6 Day Camping Safari: Northern Circuit

Arusha to Tarangire National Park

You breakfast in Arusha and drive until the farms fall away — about two hours — and baobabs, the park gate and the river take their place. We start the safari here. We do not tack a short game drive onto a transfer. A private Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof carries you; the window seat is yours for the whole trip.

Elephant country, plainly. In the dry months whole families walk the Tarangire River and the Silale swamp. Giraffe work the acacias, lion the shade of the same giants you came to photograph. Picnic out so that when the light tilts you are still inside, watching herds move toward water.

That week's quiet track is already in your Super Luxury Safaris' Guide's head. You travel with the Super Luxury Safaris Team, not a distant call centre convoy, and they still answer WhatsApp after dinner.

Overnight: in a safari tent in the Karatu highlands, with a cook and a hot bucket shower

Karatu to Serengeti National Park

You climb through Iraqw farmland today, pause at the Ngorongoro viewpoint, and drop through Naabi. The horizon opens. The Serengeti meets you as a grassland so wide it rearranges how you think about space. The Seronera River takes the afternoon: lion on the kopjes, leopard in the sausage trees if the day is kind, zebra and gazelle on the open grass.

We do not rush the moment most guests have been holding in their heads since they booked. Picnic or a late lodge lunch, then drive more slowly so the sun is still on the plains when you arrive in camp.

Overnight: in a safari tent in the Serengeti — hyena, not a hotel generator

Full day in Serengeti National Park

Sleeping in the Serengeti instead of driving through it means no long transfer today. That is the point. Leave in the cool, picnic packed, and stay with the morning — a hunt, resident herds crossing, a kopje that holds a leopard if you sit still.

Dry months send us to the riverine strips. December to March we can lean south toward Ndutu when the calves are on the short grass. Want a balloon at first light? It is there, not hidden inside the base package. The rest of the day stays yours in your own vehicle. Your Super Luxury Safaris' Guide would rather you see one pride well than ten animals from a traffic jam.

Overnight: in a safari tent in the Serengeti — hyena, not a hotel generator

Serengeti to Ngorongoro

A last dawn on the plains. Then east, game-driving toward the crater highlands. Giraffe, eland and Maasai herds on the open slopes mean the transfer is not empty tarmac; the conservation area still holds them.

The lodge class you chose may sit on the edge, caldera below you. Evening is on the rim or in Karatu. Sleep early. Tomorrow is the descent.

Overnight: in a safari tent at Simba rim camp or a Karatu farm site

Ngorongoro Crater

This closed caldera is the fairest chance you will have at black rhino, which are never guaranteed — we never pretend they are. The morning that sells the northern circuit is the drop of roughly 600 metres onto the crater floor while the grass is still cold. Zebra, wildebeest and buffalo pack the short grass. Hippo hold the pools. Lion are often in the open.

We climb out with time to wash off the dust after picnic lunch on the floor, not a rushed snack at the gate. You will talk about this day for years. We pace it so you are still looking, not watching the clock.

Overnight: in a safari tent in the Karatu highlands, with a cook and a hot bucket shower

Lake Manyara National Park to Arusha

Lake Manyara is a park with a personality of its own: groundwater forest under the Rift escarpment, a soda lake that draws flamingos when the water is right, and woodland elephants that feed in the open. Tree-climbing lion use the acacias some seasons; we look, we do not promise.

This is a committed morning, not an optional extra on the way to the airport. After the game drive we continue to Arusha or Kilimanjaro Airport as your ticket requires. If your flight is too early, we skip the park, we do not charge the fees, and we tell you that before you pay.