Super Luxury SafarisSuper Luxury Safaris
10 day itinerary

10 Day Tanzania Conservation & Research Expedition

A longer private circuit through Tarangire, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, built around wildlife research and monitoring work, camera-trap surveys, and a community conservation visit.

From $26,500 per personFinal quote depends on travel dates, lodge choice and group size.

Open digital itinerary Get a free quote

Route map

From start to finish

Starts in Arusha and ends in Arusha.

Start: Arusha End: Arusha

Tanzania

  1. Start Arusha (Day 1)
  2. Tarangire National Park (Day 1-3) Land Cruiser
  3. Central Serengeti (Day 3) Land Cruiser
  4. Serengeti (Day 3-7) Land Cruiser
  5. Ngorongoro Crater (Day 7-8) Land Cruiser
  6. Lake Manyara (Day 9) Land Cruiser
  7. Karatu (Day 9-10) Land Cruiser
  8. End Arusha (Day 10) Land Cruiser

Open digital itinerary WhatsApp this itinerary

Digital itinerary

Day by day

Every package has a shareable digital itinerary: overnight notes, the route, and a print-ready PDF view.

  1. Day 1 Arusha to Tarangire National Park in the lodge, luxury or high-end camp named on your quote
  2. Day 2 Tarangire wildlife monitoring morning in Tarangire
  3. Day 3 Tarangire to Central Serengeti in the Serengeti, in the lodge or camp class named on your quote
  4. Day 4 Camera-trap survey with the monitoring team
  5. Day 5 Lion identification and territory briefing
  6. Day 6 Full day in the Serengeti in the Serengeti, in the lodge or camp class named on your quote
  7. Day 7 Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area on the Ngorongoro rim, in the lodge class named on your quote
  8. Day 8 Ngorongoro Crater floor
  9. Day 9 Community conservation visit and Lake Manyara in the Karatu highlands, in the lodge class named on your quote
  10. Day 10 Karatu to Arusha

Open digital itinerary

Lodge Safaris Luxury Safaris Research & Conservation Safaris

Ten days is the length we recommend if research access is the reason for the trip, not a single afternoon added to a standard safari. This expedition keeps the private Land Cruiser, Super Luxury Safaris’ Guide and lodges of our other itineraries, and builds in real slack: two full research days, a spare half-day for when fieldwork schedules shift, and a community conservation visit near the end.

You still cover the northern circuit properly — Tarangire, two nights in the Serengeti, a Ngorongoro Crater morning and a Lake Manyara finish — but the pace is slower and the purpose is wider. Camera-trap surveys, predator-identification briefings and a rangeland-monitoring visit sit alongside the game drives, led by the resident teams rather than staged for visitors.

Wildebeest herd gathering on the Serengeti plains

Day 1: Arusha to Tarangire National Park

Elephants beneath a Tarangire baobab

A private departure from Arusha or Kilimanjaro Airport, with elephants and baobabs filling the first afternoon.

Overnight in the lodge, luxury or high-end camp named on your quote.

Day 2: Tarangire wildlife monitoring morning

An elephant family identified on a Tarangire monitoring transect

A morning alongside Tarangire’s own elephant-monitoring work, where matriarchs and family groups are identified and tracked across the dry season.

Afternoon game drive, then overnight in Tarangire.

Day 3: Tarangire to Central Serengeti

Wildebeest crossing the Serengeti plains

A long, scenic transfer across the Ngorongoro highlands into Seronera, with game viewing along the way.

Overnight in the Serengeti, in the lodge or camp class named on your quote.

Day 4: Camera-trap survey with the monitoring team

A leopard recorded on a Serengeti camera-trap survey

A full day alongside a Serengeti predator-monitoring vehicle: checking a camera-trap line, reading images for individual lions, leopards and cheetahs, and hearing how the data builds long-term territory maps.

Day 5: Lion identification and territory briefing

A lion identified by its whisker-spot pattern

A morning game drive built around known pride territories, followed by a briefing on how individual lions are identified and tracked across the ecosystem.

A spare half-day is held here in case the previous day’s fieldwork needs to run long.

Day 6: Full day in the Serengeti

Central Serengeti woodland and plains

A full day of game drives across the plains and woodland, timed to the season’s wildlife movements.

Overnight in the Serengeti, in the lodge or camp class named on your quote.

Day 7: Serengeti to Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The road along the Ngorongoro highlands

Transfer to the Ngorongoro highlands, with a stop to discuss the Conservation Area’s own rangeland and wildlife monitoring work.

Overnight on the Ngorongoro rim, in the lodge class named on your quote.

Day 8: Ngorongoro Crater floor

The Ngorongoro Crater floor from the rim

A full morning on the crater floor, one of the highest concentrations of predators anywhere in Africa, followed by an afternoon briefing on the Conservation Area’s long-running wildlife census.

Day 9: Community conservation visit and Lake Manyara

Wildlife along the Lake Manyara shoreline

A morning visit to a community rangeland-monitoring project near Karatu, supporting local wildlife corridors outside the parks, then an afternoon game drive at Lake Manyara.

Overnight in the Karatu highlands, in the lodge class named on your quote.

