Hello all,
I'm trying to come up with the ideal first-time itinerary to Tanzania for next June or July for 8 or 9 nights. Most tour companies seem to offer Tarangire and/or Lake Manyara. Is there an advantage to staying at one area over the other, or do I need to include stays at both?
I appreciate your input and advice. Thank you!

The later you go, the better (drier) Tarangire is. Tarangire is a much bigger park. I like them both very much but give the edge to Tarangire. My ideal June/July Northern Circuit itinerary would definitely include 4 or more nights in the Serengeti. Will you be driving or flying or a combo?

Thinking of driving from Arusha, around to Serengeti, then flying the one leg back.

I would like to advice you visit both parks if your budget os allowing you .Manyara and Tarangire are all in the Northern circuit and they have different futures and attractions to see,you better visit both you will love it

There is a lot more to Tanzania than just the Serengeti National park. Typically those that venture there for the first time would travel by road, which requires overnight stops as you pass through the countryside.

Tarangire and Lake Manyara are two Parks well worth seeing on the journey to the Serengeti. As you make your way to the Serengeti you travel through the Ngorongor Conservation area, which tempts you to drop in for a day visit too. Those places are quite diverse and most rewarding. Any operator worth their weight would offer these for a first time visitor.

There is a common perception that the Serengeti is on rolling grassland park, which is not quite true: It has many different and enchanting biomes that make a journey throughout its length most rewarding too. At some point if you do this you will encounter the madness of the migration, just adding more to the experience than could ever be dreamed.

And yes, after that sensory overload and reaching the north, hop on a plane for the return trip to Arusha!

I did tanzania in july 2007. 2 nights in northern serengeti, 2 nights in central-north serengeti, 1 night in central serengeti, 1 night in ngorongoro, and 3 nights in tarangire. The itinerary was great and gave us a good diversity of environments. it was a driving circuit that began by flying into Lobo in northern serengeti.

If you are like many of us you may find yourself thinking of a return safari maybe even before the flight home ends. So, don't worry about missing out on something as that may "taint" your enjoyment or create difficult-to-satisfy expectations.
Lake Manyara NP will always be special to me as that is where we saw our first wild elephant (less than 50' away and somewhat hidden with shadows and vines) and the game drive was a great apetizer of things to come on the rest of our trip. On another trip there we were surrounded by a pride of lions with only one other vehicle in the vicinity.

Having said that I would still favor Tarangire NP over the two and even at the expense of omitting Manyara. And, I encourage a minimum of two nights. The baobab trees are very interesting to say the least and we have yet to be disappointed in the considerable birdlife there. Plus, the river can be a great attraction to large herds particularly as the season progresses. I have fond memories of sightings from the Tarangire Safari Lodge patio and tent porch of elephant, giraffe, cape buffalo, zebra and others even during the middle of the day.

Enjoy the plans.

"Is there an advantage to staying at one area over the other, or do I need to include stays at both?"

In my experience Lake Manyara had exceptional hippo pool action both in and out of the pool. Baboons, vervets, and the less common blue (sometimes called black) monkeys were more photographable here than most places, including Tarangire.

Tarangire has larger herds of elephants and I saw larger herds of all the hoofed species--in the dry season. Tarangire has the baobabs.

It depends on what you are looking for as to whether you include Manyara and Tarangire, also time of year you are traveling. July favors Tarangire. A stop at Manyara also works well to break up driving.

8 nts in July all driving

1 Arrival in Arusha
2-3 Tarangire
4 Lake Manyara
5-6-7 Central Serengeti
8 Ngorongoro Crater
9 depart Africa

If you had one more night you could spend a day in Arusha up front or spend 4 nights in the Serengeti with 2 in Central and 2 in Western.

8 nts in July, flying back form Serengeti
1 Arrival in Arusha
2-3 Tarangire
4 Lake Manyara
5 Ngorongoro Crater
6-7-8 Central Serengeti or Western Serengeti
9 depart Africa

In this itinerary, you could cut Lake Manyara and drive from Tarangire to the Crater. What would you do with the extra day? Arusha Nat Park for forest maybe. Add another day to Serengeti for 4 total.

Very helpful comments. Thank you everyone!

