The Western Corridor
Nine days in northern Tanzania, built around the migration in the western corridor.
Private throughout, your own guide and vehicle from the first morning to the last.
In June and July the herds move west and north through the corridor between the Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers. This is the one stretch of the migration you can reach by road rather than by light aircraft, so you follow the herds with the same guide and vehicle the whole way, rather than switching to a shared camp vehicle at a fly-in strip.
Tarangire opens the trip. You spend a night in central Serengeti on the way west, then two nights in the corridor on the Grumeti, where the herds string along the river and the resident crocodiles sit in the pools the animals cross at. Two more nights back at Seronera, then the Ngorongoro Crater on the way out.
From £5,200 per person, based on two sharing, excluding international flights.
We can also arrange fly-in trips to the northern Mara River crossings. A Zanzibar beach extension is available on any trip.
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Your guide meets you at Kilimanjaro International Airport and transfers you to your lodge on the edge of Usa River. The afternoon is free to rest, with dinner and a briefing on the days ahead.
Accommodation: Mount Meru Game Lodge, or similar
Meals: Dinner -
A full day in Tarangire. The park's landscape is defined by baobab and the Tarangire River, which draws resident elephant, buffalo and giraffe through the day. Lion are the main predator here, with zebra, impala, waterbuck and warthog on the plains between the river and the woodland. Lunch is taken in the park.
Accommodation: Korongo Luxury Camp, or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner -
You travel west from Tarangire, climbing through the Ngorongoro highlands and descending onto the plains, crossing into the Serengeti past the entry gate at Naabi Hill. Gazelle, zebra and ostrich are on the open ground and lion around the kopjes. You reach the central Seronera region by the afternoon, with a game drive on arrival.
Accommodation: Tukaone Serengeti Camp, or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner -
A morning in the Seronera region, working the kopjes and river lines for resident lion, leopard and cheetah, then you continue west into the corridor between the Grumeti and Mbalageti rivers through the afternoon. Wildebeest and zebra are strung across the corridor in June and July, with game building as you reach the river country.
Accommodation: Grumeti Central Camp, or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner -
A full day in the corridor with the herds. The migration draws lion and spotted hyena to the river country, with cheetah on the open ground between the woodland belts. The Grumeti's riverine forest holds resident crocodile in the river pools, with hippo, and colobus monkey in the gallery forest along the water. Resident plains game is throughout, topi, impala, buffalo and giraffe. Lunch is taken as a picnic in the field.
Accommodation: Grumeti Central Camp, or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner -
You move back east out of the corridor into the Seronera region, with a game drive along the way as the country opens from river woodland to plains. Standing pools and a high water table hold water year-round at Seronera, sustaining resident lion, leopard and cheetah alongside hippo, elephant and buffalo along the river lines.
Accommodation: Tukaone Serengeti Camp, or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner -
A full day in the Seronera region. Your guide works the granite kopjes for lion, the valley woodland and its yellow fever trees for leopard, and the open plains for cheetah in the early morning. Giraffe and topi hold in the woodland and on the grassland between, with baboon and vervet along the watercourses, and black-backed jackal and bat-eared fox on the open ground. Lunch is a picnic in the field or at camp.
Accommodation: Tukaone Serengeti Camp, or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner -
A morning drive in the Seronera region, then you continue east and climb to the Ngorongoro rim. The crater is a caldera roughly 19 kilometres across, formed when the original volcano collapsed inward on its magma chamber, and holds all of the Big Five including resident black rhino, alongside dense lion, wildebeest, zebra and buffalo, with flamingo on the soda lake at its centre. An afternoon on the crater floor, then up to the highlands.
Accommodation: Marera Valley Lodge, or similar
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner -
A final morning in the highlands, then the descent toward Arusha. You can stop at Mto wa Mbu for lunch, with the option to visit a tanzanite workshop or browse the craft markets along the way. From Arusha, onward travel or a connection to Zanzibar for those adding the coast.
Accommodation: None, or first night on Zanzibar if the beach extension is booked
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
What's Included
Private guide and 4x4 vehicle for the duration of the safari
All accommodation as listed, or similar
All meals as specified, full board throughout the safari
All national park entry fees and Ngorongoro Conservation Area fees
Ngorongoro Crater descent fee
Government taxes and levies on the safari
Airport transfer on arrival, and transfer to Arusha for the onward
flight on departure
Scheduled flight from Arusha to Zanzibar, for those adding the coast
Unlimited bottled water and on-board refreshments in the vehicle
Fresh fruits as you pass through Mto wa Mbu
What's Not Included
International flights to and from Tanzania
Tanzania tourist e-visa, around USD 50, arranged online before travel
Personal Travel insurance
Gratuities for your guide and lodge staff
Alcoholic and soft drinks at lodges
Want to extend your trip?
Learn about our Fly-In Safaris or add a Zanzibar Beach Extension