a small park, it is very varied in habitat, wildlife and birds, and sits in a beautiful setting below the western escarpment of the Great Rift Valley. It is probably best known for its tree-climbing lions, but more obviously noticeable are the vast numbers of baboons - believed to be the largest concentrations of baboons in the world. Elephant, giraffe, wildebeest and buffalo are common, and the watery environment ensures plenty of hippo and birdlife, including flamingos, pelicans, storks and egrets.

As an optional extra to the afternoon game drive, we can arrange a scenic canoeing safari inside Lake Manyara National Park. The two to two and a half hours guided canoeing safari on the lake is in stable, two-person canoes, enabling you to experience a much closer and personal look at nature. The wildlife to be seen generally includes fantastic water-birdlife (from close-up on the water at bird height!), hippos and buffalos. This unusual type of safari is a highly recommended trip and gives a totally different game viewing experience. However, it is only available when the water level in the lake is high enough (generally around the April to July period), and timings mean it can only be done instead of a game drive. If you are interested in the canoeing safari, please Contact Us or show this clearly on your booking form so we can check its availability.

After our afternoon game drive of a few hours inside the park, we leave Lake Manyara and climb the escarpment out of the Rift Valley to Dofa camp near Karatu, about half an hour away and on the edge of the Ngorongoro Highlands, ready to visit the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater tomorrow. Arriving in camp around 6pm to 7pm, the tents are already up and dinner nearly ready.

Getting up early, we have breakfast and aim to leave Dofa camp around 7am to enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as early as we can. The Ngorongoro Crater is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is the world's largest unbroken volcanic caldera, and regarded by many as the 8th wonder of the world. It is within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area of 8,300 sq kms, and the crater itself covers 265 sq kms.

We stop on the rim to savour the spectacle of the Ngorongoro Crater and take pictures before going round to the other side of the crater and descending 600m to reach the crater floor. The crater is a microcosm of East Africa itself, has more than 25,000 protected animal residents (including the Big Five), and ranks as one of the best wildlife destinations in the world. The crater walls act as a natural barrier to the movement of animals so they are quite concentrated, making good sightings of the bigger species (lion, elephant, buffalo etc) reasonably common. It is also a place to see the less common black rhino, as well as hippo, large numbers of zebra, wildebeest, gazelle and antelope; leopard and cheetah add to the list of predators; and there is a soda lake with abundant birdlife including flamingos. We stop in the late morning at one of the designated areas for our packed lunch (we generally have lunch inside the crater) before climbing back up and out of the crater, returning en route to the crater viewing spot on the rim for our last views overlooking the crater.

We continue our journey and drive back to Jambo campsite at Mto wa Mbu on the edge of Lake Manyara National Park for dinner and our overnight stay. As another optional extra, we can offer a guided night game drive in an open game drive vehicle inside Lake Manyara National Park (in fact, you will probably be the only vehicle in the park!). This is the only national park in Tanzania where you can enjoy game viewing at night, and see nighttime behaviour and the many different nocturnal animals that are not seen during the day (for example leopard, hippo, civet, porcupine, bush baby, genet). Under the stars of an African night sky, the sights and sounds are a real treat for the senses. This very special night game drive lasts around two to two and a half hours, but the national park does charge a relatively high additional park fee, which is included in the price below. If you are interested in the night game drive experience, please Contact Us or show this clearly on your booking form.

On our 4th and final day, after an early, light breakfast we have our last extended game drive in the Lake Manyara National Park before returning to camp in the late morning for brunch, after which we drive back to Arusha for a dayroom at our hotel, before leaving for the airport late afternoon for the flight home that evening.

This Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara 4 day camping safari includes transfer to and cost of Arusha hotel on half board basis, all travel, food, accommodation, national park fees and guiding services on safari as detailed above; return to Arusha, use of hotel dayroom, and transfer to Kilimanjaro airport. On safari we use comfortable two-person tents in designated campsites with facilities we can use for washing etc. We are looked after by our guide and cook who make camp and prepare all the meals whilst on safari, leaving us to take in our surroundings and remember the sightings of the day!

How to Book | General Information