Aestuo, could you tell me where exactly you spent your 2 nights in northern serengeti, 2 nights in central-north serengeti, 1 night in central serengeti? I am in the process of planning a July 2011 trip myself, so very interested in all Serengeti itineraries at the moment Thanks.

And Aestuo, were facilities ensuite?

(Just helping you out, Sangeeta )

Mobile facilities taken care of, Lynn - will post a full report on chemical loos next year...

sangeeta - sure thing! serengeti accomodations were:

2 nights in northern serengeti:
Migration Camp (luxury tented camp)

2 nights in central-north serengeti:
Mbuzi Mawe (tented camp)

1 night in central serengeti
Serengeti Serena (lodge)

facilities were all ensuite, yes (although the water didn't work in our bathroom at the serena for a while when we first got there!

If you had to pick, I'd go with 2 -3 nights in Tarangire and fit in a daytrip to Manyara National Park. Driving, you could leave Taranigre in the AM, and get to Manyara area in about 2 - 3 hours. Spend a few hours on a game drive , have a picninc lunch and then end up at one of the gorgeous lodges in the Ngorongoro HIghlands (suggest Gibbs Farm or Plantation Lodge), which are just about 30 - 45 mins form Lake Manyara. you could then spend a few nights, and explore the Crater, enjoy nature walks in the highlands and visit local Masaai before continuing to Serengeti.

Also, a suggestion, if you want the best chance of witnessing the Migration in July / August you'll need to get into the North Western area of the Serengeti Park. Migration Lodge or Grumeti River Camp would be ideally situated. The drive from the Ngorongoro to Western Serengeti will likely take 10 hours, so plan to spend a night or two in Central Serengeti then continue to Western Serengeti, and fly back to Arusha at the end of your trip.

Thanks so much for that, Aestuo. If I could bother you with a couple more quick questions...
Did you notice any particular difference in game density between the 3 camps?
Also, did any particular part of the northern/north-central Serengeti strike you as particularly scenic? For instance, were you able to visit the Lamai Wedge from Migration Camp? Or were you able to perhaps venture into the Grumeti area from the north-central camp?
I am planning a mobile through that area in July next year and am trying fiigure out the best areas to book the campsites.
Thanks again.

Hi there

This may seem like a strang question to you, but is your heart set on East Africa / Tanzania? The reason I am asking, is that there are other options you can consider with more favourable exchange rates, excellent game viewing and absolutely amazing places to stay.
Kind regards

Are you asking me, living4safari?
Yes, it's Tanzania's turn. I want to see the Crater and Migration. I've been to Southern Africa, if that's what you're referring to. Thanks!

>Did you notice any particular difference in game density between the 3 camps?

Well, game density was high everywhere - but the migration during that time was in the north serengeti so it was while at Migration Camp that we saw the large herds of wildebeest and zebra. But certainly there was no lack of game in any of the places in the serengeti we stayed. I'll go back and check my pictures from the trip to see what i saw in each place and try to get back to you with a further answer.

>Also, did any particular part of the northern/north-central Serengeti strike you as particularly scenic?

The far north serengeti is actually a really interesting place to visit - it is very different from the vast serengeti plains in central. A good part of it is woodland, which i totally didn't expect. Provides a nice variety to the scenic aspect of the trip. Only warning though is that the woodland = tse-tse flies! i got my butt kicked by them.

>For instance, were you able to visit the Lamai Wedge from Migration Camp? Or were you able to perhaps venture into the Grumeti area from the north-central camp?

So sorry, I'm not sure about the Lamai Wedge. In Central serengeti we ranged far (did some full day drives) but I am not exactly sure where...but there were animals of all kinds everywhere we went. Lots of lions while in central serengeti, i remember that for sure.

Thank you so much for getting back with me on this. Really surprised to hear about all the Tz tse-tses I'm reading about on this board. Didn't encounter a single one in the Mara when we were there & though I had heard about them in the Grumeti area, I had assumed that the Northern Serengeti wasn't plagued by them. Having been bitten by them in Katavi, I'm not eager to meet them again!
Your description has been extremely helpful - thanks so much for taking the time to write.

hi,
if you will have more time to spend in tanzania and also if you saved alot of money for safari, ok you will enjoy so much if you visit to lake manya np, ngorongoro np, serengeti np and tarangire. [email protected]