Day 10: Karatu to Arusha

Arusha Clock Tower, the road home

A morning drive back to Arusha, which ends the expedition.

The package

What is included — and what is not

Two separate lists, so you can see what the itinerary price covers before you request a quote.

Covered

Included in this itinerary

In the package price, for the dates and lodge or camp class on your quote.

  • Current TANAPA and Ngorongoro conservation fees for every park named in the day plan.
  • Private 4×4 Land Cruiser with pop-up roof, fridge and a window seat for every guest.
  • Arusha-based Super Luxury Safaris' Guide, all game drives, and the research-camp briefings written in the day plan.
  • Lodge or camp nights as confirmed on your quote.
  • A donation to the local wildlife-research and monitoring programme you visit, included in the price.
  • Bottled water in the vehicle.
  • Hotel or airport collection in Arusha or at Kilimanjaro International Airport, and the return drop-off.
  • All meals (full board) at the lodges, camps or hotels named on your itinerary.
  • An evening of live music and traditional dance performances at select camps, arranged for your dates.

You arrange these

Not included

Budget separately, or ask us to add them to your proposal.

  • International flights
  • Airport taxes and visa or eTA fees
  • Alcoholic drinks and any specialty dining not named on your quote
  • Tips and gratuities
  • Items of a personal nature, laundry and souvenirs
  • Travel insurance
  • Optional extras such as a hot-air balloon, Maasai village visit or spa, unless added to the quote
  • Any optional research-institute donation beyond the amount already built into the price

When to travel

Season and routing

Ten days gives enough slack to hold a research day even if a camera-trap line or a specific researcher is unavailable on a given date. December to March favours the calving season in the south; June to October favours the resident Serengeti and Tarangire wildlife this itinerary is built around.

Where you sleep

Choose your stay style

Four ways to travel the same parks. Pick one style for the whole safari, or mix nights — we quote what you actually want. Names below are properties we often confirm. The lodge or camp on your quote is the booking; nothing here is reserved until you approve it.

  1. Camping Safari tents, a cook, the night sounds of the park. The honest, close-to-the-ground way to safari.
  2. Mid-range En-suite lodges and tented camps we use most — a proper bed, a shower, and the game still at the door.
  3. Luxury Pools, full-service dining, the better rooms in the same parks.
  4. High-end Suite camps and private houses when the trip is built around silence and space.

Tarangire National Park

Camping

Tarangire public campsite or a private farm site on the park edge — Super Luxury tents, a cook, baobabs at first light.

Mid-range

Tarangire Safari Lodge, Tarangire Sopa Lodge — classic rooms above the river, elephants on the floodplain below.

Luxury

Tarangire Treetops, Sanctuary Swala — raised decks and a quieter night inside the park.

High-end

Oliver’s Camp, Chem Chem Lodge — suite tents and private guiding when the quote is built around Tarangire.

Karatu highlands (Manyara and crater gateway)

Camping

Pamoja Farm Camp, Kizumba Campsite, or a similar private farm campsite with a cook, tents and a hot bucket shower.

Mid-range

Farm of Dreams Lodge, Eileen’s Trees Inn, Marera Valley Lodge — en-suite rooms, gardens and a quiet night after the parks.

Luxury

Ngorongoro Farm House, Tloma Lodge, Kitela Lodge — larger rooms, a pool, and coffee-estate grounds above Karatu.

High-end

The Manor at Ngorongoro, Neptune Ngorongoro Luxury Lodge — butler service, wide views and a slower evening before the crater.

Central Serengeti

Camping

Seronera public campsite or a designated special campsite. We pitch Super Luxury tents, cook on site, and you fall asleep to hyena.

Mid-range

Serengeti Heritage Tented Camp, ThornTree Camp, Kati Kati Tented Camp — comfortable canvas, proper beds, close to the Seronera game.

Luxury

Serena Serengeti Safari Lodge, Melia Serengeti Lodge, Mbalageti Serengeti — pools, full-service dining and a view over the plains.

High-end

Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti, Singita Faru Faru, &Beyond Klein’s Camp — private suites, guiding extras, and the kind of silence you pay for. In calving months we quote Ndutu; in river-crossing months we quote the north.

Ngorongoro rim

Camping

Simba public campsite on the crater rim — simple wash blocks, an unmatched dawn over the caldera.

Mid-range

Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge, Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge — rim rooms with a crater view and an early descent the next morning.

Luxury

Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge — stone rooms on the rim, a short drive to the gate.

High-end

&Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, Melia Ngorongoro Lodge — suite-level rim stays with the caldera at your feet at dawn.

Before you book

Practical notes

  • This itinerary reserves two full days for research and monitoring access, plus a spare half-day in case weather or fieldwork schedules move a session — a shorter research safari does not have that slack.
  • Access to a specific researcher, camp or camera-trap line depends on who is in the field on your dates and is confirmed once we have your travel dates.
  • The community conservation visit on day 9 supports local rangeland and wildlife-monitoring work; it is a visit, not a volunteering placement, and does not involve handling wildlife.

OUR AFFILIATES

Singita Elewana Collection Meliá Karibu Africa Safaris Legendary Expeditions