12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour – Culture, Scenery, Wildlife Safaris In Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, & Ngorongoro Crater

12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour – SAFARI OVERVIEW

This 12 days Tanzania safari tour is a top 12 days safari in Tanzania tour, taking you for amazing culture and wildlife viewing encounters through Tanzania’s top four wildlife destinations – Tarangire National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Serengeti National Park, and the Ngorongoro Crater.

Your 12 days Tanzania safari tour begins and ends in Arusha. You will visit Tarangire, a lovely quiet park that contains the country’s biggest elephant herds, a large number of enormous baobab trees, and beautifully wild scenery. Then, visit Mto wa Mbu village, before continuing to Lake Manyara National Park, known for its large flocks of flamingos and rare tree-climbing lions.

Next, move to the world-renowned Serengeti Park, home to abundant wildlife all year and the Greatest Animal Show on Earth: the seasonal Wildebeest Migration. Finally, tour the historic Olduvai Gorge and explore the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera whose steep-sided walls contain Africa’s densest concentration of large animals, including the Big 5.

You can book or customize this 12 days Tanzania safari tour to your interests and experience the best of Tanzania at an affordable price!

 

Uganda Tanzania Safari

12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour – PRIME SAFARI ACTIVITIES

  • Daily game drives
  • Witness the Wildebeest Migration in season
  • Watch the Big 5 animals in the wild
  • Spot Big Cats like Lions, Leopards, and Cheetahs
  • See huge herds of elephants in Tarangire
  • Watch Lake Manyara’s rare Tree-climbing lions
  • Hike the rim of Ngorongoro Crater
  • See the endless plains of Serengeti
  • Tour Olduvai Gorge, the Cradle of Mankind
  • Cultural tour in Mto wa Mbu village
  • Excellent birdwatching
  • Great photographic opportunities
  • Optional hot air ballooning in Serengeti

12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour – FEATURED SAFARI DESTINATIONS

Day 1: Arusha

Day 2, 3, & 4: Tarangire National Park

Day 5 & 6: Lake Manyara National Park & Mto wa Mbu Village

Day 7, 8, & 9: Serengeti National Park & Olduvai Gorge

Day 10 & 11: Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Day 12: Arusha – Depart

12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour – SAFARI HIGHLIGHT

Day 1: Arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport & transfer to Arusha hotel.

Day 2: Transfer to Tarangire National Park for an afternoon game drive

Day 3: Unlimited game drives in Tarangire National Park

Day 4: Full-day game drives in Tarangire National Park

Day 5: Transfer to Lake Manyara National Park. En route cultural tour in Mto wa Mbu Village & game drive on arrival.

Day 6: Full-day game drives in Lake Manyara National Park

Day 7: Transfer to Serengeti National Park for the game drives.

Day 8: Unlimited game drives in Serengeti National Park

Day 9:  Full-day game drives in Serengeti National Park

Day 10: Transfer to Ngorongoro Conservation Area via Olduvai Gorge.

Day 11: Full-day game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater

Day 12: Short crater rim walk & transfer back to Arusha

12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour – DETAILED SAFARI ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport & Transfer to Your Hotel in Arusha.

Your fantastic 12 days Tanzania safari tour begins as soon as you touch down at Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). You’ll be met by our company representative who will transfer you to your comfortable hotel in Arusha, less than one hour’s drive away for relaxation, dinner, and overnight stay.

Arusha is an attractive little town situated at an altitude of about 1400m in the lush, hilly area of Tanzania and has a cool climate. The city is located below Mount Meru (4566m), Africa’s 5th highest mountain, and close to Mount Kilimanjaro (5895m), Africa’s tallest mountain. It’s the gateway to northern Tanzania’s spectacular wilderness areas. The exceptional proximity to the prime wilderness areas has earned the city the nickname “Safari Capital of Tanzania.”

If your flight arrives early in the day, you opt to visit some of the town’s highlights, like the thriving Maasai Market or the Tanzanite Museum, which is dedicated to the rare deep-blue precious stone found nowhere else in the world.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Kibo Palace Hotel/Arusha Coffee Lodge/Impala Hotel

Midrange: – Outpost Lodge

Meal Plan: – Dinner

Activities & Services: –

  • Airport pick up
  • Transfer to a hotel

Day 2: Transfer to Tarangire National Park for A Game Drive

Day two of your 12 days Tanzania safari tour begins with a relaxed breakfast at your Arusha hotel. Then, embark on a scenic drive of about 2½ hours southwest to Tarangire NP. Arrive at your lodge for the next 3 nights in time for lunch. After lunch, take some time to relax and set off on your first safari game drive in Tarangire.

