Overview
Our 5 Day Northern Circuit Safari is Serengeti Scent Adventures’ most popular and most comprehensively rewarding safari itinerary — a breathtaking five-day journey through the very heart of Tanzania’s legendary northern wildlife circuit combining the elephant paradise of Tarangire National Park, the world-famous Serengeti National Park — home of the legendary Great Wildebeest Migration and one of the world’s greatest wildlife destinations — and the extraordinary Ngorongoro Conservation Area with its magnificent volcanic caldera delivering guaranteed Big Five game viewing of exceptional quality in one perfectly designed and perfectly managed northern Tanzania safari adventure departing from Arusha.
Highlights
- The Great Wildebeest Migration — the greatest wildlife spectacle on Earth
- Exceptional lion viewing — one of Africa’s densest lion populations in the Serengeti
- Optional hot air balloon safari — the most extraordinary Serengeti experience available
- Breathtaking Serengeti sunsets — among the most beautiful in all of Africa
The 5 Day Northern Circuit Safari is the definitive Tanzania safari experience — a perfectly crafted five-day journey through the three most iconic and most celebrated destinations in the entire northern Tanzania wildlife circuit that together deliver an extraordinary and comprehensive wildlife experience of exceptional depth, exceptional diversity, and exceptional personal significance.
Distance: 120 km — approximately 1.5 to 2 hours
Meals: Lunch & Dinner
Overnight: Tarangire area
Depart your Arusha hotel at 7:00 AM and drive southward through the beautiful Arusha highlands toward Tarangire National Park. Enter the park and begin your first extraordinary game drive through the iconic ancient baobab landscape — searching for enormous elephant herds, giraffe, lion, leopard, buffalo, zebra, and wildebeest along the beautiful Tarangire River corridor. Bush picnic lunch served in the field. Afternoon game drive through the park’s diverse habitats searching for African wild dog, greater kudu, and the park’s exceptional birdlife. Sundowner stop before dinner and overnight.
Distance: 320 km — approximately 4 to 5 hours
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight: Serengeti National Park
After breakfast, depart Tarangire westward through the beautiful Maasai steppe and the dramatic Ngorongoro Conservation Area highlands toward the legendary Serengeti National Park. Enter the park through the southeastern Naabi Hill Gate and begin your first extraordinary Serengeti game drive across the famous short grass plains — searching for cheetah, lion prides, enormous elephant herds, giraffe herds, and the first extraordinary sightings of the iconic Serengeti landscape stretching endlessly to every horizon. Bush picnic lunch in the field. Arrive at your Serengeti camp in time for sundowners and your first extraordinary Serengeti sunset before dinner.
Distance: 100 to 150 km within park
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight: Serengeti National Park
A full and deeply extraordinary day exploring the vast wilderness of Serengeti National Park — one of the world’s greatest and most celebrated wildlife destinations. Dawn game drive across the Serengeti plains — the most exciting and most productive time for predator activity with lion prides active on the open grassland and cheetahs scanning the horizon for prey from elevated termite mounds. Visit the famous Seronera River — Tanzania’s finest and most reliable leopard viewing area — searching for these beautiful and elusive cats resting in the branches of ancient riverside acacia trees. Search for the legendary Serengeti wild dog packs. Bush picnic lunch in the field. Afternoon game drive through the Serengeti’s diverse habitats — kopjes, woodland, and open plains — before the most breathtaking sundowner of the entire itinerary as the extraordinary Serengeti sunset paints the vast African sky in overwhelming shades of gold and crimson.
Distance: 145 km — approximately 2.5 to 3 hours
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight: Ngorongoro crater rim
After breakfast depart the Serengeti eastward through the beautiful Ngorongoro Conservation Area highlands — stopping at the extraordinary Olduvai Gorge — the legendary Cradle of Mankind where 1.8 million year old human fossil discoveries permanently changed our understanding of human evolution. Continue to the breathtaking Ngorongoro Crater rim arriving in time for the most extraordinary and most overwhelming panoramic view of the magnificent caldera in the beautiful afternoon light. Dinner and overnight at your crater rim lodge with extraordinary crater views.
Distance: 180 km — approximately 3 hours return
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight: Return to Arusha
Early morning descent into the extraordinary Ngorongoro Crater at first light for the most dramatic and most rewarding game drive of the entire itinerary. Search the crater floor for the critically endangered black rhinoceros, enormous lion prides, massive buffalo herds, spotted hyena clans, hippo pods, flamingo flocks on Lake Magadi, and the magnificent old tusked elephant bulls in one of Africa’s most extraordinary and most reliably rewarding Big Five game viewing destinations. Bush picnic lunch on the crater floor. Ascend from the crater and drive back to Arusha arriving approximately 6:00 to 7:00 PM — concluding five extraordinary days of northern Tanzania wildlife adventure.
- ✅ Hotel pickup and drop-off in Arusha
- ✅ All transport in a private 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser with pop-up roof
- ✅ Professional English-speaking Serengeti Scent Adventures guide for all 5 days
- ✅ All park fees — Tarangire NP (1 day), Serengeti NP (2 days) & Ngorongoro CA (1 day) including crater descent fee
- ✅ Olduvai Gorge entry & guided visit — Day 4
- ✅ All meals as specified — bush picnic lunches, dinners & breakfasts
- ✅ Bottled drinking water throughout
- ✅ All fuel costs
- ✅ Snacks & refreshments during game drives
- ✅ Sundowner drinks
- ✅ Government taxes & levies
- ❌ International flights to and from Tanzania
- ❌ Tanzania visa fees (USD 50 per person)
- ❌ Travel insurance (strongly recommended)
- ❌ Tips & gratuities (recommended USD $15 to $20 per day for guide)
- ❌ Personal items & souvenirs
- ❌ Alcoholic beverages
- ❌ Optional hot air balloon safari — Serengeti Day 3 (available on request — approximately $600 per person)
- ❌ Optional walking safari — Serengeti (available on request)
- ❌ Any expenses of a personal nature
Frequently Asked Questions
The Great Wildebeest Migration is a year-round event — the wildebeest are present somewhere in the Serengeti ecosystem in every single month of the year. The specific migration spectacle you witness depends on your travel dates — the legendary Mara River crossings occur between July and October in the northern Serengeti, the extraordinary calving season between December and March in the southern Ndutu area, and the main herds move through the central and western Serengeti between April and June. Our expert guides always position guests in the most productive Migration areas for their specific travel dates.
The 5 Day Northern Circuit Safari delivers a comprehensive and deeply satisfying northern Tanzania experience covering the three most important and most rewarding destinations on the circuit. For guests with additional time our 6 Day and 7 Day itineraries add Lake Manyara, Lake Natron, and more Serengeti time for an even more comprehensive northern circuit experience.
Yes — a Serengeti hot air balloon safari is available as an optional add-on to Day 3 of this itinerary and is one of the most extraordinary and most unforgettable experiences available anywhere in Tanzania. Contact Serengeti Scent Adventures when booking to add the balloon safari to your itinerary — advance booking is essential as balloon capacity is limited.
Olduvai Gorge — located within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area on the route between the Serengeti and the crater rim — is one of the world’s most important archaeological sites where the legendary fossil discoveries of Mary and Louis Leakey permanently changed our understanding of human evolution. The guided visit to Olduvai’s fascinating on-site museum is one of the most intellectually rewarding and most personally moving experiences on the entire itinerary.
