The Best Affordable 5 Days Tanzania Safari: A Detailed Itinerary

THE BEST AFFORDABLE 5 DAYS TANZANIA SAFARI ITINERARY

Now, before you bite our heads off, let us explain what we mean by the best affordable 5 days Tanzania safari itinerary… There is definitely more to Tanzania safaris than the stops included on this itinerary (we’ve neglected other parks for example), but the timings on this affordable 5 day north Tanzania safari have been arranged in such a way that you will maximise your game viewing opportunities in the national parks visited – That’s why it’s the “best” five days safari itinerary.

So, if you don’t have the luxury of more than a week on a safari in Tanzania, you can use this itinerary to plan a trip that takes in the highlights. If you’re lucky enough to have even more time, you can build and expand on these national parks to create one epic adventure around Tanzania. So here we go,  plenty of wildlife sightings, amazing accommodation, and 3 national parks taking in the best that Tanzania has to offer.

• A professional Tanzanian safari guide will be with you throughout your journey.
• Depending on the Season, Tarangire park can be substituted by Lake Manyara park.
• This 5 Day Tanzania safari itinerary can be enjoyed at any time of year and fits in any type of safari – Budget camping or Lodge safari.

DETAILED: 5 DAYS TANZANIA SAFARI ITINERARY

Day 1: ARUSHA TO TARANGIRE PARK

Pick up from Arusha at 8:00 am by your expert safari guide who will be with you for the next 5 days of this trip through Tanzania’s wilderness. The drive from Arusha to Tarangire national park takes approximately 2 hours on a decent tarmac road for most of the journey, past small towns and villages into the baobab-speckled woodland and grassland habitats of the Tarangire Ecosystem.

Arrive at the Tarangire park entry gate at approximately 10:30 am, you will have a few minutes to stretch your legs and use the bathroom if you wish as your driver does the paperwork with the park administration before you start your first game drive on this 5 day Tanzania safari.

The Tarangire River meanders through the heart of the ecosystem, which has a diverse geological fingerprint encompassing nine vegetation zones interspersed with rocky outcrops and hills.

Game viewing is especially rich here during the dry season June-October when the river becomes the lifeline for all forms of wildlife, including elephant, zebra, buffalo, and giraffe and there is a good chance of sighting lions and perhaps even leopard.

Lunch will be at a designated picnic site in the park, lunch boxes are provided on this day (look out for the baboons). At approximately 4:00 pm start driving out of the park and to your accommodation for the night.

Where to stay: Bougainvillea Safari Lodge.

Day 2: TARANGIRE TO SERENGETI (Via Ngorongoro)

This is the second day of your 5 Day Tanzania safari and we shall be heading to the Serengeti national park via the Ngorongoro conservation area. 

Whatever the time of year, there is always an abundance of game in the central Serengeti region with many resident prides of lions and other large mammals making this area their permanent home.

After a leisurely breakfast, at 9:00 am, we embark upon our next journey deep into the heart of the Serengeti, along the way, stop at the crater viewpoint to enjoy the spectacular views of the Ngorongoro crater, a perfect photo moment.

The drive to Serengeti national park is on a bumpy marum road and it can take approximately 2 – 3 hrs. Picnic lunch will be provided at the Serengeti entry gate as your driver once again does the paperwork with the park administration.

Today, the focus is to start game-viewing in the Serengeti national park in the early afternoon hours until just before the sunsets – game viewing will be concentrated around the central Serengeti area, also known as the Seronera area.

Traveling in peak migration season, you should be lucky enough to come across the herds moving back and forth around the central Serengeti zone as they head west and north in pursuit of rainfall and fresh green pasture. Any sudden rainfall can send the wildebeest spiraling back and forth in search of the luscious green shoots of grass they crave.

Plenty of plains game will be apparent throughout the drive, and after a long full day game drive, you will arrive at your camp for refreshment, dinner, and overnight after your long and dusty road adventure.

Where to stay: Embalakai Authentic Tented Camp.

Day 3: SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK – FULL DAY

The third day of your 5 Day Tanzania safari and you set the pace today… Enjoy a sleep in today and a leisurely breakfast, or be up early for another awe-inspiring trip through Africa’s greatest wilderness.

You can also arrange with your guide on whether to venture out on a full day game drive with picnic lunch or opt for morning and afternoon drives with hot lunch at camp; the Serengeti is yours to explore the way you want!

Despite the comparative scarcity of trees in the central Serengeti, it is not uncommon to find leopard in the few trees that thrive there, and the central plains and grasslands are always popular hangouts for the most elegant and slightly ethereal creature, the cheetah.

You will come across plenty of plains game and your guide will be sure to keep his ear to the ground for any opportunities to sight some key predators and other smaller ones, such as the silver-backed jackal and the bat-eared fox; banded mongooses, and comical families of warthogs.

You may also like to make a trip to the excellent Serengeti Visitor’s Centre to visit the friendly rock hyraxes that laze and flop all over the kopjes, while you admire the well-curated exhibits and learn a great deal about the Serengeti ecosystem, its inhabitants, and the migration patterns of the numerous and diverse residents of the area.

Where to stay: Embalakai Authentic Tented Camp.

Day 4: SERENGETI TO NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA

Start your morning with one of the most awesome sunrises in Tanzania; it’s our last day in the Serengeti national park and day four of our 5 day Tanzania safari itinerary but hold-up, Serengeti may still have a few surprises for us!

In the dawn light, you may come across lions feasting on their kill and spotted hyenas loping around looking to salvage some tender morsels. Silver backed jackals and bat-eared foxes might make an appearance in the still quiet of the early hours.

Refreshed from your easy-going game drives of yesterday, today let’s awake before dawn and get out to the plains to visit the inhabitants of Serengeti as they finish up their business of the previous night’s hunt.

Return to camp for brunch and wave a fond farewell to the inhabitants of the Serengeti’s truly endless plains as you make your way to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, enjoy an en-route game drive and a picnic lunch stop on the top of a kopje where the Serengeti National Park ends and the Ngorongoro Conservation begins.

Spend the rest of the evening at leisure and get some rest, you will need it, the next day starts very early.

Where to stay: Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge.

Day 5: NGORONGORO CRATER TOUR – ARUSHA

Last day of our 5 day Tanzania safari and what’s better than ending it with a visit to Ngorongoro crater, nicknamed Africa’s “eighth wonder of the world,”

The Crater needs no introduction, being the largest intact caldera in the world, and a World Heritage Site. It is one of the most spectacular sights. With the exception of impala and giraffe, almost every species of plains mammal lives or visits the Crater floor – a true African Eden.

The day starts early to make an early descent into the crater and beat the crowds driving in from Arusha or arriving mid-morning from Lake Manyara airstrip.

The massive depression is 12 miles wide (19 km), and is in the Serengeti Ecosystem although under a different Wildlife area known as Ngorongoro Conservation Area which covers more than 8.000 km².

The crater walls are forested but four-wheel-drive vehicles will take you down into this primeval paradise of woodland, lake, river, swamp, and plain that shelters around 20,000 animals.

After several hours of game-viewing and a lunch stop on the crater floor, start your drive back to Arusha town. Your guide will leave you at the hotel of choice or at the airport for your onwards flight.