Northern Circuit · Ruaha · Nyerere (Selous) · Zanzibar

Kilimanjaro Airport → Arusha

Land at Kilimanjaro International Airport and transfer privately to Arusha, the gateway to Tanzania's Northern Circuit. Your guide meets you for a welcome briefing covering the full fourteen days ahead before you settle in for the night.

What you'll see: Arusha town, Mt. Meru foothills, Gateway to the Northern Circuit

Transfer: Private transfer

Arusha → Tarangire National Park

For those who want it, the morning is spent with the Planting Hope Initiative, a Yera-supported community program near Arusha — joining a local reforestation project alongside students, or learning about our education sponsorship program that helps children stay in school with their families. In the afternoon, you drive to Tarangire National Park, where centuries-old baobabs anchor a landscape that holds some of the largest elephant herds anywhere in Tanzania, closing with an evening game drive.

What you'll see: Tarangire elephant herds, Ancient baobab trees, Elephant corridors

Transfer: Road transfer

Optional: Planting Hope Initiative — community reforestation & education visit (complimentary)

Tarangire → Serengeti National Park (Central)

Central Serengeti (Seronera) is reached by light aircraft or road, depending on your preference and the season. Once there, a full day of game drives works the river courses and kopjes where predators concentrate year-round — not only during the migration months.

What you'll see: Central Serengeti plains, River courses and kopjes, Resident predators

Transfer: Light aircraft or road transfer

Serengeti National Park (Central) — Full Day

A second full day gives you real depth in the Serengeti rather than a single rushed pass — resident lion prides, leopard in the riverine trees, and, depending on the time of year, the wildebeest and zebra herds of the Great Migration moving through the region.

What you'll see: Resident lion prides, Leopard in riverine trees, Great Migration herds (seasonal)

Serengeti → Ngorongoro Crater

One last Serengeti game drive in the morning light, then a road transfer up into the Ngorongoro Highlands — a shift in altitude and landscape that sets up the crater descent to come.

What you'll see: Final Serengeti game drive, Ngorongoro Highlands scenery, Shift into crater country

Transfer: Road transfer

Ngorongoro Crater — Full Day

Descending into the Ngorongoro Crater is one of this journey's defining moments — over 250 square kilometres of grassland, lake, and forest sealed inside a volcanic caldera, holding lion, elephant, hippo, and one of East Africa's last strongholds of black rhino. A full day is spent tracing the crater floor before returning to the rim — one of Africa's densest concentrations of wildlife, inside a single volcanic caldera.

What you'll see: Black rhino, Lion, elephant, hippo, Crater floor grassland and forest

Ngorongoro → Ruaha National Park

A scenic flight takes you from the Ngorongoro Highlands south to Ruaha National Park — Tanzania's largest national park by area, and one of its least visited by international travelers, despite holding some of the country's richest wildlife.

What you'll see: Tanzania's largest national park, Ruaha wildlife, rarely crowded

Transfer: Scenic flight

Ruaha National Park — Full Day

The Great Ruaha River anchors this ecosystem even in the dry season, drawing elephant, buffalo, and some of the largest lion prides recorded anywhere in Africa. Morning takes advantage of the cooler hours along the river; the afternoon is yours to rest, or to head back out for an optional sundowner drive.

What you'll see: Great Ruaha River, Elephant and buffalo, Some of Africa’s largest lion prides

Optional: Sundowner game drive (confirmed per camp)

Ruaha National Park — Walking Safari

A guided walking safari offers a different register entirely — tracking, reading signs, and moving through the bush at the pace the land sets, with an armed ranger and your guide, through landscapes dominated by ancient baobabs. The afternoon returns you to the vehicle for a further game drive.

What you'll see: Guided walking safari with armed ranger, Baobab-studded landscapes, Tracking wildlife on foot

Optional: Guided walking safari with armed ranger (confirmed per camp)

Ruaha → Nyerere National Park (Selous)

A flight takes you from Ruaha to Nyerere National Park — renamed from the Selous Game Reserve, though many international travelers still search for it under that older name. At over 30,000 square kilometres, it remains Africa's largest game reserve, anchored by the Rufiji River and its network of channels and floodplains.

What you'll see: Africa's largest game reserve, Rufiji River floodplains

Transfer: Light aircraft transfer

Nyerere National Park — Boat Safari

The Rufiji River is the defining feature of this ecosystem, and a boat safari is the only way to properly see it — hippo pods, basking crocodile, and an exceptional range of birdlife line the banks. It's a different pace and a different sightline from a game drive, followed by an afternoon back on land.

What you'll see: Hippo pods, Basking crocodile, Exceptional birdlife

Nyerere National Park — Walking Safari

A second way of experiencing Nyerere — on foot, through riverine forest and open plains, with an armed ranger reading the signs of what has passed and what might be near. It closes out the wilderness portion of this journey before the coast.

What you'll see: Riverine forest on foot, Open plains tracking, Armed ranger-guided walk

Nyerere → Zanzibar

A flight takes you from the wilderness of the south to the Indian Ocean coast. The rest of the day is left free — a walk on the beach, a swim, or simply doing nothing at all after twelve days of early starts.

What you'll see: Indian Ocean coastline, Zanzibar beaches, Free afternoon at leisure

Transfer: Light aircraft transfer

Zanzibar → Departure

Your final morning is left unstructured — the beach, Stone Town if you haven't already explored it, or simply one more slow morning by the water — before a transfer to the airport for your onward flight. Extensions to your Zanzibar stay can be arranged in advance.

What you'll see: Stone Town (optional), Final morning by the water

Transfer: Private transfer