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Itineraries  /  Northern Safari Circuit
KT04 · Kenya & Tanzania · Northern Circuit

Northern Safari Circuit

Arusha · Tarangire National Park · Ngorongoro Crater · Central Serengeti · Masai Mara National Reserve · Karatu
Duration
11 Days · 10 Nights
The route
Arusha · Tarangire National Park · Ngorongoro Crater · Central Serengeti · Masai Mara National Reserve · Karatu
Style
Northern Circuit
Best season
Migration Jul–Oct (Kenya) · Jun–Oct (Tanzania)
The route

10 nights, 5 distinct landscapes — northern safari circuit.

From the first transfer to the final morning, every stop earns its place — the safari gateway town; baobabs and elephant herds; the crater floor; year-round big cats on the plains; big cats and the migration.

Add a night in Arusha before or after — a relaxed arrival or a buffer before your flight home. Just ask.

Round trip · returns to Arusha

ArushaTarangireNgorongoro CraterCentral SerengetiMasai MaraKaratu
What you're tracking

What you'll see

Lion
Lion
Mara prides, often with cubs in the grass.
Elephant
Elephant
Big-tusked herds on the Amboseli pans.
Leopard
Leopard
Draped along an acacia branch at dusk.
Rhino
Rhino
Black and white rhino on the conservancies.
Buffalo
Buffalo
Herds grazing the floodplains in number.
Day by day

The journey, one day at a time

01Arrival · Arusha

Into Arusha

Coffee country, Meru behind.

Arrive to Arusha, the green town below Mount Meru that is the gateway to Tanzania's northern circuit — a night to settle before the parks.

02Arusha → Tarangire

Into Tarangire

Baobabs and the first big herds.

Drive to Tarangire to Tarangire, a park of giant baobabs and dense elephant herds, and take a first drive along the river.

03Tarangire

Along the Tarangire River

Elephants, baobabs, big skies.

A full day tracking elephant family groups and predators along the river that gives the park its life.

04Tarangire → Ngorongoro

Up to the Ngorongoro highlands

A green rim above a hidden world.

Drive to Ngorongoro to the Ngorongoro highlands and settle on the crater rim, ready for the descent.

05Ngorongoro

Down into the crater

A day on the caldera floor.

A full day on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater — black rhino, lion, flamingo and big herds inside one collapsed volcano.

06Ngorongoro → Central Serengeti

Into the central Serengeti

Endless plains, resident prides.

Drive to Central Serengeti into the central Serengeti and drive the Seronera valleys for resident lion, leopard and cheetah. Continue by road into the central Serengeti and drive the Seronera valleys for resident lion, leopard and cheetah.

07Central Serengeti

The Seronera valleys

Cats along the rivers.

Full days among the Seronera river lines — the surest big-cat country in the Serengeti — with the long midday to rest. A full day further onto the plains and kopjes, routed by where the prides and herds are moving.

08Central Serengeti

Out across the plains

Open grass to the horizon.

A full day further onto the plains and kopjes, routed by where the prides and herds are moving. Drive from Arusha into the central Serengeti and drive the Seronera valleys for resident lion, leopard and cheetah.

09Central Serengeti → Mara

Into the Mara

The plains open and don't stop.

Fly across the border to Mara into the Maasai Mara and head out on a first game drive as the light softens — plains game, elephant and the first cats on the way to camp.

10Mara

Full day on the plains

Cats before the heat, a sundowner to close.

Morning and afternoon drives with a Maasai guide, routed by where the predators are moving, with the long midday hours to rest at camp.

11Mara → home

Journey's end

Wheels-up over the plains you crossed.

A light flight back to Nairobi connects to your onward flight home.

When to travel

The season changes what you see.

Jul – Oct

The migration window

The wildebeest are in the Mara and the river crossings are on — the headline months, and the busiest. Book well ahead.

Nov – Jun

Resident game, green plains

The Big Five never leave. Fewer vehicles, lower rates, newborns in the grass and clean light for photography.

Wildlife you may see
Birds Cheetah Elephants Leopard Lion Rhinos

Make it yours.

Add nights, swap a park, extend to the coast — this route is a starting point, not a fixed menu. Tell us how you travel and we'll route the rest.

Field notes, now and then.

Where to go · When to go · Wildlife in season

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