3-Day Lake Eyasi Cultural & Ngorongoro Crater Safari
A 3-day cultural safari from Arusha: meet the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers and Datoga blacksmiths at Lake Eyasi, then spend a day on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater.
This short safari joins two very different sides of northern Tanzania. At Lake Eyasi you spend time with the Hadzabe, one of Africa's last hunter-gatherer peoples, and with their Datoga neighbours, pastoralists known for their metalwork. The next day you descend into the Ngorongoro Crater, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the best places in Africa to see black rhino, lion and elephant in a single day. It fits neatly before or after a longer safari, a Kilimanjaro climb or a beach holiday in Zanzibar.
Highlights
- A morning with the Hadzabe hunter-gatherers at Lake Eyasi
- Visit a Datoga family and their blacksmiths
- A full game drive on the Ngorongoro Crater floor
- Black rhino, lion, elephant and flamingos in one day
- Airport transfers included, easy to add to any other trip
Your guide meets you at Kilimanjaro International Airport and drives you to Arusha, about an hour away at the foot of Mount Meru. The rest of the day is yours to rest after the flight. In the evening your guide joins you to talk through the next two days.
Meals: Dinner. Overnight: hotel in Arusha.
After an early breakfast you drive west through the Rift Valley and Karatu to Lake Eyasi, a long soda lake below the Eyasi escarpment, about four hours with stops. A local guide introduces you to the Hadzabe, one of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in Africa. You walk with them through the bush as they track game, forage for roots, berries and wild honey, and show you how they make and shoot their bows. Later you visit a Datoga family, pastoralists and skilled blacksmiths who turn scrap metal into arrowheads and jewellery. In the late afternoon you drive up to your lodge in the green highlands around Karatu.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. Overnight: lodge in Karatu.
After an early breakfast you drive up to the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and descend about 600 metres to the crater floor for a game drive. The open grassland makes wildlife easy to see: black rhino, lion, elephant, buffalo, hyena and jackal, with flamingos on the soda lake. Lunch is a picnic on the crater floor. In the afternoon you climb out of the crater and drive back to Arusha or straight to Kilimanjaro International Airport for your flight home.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.
Price Per Person Sharing, By Season
| Season | 1 Guest | 2 Guests | 3 Guests | 4 Guests | 5 Guests | 6 Guests |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low SeasonApril – May | On request | On request | $906 | $822 | $773 | $740 |
| High SeasonJune – March | On request | On request | $1,002 | $919 | $870 | $836 |
Price per person sharing in US dollars. Single room supplement: $86 in Low Season, $127 in High Season. Solo travellers, couples and groups of 7 or more receive a personal quote on request.
Includes
- Private 4x4 safari vehicle with pop-up roof
- Professional English-speaking driver-guide
- Local guide and cultural visit fees at Lake Eyasi
- Ngorongoro conservation and crater fees
- 2 nights' accommodation (Arusha and Karatu)
- Meals as listed in the itinerary
- Drinking water, tea and coffee throughout
- Arrival and departure airport transfers
Excludes
- International flights
- Tanzania visa fees
- Travel insurance
- Tips for the guides
- Drinks, laundry and personal expenses
- Tanzania's compulsory inbound travel insurance for foreign visitors (44 US dollars per person, from 1 October 2026)
- Any government increase in park fees or taxes after booking
