7 Days Tanzania Flying Safari

Your safari begins with a scenic drive from Arusha to Tarangire National Park, winding through Tanzania’s countryside. Arrive at your luxury camp positioned perfectly for wildlife viewing, then head out for your first game drive. Tarangire reveals itself gradually, ancient baobabs rising like sentinels, elephant herds gathering along the Tarangire River, lions lounging in dappled shade. The park feels intimate compared to the Serengeti’s vastness, which makes it the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s wildlife. Tonight, fall asleep to the sounds of the African bush.

A full day devoted to Tarangire means experiencing the park at different times, in different lights, catching various wildlife rhythms. Dawn game drives when predators are active and elephants are most animated. Mid-morning watching giraffes browse treetops and pythons coiled in acacia branches. Return to camp for lunch and the heat of the day, perhaps spotting wildlife from your tent’s deck.

Afternoon drives bring discoveries; over 550 bird species make Tarangire a birdwatcher’s paradise. Elephants return to the river in numbers that can reach several hundred during the dry season, creating Africa’s greatest elephant concentrations outside Chobe. Watch family dynamics play out, see protective matriarchs guiding babies, and witness massive bulls with tusks that nearly touch the ground. Tarangire’s magic lies in these intimate encounters.

After a morning game drive, squeezing final Tarangire moments, you’re airstrip-bound for your flight to the Serengeti. This is where the flying safari concept truly shines. As your small aircraft lifts off, Tarangire’s baobabs become toys below. You fly over Maasai lands dotted with bomas, cross the Ngorongoro highlands with crater rim visible, then suddenly the Serengeti spreads beneath you—endless plains that seem to stretch to the horizon’s very edge.

Touch down at a remote airstrip where the only buildings are a small shelter and your waiting vehicle. Within minutes of landing, you’re on your first Serengeti game drive, the transition from air to ground seamless. The Serengeti announces itself immediately—the scale, the wildlife, the feeling that you’ve arrived somewhere truly legendary. Your luxury tented camp tonight sits in the heart of the action, positioned for optimal game viewing.

An entire day to immerse yourself in the world’s most famous national park. The Serengeti operates on a scale that rewrites your understanding of wild places. Dawn brings game drives when lions hunt, and the light is impossibly beautiful. You might witness a kill, find leopards in fever trees, or watch cheetahs teaching cubs to hunt.

If you’re visiting between June and October, the Great Migration dominates—millions of wildebeest and zebras moving as one living entity. But the Serengeti delivers any time of year. The resident wildlife alone makes it world-class—lion prides, elephant herds, hippo pools packed like subway cars, crocodiles lurking in every river. The diversity is staggering, the landscapes epic, the game viewing consistently extraordinary. Every drive reveals new dramas, new interactions, new moments that make you grateful for the camera in your hands.

Morning game drive captures the Serengeti’s golden hour, then it’s back to the airstrip. Your flight to the Ngorongoro highlands offers completely different scenery—the plains give way to volcanic peaks, forests appear, and suddenly you’re circling above the crater rim. The aerial view of Ngorongoro Crater is breathtaking—this massive caldera appearing impossibly perfect from above, its floor dotted with wildlife you can actually see from the air.

Land at a highland airstrip and transfer to your lodge positioned on the crater rim. The views from here are legendary—looking down 2,000 feet into what many call Africa’s Garden of Eden. Afternoon is yours to relax and absorb where you are, perhaps with sundowners watching the crater floor glow in evening light. Tomorrow you’ll descend into it.

Dawn finds you descending the crater walls on a road that switchbacks dramatically into this ancient caldera. The crater floor supports over 25,000 large animals in just 100 square miles—the most concentrated game viewing anywhere in Africa. Black rhinos graze peacefully, critically endangered elsewhere but thriving here. Lions patrol in impressive numbers. Elephants here are massive bulls with magnificent tusks.

Everything is visible against the crater walls rising on all sides like natural stadium seating. Watch predator-prey dynamics unfold. Spot flamingos painting Lake Magadi pink. See hyena clans, golden jackals, buffaloes, zebras, and wildebeest all sharing this paradise. The concentration of wildlife makes every moment productive—there’s always something happening, always something to watch. Lunch at a picnic site inside the crater means hippos grazing nearby and marabou storks hoping for scraps.

Afternoon continues the spectacle until it’s time to ascend back to the rim. Your final night overlooks the crater as the sun sets, painting the caldera in gold and shadow. It’s a fitting finale to your flying safari’s wildlife viewing.

Your final morning might bring one last swim, a beach walk collecting shells, or simply watching the sunrise paint the ocean in pastels. After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight home. You’ll leave with a camera full of images—elephants and turquoise waters, lions and palm trees, sunsets over both savannah and sea.