Tanzania, Private Safaris

Ngorongoro Safari • 3-5 Days

Another popular way to extend the trip after your summit of Mount Kilimanjaro; if you choose to join us after your trek, the safari begins on the original departure day of that itinerary. On this classic safari you’ll visit the stunning Ngorongoro Crater a UNESCO World Heritage Site west of Arusha in Tanzania’s Crater Highlands.

Day 1 • Arrive Arusha, Tanzania (if not climbing Kilimanjaro)
Day 2 • Explore Arusha (if not climbing Kilimanjaro)
Day 3 • Arusha to Ngorongoro Crater
Day 4 • Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Day 5 • Ngorongoro Crater to Arusha and Depart

The Arusha Hotel (2 nights) (if not climbing Kilimanjaro)
Lemala Ngorongoro Camp (2 nights)
Activity Walking

Northern Tanzania Luxury Safari • 8 Days

Experience Tanzania in exceptional comfort and style with Mount Gurus’ Northern Tanzania Luxury Safari. Featuring exclusive game drives through Ngorongoro Crater, Serengeti, and Lake Manyara National Parks, world-class guides, and unforgettable wildlife moments under African skies. Witness iconic predators, vast herds, and breathtaking landscapes in personalized comfort and service.

Day 1 • Arrive Arusha, Tanzania
Day 2 • Enjoy Activities at Arusha Coffee Lodge
Day 3 • Arusha to Lake Manyara to Ngorongoro Crater
Day 4 • Ngorongoro Crater
Days 5-7 • Serengeti National Park
Day 8 • Serengeti to Arusha and Depart

Arusha Coffee Lodge (2 nights)
Exploreans Ngorongoro Lodge (2 nights)
Sayari or Dunia Luxury Tented Camp (3 nights)
Activity Walking

Northern Tanzania Family Safari • 10 Days

Experience 10 unforgettable days of adventure with Mount Gurus’ Northern Tanzania Family Safari. See tree-climbing lions, roaring herds in the Serengeti, and abundant wildlife in Ngorongoro Crater and Lake Manyara, with comfortable family-friendly lodges and expert guides creating memories for all ages.

Day 1 • Arrive Arusha, Tanzania
Day 2 • Enjoy Arusha Mountain Village Lodge
Days 3-5 • Lake Manyara National Park
Day 6 • Ngorongoro Crater
Day 7-9 • Serengeti National Park
Day 10 • Depart Arusha

Arusha Mountain Village Lodge (2 nights)
Lake Manyara Serena Lodge (2 nights)
Ngorongoro Serena Lodge (2 nights)
Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge (3 nights)
Activity Walking

Ready for your African Adventure?

If you have questions about booking a private safari or any other adventure, please contact us. Join us on Mount Kilimanjaro and the plains of Serengeti National Park, or book your private safari today!

Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where more than 2 million animals roam one of the planet’s oldest ecosystems. The 5,700-square-mile park is an unparalleled wildlife destination. On the plains of the Serengeti, we often see giraffes, impalas, Grants and Thompson gazelles, hyenas, crocodiles, and elephants, hippopotamus, rhinos and cape buffalo. Large predators such as lions, cheetahs and leopards stalk the grazing herbivores, while the grasslands and forests are filled with monkeys and baboons and more than five hundred species of birds.

Each year, the great migration flows across the Serengeti as more than a million white-bearded wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of plains zebra seek the lushest grasslands. During the short rains of October and November, they roam from the northern plains to the southern plains. Then they graze west and north again after the long rains of April, May and June. It is the largest remaining unaltered wildlife migration in the world.

On a Mountain Gurus safari, you’ll explore this rich and diverse landscape of grasslands, rocky promontories, rivers and woodlands. You may visit with the Maasai people, who continue to graze their cattle on the vast grassy plains, or as they describe them, siringitu – “the place where the land moves on forever.” We may visit the famous Olduvai Gorge, where Drs. Louis and Mary Leakey discovered remains of the earliest known human ancestors.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a protected region and a UNESCO World Heritage Site west of Arusha in Tanzania’s Crater Highlands. Its centerpiece is the spectacular Ngorongoro Crater, a 12-mile-wide volcanic caldera teeming with abundant wildlife and some of the most important archaeological evidence of the evolution of man.

Ngorongoro Crater is nicknamed the planet’s “Noah’s Ark.” It was once a massive volcano, which rose and collapsed into the world’s largest unbroken caldera. Now it’s filled with savannah, rivers and woodlands – one of the most unique ecosystems on the planet. We enter the crater by Land Rover. As we descend its nearly 2,000-foot-high walls, we gaze out over a majestic landscape home to the rare and endangered black Rhino, which is protected by strict environmental and anti-poaching laws. After a safari in the crater, we relax over dinner in our beautiful lodge perched on the crater rim. In the Ngorongoro Highlands area we also have the opportunity to visit a traditional Maasai village.

Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park extends across 1,100 square miles in the Manyara Region of Tanzania. On a clear day, we can see Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru rising above the park’s forests and grasslands. Named for the Tarangire River, which flows through it, the park is famous for its abundant elephants and massive baobab trees, which dwarf the animals grazing beneath them. In the dry months, the Tarangire River attracts thousands of animals. The park’s elephant population swells from the 2,000 to more than 6,000. Wildebeest and zebras migrate through the park by the thousands, along with black rhinos, cape buffalo, hippos, lions, leopards, antelope, giraffe, monkeys and more than 500 species of birds. The park’s immense biodiversity is partly the result of its diverse plant life and geology. Granite ridges crisscross a landscape home to more than nine distinct vegetation zones, from marshes to woodlands to grasslands. We may also visit with Maasai people in the park to learn about their culture.

Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara National Park extends for 207 square miles across a vast floodplain between the savannah grassland of the Maasai Steppe and the Great Rift Valley escarpment in northern Tanzania. Its centerpiece is Lake Manyara. Fed by springs, Lake Manyara expands and dwindles from season to season. It can be as large as 25 miles wide. It is an ornithologist’s paradise. In the wet season, it attracts hundreds of thousands of brilliant flamingoes, creating one of Africa’s most stunning wildlife scenes. More than 400 other bird species visit the park as well, including crested eagles, pelicans, spoonbills, Egyptian geese and hammerkops. The park is one of the few places where you can spot a comical Ground Hornbill. Forests of acacia, giant fig trees, mahogany and towering baobab trees grow beyond the shores of the lake. The acacia groves are famous for the tree climbing lions that relax in their branches.

Arusha National Park

Arusha National Park is one of Tanzania’s hidden gems. Located not far from Arusha, it is known for its Momella forests, the Momella Lakes, the Ngurdoto Crater and the Meru Crater with its iconic ash cone. It is also home to 14,979-foot Mount Meru, Africa’s fifth highest mountain. Mountain Gurus can arrange guided ascents of Mount Meru. In the Ndurdoto Forest, you will have a chance to observe the rare black and white colobus monkey.

The Great Migration

The Great Migrations is one of the wonders of the natural world. Each year, more than 1.4 million wildebeest migrate nearly 1,000 miles between the Tanzania’s Serengeti and the Maasai Mara in Kenya. It is the largest remaining uninterrupted natural migration on the planet. The Great Migration is a circuit, dictated by East Africa’s seasonal rains. Most animals begin their year on the southern Serengeti, where they calve their young among the lush grass of the relatively wet months of January and February. By May, most have set off north toward the Maasai Mara National Reserve. By early October, the rainy season begins once again and again the wildebeest turn south.

The Maasai

The Ngorongoro Highlands and the Tarangire are home to the Maasai, a nomadic people whose iconic bright red fabrics are an unmistakable element of life on the grasslands of Tanzania. While on safari, you’ll have the chance to visit a traditional Maasai village, where you’ll enjoy their traditional music and jumping dance (a courtship ritual) and browse for local handicrafts, including handmade jewelry and the Maasai’s signature, brilliant red blankets. You’ll also have the opportunity to learn about their way of life, from their homes, or inkajijik, which are made from locally available material and are traditionally built by women, to their herds of long-horned cattle. The Maasai believe that their cattle were given to them by god. Cattle are their primary source of food and, in addition to children, one of the main measures of a family’s wealth. A man who owns many cattle and children is considered wealthy. If he lacks either one, he is poor.

Olduvai Gorge

Tanzania’s Olduvai Gorge is one of the most important pre-historic sites in the world. Within it, paleoanthropologists have found incredible evidence of early human evolution, including footprints, fossilized bones, and stone tools that date back millions of years. Known to the Maasai as the “Oldupai” Gorge (their word for the wild sisal plant), the gorge is a steep-sided, 14-kilometer-long ravine in East Africa’s famous Great Rift Valley. It is located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in the vicinity of Ngorongoro Crater. In the gorge, the legendary paleontologists Mary and Louis Leakey discovered the remains of Homo habilis, a human ancestor that lived in Africa 1.9 million years ago, as well as many other fossils. Findings from the Olduvai Gorge have served as invaluable evidence for scientists attempting to understand the origins mankind.

Luxury Tented Camps

Our luxury tented camps allow you to sleep on the plains of the Serengeti, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You’ll hear lions roar in the distance, and the laughter of hyenas in the evening. Not only an adventure like you’d find in the pages of “Out of Africa,” but also excellent, fresh cuisine; luxury sleeping tents with comfortable beds, tables and lanterns; hot showers upon request; and bathrooms. A watchman keeps vigil over the camp throughout the night for your comfort and safety.

Premium Lodges

Our premium wildlife lodges perfectly blend the finest amenities of our boutique hotels with ample opportunities to take in the stunning natural scenery while on safari. These specialty accommodations are unique to the Tanzanian safari experience.

Arusha Hotels

The hotels we use in Arusha are chosen to welcome you to Tanzania with comfort and convenience. Modern in appointments but steeped in history, these hotels serve as the launch point for adventures from Mount Kilimanjaro to our Northern Tanzanian safaris. We often use hotels in Arusha when we have friends and family joining climbers finishing Kilimanjaro for a once-in-a-lifetime safari.

Farm Houses

Our choice farmhouses are part of a uniquely Tanzanian experience. Sometimes we stay overnight, and sometimes we simply stop by for a delicious meal and a walk through the stunning botanical gardens on our way to other adventures. Whatever the occasion, a visit to one of these estates is always a highlight of the trip.