5 Days Serengeti Luxury Flying Safari: Neptune Serengeti

Picture Arusha Airport at first light. Your soft bag is checked, the small aircraft is boarding and the Serengeti is roughly an hour and a quarter away by air. By road it would take most of a day. We built this 5 day luxury Serengeti safari around skipping that road.

The volcanic highlands of northern Tanzania give way to open plains, and by the time you land at the Seronera airstrip you are already on safari. Your guide meets you and the drive to camp counts as your first game viewing. Then comes Neptune Serengeti Luxury Tented Camp, which opened in December 2025 and sits on a hill above the plains, with a 180 square metre tent waiting for you.

Early morning drives for lions and leopards. A sundowner set up on the plains. A bush breakfast with no other vehicle in sight. An afternoon at the Earth & Rain Spa when your back has had enough of the Land Cruiser seat.

This is a safari for travellers who want the Serengeti without the logistics, and who would rather spend their days looking at animals than looking out of a window on the way to them.

Serengeti National Park covers about 14,763 square kilometres of northern Tanzania. It was established in 1951 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. Grassland, kopjes (granite outcrops) and river woodland support lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and cheetah year-round, while the wildebeest and zebra herds of the wider Serengeti and Masai Mara ecosystem move through the park over the course of the year. Neptune Serengeti gives you a hilltop base with views across the plains. The flights give you more hours in the park than any road itinerary can.

Key Highlights

• Fly, don’t drive. The camp itself describes the road from Arusha as 7 to 10 hours and generally not recommended for short stays. The bush flight takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.
• Neptune Serengeti Luxury Tented Camp. Twenty tents of 180 square metres, each with a bedroom, a lounge, a panoramic terrace with sun loungers, 180 degree views and indoor and outdoor showers.
• Big Five game drives. Early morning and afternoon drives in Serengeti National Park in search of lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo.
• A bush sundowner on the plains. Day 3 closes with a set-up drink under the Serengeti sky.
• A private bush breakfast. Day 4 starts with a drive and ends with breakfast in the open bush.
• Earth & Rain Spa. Massages, facials and body treatments using wild honey, raw sugar, native plants and mineral-rich salts (optional, payable separately).
• Sunrise balloon safari. A champagne bush breakfast option, subject to availability and payable separately.
• Camp comforts. Pool, Acacia Dining restaurant, Blue Lion Bar and a premium all-inclusive style of service at the camp.
• A calm start in Arusha. One night at Arusha Coffee Lodge, about 10 minutes from the Arusha airstrip, before the bush flight.
• Zanzibar beach extension. Optioanl flight to Zanzibar, so the Serengeti can end on the Indian Ocean.

Practical Information

Best Time to Travel

The Serengeti works all year, and the Seronera valley in the central park is a year-round wildlife area. June to October is dry and sunny, with daytime temperatures up to about 30°C (86°F) and cooler mornings and evenings. This is peak season because animals gather around water and are easier to find. March to May is the wettest stretch, with cooler, cloudier and damper weather and a lush green landscape. November and December bring the short rains, with sporadic showers and a greener park.

Our view: if your dates are flexible, choose late June to October for the most predictable viewing. If they are not, the shoulder months still deliver. Wildebeest herds move through the year, and the camp notes that from November to December they typically head back towards the central Serengeti. We never promise where a herd will be on a given date.

Physical Requirements

This is an easy safari physically. You sit in a vehicle for most of the day, climb in and out of it, walk short distances on uneven ground and start early. The bush flights use small aircraft with steps, so you need to be able to board and move about the cabin unaided. The domestic carrier asks to be told in advance about passengers with reduced mobility. It also asks for a doctor’s certificate for pregnancies beyond 28 weeks. Tell us at enquiry stage and we will handle the paperwork.

Flight and Baggage Information

The scheduled bush flights have strict luggage rules because the aircraft holds are small. The limit is 15 kg (33 lb) per person in soft-sided bags, and that includes carry-on items of up to 5 kg. As a guideline, checked bags should be about 60 x 45 x 33 cm and hand luggage about 30 x 53 x 23 cm. Check-in is at Arusha Airport. Extra luggage can be carried by booking an additional freight seat in advance, which allows a further 75 kg, or on a space-available basis at USD 3 per kilo. Photography equipment should be flagged to us at booking.

Our advice is simple. Skip the hard suitcase for the bush leg and pack a soft duffel. We will send a packing guide once you book.

Wildlife and Game Viewing Expectations

Lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo are the Big Five animals you can reasonably hope to see in Serengeti National Park. Black rhino is present in the park but rarely seen, and we would not build your expectations around it. Wildlife is wild. Sightings depend on season, luck and the patience and skill of your guide, and no operator can guarantee a particular animal on a particular day. What we can do is put you in the park for more hours, which is exactly what the flights are for.

Getting to Camp

Neptune Serengeti names Seronera as the closest airstrip, and the domestic carrier lists the camp under its Seronera services. The camp quotes about 1 hour 15 minutes by safari vehicle from the airstrip to the tents. Some third-party listings put the drive closer to two hours, so we plan for up to two. The drive is slow because it doubles as a game drive, and you should treat it that way. We confirm the airstrip and transfer time with the camp when we issue your final documents.

Entry Requirements and Health

Most visitors need a Tanzanian e-visa, which is best obtained in advance, and your passport should be valid for at least six months from entry. A yellow fever certificate is required if you arrive from a country with a risk of yellow fever transmission. Speak to your doctor about malaria prevention and arrange travel insurance that includes medical evacuation. Requirements change, so check the official Tanzanian immigration and health pages for your nationality before you travel.