Serengeti Safari Packages

The Five Styles at a Glance

The table below groups the packages by style, from public-campsite camping to luxury camps, with the catalog from-price for each. Camping means public campsites such as Seronera and Simba with tents and a safari cook. Mid-range and private trips sleep in lodges and tented camps, and the fly-in options cut the road time by landing on an airstrip inside the park.

Figures come from the booking catalog on this page.

Group Camping Safaris from Arusha

The five camping packages all start in Arusha and sleep in tents at public campsites. The 3-Day Serengeti Camping Safari from Suricata Safaris is the lowest price in the catalog at $770 per person, with a night at Seronera campsite and a night at Simba campsite on the crater rim, but its listing does not state whether park fees are in the price, so ask before you book. The 3-Day Serengeti Big Five Safari from Season Master Adventures at $900 names all fees in the inclusions: entry, transit, concession and camping fees plus the crater service fee, with a group limit of 12 and reviewers noting about 6 hours on the road from Arusha and basic sanitary facilities at the campsites. The 4-Day Serengeti Camping Safari from Perfect Wilderness at $950 gives two Serengeti nights and a full day of game drives, with 6 clients per car plus driver and chef, and reviewers suggest bringing wipes for the campsite showers. The 3-Day Serengeti Safari with Balloon at $900 uses the same camps with a group limit of 7 and an optional balloon flight on the morning of day 2.

The pick is the 5-Day Serengeti Camping Safari from Meru Slopes at $1,320 per person: a full Tarangire day first, two nights at Seronera campsite, a crater-rim night and an all-fees-and-taxes inclusion, rated 5.0 from 319 reviews with free cancellation to 24 hours before. The extra day is what a 3-day package spends mostly on the road.

Lodges, Private Trips and Fly-In Packages

The 4-Day Serengeti Mid-Range Safari from Suricata at $1,750 sleeps 3 nights in named lodges: Suricata Boma Lodge near Tarangire, Tanzania Bush Camp in the Serengeti and a Karatu lodge such as Marera Valley Lodge or Farm of Dreams, for up to 7 travelers. It does not state park fees, so confirm. The 3-Day Private Serengeti Safari from Gosheni at $2,206.35 is fully private with a fridge and binoculars in the vehicle, 2 nights at Enkirari Wilderness Camp, and needs a minimum of 2 people per booking. The 5-Day Serengeti Ngorongoro Safari from Savannah Explorers starts at Kilimanjaro airport with a Karatu lodge night at each end, 2 Serengeti nights in a tented camp such as Tanzania Bush, Kenzan or Mbugani, and all sales are final, so a cancellation gets no refund.

The fly-in options skip the long drive. The Serengeti Fly-In Safari from Safari Soles at $2,750.77 picks up in Arusha, Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam and flies to the Serengeti on day 1, though the inclusions do not name the flight, so confirm it is in the price, and cancellation is free only to 6 full days before. The Zanzibar to Serengeti Safari from Beach & Safari Holidays at $1,875 includes return flights to the Seronera airstrip and one night at Africa Safari Serengeti Ikoma, but leaves out landing fees, the visa, a Tourism Development Levy of $1.50 and village tax of $1.00 per person per night paid at check-in, and Zanzibar's mandatory government travel insurance.

The Official Fee Table

The latest TANAPA tariff read states all charges are VAT (18%) exclusive, while SafariFind and Duma Explorer quote VAT-inclusive figures, and both sides are shown below. The NCAA tariff page for Ngorongoro does not list VAT as a separate item and says tariffs can change without notice. Conservation and vehicle fees cover multiple entry, fees once paid are non-refundable, and the Ngorongoro entry permit is valid for one entry within 24 hours.

What All Fees Included Actually Means

On most cards, all fees included means park entry, concession or camping fees and the crater service fee. The 3-Day Serengeti Big Five Safari spells it out: entry, transit, concession and camping fees plus the crater service fee. The 8-Day Serengeti Migration Safari lists park fees and all taxes and VAT. The 10-Day Serengeti Migration Safari includes all park entry fees, the Ngorongoro Crater service fee and government taxes and conservation fees, but not the flight from Kilimanjaro to Serengeti North, which must be booked in advance.

Three listings do not state park fees: the 3-Day Serengeti Camping Safari, the 4-Day Serengeti Mid-Range Safari and the 5-Day Serengeti Ngorongoro Safari. Given that the Serengeti conservation fee alone runs $83 per adult per 24 hours with VAT per SafariFind, that is a real gap, so ask the operator before booking. Even where fees are in, extras stay out: tips, international flights and travel insurance are excluded across the catalog, the balloon is an optional extra on the camping trips, and the dawn balloon flight itself leaves park admission out of its $599 price.

