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📍Arusha, Tanzania
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Home Safari Packages 6-Day Budget Camping Northern Circuit Safari
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6-Day Budget Camping Northern Circuit Safari

6 Days | Budget | Group | Tanzania Northern Circuit

📅6 Days / 5 Nights
🦁Budget Camping Safari
👥2-12
💰$1,100
🌍 Safari Overview
6 Days / 5 Nights
Duration
2-12
Group Size
All meals
Meals
Year-round
Best Season
Budget Camping Safari
Tour Style
Budget
Accommodation

Discover the beauty of Tanzania’s renowned Northern Safari Circuit on this exciting 6-day budget camping adventure. Explore four of the country’s most iconic wildlife destinations Tarangire National Park, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara National Park. Travel in a custom built 4×4 safari vehicle with an experienced professional guide while spending your evenings at well-equipped public campsites surrounded by nature.

This safari offers exceptional opportunities to witness the Big Five, the Great Wildebeest Migration (seasonal), vast elephant herds, spectacular landscapes, and diverse birdlife, making it an excellent choice for couples, families, solo travelers, photographers, and adventure enthusiasts.

✨ Safari Highlights

🐆
Two full Serengeti days
Double your chances of witnessing big cat activity and rare predator sightings.
🦏
Ngorongoro rhino
One of the last stable populations of critically endangered black rhino.
Five nights under stars
Fall asleep to hyena calls and wake to birdsong every morning.
🦩
Lake Manyara birding
Over 400 bird species — a birder's paradise alongside the iconic flamingos.

📋 Day-by-Day Itinerary

1
Arusha → Tarangire
Tarangire National Park
  • After breakfast at your hotel in Arusha, your safari guide will meet you for a briefing before departing for Tarangire National Park, approximately a 2½ to 3 - hour drive.
  • Tarangire is renowned for its ancient baobab trees, vast savannah plains, seasonal swamps, and the Tarangire River, which serves as the primary water source for wildlife during the dry season. The park is home to some of the largest elephant herds in East Africa.
  • Enjoy your first game drive as you search for elephants, lions , giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, buffaloes, impalas, warthogs, Ostriches, and numerous antelope species . Bird enthusiasts can also expect to see colorful kingfishers, hornbills, eagles, and bee - eaters, picnic lunch will be served at one of the park's scenic picnic sites overlooking the beautiful landscape, Later after Continue with your afternoon game drive before leaving the park and driving to your campsite near Karatu.
🏕️Migombani campsite
🍽️Full Board — All Meals Included
2
Tarangire → Central Serengeti National Park
Central Serengeti National Park
  • After an early breakfast, depart for Serengeti National Park via the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. As you ascend the Ngorongoro Highlands, enjoy breathtaking panoramic views before continuing across the vast Serengeti plains. Along the way, you may encounter Maasai pastoralists tending their cattle against the stunning backdrop of the Great Rift Valley.
  • Upon entering Serengeti National Park, begin an extensive game drive through one of Africa's most celebrated wildlife destinations. The endless grasslands support an incredible diversity of animals throughout the year.
  • Look out for lions resting beneath acacia trees, cheetahs scanning the plains, elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, hippos, hyenas, jackals, and numerous bird species.
  • Enjoy a picnic lunch before continuing your afternoon game drive.
  • Arrive at your public campsite before sunset.
🏕️Tumbili Public Campsite
🍽️Full Board — All Meals Included
3
Full day Serengeti National Park
Central Serengeti National Park
  • Today is a dedicated day to exploring the magnificent Serengeti National Park.
  • After breakfast, depart with packed lunches for a full day of wildlife viewing. Depending on the season, your guide will take you to areas where wildlife concentrations are highest, maximizing your chances of seeing the Great Wildebeest Migration or large resident populations of game.
  • Search for Africa's famous predators, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and African wild cats. You may also encounter elephants, buffaloes, elands, topis, gazelles, crocodiles, hippos, and countless bird species.
  • The Serengeti offers spectacular photographic opportunities throughout the day, from dramatic landscapes to close wildlife encounters.
  • Return to camp in the evening for dinner under the African sky.
🏕️Serengeti Public Campsite
🍽️Full Board — All Meals Included
4
Serengeti National Park → Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
  • Enjoy an early morning game drive when wildlife is at its most active. Sunrise is one of the best times to observe predators returning from their night hunts while herbivores begin grazing across the plains.
  • After breakfast, continue with a final game drive through Serengeti before driving toward the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
  • En route, enjoy spectacular scenery and possible wildlife sightings before arriving at the crater rim in the late afternoon.
  • Relax at your campsite while enjoying stunning views over the Ngorongoro Highlands.
🏕️Simba Public Campsite
🍽️Full Board — All Meals Included
5
Ngorongoro Crater → Mto Wa Mbu
Ngorongoro Crater
  • After an early breakfast, descend approximately 600 meters into the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the world's largest intact volcanic calderas and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  • The crater is home to over 25,000 animals and offers one of the highest concentrations of wildlife in Africa.
  • Today's game drive provides excellent opportunities to spot the Big Five, including black rhinos, lions, elephants, buffaloes, and, with some luck, leopards. Other wildlife includes zebras, wildebeest, hyenas, hippos, gazelles, serval cats, and flamingos (seasonal) around Lake Magadi ,Enjoy a picnic lunch near the famous Hippo Pool before continuing your game drive, In the afternoon, ascend the crater and drive back to Karatu for dinner and overnight.
🏕️Migombani Camp Site
🍽️Full Board — All Meals Included
6
Lake Manyara National Park → Arusha
Lake Manyara National Park
  • After breakfast, depart for Lake Manyara National Park, a small but incredibly diverse park famous for its groundwater forest, alkaline lake, and impressive biodiversity.
  • Lake Manyara is renowned for its tree-climbing lions, playful baboons, large troops of blue monkeys, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, hippos, and over 400 recorded bird species, including pelicans, flamingos (seasonal), storks, and cormorants.
  • Enjoy your final game drive while taking in the beautiful scenery of the Great Rift Valley escarpment.
  • Following a picnic lunch inside the park, begin the drive back to Arusha, arriving in the late afternoon. You will be dropped off at your hotel or transferred to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your onward journey.
🍽️Half Board Included

