5 Days (Ndutu Migration) – Ndutu, Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater

Your safari will begin by 8AM in the morning with a pick up from your hotel at Arusha and head towards the Ndutu region. The drive to Ndutu is about 6 hours covering a distance of 260 Kms. About 3.5 hours after leaving Arusha, you will enter the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Ngorongoro) where you will notice the landscape changing from hilly forests to plain and green grasslands. Once you reach Ndutu you will begin a half day game drive with a convenient stop for your picnic lunch. Sweeping grasslands cover the region which gradually fade into the Serengeti. Ndutu forms a part of the route for the annual migration of more than 2 million wildebeests and thousands of zebra, antelope and gazelle through the Serengeti eco system. During game drives between December and April, you will be able to see the great migration in this region. Between Mid Jan and Feb, calving happens here and it attracts hordes of predators prying on vulnerable young wildebeest. Crested with Lake Ndutu and Lake Masek, these waterholes offer plenty of wildlife game during the dry season. The Ndutu is also the home ground for 6 species of big cats – leopard, lion, cheetah, caracal, serval and wildcat. The action-packed game drive will end late in the evening by around 6PM. You will now head towards your choice of accommodation, where a freshly prepared dinner awaits you. Ensure you get some good rest and recharge yourself for another eventful day.

Today you get another chance to view the beautiful wildlife spectacle at Ndutu. You can either have a relaxed breakfast and depart with packed lunch boxes for a full day game drive around 8:00 AM and return to the lodge late afternoon around 5:30 PM. Or you can depart after breakfast at 6:20 AM on an early morning game drive. Later return to accommodation around 10:30 AM to relax for a bit and after a hot lunch at the accommodation, depart at 3:00 PM for afternoon game drives and return by 6:00 PM. Ensure you get some good rest and recharge yourself for another eventful day.

The excitement for today will be quite high as you make your way into the most celebrated wildlife park in the world – The Serengeti. After finishing up a good breakfast, you will have morning game drives in Ndutu before departing towards the Serengeti National Park by late morning. Serengeti, means endless plains in the local African language and watching the grassland stretch out as far as the eye can see and eventually merging with the sky at the horizon is an absolutely breathtaking view.With an overall land area of 14,763 Sq Kms, It puts our notion about distance to shame. The Serengeti also houses the glorious “Big 5” (elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion and leopard). Along with the “Big 5”, a very pleasant sighting would be one of Africa’s most beautiful animals – The Impala.The Serengeti ecosystem supports the greatest remaining concentration of plains game in Africa. You must also look out for the Serengeti “Kopjes” which are massive boulders of granite standing in a sea of grass. They provide ample shelter to a large variety of flora and fauna. A picnic lunch will be done during the day long game drive itself. The eventful day comes to an end with a heavy dinner and a good night’s rest in your accommodation.

After early breakfast, you will depart with a packed lunch from the camp and have a morning game drive in Serengeti National Park till around noon. Later depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Depending on your choice of accommodation, you will be either staying inside Ngorongoro conservation area or exiting from Ngorongoro and staying at a lodge in Kararu. In either case, you can consider to do some optional tours inside Ngorongoro like Maasai village tour or Ngorongoro crater rim hike at extra cost.

On the last day of your safari, you will have an early start. Finishing up with a quick breakfast you will make an early descent at around 6:30 AM into the crater floor. The Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest inactive, intact and unfilled volcanic caldera. It has a massive floor of about 260 sq kms with a depth of over 2000 feet. The 5-hour game drive on the crater floor will show you a lot of animal action. Keeping the camera ready is definitely recommended. The African elephant, buffalo, Black rhino, Hippos, Hyenas, Cheetahs and Lions are found in plenty. Post the picnic lunch at the beautiful Hippo pool, you will begin a steep ascend to the top exit of the crater. This is the last leg of your safari, with a 4hr drive left to Arusha. You will be dropped off to your preferred location in Arusha by 6:00 PM in the evening. With an incredible experience and loads of memories to cherish, this is the time you bid goodbye to your team.