5 Days Ndutu Calving Season Migration Safari (December–March)

Overview

Highlights

• ✦Three nights in Ndutu (southern Serengeti) calving country
• ✦Off-road driving permitted in Ndutu for close approach
• ✦Up to 8,000 wildebeest calves born per day at peak
• ✦Highest cheetah-kill density of the year
• ✦Full day inside the Ngorongoro Crater
• ✦Premium tented camps in Ndutu

Day-by-day itinerary

1. 1

   Arusha → Ngorongoro rim

   Arusha → Ngorongoro

   After breakfast and a morning Serengeti game drive en route, climb back up the escarpment to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Lunch at your lodge perched on the crater rim, with vertiginous views into the world's largest unbroken volcanic caldera — 19 kilometers wide, 600 meters deep. Afternoon at leisure to enjoy the lodge facilities and acclimatize to the cooler high-altitude air. Optional walking tour to a Maasai village inside the conservation area — uniquely, the Maasai still live and graze cattle within Ngorongoro alongside the wildlife. Sundowners on the rim as the crater fills with mist below you. Dinner and overnight at your crater rim lodge — the night cold and crisp at 2,400 meters elevation.

   Meals: L, D · Stay: Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge

2. 2

   Ngorongoro → Ndutu

   Ngorongoro → Ndutu

   After breakfast on the crater rim, descend the western escarpment and continue across the Ngorongoro highlands and onto the Ndutu plains. Lunch at your camp, then an afternoon game drive across the short-grass plains where the wildebeest herds are gathered. Watch for newborn calves taking their first wobbly steps and the predators that follow. Sundowners under an acacia and dinner in camp.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Lake Masek Tented Camp or Ndutu Safari Lodge

3. 3

   Ndutu — full calving day

   Ndutu

   A full day exploring the Ndutu region of the southern Serengeti — short-grass plains country and the calving grounds of the great migration. From January to March, over 500,000 wildebeest gather here and around 8,000 calves are born every day for two to three weeks. The predator action is unrelenting: cheetah and lion target newborn calves, hyena clans patrol the edges of the herds, and the air is thick with vultures. Your guide will track the densest concentrations of calves and the predators that follow them. Off-road driving is permitted in Ndutu, which means up-close encounters at kills, mating pairs, and family groups. Picnic lunch under an acacia. Dinner at your Ndutu camp under the cathedral of southern stars.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Same as Day 2

4. 4

   Ndutu — second calving day

   Ndutu

   A full day exploring the Ndutu region of the southern Serengeti — short-grass plains country and the calving grounds of the great migration. From January to March, over 500,000 wildebeest gather here and around 8,000 calves are born every day for two to three weeks. The predator action is unrelenting: cheetah and lion target newborn calves, hyena clans patrol the edges of the herds, and the air is thick with vultures. Your guide will track the densest concentrations of calves and the predators that follow them. Off-road driving is permitted in Ndutu, which means up-close encounters at kills, mating pairs, and family groups. Picnic lunch under an acacia. Dinner at your Ndutu camp under the cathedral of southern stars.

   Meals: B, L, D · Stay: Same as Day 2

5. 5

   Ndutu → Ngorongoro Crater → Arusha

   Ndutu → Arusha

   A pre-dawn breakfast and an early descent into the Ngorongoro Crater — Africa's Eden. The crater floor supports one of the highest concentrations of large mammals on Earth: lion prides, the densest population of spotted hyena anywhere, an estimated 30 black rhino, vast herds of wildebeest and zebra, hippo pools, flamingos on Lake Magadi, eland, gazelle, and Cape buffalo. The crater is a self-contained ecosystem and the wildlife rarely leaves. Spend the entire day on game drive, with a picnic lunch at the Ngoitokitok Springs hippo pool. Late afternoon, climb back up the crater wall to your lodge for dinner. For most travelers, the crater day is the single most memorable of any Tanzania safari. An optional morning game drive on the crater rim or Lake Manyara if time permits, then descend to Karatu for a coffee-plantation visit en route. Continue across the Manyara escarpment and back to Arusha, arriving mid-afternoon. Drop-off at your Arusha hotel, Kilimanjaro International for international flights, or transfer onward to a Zanzibar flight. Hot lunch en route. End of safari — and we hope the start of a long love affair with Tanzania.

   Meals: B, L · Stay: N/A (departure)

What to bring

• • Lightweight neutral-color clothing (khaki, olive, beige)
• • Warm fleece for cool early morning game drives
• • Sun hat and sunglasses with UV protection
• • High-SPF sunscreen and lip balm
• • Insect repellent (DEET)
• • Comfortable walking shoes and sandals
• • Swimsuit for lodge pools
• • Binoculars (8x42 ideal for safari)
• • Camera with telephoto lens (200mm+)
• • Spare batteries, memory cards, power bank
• • Refillable water bottle
• • Anti-malarial prophylaxis (consult your doctor)
• • Yellow-fever certificate (required if arriving from yellow-fever zones)

Frequently asked questions