Small Logo
Northern Tanzania Circuit

Northern Tanzania Circuit

Arusha, Lake Manyara National Park, Ngorongoro and Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park

nights
9
camps
5
from price, per person
USD15,733

This itinerary is all about variety and contrast in a compact, easy-to-follow route through northern Tanzania. Lake Manyara offers water-based wildlife experiences that feel different from a traditional safari, while Ngorongoro’s crater offers wildlife against a stunning volcanic backdrop. Ending in the Serengeti at Usawa gives you the classic, wide-open plains safari with abundant predators and herds. I like how each location feels completely distinct with every day offering a new perspective and a new kind of wildlife encounter.

MK

Minnie Kent

Travel Designer

Katambuga House

Katambuga House

Wayo Manyara Green Camp

Wayo Manyara Green Camp

Game Drive in Lake Manyara National Park

Game Drive in Lake Manyara National Park

Canoeing in Manyara National Park

Canoeing in Manyara National Park

Entamanu Ngorongoro

Entamanu Ngorongoro

Game Drive in the Ngorongoro Crater

Game Drive in the Ngorongoro Crater

Wilderness Usawa Grumeti

Wilderness Usawa Grumeti

Wilderness Usawa Northern Hills

Wilderness Usawa Northern Hills

Accommodation

Summary

DAYS 1 - 2
Arusha, Tanzania
DAYS 2 - 4
Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania
DAYS 4 - 6
Ngorongoro and Conservation Area, Tanzania
DAYS 6 - 8
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
DAYS 8 - 10
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
wildlife & activities

Highlights

  • Witness the diversity of northern Tanzania, from lush forested lakes to wildlife-rich national parks and plains home to the Great Migration.
  • Experience a variety of safari activities, from canoeing on Lake Manyara to guided crater game drives and immersive Serengeti walks.
  • Spend two nights at Lake Manyara National Park where canoeing excursions allow you to enjoy the park’s unique birdlife and scenic waterways.
  • Continue to the Ngorongoro Crater, enjoying exceptional wildlife viewing in this dramatic ecosystem.
  • Conclude with two nights at Wilderness Usawa in the Serengeti, perfectly positioned for witnessing the Great Migration, without the crowds.

Your Itinerary

Day 1

Kilimanjaro International AirportKatambuga House

Road • 01:30h

Day 1 - 2

Katambuga House

LocationArusha, Tanzania

Katambuga House is an elegant and stylish 6 room lodge set in expansive grounds, on the Endurance Estate near Arusha. With attention to detail, caring staff and excellent dining, Katambuga house is a destination in its own right.

1 nights • Standard Room x 1

Day 2

Katambuga HouseArusha Airport

Road • 00:15h

Arusha AirportWayo Manyara Green Camp

Flight • 00:35h

Scheduled flight from Arusha Airport to Wayo Manyara Green Camp.

Day 2 - 4

Wayo Manyara Green Camp

LocationLake Manyara National Park, Tanzania

Located on the banks of the Endabash River in the south of the park, at the bottom of a huge waterfall, the setting provides beautiful views of the park down to Lake Manyara. The pools in the rocks below the waterfall provide the perfect reprieve for a safe swim on hot African afternoons. Manyara Camp comprises eight square en-suite eco-tents on raised platforms. Each tent can be set up as a double, twin, or triple for families. Adjoining tents with an enclosed walkway are ideal for families with older children. Simple luxuries, comfortable beds, crisp linen, low flush toilets and classic bush showers ensure complete relaxation after a full day enjoying the wildlife. The stylish central mess tent has lounge chairs and a small library. All Wayo Green Camps operate in the most environmentally sustainable manner and are 100% plastic-free, using solar-powered lighting and recycling all applicable materials. INSIDER’S TIP: For some parts of the year, the Endabash River is the only source of water for miles, attracting thousands of animals – including elephants and buffalos – creating breathtaking scenes.

