Between mid-June to mid-October, the wildebeest herds are mostly found in the Northern Serengeti. This safari allows you to get the best chance to view the herds and if you are lucky a river crossing(nature dependent); while combining the Northern circuit in Tanzania with the Tarangire National Park and the famous Ngorongoro Crater. If you are looking for an affordable, yet distinctive private safari, this is the journey for you.
Affordable Migration Safari from June to October in Tanzania (HerdTracker) Video
Arrive at JRO Kilimanjaro airport, collect your luggage and go through customs. You will be met by our driver for the transfer to the hotel in Arusha. Depending on your flight time, we can organize an additional excursion (city tour, coffee plantation tour, bike ride, Lake Duluti visit or a half day game viewing in Arusha national Park). Spend some time at leisure to prepare for your early wake up call tomorrow. Meals are for your account today. Enjoy the large gardens, swimming pool and the in-house restaurant.
Includes & Excludes
Meals: Breakfast included
Transport: Included
Day 2-3
Head to the Tarangire National Park
Breakfast at the hotel and meet with your driver. You will have a private vehicle for the next few days...
Breakfast at the hotel and meet with your driver. You will have a private vehicle for the next few days while you visit Tarangire , Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater. You will be spending 2x nights in Ndovu Camp while enjoying wonderful game viewing in the Tarangire. Tarangire is famed for its massive elephant herds, true sense of wilderness and some of the biggest baobabs you will see. This is the ideal slow start to a safari, it will give you time to marvel at the wildlife, engage with your safari guide and customized your day. You can choose to wake up early or late, spend the day on safari with a packed lunch or spend some time at the camp to relax by the pool.
Includes & Excludes
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Drinks: Tea & Coffee included
Activities: Included
Transport: Included
Day 4
Lake Magadi
After breakfast, exit the Tarangire National park and drive through to nearby Lake Manyara National park. Spend a few hours...
After breakfast, exit the Tarangire National park and drive through to nearby Lake Manyara National park. Spend a few hours game viewing in the park and stop for a light picnic lunch. The park offers a wilderness experience in diverse habitats, from its Rift Valley soda lake to dense woodlands and steep mountainsides. The shores of the lake, encrusted with pink flamingo, attract more than 400 species of birds, depending on the season. Besides the large predators, you can see various herds of buffalo, while the Masai giraffes and impalas roam the lake shores and the forested valley slopes. Exit the park and continue to the Ngorongoro Crater Rim to your camp. Dinner is included at the camp and overnight. Note that due to the elevation, it can get quite chilly at night.
Includes & Excludes
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Drinks: Tea & Coffee included
Activities: Included
Transport: Included
Day 5
Lake Magadi
Today is a very early wake up in order to travel down the Ngorongoro Crater and enjoy a couple of...
Today is a very early wake up in order to travel down the Ngorongoro Crater and enjoy a couple of hours of game viewing before the crowds arrive. The Ngorongoro Crater has many nicknames — Africa's "eighth wonder of the world" and "Africa's Eden," to name a few. But even without these lofty nicknames, the crater is a stunning a sight. Formed 2.5 million years ago after an extinct volcano collapsed on itself, the caldera is largest of its kind in the world. You will have the best chance to view the Big Five, and enjoy a packed picnic style lunch before going back to camp.
Includes & Excludes
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Drinks: Tea & Coffee included
Activities: Included
Transport: Included
Day 6-8
Northern Serengeti
Today drive back to Manyara and say your good-byes to your safari guide before the flight to the North Serengeti....
Today drive back to Manyara and say your good-byes to your safari guide before the flight to the North Serengeti. Arrive at Kogatende airstrip where you are met by the safari guide from your camp and depart on shared game drives organized by the knowledgeable local guide. This seasonal camp is geared for the migration sightings and should you be lucky enough to view one or more river crossing. You will be spending 3x nights at the Nasikia Mobile Camp to enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity to view the herds, and the numerous predators that are following the famous migration, as well as some very large alligators awaiting for the crossings. Back at camp, you will enjoy wonderful meals prepared by the local chef, and share stories with other guests at the camp fire under the stars. Your tent is 12m long by 4m wide with all the creature comfort you would need with your en-suite bathroom area (with a bucket shower).
Includes & Excludes
Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner included
Drinks: Local brands included
Activities: Included
Transport: Included
Day 10
End Of Itinerary
Last morning in the bush, enjoy breakfast in camp and enjoy a meandering drive to the airstrip. Say your good...
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Day 10
End Of Itinerary
Last morning in the bush, enjoy breakfast in camp and enjoy a meandering drive to the airstrip. Say your good byes to your safari guide and take the schedule flight to JRO airport. Depending on your onward flight back home we can add a day room nearby, or spend time at leisure to check in. Alternatively we can extend your safari with a stay in Kenya's Mara Mara to continue with the game viewing, or combine with a South Tanzania park, or an extension to Rwanda for gorilla trekking.
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FAQs about Affordable Migration Safari from June to October in Tanzania (HerdTracker)
There are many places to watch the wildebeest migration and all the drama it draws, but we recommend the Mara River, the plains of the Masai Mara National Park, and the Ndutu Plains of Tanzania's Serengeti.
Safari lodges have guest rooms similar to a hotel with en-suite bathrooms. They are comfortably furnished with facilities normally associated with a hotel rooms, except your rooms are normally set in beautiful wilderness settings, with nature and wildlife around.
Tented lodges have rooms which are tents on a platform and with a roof and also have en-suite facilities with showers, flush toilets and hot water. Basically all the amenities of a hotel room, except canvas walls and roof.
The boutique lodges and camps can be very stylish and smart in terms of design and decor, often with very spacious rooms and even going so far in some cases as having plunge pools for each room.
Eco-camps and smaller tented camps have insect-proof tents with en-suite facilities including a safari shower and flush toilet. They give a more authentic safari experience but the tents are comfortably furnished with proper beds and you don’t need to bring your own sleeping bag! The emphasis is usually on having excellent guides and great wildlife viewing away from the crowds. Guests often eat together and people travelling alone usually say that they found the atmosphere friendly and enjoyed meeting other like-minded travellers around the campfire in the evening or at dinner.
The Adventure Camps are a budget option with guests bringing their own sleeping bags and towels. Accommodation is in small dome tented with a mattress on the floor. Each tent has its own nearby cubicle with a flush toilet, safari shower, and wash basin. The Adventure Camps are suitable only for those who don’t mind “real camping” and can put with some degree of “roughing it”. Apart from the accommodation in simple dome tents, the meals and the guiding are the same standards as the higher quality camps and game drives are in 4x4 safari vehicles. For those on a limited budget, the Adventure Camps are a good alternative to the big tourist lodges and minibus tours for those for whom the safari experience is more important than hotel accommodation.
The best time to see the wildebeest migration is in August as the herds cross the Nile crocodile-infested Mara River, crossing an international border between Kenya and Tanzania.
The Masai Mara is an excellent all year safari destination, providing travellers with reliable sightings of it's resident wildlife. However, if you're planning a migration safari, it's best to travel during the months of August and October if you wish to witness the Mara River crossings.