4 Days AFCON 2027 Tanzania Safari: Serengeti and Ngorongoro

Early Departure from Arusha

Your AFCON 2027 safari begins early in the morning when our professional guide collects you from your hotel or another agreed location in Arusha. After a short briefing about the itinerary, you will start the journey in a comfortable safari vehicle. You will travel through the countryside of northern Tanzania, passing local communities, farmland and the Great Rift Valley landscape.

Journey through the Ngorongoro Highlands

The road continues through Mto wa Mbu and Karatu before climbing into the forested Ngorongoro Highlands. You will travel across the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where Maasai communities live alongside wildlife and livestock. Weather permitting, you will see broad plains and distant volcanic landscapes as you continue toward Naabi Hill Gate, the southeastern entrance to Serengeti National Park.

Arrival and Afternoon Serengeti Safari

After completing the entrance procedures, you will enter the Serengeti and begin your first game drive while travelling toward the Seronera region. Our guide will search the plains and kopjes for lions, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras, wildebeest and gazelles. You may also encounter spotted hyenas or cheetahs in open areas. The exact amount of afternoon game-viewing time will depend on road and entrance conditions.

Sunset Drive to Your Accommodation

As you approach Central Serengeti, you will continue observing wildlife against the late-afternoon light. This time of day can offer beautiful photography opportunities as the plains take on warm colours and animals become more active. Our guide will then take you to your selected lodge or tented camp inside Serengeti National Park, where you will spend the first of two nights.

Morning Seronera Wildlife Search

After breakfast, you will begin a full day of wildlife exploration in Central Serengeti. The morning hours are favourable for searching for lions, leopards, cheetahs and spotted hyenas before temperatures rise. Our guide will use experience, animal tracks and recent sightings to select productive routes through the Seronera Valley.

River Valleys, Plains and Rocky Kopjes

You will explore the different habitats surrounding the Seronera River, including riverine forests, open grasslands and granite kopjes. Leopards may be seen resting in acacia trees, while lions often use the kopjes as shaded resting places and observation points. You will also search for elephants, buffaloes, hippos, giraffes, zebras and several antelope species.

Picnic Lunch in the Serengeti

Around midday, you will stop at a designated picnic area to enjoy lunch in the heart of the park. Our guide will discuss the Serengeti ecosystem, wildlife behaviour and seasonal animal movements. After lunch, you will resume the game drive and explore additional areas based on current wildlife activity.

Afternoon Game Drive and Second Serengeti Night

The afternoon game drive gives you another opportunity to photograph predators, large herbivores and Central Serengeti’s expansive scenery. Depending on the season, you may encounter resident wildlife or migratory wildebeest and zebras moving through the region. Later, you will return to your selected lodge or tented camp for your second night in the Serengeti.

Early-Morning Game Drive

You will have breakfast and begin another morning game drive through Central Serengeti. Our guide will focus on locations that were not covered during the previous day or areas where interesting wildlife activity has recently been reported. You may see lions returning from a nighttime hunt, cheetahs scanning the grasslands or elephants moving between feeding areas and water sources.

Final Seronera Exploration

Your safari will continue around the Seronera River, rocky kopjes and surrounding plains. This is your final opportunity to search for animals you may not have encountered earlier, particularly leopards and other elusive predators. Our guide will help you take photographs and explain how animals adapt to the Serengeti’s changing seasons.

Lunch and Drive toward Naabi Hill

Around midday, you will stop for lunch before beginning the journey toward the southern side of Serengeti National Park. Wildlife viewing will continue along the route, so you may still encounter lions, giraffes, elephants, wildebeest and other animals before reaching Naabi Hill Gate.

Transfer to the Ngorongoro Area

After leaving the Serengeti, you will travel through the open landscapes of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. You may see Maasai pastoralists, livestock and wildlife sharing the plains as you travel toward your selected lodge or tented camp near the crater or in Karatu. This location provides convenient access to the Ngorongoro Crater for the following morning’s safari.

Crater Viewpoint and Descent

After an early breakfast, you will travel to the Ngorongoro Crater rim. Our guide will stop at a viewpoint where you can admire and photograph the vast caldera from above. You will then descend approximately 600 metres to the crater floor, entering one of Africa’s most remarkable wildlife habitats.

Morning Big Five Search

You will explore grasslands, forests, freshwater pools and wetland habitats in search of the crater’s diverse wildlife. Large populations of wildebeest, zebras, gazelles and buffaloes support predators such as lions and spotted hyenas. Our guide will also search for elephants and the endangered black rhinoceros. Leopards inhabit the wider conservation area but remain difficult to find because of their secretive behaviour.

Hippo Pool Lunch and Afternoon Safari

You will stop for lunch at a designated picnic site, commonly situated near a freshwater pool where hippos may be observed. After lunch, you will continue through Lerai Forest, the crater plains and areas around the seasonal lake. Depending on natural movements and environmental conditions, you may see elephants, lions, jackals, warthogs and numerous waterbirds.

Crater Ascent and Drive to Arusha

In the afternoon, you will complete your final game-viewing circuit and ascend the crater wall. You will then travel back through Karatu, Mto wa Mbu and the Great Rift Valley countryside. Our guide will drop you off at your hotel or another agreed location in Arusha in the evening, concluding your four-day Tanzania safari with enough time to continue enjoying AFCON 2027.