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The classic short northern circuit: three days, three parks. Tarangire for the elephants and baobabs, a full day on the Ngorongoro Crater floor, then Lake Manyara on the way back for tree-climbing lions and flamingos on the lake shore.
Two nights out, back in Arusha on the third evening. It's the safari most people ask us for when they have a long weekend and want to cover the northern highlights properly rather than rushing one park a day.
As with all our packages, the figures below are a starting point — they shift with season, group size and accommodation choice. Get in touch with your dates and we'll put together a proper quote.
Travel on your own schedule — dates, pace and accommodation level are yours to choose. Tell us your group size and preferred dates on the enquiry form below and we'll confirm exact pricing.
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Pick-up from your hotel or the airport, then the drive south-west toward Tarangire, roughly two hours through farmland and open steppe before the bush closes in around the park gate. The change in landscape is the first sign you've properly left the town behind.
Tarangire's identity is built around its elephants and its baobabs. During the dry season the park holds some of the highest elephant densities anywhere in Tanzania, as herds converge on the Tarangire River from the surrounding dispersal areas. The baobabs themselves — broad, silver-barked, centuries old — give the park a character unlike the open plains further west, and the afternoon's game drive usually turns up giraffe, zebra, waterbuck and impala alongside the elephants, with lion and leopard both present though less predictable.
From Tarangire the route climbs up onto the Ngorongoro highlands, and after a night near the crater rim, you descend onto the floor early — 610 metres down into what is effectively a self-contained ecosystem, walled in by the crater's rim on every side. Roughly 25,000 large mammals live within its 260 square kilometres, which is why a single day here regularly produces sightings that would take three or four days elsewhere.
Lion, buffalo, wildebeest and zebra are common across the open floor, elephant bulls move along the edges of the Lerai forest, and flamingos gather in the shallows of Lake Magadi, the crater's soda lake. Ngorongoro is also one of the last reliable places to see the black rhino, and its spotted hyena clans are famously dense and well studied.
The drive from Ngorongoro down onto the Rift Valley floor brings you to Lake Manyara, a much smaller and more compact park than either of the previous two days, but a genuinely different kind of landscape: dense groundwater forest gives way to open grassland and finally to the alkaline lake itself, often edged pink with flamingos depending on water levels.
Manyara is best known for its tree-climbing lions — a behaviour seen in only a handful of populations across Africa — and for its large troops of baboon, which are unusually easy to observe up close along the forest edge. Elephant, buffalo, hippo and a long list of resident and migratory birds round out the park, and warthog families are a near-constant presence trotting along the roadside with tails held stiffly upright.
By early afternoon you begin the drive back to Arusha, arriving in the late afternoon in time for your onward journey.
Per person, by group size — pick an accommodation level to compare
Comfortable, family-run properties used for both nights on this route.
| 2 people | 4 people | 6 people |
|---|---|---|
| $1,150 per person | $830 per person | $730 per person |
Rift valley escarpment views for both nights of this itinerary.
| 2 people | 4 people | 6 people |
|---|---|---|
| $1,470 per person | $1,150 per person | $1,045 per person |
Our top-tier pick for this route, used for both overnight stays.
| 2 people | 4 people | 6 people |
|---|---|---|
| $1,760 per person | $1,430 per person | $1,315 per person |
Prices are a starting point — they move with season, exact dates and final group size. Tell us your details on the enquiry form below and we'll confirm the exact figure.
So there are no surprises once you book
Comfortable lodges and camps for your stay
Comfortable, family-run properties used for both nights on this route.
Rift valley escarpment views for both nights of this itinerary.
Our top-tier pick for this route, used for both overnight stays.
What makes this experience exceptional
Elephants and baobabs, the Crater floor, and Manyara's tree-climbing lions — the northern circuit's short list, done properly.
Three accommodation levels and any group size. We quote it to fit, not the other way round.
Every booking contributes toward the share of profit we commit to the community projects we run with ERIPOTO.
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