3 Days Exploring the Big 5 in Tanzania

Arusha

Start with breakfast at your hotel, then drive about 2 hours to reach Tarangire National Park. You'll spend the bulk of the day, roughly 6 hours, on a game drive in a pop-up four-wheel safari jeep looking for elephants, zebras, giraffes, and whatever else shows up. There's a lunch break at a picnic site during the drive, and by evening you'll head to Fig Big Tree/Ngedere Lodge for dinner and to settle in for the night.

Tarangire National Park

Have an early breakfast at the lodge, and pickups happen at 8:30 am for a 6-hour game drive through Lake Manyara National Park. The main attractions here are the massive flamingo populations, plus leopards, lions, hippos, and over 500 different bird species if you're into birding. Lunch comes at a picnic site partway through, then you'll exit the park and return to Fig Big Tree/Ngedere Lodge for dinner and another night's stay.

Lake Manyara

After early breakfast, you head out at 8:30 am for a 6-hour game drive that takes you down into the Ngorongoro Crater. This spot's unique because you can see the Big Five all in one day, which doesn't happen everywhere. A picnic lunch breaks up the drive, and you'll leave the crater around 4:00 pm to drive back to Arusha. From there, you get dropped at your original destination or the airport depending on your flight schedule.