2 nights • Tented Room x 1

Selected experiences

Game Drive in Lake Manyara National Park

Learn more

Set out on a game drive into Lake Manyara National Park, a reserve that sits between Arusha and the Ngorongoro Crater. In the space of a single drive the country shifts around you, from dense forest to open savanna and the scenic shores of the lake. Elephants move through the trees, giraffes browse the branches, and buffalo graze the open ground while your guide reads the terrain, tracking movement and pointing out what would otherwise slip past. Keep watching the acacias overhead, because Lake Manyara is one of the few places where lions climb, stretching out along the limbs through the heat of the day. The same mix of forest, grassland, and water draws a remarkable range of birdlife, with over 400 species recorded across the park, so there is nearly always something moving, along the shoreline, in the canopy, or out across the plains.

Canoeing in Manyara National Park

Glide across the serene waters of Lake Manyara, surrounded by breathtaking views and thriving wildlife. This unique water safari offers an intimate glimpse of the park's iconic animalswatch as giraffes, elephants, and buffalos graze along the shoreline, while vibrant birdlife flutters against the dramatic backdrop of Rift Valley cliffs. Paddle your canoe past the bubbling Majimoto hot springs, where you might spot a pod of hippos. Lasting 2.5 hours, this unforgettable journey departs from the scenic Endala Picnic Site.

Day 4

Wayo Manyara Green CampEntamanu Ngorongoro

Road • 03:00h

Day 4 - 6

Entamanu Ngorongoro

LocationNgorongoro and Conservation Area, Tanzania

Entamanu Ngorongoro sits on the remote rim of the Ngorongoro Crater, reached via one of Tanzania's most dramatic private drives and positioned well away from the main tourist circuit. The camp occupies a site where the crater drops away on one side and the Serengeti plains stretch out on the other, with Maasai pastoralist life continuing in the valleys below as it has for generations. The highland climate is part of what makes the experience here distinct, with crisp air, sharp light and the kind of ephemeral energy that comes from sitting on the edge of an ancient caldera. The camp was built entirely from locally sourced materials. Cottages sit on wooden platforms with private verandas facing the crater, en-suite bathrooms with double sinks and power showers, and indoor heating and soft textiles chosen to make the most of cold highland evenings. Two-bedroom cottages accommodate families or groups of friends, and the central lounge encourages conversation around the fire after long days on the crater floor. Game drives descend into the crater soon after dawn, often arriving before tourist vehicles from the lodges below. The crater floor supports around 25,000 mammals year-round, including the Big Five, and the camp's rim position ensures a more private experience. Highland walks with Maasai scouts thread through ancient acacia woodland around the camp, reading tracks and sharing knowledge of a landscape they have known since childhood. Cultural visits to the neighbouring Maasai boma offer a window into pastoral life, and if you want to go further, a walk from the crater rim across to the Serengeti plains is one of the most extraordinary ways to move through this part of Tanzania on foot. Insider's Tip: Giraffes are not frequent visitors to the crater floor, which makes Entamanu's rim position unexpectedly rewarding for sightings. The acacia woodland directly around the camp is home to a healthy resident population, and spotting them on foot or from the veranda feels like a bonus to what is an extraordinary location.

2 nights • Tent x 1

Selected experiences

Game Drive in the Ngorongoro Crater

Learn more

Set out early with the gate opening ahead of you and the crowds still behind, following the road down the steep inner wall of this ancient volcanic caldera. The descent from camp to the crater floor takes around 45 minutes. Short grass plains open out below, ringed by the rim on every side, and wildlife is in view almost from the moment you reach the bottom: wildebeest and zebra spread across the grass, elephant bulls moving between them, lion resting in the open, and both black and southern white rhino, the latter reintroduced to the crater. Your guide reads the ground as you go, working out where the herds have moved and what has been following them. Your guide will discuss timings with you locally. An early start is the better call, and you can take a packed breakfast and lunch depending on how long you want to be on the crater floor, or climb out for a late lunch back at the lodge. It is a big park and a busy one, so a return the following afternoon in a different sector is worth considering, and more time here improves your chances on both black and white rhino.

Day 6

Entamanu NgorongoroManyara Airstrip

Road • 01:45h

Manyara AirstripWilderness Usawa Grumeti

Flight • 02:30h

Scheduled flight from Manyara Airstrip to Wilderness Usawa Grumeti. On arrival to the airstrip, you will take a game drive transfer to the camp.