Market Rates and Where the Catalog Sits

SafariFind gives Tanzania safari costs of $250 to $1,500 or more per person per day, split into budget at $250 to $400, mid-range at $450 to $800 and luxury at $850 to $1,500 or more, and says costs usually exclude international flights, insurance, visas, alcohol and tips. Duma Explorer gives similar budget camping group joins of $250 to $400 per day and mid-range lodge trips of $450 to $800, with luxury at $850 to $1,500 and ultra-luxury fly-in at $1,500 to $2,500 or more per day, and suggests $50 per vehicle per day for a driver-guide tip shared among passengers plus $10 to $15 per guest per day for camp staff. Against those rates, the catalog's camping packages from $770 to $1,320 sit at the budget end for multi-day trips, the lodge and private trips from $1,750 to $2,845 sit in the mid-range band, and the migration and luxury itineraries from $3,763 to $7,112.83 match what the market charges for lodge-based and fly-in safaris.

The balloon at $599 is a one-morning activity, not a package, and park admission is not in it.

Where the Herds Are

The table sets out the usual positions through the year, drawn from Duma Explorer, African Overland Tours, Wikipedia, SafariBookings and Roadtrip Africa. It moves with the rain, so treat each row as the general pattern and check nearer your travel dates. The last column links packages whose own itineraries name the area.

Calving at Ndutu

From roughly January to March the wildebeest gather on the Ndutu plains in the south, where Lake Ndutu is a small seasonal soda lake that at times fully dries. Wikipedia says calving begins around January to March with about 500,000 calves born in roughly 2 to 3 weeks in February, and Duma Explorer puts the peak at up to 8,000 calves born per day. Roadtrip Africa notes that predator activity is at its peak in these months.

It moves with the rain, so the exact start of calving shifts from year to year.

The River Crossings

Two rivers stand in the way of the northward trek. The Grumeti comes first: African Overland Tours places the first crossing in June, Duma Explorer gives June to July in the western Serengeti, and Wikipedia says wildebeest cross the Grumeti from May through August and usually stay in the area until late June. The Mara River follows in the north. On the months there is a conflict: Duma Explorer gives July to September in its body text and July to October in its FAQ, while African Overland Tours says the first herds arrive in July, August is the peak, and by October the herds have moved into Kenya and the crossings end. No operator can guarantee a crossing, and animals may wait days before crossing one bank.

About 3,000 Nile crocodiles wait at the Grumeti and Mara crossings according to Wikipedia, and about 250,000 wildebeest die on the journey to the Maasai Mara. On herd size there is also a conflict: Wikipedia's Serengeti National Park article gives more than 1.5 million wildebeest and about 250,000 plains zebra, while its Serengeti article gives 1.7 million wildebeest and 260,000 zebras, and its Maasai Mara article gives about 1.3 million blue wildebeest.

The northern packages are the 8-Day Serengeti Migration Safari with 2 nights at Heritage Mara Camp, the Mara River Crossing Safari with 3 nights in mobile tented camps that move with the herds, and the 10-Day Serengeti Migration Safari with 3 nights at Enkutoto Migration Camp in Kogatende. On the 10-day trip the flight from Kilimanjaro to Serengeti North is not included and needs to be booked in advance.

The Four Routes In

The table compares the routes the packages in the catalog actually use, with figures from Roadtrip Africa, Footslopes Tours, Expert Africa and Auric Air. Arusha sits at an elevation of 1,400 metres and Kilimanjaro International Airport is some 60 km east of the city.

What the Drive Does to a 3-Day Trip

Arusha to the central Serengeti is about 325-335 km and typically 6 to 8 hours of road, and the return to Arusha takes 9 to 10 hours, which Roadtrip Africa advises against doing in one day. On the 3-Day Serengeti Camping Safari that means day 1 is the drive out with an evening game drive after arriving, day 2 is the game drive and the move to the Ngorongoro crater rim, and day 3 is the crater floor followed by the road home. Reviewers of the 3-Day Serengeti Big Five Safari mention about 6 hours on the road from Arusha to the Serengeti.

The 5-Day Serengeti Camping Safari softens this by adding a full Tarangire day first and two nights at Seronera campsite, so only the first and last days are mostly travel.

