10 Days Tanzania Safari (Mikumi, Ruaha, Ngorongoro & Serengeti)

Day 1: Dar es Salaam → Mikumi (≈4 hrs) • Afternoon Game Drive

You leave the city’s heat in your rear-view mirror, chasing sunrise across rolling hills. Along the highway, graceful giraffes graze at the roadside, setting the tone for your first taste of safari life. By midday you’re at Mikumi’s entrance gate—your pulse quickens at the hum of insects and distant calls of the wild.

That afternoon, your guide navigates you through open grasslands alive with zebra stripes flickering in the tall grass. Elephant families bathe in shimmering waterholes while graceful impalas bound past under an amber sky.

Tonight’s accommodation options:

Budget: Camp Bastian Mikumi (simple tents, river views)

Mid-range: Mikumi Wildlife Camp (comfort tents, guided walks)

Luxury: Vuma Hills Tented Camp (panoramic decks, private verandas)

Day 2: Mikumi • Full-Day Game Drive

Dawn breaks cool over vast savanna, and you’re already on track. Dust rises around a massive buffalo herd as lions lounge in the shade, surveying their kingdom. Your guide spots a leopard draped on an acacia branch, golden eyes tracking movement below. Between drives, you pause beneath a lone baobab for a picnic lunch, the wind whispering through crimson leaves. By evening, the sun ignites the horizon, and you slip back to camp with Tanzania’s first stars overhead.

Day 3: Mikumi → Ruaha (≈6 hrs) • Evening Game Drive

The road to Ruaha winds through farmland and sleepy villages, then opens into wild country where baobabs loom like ancient sentinels. Arriving in time for an evening drive, you watch crimson light bathe termite mounds as hippos grumble in shallow pools. Predators awaken—lions pad through long grass, and hyenas call in the distance—ushering in your first taste of Ruaha’s raw energy.

Tonight’s accommodation options:

Budget: Mdonya River Camp (simple bandas by the river)

Mid-range: Jongomero Camp (elegant tented rooms, night drives)

Luxury: Ruaha River Lodge (stone cottages, infinity pool)

Day 4: Ruaha • Full-Day Game Drive

Today, Ruaha’s quiet legends unfold. You trace elephant trails along dry riverbeds, scanning for the flash of a leopard’s tail. At midday, you rest beneath a giant baobab, its bark cracked like old parchment. The afternoon brings high-speed drama: cheetahs chase Thomson’s gazelles in sun-dappled grass, and wild dogs weave through scrub in tight-knit packs. Back at camp, lanterns glow as stars burst overhead.

Day 5: Ruaha → Ngorongoro (≈7 hrs) • Evening at Leisure

You bid farewell to Ruaha’s wild chorus and climb toward the Ngorongoro highlands. Green farmland views from the air gives way to mist-shrouded crater rims. By evening, the air cools and village lights sparkle below. Tonight is a chance to savor fresh mountain air, review wildlife photos by firelight, and rest up for tomorrow’s crater adventure.

Accommodation

• Budget: Rhino Lodge (simple rooms, crater views)
• Mid-range: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge (panoramic windows, walking trails)
• Luxury: Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp (luxury tents, fine dining)

Day 6: Ngorongoro Crater • Full-Day Safari

At dawn, you descend into the world’s largest unbroken caldera. The floor stretches out like a living tapestry: rhinos grazing at soda lakes, flamingos swirling in pink flocks, and lions patrolling grassy corridors. Every bend reveals a new marvel—cheetahs lounging in the sun, hippos submerged in steaming pools, and black rhinos foraging near marshy edges. You picnic beside a hippo pond, enveloped by the crater’s ancient walls.

Day 7: Ngorongoro → Serengeti (≈5 hrs) • Evening Game Drive

After breakfast under cool highland skies, you cross grassy plains toward the Serengeti. The landscape flattens into endless horizons, and your guide points out the migrating herds in the distance. Arriving at your camp in time for an evening drive, you watch wildebeest form a rolling river of motion, while predators trail on the wind—and you feel the Serengeti’s living heartbeat.

Accommodation

• Budget: Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp (rustic tents, central location)
• Mid-range: Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge (stone bungalows, panoramic deck)
• Luxury: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti (spa, infinity pool, elite service)

Days 8 & 9: Serengeti • Full-Day Game Drives

Wake before sunrise to catch golden light spilling over kopjes. Mornings bring the chance to witness a lion pride waking, cubs tumbling in gentle play. Midday hides in shaded kopjes, the air humming with cicadas. Afternoons blossom with action—cheetahs on the chase, elephants crossing flat plains, and vultures circling overhead. Evenings draw you back to camp under dazzling constellations.

Day 10: Serengeti → Arusha (≈6 hrs)

Enjoy your final morning drive in the famed Serengeti as you have one last glimpse of the wild: a leopard perched high, the call of a fish eagle, or a solitary giraffe silhouette against dawn. By late morning, you set out for Arusha, carrying Tanzania’s untamed spirit with you as the road winds back to civilization.