Day 6 - 8
Wilderness Usawa Grumeti
LocationSerengeti National Park, Tanzania

Imagine endless horizons, skies stretching over the grassland as far as the eye can see … Every species in the Serengeti lives in perfect harmony with the one beside it. It is this balance, ‘usawa’ in Kiswahili, that ensures this phenomenal ecosystem functions in perfect symbiosis. In northern Tanzania, Africa’s greatest spectacle unfolds. Two million wildebeest, zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, eland and other migratory animals graze, breed, and birth on the Serengeti’s plains; following the rains, moving as one. Prides of lion split the herds, taking down wildebeest and zebra. Cheetah chase down and tyre out gazelles while crocodiles prey on the brave; those who dare to cross the rivers first. This scale of wildlife, of predator-prey interaction is found nowhere else on Earth. Far from the crowds, Wilderness Usawa Serengeti's mobile camps are strategically located, moving to areas where the herds are as they follow the rain. With a number of sites available, positioned as close as is feasible to the action, in luxurious safari tents that leave no impact on the plains. Insider's Tip: Pack your walking shoes. All Wilderness Usawa Serengeti sites are positioned within designated walking zones, allowing walking safaris to begin right from camp.

2 nights • Tented Room x 1

Day 8

Grumeti airstripLobo airstrip

Flight • 02:45h

Scheduled flight from Grumeti airstrip to Lobo airstrip. On arrival to the airstrip, you will take a game drive transfer to Wilderness Usawa Northern Hills camp.

Day 8 - 10
Wilderness Usawa Northern Hills
LocationSerengeti National Park, Tanzania

Imagine endless horizons, skies stretching over the grassland as far as the eye can see … Every species in the Serengeti lives in perfect harmony with the one beside it. It is this balance, ‘usawa’ in Kiswahili, that ensures this phenomenal ecosystem functions in perfect symbiosis. In northern Tanzania, Africa’s greatest spectacle unfolds. Two million wildebeest, zebra, Thomson’s gazelle, eland and other migratory animals graze, breed, and birth on the Serengeti’s plains; following the rains, moving as one. Prides of lion split the herds, taking down wildebeest and zebra. Cheetah chase down and tyre out gazelles while crocodiles prey on the brave; those who dare to cross the rivers first. This scale of wildlife, of predator-prey interaction is found nowhere else on Earth. Far from the crowds, Wilderness Usawa Serengeti's mobile camps are strategically located, moving to areas where the herds are as they follow the rain. With a number of sites available, positioned as close as is feasible to the action, in luxurious safari tents that leave no impact on the plains. Insider's Tip: Pack your walking shoes. All Wilderness Usawa Serengeti sites are positioned within designated walking zones, allowing walking safaris to begin right from camp.

2 nights • Tented Room x 1

Day 10

Wilderness Usawa Northern HillsKilimanjaro International Airport

Flight • 03:15h

Scheduled flight from Wilderness Usawa Northern Hills to Kilimanjaro International Airport

What to expect

Includes

  • All safari accommodation & meals
  • Twice daily safari activities
  • Park fees and concession fees
  • Laundry service
  • Airport and inter-camp transfers as specified
  • Meet & Greet
  • Canoeing in Lake Manyara
  • Game drive in Lake Manyara
  • Game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater

Excludes

  • International flights
  • Gratuities
  • Personal purchases
  • Travel insurance
  • Visa fees

Start your journey

These experiences are just a glimpse of what’s possible. If you’d like to book this trip or shape a custom itinerary, we are here to help you plan your perfect safari.

GUEST EXPERIENCES

What others say

Our awards

The hard work of our teams on the ground and the communities we work alongside has been recognised through numerous awards. And we couldn’t be prouder.

View all awards
Virtuoso Award 2025

Virtuoso Award 2025

Wilderness - Best Sustainability Community Partner

Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure

Wilderness Bisate Reserve - Best New Luxury Hotels

World Travel Awards

World Travel Awards

Wilderness Ruckomechi - Zimbabwe's Leading Safari Lodge

Condé Nast Traveler

Condé Nast Traveler

Wilderness DumaTau - #2 World Resorts

nights
9
from price, per person
USD15,733