NDUTU, NGORONGORO & TARANGIRE
MARCH 14-24, 2026
A comfortable nature and photography tour, visiting luxury hotels and lodges. Experience unique Ndutu, the famous Ngorongoro Crater, and Tarangire National Park, known for its high density of elephant.
PROGRAM
Day 1, March 14: Departure from Schiphol Airport, direct flight to Arusha, Tanzania
Day 2, March 15: To Ndutu
Day 3, March 16: Game drives in Ndutu
Day 4, March 17: Game drives in Ndutu
Day 5, March 18: Game drives in Ndutu
Day 6, March 19: Game drives in Ndutu
Day 7, March 20: Morning game drive in Ndutu, afternoon game drive to Ngorongoro
Day 8, March 21: Full day in Ngorongoro Crater
Day 9, March 22: To Tarangire, afternoon game drive
Day 10, March 23: Morning game drive in Tarangire, evening flight to Schiphol
Day 11, March 24: Arrival at Schiphol Airport early in the morning.
UNIQUE
Ndutu is essentially a small piece of the Serengeti National Park within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. While in the Serengeti, you must stay on the tracks, off-road driving is permitted in Ndutu. You can get up close to the animals, including cheetah, lion, leopard, wildebeest, giraffe, and elephant, and watch them close-up.
Also unique is the Ndutu Safari Lodge, a small-scale lodge near the former camp of the famous filmmaker Hugo van Lawick, a truly fantastic location!

PRICE INDICATION
The price is not yet fixed; it also depends on the number of participants. Currently, I’m assuming it will cost approximately € 5,000, excluding airfare from Amsterdam to Arusha. Return flights start at € 1,235.
NDUTU, NGORONGORO & TARANGIRE
Ndutu
The Ndutu region is an area in northern Tanzania on the border of Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It consists of vast grasslands, low-lying open acacia woodland, and the alkaline Lake Ndutu, known for its flamingos. The Ndutu Safari Lodge is situated on the lake’s shores.
The open grasslands of Ndutu are the breeding ground for almost all wildebeest calves that participate in the great migration. Calves are born from January to April, primarily in the surrounding open grasslands. Hundreds of thousands of wildebeest calves are born in just a few weeks. Many zebras and gazelles are also born here. After rainfall, the short grass of these grasslands is of great importance to wildebeest.
The area is home to abundant wildlife year-round, including cats such as lion, cheetah, leopard, serval, caracal, and African wildcat. Hyenas and jackals are also plentiful.Elephant, giraffe, buffalo, and various antelope species can also be seen.
With luck, you might see wildebeest crossing Lake Ndutu. Sometimes, the striped hyena can be seen along the lakeshore.


See:
TANZANIA, THE WILD PARADISE, my article about Ndutu in National Geographic Traveler.
NDUTU, SECRET SERENGETI, about the area and my love for Ndutu.
TANZANIA, WILDLIFE & NATURE, photos of Tanzania, wildlife, and lodges. Serengeti, Ngorongoro, and especially Ndutu.
Ngorongoro Crater
I don’t need to write much about this; it’s world famous! The crater has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979.
The largest intact caldera in the world. At an altitude of 2,200 meters, with a diameter of over 20 kilometers, it is home to approximately 25,000 large mammals, with a maximum population of up to 500,000. It has a high density of lions, hyenas, buffalo, wildebeest, and zebras. You can also see eland, hippos, and elephants. The icing on the cake is the black rhino. There are approximately thirty of them.
Tarangire National Park
Known and famous for its high density of elephants—among the highest in Africa—and its large, ancient baobab trees. It features an uneven landscape, bisected by the Tarangire River.
The park is located near the turnoff from Arusha to Ngorongoro, Serengeti, and Ndutu. It is therefore easy to visit on the way there or back. Returning is more convenient, as this gives us time for a game drive on the last morning.
See TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK.

ACCOMMODATIONS
Ndutu Safari Lodge
See the website of the Ndutu Safari Lodge NDUTU SAFARI LODGE, featuring many of my photos, taken during the eight days I spent in Ndutu and Ngorongoro in 2015 for National Geographic Traveler (Dutch edition). The header on the homepage—elephants in the Ngorongoro Crater—is also mine.
All the photos in the gallery, including the mirrored zebras, are mine, including the header (lion); see GALLERY NDUTU SAFARI LODGE.
This is the lodge from which Hugo van Lawick and Jane Goodall (then married) collaborated on films and publications in the late 1960s.
This classic safari lodge is located on the edge of Lake Ndutu, is small and cozy. Once you’ve been, you’ll want to go back!
Ngorongoro Rim Lodge
Brand new lodge, only opened in July of this year, overlooking the crater.
See NGORONGORO RIM LODGE.
Located on the eastern side of the crater, with beautiful, quick, and easy access.
Tarangire Safari Lodge
Beautifully situated lodge with luxurious tents and private stone bathrooms. Overlooking the Tarangire River, where elephants often cross around lunchtime.
See TARANGIRE SAFARI LODGE. The header photo on the homepage shows the river view from the lodge grounds, just outside the tents. The same applies to the photo at the top of this page.
INFORMATION AND CONTACT
Interested? EMAIL me for more information.