The 2850km2 (1,100 miles2) Tarangire National Park is named after the river that runs through its heart. Though it is the quietest of Tanzania’s celebrated Northern Circuit parks, this lovely peaceful park has a lot to offer including one of the highest densities of the elephant of any park in Africa, a large number of beautiful baobabs, and pretty rolling hills and valleys of golden grass, vast swamps, and acacias trees.

During the dry season (June to October), Wildebeest, Hartebeests, Buffalos, Zebras, Giraffes, Gazelles, Elands, and an array of attendant predators (particularly lions) move in the park from different directions. Herds of up to 300 elephants are on the move, an epic event unrivaled in other areas. After your first exciting game drive, return to the lodge for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Midrange: – Tarangire Kirurumu Camp

Budget: – Roika Tented Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive Distance & Time: – Approx. 150km/2½ hours

Activities & Services: –

  • Transfer to Tarangire
  • Game drive

Optional Activity: –

  • Night game drive

Day 3: Unlimited Game Drives In Tarangire National Park

On day three of the 12 days Tanzania safari tour, you will have a full day in Tarangire. You will go on game drives in the morning and afternoon, then return to the lodge for lunch and a little break in the heat of the day.

One of Tarangire’s major attractions is that even during the tourism high season (June to August) when many of the parks throughout Africa are at their busiest, it remains one of Tanzania’s best-kept, uncrowded secrets. Tarangire is also the only place in Tanzania where you can see the unique dry-country antelope like the fringe-eared Oryx and the long-necked gerenuk. And the lions of Tarangire are renowned, for their habit of lounging in the boughs of trees, perhaps to escape the tsetse flies.

You’ll also look for Waterbuck, Impala, Baboons, Cheetahs, Leopards, Caracals, Honey badgers, Hyenas, Wild dogs, and Dwarf mongoose. After a wonderful day in Tarangire, return to your lodge for dinner, and overnight.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Midrange: – Tarangire Kirurumu Camp

Budget: – Roika Tented Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Activities & Services: –

  • Tarangire game drives

Optional Activities:-

  • Walking safari
  • Night game drive

Day 4: Full-Day Game Drives In Tarangire National Park

On day four of your 12 days Tanzania Safari tour, you will spend another full day exploring more of what Tarangire has to offer. Again, you will have breakfast at the lodge and go on your morning game drive. You will return for lunch and a little break before embarking on another game drive in the afternoon.

Aside from mammals, Tarangire is one of Tanzania’s top spots for bird watching, with more than 550 species recorded. During your game drives, you can look out for the top specials such as Yellow-collared Lovebirds, Kori bustards, Common Ostriches, Ashy Starlings, and Red-and-yellow Barbet, along with many vultures, and other raptors, such as Pygmy Falcon and African Hawk-eagle.

After another fantastic day in Tarangire, you will return to the lodge in the early evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Tarangire Sopa Lodge

Midrange: – Tarangire Kirurumu Camp

Budget: – Roika Tented Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner

Activities & Services: –

  • Game drives

Day 5: Transfer to Lake Manyara National Park. En Route Cultural Tour In Mto Wa Mbu Village & Game Drive On Arrival.

After a relaxed breakfast today, embark on a beautiful drive of about two hours north towards Lake Manyara.

Along the way, take a cultural walk in Mto wa Mbu, a fascinating snapshot of small-village African life that is home to some 18,000 people from 120 different Tanzania tribes! Walk around farmer’s fields and local homes. Visit a lively local market and meet artisans in their workshops. Then, proceed to the lodge for lunch and relaxation. In the afternoon, go on a game drive around Lake Manyara.

Situated on the floor of Africa’s Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara is a shallow soda lake, described by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. Protected by Lake Manyara National Park, the lake is a birder hosting large flocks of flamingos and other waterbirds. The park also hosts many of the most attractive African mammals, including rare tree-climbing lions.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge

Midrange: – Manyara Kirurumu Camp

Budget: – Manyara Wildlife Safari Camp

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive Distance & Time: – Approx. 60km/2 hours

Activities & Services: –

  • Drive to Lake Manyara
  • Mto Wa Mbu village walk
  • Afternoon game drive

Day 6: Full Day Game Drive In Lake Manyara National Park.