💰 Safari Pricing

Start dates Solo 2 people 3 people 4 people 5 people 6 people
Apr 1, 2026 - May 31, 2026 n/a* $2,275 $2,010 $1,820 $1,820 $1,820

All prices per person. Group discounts available. Contact us for custom pricing.

🏕️ Your Accommodations

Seronera Public Campsite
Luxury Tented Camp

Seronera Public Campsite

★★★★☆
Suricata Boma Lodge
Safari Lodge

Suricata Boma Lodge

★★★☆☆
From Mid-range — $80–$150 per person / night
🏕️
Budget Camping

Migombani Camp

✅ What's Included

  • All park and conservation fees
  • 5 nights public campsite accommodation
  • Professional driver-guide
  • All meals
  • Drinking water
  • 4x4 safari vehicle

❌ Not Included

  • International flights
  • Travel insurance
  • Alcohol
  • Tips
  • Personal expenses

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Is budget camping comfortable?
Budget camping in Tanzania's public campsites offers a genuine bush experience you sleep inside the national park boundaries, surrounded by wildlife. Facilities include toilets, showers, and cooking areas. Our camping safaris provide all equipment: dome tent, sleeping mat, camp chair, and camp table. Meals are freshly cooked by your guide/cook. Most guests describe it as one of the most authentic safari experiences available.
What equipment is provided for camping?
We provide all camping equipment: a quality dome tent per person or couple, sleeping mat, pillow, camp chair, dining table, cooking equipment, and a portable shower for remote sites. You need only bring your sleeping bag and personal items. If you don't own a sleeping bag, we can arrange a rental. All food, fuel, and water are included.
How safe is camping in the national parks?
Camping in Tanzania's public campsites is very safe. Park rangers patrol the campsite perimeters and wildlife does not typically approach human habitation. That said, hyenas are curious night visitors and it is important to store all food inside the vehicle. Your guide briefs you on campsite safety protocols on the first evening. The experience of hearing lions roar from your tent is genuinely one of the most thrilling things available on safari.
What is the food like on a camping safari?
Your guide doubles as a camp cook and prepares surprisingly excellent meals over a camp stove or fire. Breakfasts are typically eggs, toast, fruit, and tea or coffee. Lunches are packed picnic-style for eating in the field. Dinners are hot, hearty meals pasta, rice dishes, grilled meat, vegetable stews served at the camp table. Special dietary requirements (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free) can be accommodated with advance notice.
Can I upgrade to lodge accommodation from camping?
Yes — if you prefer lodge accommodation instead of camping, we offer the same itinerary at mid-range lodges for approximately $300–500 per person extra per trip. Lodge accommodation means private en-suite rooms, restaurant dining, and swimming pools. Ask us for the lodge upgrade option when enquiring.
What is the group size on a joining safari?
Our joining safaris operate in small groups of 2–8 travellers maximum per vehicle. This keeps the experience intimate compared to large group tours. You'll typically join other independent travellers couples, solo travellers, and small friend groups from around the world. The social aspect is a valued part of the joining safari experience for many guests.
What should I pack for a camping safari?
Essential items: sleeping bag rated to at least 10°C (nights can be cold at altitude), headlamp or torch, high SPF sunscreen, insect repellent, light layers for cool evenings, sturdy walking shoes or boots, wide-brim sun hat, binoculars (if you have them), and a small daypack. Luggage should be soft-sided for easy vehicle packing hard cases are not practical on safari.
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