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AfriGuide🇹🇿 TanzaniaSerengeti Migration · 5 days
🦌 GREAT MIGRATIONTop-ratedCrater day includedPairs with Zanzibar

Serengeti & Ngorongoro — 5-Day Great Migration Safari

★ 4.9 · 1,920 reviews· Serengeti · Ngorongoro · Lake Manyara· Start & end Arusha (JRO)
Duration
5 days · 4 nights
👥
Group
Max 6/Land Cruiser
Start
Arusha (JRO)
Includes
All park fees · fly-in
🏕
Stay
Migration tented camp
🛡
Game
Big Five · wildebeest river

About this safari

Five days following the world's largest land-mammal migration — 1.5 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, 350,000 gazelle, looping the Serengeti–Mara ecosystem year-round. The headline moment is the Mara River crossing (Jul–Sep, northern Serengeti) — frantic dust, crocodiles waiting, the only event in nature that genuinely justifies the word "stampede". We move our migration camp into the right region for your dates. Plus the iconic Ngorongoro Crater game day, Lake Manyara tree-climbing lions, and a fly-in transfer from Seronera to keep drive time down. Best paired with our Zanzibar beach trip.

Highlights

Migration camp follows the herd
We move the tented camp into the right zone for your dates · S Serengeti Jan–Mar, central Apr–Jun, northern Jul–Oct.
Mara River crossing window
Late Jul to mid-Sep — northern Serengeti at the Kenyan border · daily reports, repositioning if needed.
Ngorongoro Crater day
25,000 animals in a 260 km² caldera · Big 5 + black rhino · descend the rim road at dawn.
Fly-in to Seronera
Skip the 8-hour drive · Cessna from JRO · 90 min · land at central Serengeti airstrip.
Optional hot-air balloon
Dawn over the Seronera · 1 hr aloft · champagne breakfast on the plains · +$650/pp.
Maasai boma visit
Respectful, fair-pay arrangement · spear-throwing & jumping dance · the boma chief sets the price.

Day-by-day itinerary

01
Day 1
Arusha → Lake Manyara
  1. 08:00 — JRO airport pickup or Arusha hotel.
  2. 10:30 — Drive to Lake Manyara NP · tree-climbing lions, hippo pools, pink flamingos.
  3. 17:00 — Check into Karatu lodge · pool · sundowner.
02
Day 2
Ngorongoro Crater day
  1. 06:00 — Descend into the crater · 6-hour game drive.
  2. 13:00 — Bush picnic by Lake Magadi · black rhino with luck.
  3. 16:00 — Drive up to rim · sunset over the caldera.
03
Day 3
Fly to Serengeti · migration drive
  1. 08:00 — Cessna from Manyara airstrip to Seronera · 90 min.
  2. 10:00 — Transfer to migration tented camp.
  3. 15:30 — Afternoon game drive · lion, leopard, cheetah country.
04
Day 4
Full migration day · optional balloon
  1. 04:30 — Optional hot-air balloon · champagne breakfast on the plains.
  2. 07:00 — Full-day game drive · river crossings (Jul–Sep) · big-cat tracking.
  3. 19:30 — Boma dinner under the stars.
05
Day 5
Last drive · fly back to JRO
  1. 06:30 — Final dawn drive.
  2. 11:00 — Cessna back to JRO.
  3. 13:00 — Onward (international, Zanzibar fly-in, Arusha hotel).

What's included

  • JRO ↔ Serengeti Cessna fly-in
  • 4 nts: 1 Karatu lodge + 3 migration camp
  • All park & crater fees
  • All meals + bottled water
  • Private 4×4 Land Cruiser + ranger
  • Lake Manyara + Ngorongoro game drives
  • Maasai boma visit

Not included

  • × International flights to JRO
  • × Tanzania eVisa ($100 · 10 days)
  • × Hot-air balloon (+$650/pp)
  • × Travel insurance (required)
  • × Tips · ranger $25/day

Cancellation

100%
30+ days before.
50%
30–14 days.
0%
Inside 14 days.

1,920 reviews

4.9
★★★★★
Best safari in East Africa
★★★★★
"We saw three river crossings in one day. Crocodile took a young wildebeest right in front of us. Brutal, magnificent, deeply alive."
Ben K.
Sydney · Aug '25
★★★★★
"Ngorongoro crater day rivals the migration. 25,000 animals in one bowl. The balloon at dawn was the splurge to make."
Emma R.
Madrid · Feb '26

Common questions

When are the river crossings?

Late July to mid-September — northern Serengeti at the Mara River. Calving season (S Serengeti, Feb) is the other dramatic moment: 8,000 babies born per day in the same month.

Add Zanzibar?

Yes — the classic Bush & Beach. End in Seronera, fly direct to ZNZ for our Stone Town & Kendwa trip. Combined 9-day package from $4,190/pp.

Why fly in?

JRO to Seronera by road is 8+ hours of corrugation. The 90-min Cessna over the Rift Valley is worth every dollar. We include it standard.

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