This 4-day Budget Tanzania Safari explores three of Tanzania's best wildlife parks. First, you'll travel to Lake Mayara, then Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Crater, all of which are located on the Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit.

Our Tanzania Camping Safari starts with a short tour briefing in Arusha before we set off west to Lake Manyara National Park. Our first Tanzania safari destination, this compact national park is one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in Tanzania. Our drive takes us through the scenic landscapes of northern Tanzania, via the diverse village of Mto wa Mbu, into the Great Rift Valley.

This afternoon we embark on the first wildlife adventure of our Tanzania Safari. We explore the beautiful Lake Manyara Park on a 4x4 game drive, enjoying the stunning scenery and spotting wildlife. This national park lies in the Great Rift Valley, along the base of the steep Rift Valley escarpment, incorporating shallow soda lake and woodland areas. Our game drive is conducted in an open-topped safari vehicle, ideal for wildlife and bird watching. The diverse national park is dominated by Lake Manyara, an alkaline Great Rift Valley lake. Lake Manyara attracts a wide variety of waterbirds with over 400 bird species recorded here. Sightings include migrant species and water birds, such as cormorants, geese, pelicans, and storks. In some seasons, flamingoes flock to the lake in the thousands.

Lake Mayara National Park is famous for its tree-climbing lions, massive baboon troops, and abundance of elephants, including big bull elephants with impressive tusks. Other animals that we might come across include buffalos, cheetahs, wildebeest, zebras, Masai giraffes, hippos, monkeys, and various antelope species. There are also plenty of warthogs, hippos, mongooses, monkeys, and some elusive leopards.

In the late afternoon, we leave lovely Lake Manyara and drive to our first overnight camp in the village of Mto wa Mbu.

• Meals: Lunch; Dinner
• Travel: 140 km (about 2-3 hours)

Day two begins with breakfast at our camp in Mto wa Mbu. Then our Tanzania Safari travels to Serengeti National Park via the highlands of Tanzania.

At about noon we enter Tanzania's top wildlife park and get our first taste of the legendary Serengeti Plains. Tanzania's largest and most famous national park, the Serengeti National Park is often rated as the best safari destination in Africa. This diverse wildlife park hosts prolific animal life throughout the year. It incorporates a diversity of vegetation zones, habitats, and landscapes in northern Tanzania, bordering Masai Mara in Kenya. En route to our camp, we drive through some of the many habitats of Serengeti, which range from grassy plains and savannahs to dense scrub, wetlands, and lakes. You'll see the strange rocky outcrops (known as kopjes) dotting the open plains where wildlife abounds.

Depending on the time of year you may witness the Great Migration in Serengeti National Park. This world-famous wildlife spectacle sees thousands of herbivores move between Serengeti and Masai Mara every year. If you are on safari during the short rainy season in November and December you may see the herds migrating from the northern hills to the southern plains. This movement of the herds depends on the rainfall in any given year and thus both the exact locations and the timing of the migration varies. Your experienced guide takes you to the best places in Serengeti to see wildlife at the time of your safari, ensuring that you get the most out of your time, whether or not you catch the migration.

Tonight we camp in central Serengeti, a region renowned for its big cat sightings and abundant wildlife.

• Meals: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
• Travel: 200 km (about 4-6 hours)

On day three of our Budget Tanzania Safari, we venture back out into Serengeti on a thrilling early morning game drive. Witness a serene sunrise over the wide Serengeti Plains while we watch wildlife roaming the bush in the early morning light.

In the Seronera region of central Serengeti herds of wildebeest, zebras, and other grazers are often seen nearby prowling predators. With luck, we may spot lions, cheetahs, and even leopards while in Serengeti National Park.

After our rewarding game drive, we return to our campsite for a hearty breakfast. Then we make our way out of Serengeti, scanning the plains for wildlife as we go. Leaving the magnificent Serengeti Plains we drive up into the highlands and our final Tanzania safari destination, the famous Ngorongoro Crater. This afternoon we reach the crater rim and survey the spectacular scenery. Then we settle in at our camp on the rim of Ngorongoro Crater, soaking up the views of this 600 m deep caldera (unflooded volcano) as the sun sets.

• Meals: Breakfast; Lunch; Dinner
• Travel: 140 km (about 3-5 hours)

On the last day, we have an early breakfast at our camp overlooking the crater. Then we drive down into the famous Ngorongoro Crater for the final 4x4 wildlife adventure of our Budget Tanzania Safari. The forests of the steep crater slopes soon give way to acacia-studded savannahs teeming with wildlife. You will quickly see why the Ngorongoro Crater is known as Africa's Garden of Eden.

Ngorongoro is part of the Serengeti ecosystem, teeming with African wildlife. It is a massive caldera spanning an impressive 18 km in diameter with walls as high as 600m. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the densest mammalian population in Africa, with around 25,000 large animals. The diverse habitats found on the fertile crater floor support a wide variety of wildlife, including elephants, monkeys, hyenas, jackals, hippos, and herds of zebra, wildebeest, buffalo, and other antelope species.

The Ngorongoro Crater hosts the Big 5 of Africa, boasting one of the highest concentrations of lions in the world. Almost all of the wild animal species found on the savannahs of East Africa are represented in this compact crater. Ngorongoro Crater offers world-class game viewing and is considered one of the best places to capture the endangered black rhino on film

After an action-packed morning of game viewing, we stop for a picnic lunch in the Ngorongoro Crater. Then we ascend the steep crater walls and leave the cool highlands behind. We travel back to Arusha where this affordable Tanzania camping safari started. En route we drive through the Great Rift Valley, known for its beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife, stretching over 6000 km north to south from Syria to Mozambique in Southern Africa.

In the early evening, we arrive back in Arusha, where this unforgettable journey on the Northern Tanzania Safari Circuit ends.

• Meals: Breakfast; Lunch
• Travel: 190 km (about 3-4 hours)