On day six of your 12 days Tanzania safari tour, have the full day in beautiful Lake Manyara National Park. You’ll begin with an early breakfast at the lodge and then drive into the park with your packed lunch. Lake Manyara NP span some 648km2, but much of it is taken up by the lake. However, has a remarkably wide diversity of terrestrial habitats, from the forest, wetland, floodplain, and acacia woodland – which in turn supports an equally impressive diversity of wildlife.

The park boasts the highest concentration of Baboons in the world! Other mammals include Hippos, wildebeests, Common warthogs, Cape Buffalos, Plains zebras, Masai Giraffes, Gazelles, Impalas, Bushbuck, Waterbucks, Dik-dik, Leopards, Hyaena, Jackals, Otters, Blue monkeys, and African elephants.

Elephants, travel in extended families with dozens of grandmothers and mothers, co-operatively protecting their offspring, the smallest of which walk under their mothers’ bellies, safe from predators and for a quick feed. You will return to your lodge late in the afternoon for your final dinner and overnight here.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Lake Manyara Serena Safari Lodge

Midrange: – Manyara Kirurumu Camp

Budget: – Manyara Wildlife Safari Camp

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Activities & Services: –

  • Full-day game drive

Optional Activities:-

  • Night game drive
  • Walking safari

Day 7: Transfer to Serengeti National Park for the Game Drives.

After an early breakfast today, embark on a log scenic drive of about 5-6 hours north to your next great destination of this wonderful 12 days Tanzania safari. Drive through the cool crater highlands and Ngorongoro Conservation Area. From Ngorongoro, travel through rural Maasai Villages and then descend into the great rolling savannah grasslands of Serengeti – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Serengeti is one of the most famous wildlife parks in the world, home to one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife on Earth. The park is renowned for the annual Great Migration of over 2 million Wildebeest, Zebras, and Gazelles. It is the largest annual overland animal migration on earth and one of Africa’s 7 Natural Wonders.

Enjoy a picnic lunch and a game drive this afternoon as you make your way to lodge/camp in Central Serengeti. Central Serengeti encompasses the spectacular Seronera Valley, well known for its prime big game and other wildlife. Lions and cheetahs are common here, and leopards are often seen in the valley.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Serengeti Sopa Lodge/Serengeti Serena Lodge

Midrange: – Serengeti Kati Kati Camp

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive Distance & Time: – Approx. 250km/5-6 hours

Activities & Services: –

  • Transfer to Serengeti
  • Game drive

Day 8: Unlimited Game Drives In Serengeti National Park

On day eight of your 12 days Tanzania safari tour, spend the entire day exploring Seronera Valley, going for a morning drive after breakfast, and returning to your lodge or camp for lunch and a short rest in the hottest hours of the day.

Spanning some 14000 square kilometers, the endless plains of Serengeti, see myriad colors during the year – brown and burnt in the dry season, green after the rains, – but one thing is a constant: this great landscape is home to thousands upon thousands of animals moving as herds across the plains.

This region gets its name from the local Maasai word ‘Siringet’, meaning the “place where the land runs forever”, and you’ll understand why on your game drive today. After another fantastic day in the park, you’ll return to your lodge and freshen up. You will then enjoy dinner and a good night’s rest.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Serengeti Serena Lodge/Serengeti Sopa Lodge

Midrange: – Serengeti Kati Kati Camp

Budget: – Kijereshi Tented Camp

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Activities & Services: –

  • Game drives

Optional Activity: –

  • Hot air balloon ride

Day 9: Full-Day Game Drives In Serengeti National Park.

You will start day nine of your 12 days Tanzania safari tour with a game drive before sunrise. You will head out while the animals are at their most active, then head back to camp for lunch at around 11.30 am.

This morning, you also have the option of a hot air balloon ride over Serengeti today. If you have pre-booked this activity, you’ll be picked up before dawn and driven to the launch site. After a safety briefing, glide through the dawn, sometimes at tree height, where you’ll get some amazing photo opportunities.

