Why this is the best migration safari experience.
“Safari” is Swahili for journey. Experience the wide-open plains of Africa in the Serengeti and discover the ecosystem of this African Eden with us over this 9-day tour, starting in Arusha and ending in the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater.
Marvel at the annual migration of more than one million wildebeest and zebra as they stream across the Serengeti plains – an unbelievable sight and sound which you will remember for months after your visit.
Nothing is left to chance. Our Tour Leader travels with you for all nine days. Your English-speaking driver-guide knows the birds as well as the big cats, and has a window seat guaranteed for you in an exclusive 4×4 with a photo roof. We meet you at the airport. We handle the park fees, the permits, the logistics of moving a small group across four reserves in nine days. You show up, watch and enjoy.
Highlights
- Tarangire National Park: ancient baobabs and the greatest concentration of elephants in Africa
- Lake Manyara: Rift Valley escarpment views, troops of baboons, and flamingos along the lakeshore
- Ngorongoro Crater: the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera with its unique ecosystem
- Serengeti National Park: game drives through one of the migration’s main wildebeest corridors
- A guided visit to a Maasai Village
- Optional sunrise hot-air balloon safari over the Serengeti
- Cultural Heritage Centre craft market, time permitting
- A Tour Leader and driver-guides with you throughout, not just for the highlights
“I always dreamt of seeing the Serengeti migration and Ngorongoro Crater, and Live the Journey catalysed my dream. The tour leader, guides, accommodation, and general itinerary were extremely good. Asante sana, hadi wakati ujao.”Susan Scorgie, Tanzania Migration Safari
On this tour you will have a front-row seat in a 9-day wildlife documentary that will offer something new and unique every day.
Arrival · Arusha
Jambo, and welcome to Tanzania. Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport, you will be welcomed and transferred to your hotel located approximately a 60-minute drive from the airport, near Arusha town centre. Check in. Late afternoon safari briefing and a welcome dinner to get to know the rest of your group.
Arusha → Tarangire
Breakfast, check-out, and a three-hour drive passing through the Maasai Steppe, past maize and banana plantations and small roadside villages, into Tarangire National Park. Lunch at Tarangire Sopa Lodge, then straight out on an afternoon game drive. Tarangire is famous for its large elephant herds and enormous baobabs. The lodge itself isn’t fenced, so don’t be surprised if your evening walk back to your room comes with an escort.
Tarangire → Lake Manyara
After breakfast we backtrack briefly to Makuyuni, then climb the escarpment to Mto wa Mbu, a market town where you can stretch your legs and pick up a bunch of the local red bananas. From there it’s on to Lake Manyara Serena Lodge, perched on the rim of the Rift Valley with the lake laid out below. Lunch on arrival, then an afternoon game drive through Lake Manyara National Park, home to troops of baboons and more than 300 species of migratory birds.
Lake Manyara → Serengeti
The drive north-west takes you through highlands thick with wheat and coffee, and into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, where the plains start opening up, and the game sightings usually start too. A lunch stop near Seronera, then a game drive on to your camp, timed to land you there for your first Serengeti sunset and dinner.
Serengeti
Early optional hot-air balloon safari over the plains at sunrise, landing for a bush breakfast (additional cost). Full day game drive with a picnic lunch out on the grasslands. Dinner back at camp.
Serengeti
A morning game drive, with the choice to go out again in the afternoon or stay back and enjoy the camp. Either way, lunch and dinner are taken care of.
Serengeti → Ngorongoro Rim
Game viewing on the way out through the Serengeti gate, a picnic lunch, and a visit to a Maasai Village to learn more about their unique culture. From there, up onto the Ngorongoro rim, where your lodge has beautiful views of the crater floor.
Ngorongoro Crater
For some, the highlight of the trip. After breakfast, you descend nearly 2,000 feet through the morning mist into the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera, forest and swamp and open grassland packed into one bowl. Picnic lunch by a lake full of hippos, more game viewing, then back up to the rim for the night.
Ngorongoro → Arusha → Departure
Southeast past Lake Manyara and Mto wa Mbu, back through the Karatu district’s wheat plains and coffee farms, and down the escarpment into Arusha for lunch at the Four Points by Sheraton. If time allows, a stop at the Cultural Heritage Centre for last-minute shopping before the transfer to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight home.
Everything you need. Nothing you don’t.
Included
- LTJ Tour Leader accompanying the group throughout
- Meet-and-greet services on arrival
- Exclusive 4×4 safari vehicle with photo roof and a guaranteed window seat
- English-speaking driver-guides
- All game drives and the Ngorongoro Crater tour
- Maasai Village tour
- Cultural Heritage Centre craft market visit, time permitting
- All accommodation and meals as specified in the itinerary
- All current park fees and government taxes
- Filtered water on board the safari vehicles
Not included
- International flights (quoted separately)
- Visa fees, if applicable
- Driver-guide gratuities, hotel staff tips, and porterage (guideline approximately USD 160)
- Drinks, phone calls, laundry, and other personal expenses
- Comprehensive travel insurance
- Optional hot-air balloon safari (USD 599)
- Zanzibar Infrastructure Tax (where applicable)
USD 4,150 per person sharing · ± ZAR 74,700 · flights excluded
Three back-to-back departures in May 2027.
Single supplement: USD600 pp.
Use a currency converter for an approximate figure in your local currency, noting that the final cost is determined by the exchange rate at the time of confirmation and payment. International flights are excluded (from approximately R13,500 return, Johannesburg to Arusha).
A projected increase of USD 145 per person may apply, to cover rising park, concession, and conservation fees. This will only be charged if the fee increases actually go through, and we’ll confirm the real number as soon as it’s known.
This tour needs a minimum of 12 guests to run at these prices.