5 Days Tanzania Walking Safari

Upon arrival at Kilimanjaro Airport (JRO), you’ll be met and transferred to Legendary Lodge, a luxurious and comfortable property set in lush tropical gardens on a working coffee farm at the foothills of Mount Meru on the outskirts of Arusha. The lodge serves as an ideal starting or ending point for any northern circuit safari, so your stay here will help you recover from a long-haul flight and acclimate to Tanzania before embarking on your adventures.

Today, your adventure begins! After a quick but delicious breakfast, you’ll be transferred to Lemala Mpingo Ridge Lodge, an elegant and high specification lodge perched on an escarpment overlooking the Tarangire River inside Tarangire National Park. The lodge offers sweeping panoramic views across the valley below from the comfort of your suite.

Tarangire National Park is one of the most fascinating places in Tanzania. It is famous for the iconic, centuries-old baobab trees scattered with elephants, but that is just the beginning of what this often-overlooked wildlife sanctuary covering an astonishing 2600km² of wilderness has to offer. Defined by undulating plains and the namesake river that flows through it, these habitats are home to one of Tanzania’s incredible wildlife spectacles: the seasonal movement of large herds of elephants from June to October and December to March. This makes Tarangire home to the largest population of elephants in Northern Tanzania for most of the year.

The park is home to some of the country’s rare species, including gerenuk, fringe-eared oryx, honey badger, and the critically endangered African wild dog, which can be spotted during your safari, but lions often take the show on a typical Tarangire safari. Bird lovers are also in for a treat with more than 550 species recorded.

Explore this remarkable park for two incredible days, enjoying stunning landscapes, accessing every hidden corner, and spotting even more wildlife. After each day’s adventures, return to camp, sit back and relax with sundowners as the sun sets, or sidle up to the cozy fireplace on chilly nights.

After a sumptuous early breakfast, you’ll transfer to the legendary Ngorongoro Crater. The drive starts early, usually around 6:30–7:00 AM, depending on the location of your lodge. This allows you to enjoy the misty, quiet sunrise light and active predators before larger crowds arrive. You’ll descend 600 m from the rim to the crater floor in about 30 minutes, passing along the forested crater wall. The spectacular panorama of the caldera gradually opens up below as you descend, serving as a reminder of the raw power and beauty of the earth.

The Ngorongoro Crater boasts a thriving ecosystem defined by a lush landscape and a vast array of wildlife—one of the highest densities anywhere in Africa. It offers some of the easiest Big Five viewing on the continent, so you’ll be able to tick off these iconic creatures as you explore varied habitats.

Enjoy your lunch at a scenic picnic area near a hippo pool, while watching these fat noisy creatures swimming and wallowing in the water or grazing on the nearby lush greenery. Together with the crater, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its exceptional wildlife density and unique volcanic landscape.

After breakfast, you may explore the crater one more time or transfer to Arusha for your flight back home.