Flying In, and the Rules at the Border

The Serengeti Fly-In Safari is a private 3-day trip that picks up in Arusha, Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam and lands at the Seronera airstrip on the first morning, with a game drive the same day. The Zanzibar to Serengeti Safari is a 2-day private trip with return flights from Zanzibar included and a night at Africa Safari Serengeti Ikoma, about a 5-minute drive from the Serengeti gate. On light aircraft, Auric Air allows a total baggage allowance of 20 kg (44 lbs) per passenger including hand baggage and cameras in soft-sided bags, while Coastal Aviation requires small soft bags of 40 x 40 x 80 cm. Scheduled bush flights cost $150 to $400 per leg per Duma Explorer, though what a package includes varies, so check the flight line on each listing.

For entry, SafariFind lists a single-entry tourist visa at $50 valid up to 90 days, Duma Explorer says US passport holders pay $100 for a mandatory Multiple Entry Visa, and visas on arrival are issued at Kilimanjaro, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar airports. Passports need six months of validity and one blank page. On yellow fever, the CDC says the vaccine is generally not recommended for travel to Tanzania, but travelers arriving from countries with transmission risk must be vaccinated, and the certificate is required after a transit of 12 hours or more through an endemic country, with the original WHO booklet and no photocopies.

What the Flight Covers

Serengeti Balloon Safari runs a hot air balloon flight of about 1 hour at dawn from launch sites in the Serengeti, inside an outing of about 5 hours door to door. The price is $599 per person in a shared balloon of up to 16 per booking, and it covers a champagne toast and a full English breakfast under an acacia tree, with alcoholic beverages listed as included. Guests are returned to their guide at around 09:45 at the Seronera Visitors Centre or another agreed location, and pickup covers camps and lodges within about 2 hours or 40 km of the launch sites.

Park admission is not included and is marked as such on the itinerary, and the operator must know your camp or lodge location to confirm the booking. The TANAPA tariff sets a balloon operation fee of US $50 per person per trip in the Serengeti, and the tariff states all charges are VAT (18%) exclusive. Free cancellation applies to 24 hours before, and children under 7 are not allowed.

Which Packages Include It

Three packages build the balloon into a safari. The 3-Day Serengeti Safari with Balloon lists it as an optional flight on the morning of day 2 at $900 per person, and its price is not shown on the page, so you would confirm the amount with the operator. The 7-Day Luxury Serengeti Safari puts a hot air balloon flight with a champagne bush breakfast on the day 4 itinerary, at $4,130 per person, and the listing is new with no reviews yet. The Mara River Crossing Safari also lists a balloon safari as optional.

On seasons, the operator lists launch areas as Central Serengeti year-round, North Serengeti from 15 June to 15 January, Western Corridor from 15 May to 15 October and Ndutu from 20 December to 31 March, and the option descriptions give slightly different windows for Kogatende and Kirawira. Match the launch area to your package, since a central Serengeti flight suits a camping trip at Seronera and a northern flight suits a migration itinerary.

The Year at a Glance

The table pulls the season frames from SafariBookings, Wikipedia and Roadtrip Africa. Mean temperatures in the Serengeti range from 15 to 25 °C, and rainfall across the ecosystem runs from 508 mm in the lee of the Ngorongoro highlands to 1,200 mm on the shores of Lake Victoria.

Temperatures and What to Pack

SafariBookings puts daytime highs in the Serengeti at about 27 °C on average with chilly nights. In Arusha, where most packages start at 1,400 metres elevation, the mean daily maximum is 28 °C in January and February and 20 °C in July, and the mean daily minimum is 8 °C in June, August and September. That spread means warm clothing for early game drives, and the 3-Day Serengeti Safari with Balloon lists warm clothing, a camera, sunscreen, insect repellent and binoculars in its bag rules.

Duma Explorer suggests bringing wipes on camping trips, where reviewers mention basic sanitary facilities at public campsites. The malaria risk from the CDC applies below 1,800 m, so much of the safari circuit is within it, and preventive medicines for Tanzania include atovaquone-proguanil, doxycycline, mefloquine and tafenoquine.

How Many Days You Need

Footslopes Tours recommends at least 3 to 5 days to experience the Serengeti, and the packages show what each length buys. On a 3-day road package, day 1 is the 6 to 8 hour drive out and day 3 ends with a 9 to 10 hour drive back, so one full day of game drives is the realistic yield, which is what the 3-Day Serengeti Camping Safari and the 3-Day Private Serengeti Safari deliver. A 5-day itinerary such as the 5-Day Serengeti Camping Safari spreads the travel over five days, adds a full Tarangire day and holds 2 nights at Seronera, giving a full Serengeti day plus the crater floor.

The Serengeti Fly-In Safari solves the road problem differently, landing in the Serengeti on the first morning for a 3-day trip. At 8 to 10 days, the 8-Day Serengeti Migration Safari and the 10-Day Serengeti Migration Safari reach the northern Serengeti for the Mara River, something a 3-day trip cannot cover by road.