After landing, enjoy a delicious bush breakfast, then return to your camp/lodge. After spending the hottest part of the day relaxing just as the animals do, depart again in the afternoon for a game drive through the wild, returning in time for dinner.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Serengeti Sopa Lodge/Serengeti Serena Lodge

Midrange: – Serengeti Kati Kati Camp

Budget: – Kijereshi Tented Camp

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Activities & Services: –

  • Morning and afternoon game drives

Day 10: Transfer to Ngorongoro Conservation Area via Olduvai Gorge.

After a relaxed breakfast today, you will set off for the final, and another exciting, part of your 12 days Tanzania safari tour. You will drive across the Serengeti plains as you make your way to Ngorongoro Crater – another World Heritage Site.

En route, you will make a stop at Olduvai Gorge. Famed for the evidence it has produced about human evolution. It is where Drs. Louis and Mary Leaky unearthed remains of the earliest humans – hominin fossils, dating back almost two million years. The Gorge is known by some as the ‘Cradle of Humankind.

After visiting the gorge, enjoy a picnic lunch and then proceed to your lodge near the Ngorongoro Crater rim for relaxation, dinner, and overnight. Widely known by its nickname -” Africa’s Garden Eden” – the gigantic Ngorongoro Crater is one of the continent’s most celebrated natural wonders.

It was formed over 2 million years ago by the explosion and collapse of a massive volcano, which some say would have been higher than Mount Kilimanjaro. Left behind was a depression more than 2,000 feet deep, with a floor covering 260km2 – the largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera on planet Earth.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge/Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Midrange: – Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge

Budget: – Karatu Simba Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Drive Distance & Time: – Approx.140km/3-4 hours

Activities & Services: –

  • Transfer to Ngorongoro
  • Olduvai Gorge visit
  • Game drive

Day 11: Full-Day Game Drive in the Ngorongoro Crater

After an early breakfast on day ten of your 12 days Tanzania safari tour, descend 2000 feet to the Crater floor for a full-day game drive. You’ll have a picnic lunch on the crater floor, returning in the early evening for relaxation, dinner, and overnight.

Ngorongoro Crater has one of the densest wildlife populations in Africa. Some 30,000 animals live within the crater. Many of the residents here are ungulates (hoofed animals); among them, approximately 7,000 wildebeest, 4,000 zebras, 3,000 elands, and 3,000 Thompson’s gazelles. These enormous herds attract a large number of predators, like spotted hyenas, cheetah, leopards, and most notably lions.

Other members of the Big 5 are also easily spotted here, including Cape buffalo, elephants, and black rhino. The crater also hosts some 500 avian species including Ostriches, Secretary birds, Flamingos, and Kori bustards. Interestingly, there’s only one iconic African animal that doesn’t live inside the crater: A giraffe – the edges of the crater are too steep for them to navigate with their long legs.

Accommodation:-

Luxury: – Ngorongoro Serena Lodge/Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

Midrange: – Rhotia Valley Tented Lodge

Budget: – Karatu Simba Lodge

Meal Plan: – Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Activities & Services: –

  • Ngorongoro Crater game drive

Day 12: Short Crater Rim Walk & Transfer Back To Arusha

After a relaxing final breakfast, you will take a short crater rim walk for dramatic crater photographs. Then embark on a 5-6 hour drive back to Arusha.  You can stop for some last-minute shopping before making your way to Kilimanjaro Airport for your departure flight at the end of this incredible 12 days Tanzania safari tour.

End of the 12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour

12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour − SAFARI INCLUSIONS

  • Full Board Accommodation on Safari
  • Transportation in either 4X4 Safari Van or 4X4 Safari Land Cruiser all with Pop up roof &AC
  • Fuel
  • Professional English Speaking driver guide. Any other foreign language speaking guide can be arranged on request.
  • Entrance fees to the tourist sites mentioned
  • Activity fees of the tourist activities mentioned
  • Bottled water while on safari
  • Airport transfers

12 Days Tanzania Safari Tour − SAFARI EXCLUSIONS

  • General tips for the driver guide, site guides, and service staff at the lodges
  • Laundry Services
  • Other Beverages/drinks of personal nature like Alcohol
  • International Flights (Arranged on request)
  • Domestic Flights (Arranged on request)
  • Visas
  • Optional Activity fees
  • Other extras not mentioned in the Itinerary