Skip to main content

Simba Pride Safaris

Tarangire · Lake Manyara · Ngorongoro · 4 days

the big fiveExpress

Four days, three parks and a morning on the Ngorongoro Crater floor, all within a few hours of Arusha. A full day with Tarangire’s elephants, an afternoon in Manyara’s forest and a dawn descent into the crater. Short transfers, long game drives.

  • 4days
  • 3nights
  • 3parks
  • Private4×4 & guide
01 · Overview

Three parks in four days, without the rush

The northern circuit’s three closest parks sit on one natural loop from Arusha. This trip follows it in order, so no transfer is longer than a couple of hours until the drive home, and every day has a proper game drive in it.

You leave Arusha on the tarmac road to Tarangire, spend two nights among its baobabs and elephant herds, then drive north to Lake Manyara, where the forest, the floodplain and the soda lake fill an afternoon. That evening you climb into the highlands at Karatu, 30 minutes from the crater gate, so that on the last morning you are on the crater floor at first light. Together the three parks give you a good chance of all of the Big Five, with the crater’s black rhino the hardest to find.

Starts

Your Arusha hotel, day 1

Your guide collects you after breakfast. Most guests land the night before.

Ends

Arusha, late on day 4

Back at your hotel in the late afternoon, or at JRO for a late flight.

Style

Private, tented camps

Your own 4×4 with a pop-up roof, your own guide, en-suite tented camps.

Pace

Full days, short transfers

The only long drive is the road home from the crater on the last afternoon.

01

Pick-up · game drive · L D

From Arusha to the baobabs

Your guide collects you from your Arusha hotel after breakfast and takes the tarmac road south-west across the Maasai steppe. About two hours later you are at the Tarangire gate, and the roof goes up for the first game drive.

After lunch you follow the Tarangire River, where in the dry months elephant herds come down to drink beneath the baobabs. You reach camp before dark, in time for a shower and dinner under the stars.

Meals
Lunch, dinner
Highlight
Elephants at the river
Sleep
Tented camp, Tarangire named when you book
02

Full game drive day · B L D

A whole day in Tarangire

Out at first light, while the lions are still moving and before the heat settles. Your guide works the river and the Silale Swamp, where elephant and buffalo gather and pythons rest in the fig trees.

Elephant and buffalo are seen on most drives here, lion often and leopard with luck. The middle of the day is quiet time at camp, and the late afternoon drive, in low gold light, is often the best of the trip.

Meals
Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Highlight
Silale Swamp
Add-on
Walking safari
03

Game drive · road day · B L D

Manyara's forest, then up to the highlands

A last early drive in Tarangire, then about an hour north to Lake Manyara, a narrow park squeezed between the Rift Valley wall and a shallow soda lake. The groundwater forest near the gate is full of baboons and blue monkeys, and elephants stand in the shade of the figs.

Beyond the forest the view opens onto the floodplain and the hippo pool, with flamingos on the shore when the water is right. In the late afternoon you climb the escarpment to Karatu, 30 minutes from the crater gate and noticeably cooler.

Meals
Breakfast, picnic lunch, dinner
Highlight
Forest and hippo pool
Sleep
Tented camp, Karatu named when you book
04

Crater descent · departure · B L

The crater floor at first light, then home

You leave in the dark, are at the gate when it opens at 6 am, and drop about 600 metres to the floor. Lion, hyena, buffalo, elephant and hippo share this one bowl, and with patience you may find one of the black rhino that complete the Big Five.

Park rules allow six hours on the floor, so after a picnic at a designated site you climb out and take the road back through Karatu and Mto wa Mbu. You are at your Arusha hotel in the late afternoon, or at Kilimanjaro International for a late flight.

Meals
Breakfast, picnic lunch
Highlight
Black rhino, with luck
Ends
Arusha hotel or JRO

When to go

Where are the herds?

Two million wildebeest and zebra walk a year-long loop through the Serengeti, following the rain. Choose a season to see where they will be, and what that means for your week.

  • Best for this trip
  • Good
  • Green season, fewer vehicles

Herd positions follow the rains and shift a little from year to year. We tell you where they are likely to be before you book.

What it costs

Fill the vehicle, pay less each

Your private vehicle and guide, park and crater fees, three nights in tented camps and all meals from lunch on day 1, priced per person. The more of you share the vehicle, the less each of you pays. No booking fees.

Mid-range fromUS$1,150per person sharing

Important information

All prices are per person and exclude international flights. Final rates depend on your travel dates, seasonal park fees and availability; we confirm them in writing with your quote.

Your selection · click a group size2 guests · Mid-range1 double

Get the exact price

Travelling with children

Children are welcome on this trip, and a private vehicle makes it easy to travel at their pace. Ask us for child rates and family rooms for your dates; they depend on each lodge’s own policy.

in the price

  • Private 4×4 with pop-up roof, your group only
  • Professional English-speaking guide, all 4 days
  • Three nights as described, full board
  • Park, conservation and crater service fees
  • Bottled water in the vehicle
  • Pick-up and drop-off at your Arusha hotel

not in the price

  • International flights and visa
  • Hotel nights in Arusha before and after
  • Travel and medical insurance
  • Tips for your guide and camp staff
  • Drinks at the camps
  • Optional activities

Join a group departure

Travelling solo or as two? Share the vehicle

Fixed dates, a shared 4×4 and a maximum of 6 guests. Travelling solo or as a couple? A joining safari gives you the full itinerary at a lower price, with good company along the way.

  • Tented camps
  • Long-weekend
  • Crater descent
  • Fixed dates, a shared 4×4

Next departure5–8 Nov 2026

Seats
5 of 6 seats left
Group
Maximum 6 guests
Joining price
From US$1,050 per person
Reserve a seat

Seat numbers change as people book; we confirm yours when you enquire. All group departures

Make it yours

Add to the week

Tick anything you like the sound of. It goes straight into your enquiry, and we will price it with the trip.

Send my enquiry →

Before you go

The practical part

Questions

There is a good chance, but no one can promise it. Elephant and buffalo are seen on most days, lion is likely, rhino live only on the crater floor and leopard always takes some luck.

Yes. The vehicle and guide are yours alone for all four days, on any dates you choose. We also run fixed group departures on set dates, shown on this page, if you would rather share the vehicle with other travellers.

Yes, it is built for that. Rest a night in Arusha after you come down, and the safari starts the next morning. The days are spent sitting down, and the walking is optional.

The longest stretch is the road home from the crater on day 4, about four hours on tarmac. On days 1 to 3 the transfers between parks are an hour or two.

Yes. The drives are short and the crater makes a good first safari. Some camps set minimum ages, and walking safaris are for 12 and over.

ready when you are

Four days, three parks, your dates

Tell us when you would like to travel and who is coming. We reply with a day-by-day plan and an exact price, usually adjusted to the camps you prefer.

Plan this trip
Ask on WhatsApp
Admit
2
guests
SPS · 04
Print itinerary

Other journeys like this one

3 days · from US$890Crater & Lake Weekend
5 days · from US$1,450Elephants & Crater
7 days · from US$1,890The Great Migration Classic
Loading itinerary…
Saved Trips