Tanzania in a Week: Gibb's Farm, the Crater & the Eastern Serengeti

Gibb's Farm, the Crater & the Eastern Serengeti

Kilimanjaro • Ngorongoro Highlands • Eastern Serengeti
Duration: 7 Days

Overview

A shorter trip to northern Tanzania with just two bases, which keeps the cost and the packing down. Three nights at Gibb's Farm, a coffee farm and lodge on the forested slopes below the Ngorongoro Crater, give you a full day on the Crater floor and a slower day of forest walks and farm food. Then your guide drives you across the highlands into the Serengeti for three nights at Namiri Plains, a camp in the east of the park known for cheetah and lion.

You travel by road with your own guide and vehicle for the first part: about three hours from Kilimanjaro International Airport to Gibb's Farm, and a long day with game viewing from the highlands to the eastern Serengeti. At the end, you drive about two hours to Seronera airstrip and fly by light aircraft to Arusha or Kilimanjaro, with soft bags only and a limit of about 15 to 20 kg. The trip is built for October to mid-December. Rates at Namiri drop after the peak months, the short rains start to green the plains, and the herds usually move through the eastern Serengeti around November and December. The cats on the plains are resident all year.

Trip Highlights

A full day on the Ngorongoro Crater floor looking for black rhino and lion

A guided walk through the Ngorongoro forest to the elephant caves and a waterfall

Meals grown on the farm, and coffee roasted on site

The drive across the plains into the Serengeti, with game viewing all the way

Cheetah and lion on the short-grass plains around Namiri

Ideal For

First-time safari travelers on a shorter schedule • Couples • Families with children aged five and up • Photographers who want big cats

Preferred Properties

Ngorongoro highlands: Gibb's Farm

Eastern Serengeti: Namiri Plains

Day-By-Day Itinerary

Days 1–3: Ngorongoro Highlands & the Crater

Land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, where your guide meets you, and drive about three hours to Gibb's Farm near Karatu, on the outer slopes of the Ngorongoro Crater. If your flight lands late, I add a night in Arusha so you are not driving after dark. Day 2 is a full day on the Crater floor, about forty minutes from the lodge to the gate. Time down there is limited and vehicles pay a fee for each descent, so plan an early start and a picnic lunch on the floor. Day 3 is a slower day: a guided walk into the forest to the elephant caves, where elephants dig for mineral-rich soil, and on to a waterfall, then an afternoon at the spa or in the gardens.
Overnights: Gibb's Farm

Days 4–6: Eastern Serengeti

Leave after breakfast and drive up past the Crater rim, down onto the plains and into the Serengeti, game viewing on the way and stopping for a picnic lunch. It is a full day, and you reach Namiri Plains on the Ngare Nanyuki River in time for sundowners. Your guide hands over to the camp's guides here. Spend two full days on twice-daily game drives on the short-grass plains, where cheetah and lion are seen often and leopard, caracal and serval less often. In November and December, the herds usually pass through. Walks run until mid-February for guests aged 12 and over, and need to be booked ahead.
Overnights: Namiri Plains

Day 7: Depart

Drive about two hours to Seronera airstrip and fly by light aircraft to Arusha or Kilimanjaro to connect to your international flight. If you have more time, fly to Zanzibar instead for a few days on the beach.