7-Day Serengeti Safari: Great Migration Tanzania

About This 7-Day Serengeti Safari

This 7-day Serengeti safari tour is a Great Migration safari in Tanzania. We designed it to give you the best chance to see the wildebeest herds. Above all, it follows the Serengeti National Park Great Migration north. As a result, it includes both the Lobo area and the remote Wagakuria area in the northern Serengeti. As a result, this Great wildebeest migration safari puts you close to the Mara River crossings.

Why This Great Migration Safari in Tanzania Works

From August to October, most of the herds are usually found in these northern areas. This makes it the peak season for a Serengeti safari tour. In addition, you fly back from the Serengeti to Arusha. As a result, you save travel time and gain more time for game viewing. The trip also includes a visit to the world-famous Ngorongoro Crater. Want Kenya too? Compare it with our 9 day Kenya and Tanzania combo, another Great Migration safari in Tanzania and Kenya.

Every day of this Serengeti safari tour includes private game drives with an expert guide. Moreover, the Great Migration in Serengeti National Park moves with the rains, so your guide tracks the herds each morning. In short, this Great wildebeest migration safari combines Ngorongoro Crater with the best wildlife areas of the Serengeti. Finally, you can extend your Serengeti safari tour with a relaxing Zanzibar beach stay.

Plan Your Trip

Before you go: read about the Great Wildebeest Migration, the best time to visit Serengeti and what to pack for a Tanzania safari.

Planning Your Serengeti safari

Before travelling, review the route, accommodation plan, included services and daily activities. This Serengeti safari itinerary is designed to make planning easier while keeping the main experiences clear. Your guide can also help with timing, wildlife viewing opportunities, transfers and practical arrangements during the journey. Check the recommended travel period and prepare suitable clothing, travel documents and personal essentials before departure. This helps you spend more time enjoying the destination and less time managing logistics.

Sample itineraries

DAY 1

Arusha

Arrival-Welcome to Tanzania

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro Intl Airport, a senior safari guide greets you. Then, the guide drives you to the hotel in Arusha for dinner and overnight stay. Arusha is a city in northern Tanzania and the capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District. Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, Arusha has a temperate climate. The city is close to the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Manyara National Park, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Arusha National Park on Mount Meru.

Transfer

Where to stay

Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge

Amboseli National Park

Meals

Breakfast

DAY 2

Ngorongoro Crater

Into Wild- Ngorongoro Area

After breakfast, you’ll depart for the Ngorongoro Conservation area. You’ll arrive just in time for lunch at the lodge and then we’ll descend over 600m to the crater to view the wildlife in it. Supported by a year round water supply and fodder, the Ngorongoro National Park supports a vast variety of animals, which include herds of wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, eland, warthog, hippo, and giant African elephants. Another big draw card to this picturesque national park, is its dense population of predators, which include lions, hyenas, jackals, cheetahs and the ever-elusive leopard, which sometimes requires a trained eye to spot. We will also visit Lake Magadi, a large but shallow alkaline lake in the south western corner. It is one of the main features of the crater. A large number of flamingos, hippos and other water birds can usually been seen here.

It is a perfect start to your 7 day Serengeti migration safari.

Game Drive

Where to stay

Acacia Farm Lodge

Karatu

Meals

All Meals

DAY 3

Central Serengeti

Ngorongoro - Serengeti Central

Ngorongoro – Serengeti Central

After breakfast, we’ll head towards the heart of wild Africa – the Serengeti National Park – with its endless plains, rolling into the distance as far as the eye can see. We’ll proceed to the Lobo area which is located just north of the Seronera area (central Serengeti National Park). The wildebeest migration, normally pass through the Lobo area every year around July / August en-route to the Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve and again in late October / November en-route to the southern Serengeti National Park. We will arrive in time for lunch and enjoy an afternoon game drive in the Serengeti National Park.

Game Drive

Where to stay

Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge

Amboseli National Park

Meals

All Meals

DAY 4

Lobo, Serengeti

Serengeti Central

After breakfast, enjoy a full day game drive in the park. The area around Lobo and the Grumeti River has good resident game throughout the year. Non-migrating animals like elephant, buffalo, gazelle, zebra, lion, leopard and cheetah can be seen here all year round. The game viewing is very good and you can follow game for long periods without seeing other vehicles – truly one of the forgotten corners of the Serengeti Plains. Magnificent riverine trees can be found along the river lines and bird species such as kingfishers and fish eagles can be found here.

This quiet corner is a highlight of any 7 day Serengeti migration safari.

Game Drive

Where to stay

Amboseli Serena Safari Lodge

Amboseli National Park

Meals

All Meals

DAY 5

Northern Serengeti

Serengeti (Northern Serengeti)

After breakfast, we head towards the far northern reach of the Serengeti National Park, also known as the Wagakuria. We will do a game drive en-route from the Lobo area to the Wagakuria area. As we head north, good sightings of giraffe, plain game, herds of buffalo and elephants can often be seen. We arrive in time for lunch at the lodge and after lunch will we enjoy an afternoon game drive in the area. The wildebeest migration can normally be found in the Wagakuria area from August to October, depending on rainfall patterns. A long stretch of the Mara River runs through the northern Serengeti National Park and the Mara River provides the migration with its most difficult obstacle. Witnessing the frantic herds of wildebeest crossing the Mara River is amazing.

Game Drive

Where to stay

Serengeti River Camp

Mara River

Meals

All Meals

DAY 6

Northern Serengeti

After breakfast, enjoy a full day game drive in the Wagakuria area. Resident wildlife numbers are exceptionally high in this area of the park, with prides of lion up to 30 strong, however, from August to October the area turns into a wildlife paradise. The key feature is the Mara River and it is not uncommon to see the herds cross the Mara River north on one day. Then back south a few days later. Please take note –Finding a crossing is very difficult and is sometimes a matter of luck. A herd can be seen next to river and only decide to cross or not cross until a couple of days later. This area is a stunning region with kopjes, woodland, riverine vegetation and open plains, similar to Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve.

Watching a river crossing here is the peak of the 7 day Serengeti migration safari.

Game Drive

Where to stay

Serengeti River Camp

Mara River

Meals

All Meals

DAY 7

Kilimanjaro International Airport

Fly from Serengeti to Arusha – Transfer to JRO

After breakfast at the camp, we depart for Kogatende Airstrip and enjoy a game drive en-route. Around mid-morning, join a scheduled flight from Kogatende airstrip to Arusha airport. Upon arrival to Arusha airport, meet our driver who’ll drive you to Arusha town. Upon arrival, we will have our lunch and then we will end our African safari adventure. You will be taken to your hotel, which ends our safari services.

7-Day Serengeti Safari: Great Migration Tanzania