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Where to stay

The gateway town, 254 km out

Arusha before the Serengeti: fuel, permits, the long drive (2026)

Arusha is the safari capital of northern Tanzania and the seat of TANAPA, the authority that runs the Serengeti. Almost every road safari to the park starts here, and Arusha Airport is the hub for the light aircraft that fly into it. Most travellers spend a night here; self-drivers spend it stocking up.

If you only want the answer

Arusha is about 254 km and 6 to 7 hours from Naabi Hill Gate, through Karatu (139 km, the last reliable fuel) and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, whose $70.80 permit is paid at Lodoare Gate. Park fees are paid by Visa or Mastercard or mobile money, not cash, and an organised safari pays them for you. Arusha has TANAPA's head office on Dodoma Road and the Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre, the nearest hospital with an emergency department and intensive care.

Where Arusha sits on the road to the Serengeti

Arusha is the starting point for the northern circuit: Tarangire, Lake Manyara, the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti all lie west and south-west of it. Kilimanjaro International Airport, where most long-haul flights land, is 58 km and about an hour east; Arusha Airport (ARK), on the western edge of town, is where the scheduled bush flights to Seronera, Kogatende and the other airstrips leave from, mostly between 07:30 and 10:45.

If your safari is organised, this is where your operator collects you, and where the vehicle, the guide and the fees are sorted. If you are flying in, a night in Arusha between an international arrival at JRO and a morning departure from ARK is the safe pattern. If you are driving yourself, Arusha is where you hire the 4x4 and buy almost everything you will use in the park.

Fuel: fill in Arusha, top up in Karatu

Fuel is available in Arusha and on the road west. Karatu, 139 km from Arusha and 15 km short of the Ngorongoro gate, is the last reliable station before the park. Seronera has a fuel point, but self-drivers report that it is not always supplied and is dearer, and who runs it and when it opens is not published, so treat it as an emergency reserve only.

Carry enough for the whole circuit: Karatu to Naabi Hill is about 115 km, the park's own distances are long (Seronera to Kogatende alone is 128 km), and one Arusha hire firm fits its 4x4s with two 80-litre tanks for that reason. The FCDO warned on 6 October 2026 that service stations are infrequent and may have no fuel, and that widespread shortages were reported in the unrest after the 29 October 2025 election. Fill up whenever you can.

Cash, cards and how park fees are paid

TANAPA takes its fees through the government electronic payment gateway: online through its reservation system, by Visa or Mastercard at the gates, or by mobile money (M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money). No TANAPA document says cash is accepted, and one Arusha self-drive hire company states that it is not. Bring a card that works abroad, and check it before you leave town.

For everything else, Arusha's banks are where you draw shillings. The FCDO says most banks in the big towns have ATMs that take foreign debit cards, that they sometimes break down or run dry, and that you should use machines inside a bank to reduce the risk of card cloning. US dollars are widely accepted in tourist areas, which covers tips and lodge extras but not the gate.

On an organised safari none of this reaches you: the licensed operator pays every TANAPA and NCAA fee on your behalf.

Shops and provisioning for camping

There is no supermarket inside the Serengeti. Self-drivers and campers buy their food, water and gas in Arusha or, for the last items, in Karatu; inside the park only lodge shops sell sundries. Buy drinking water here as well: the public campsites have taps, but the water is for washing unless you treat it.

Plan for every night you will spend in the park plus a spare day, and bring recovery gear, a first-aid kit and your medicines from town. On the road west there is little after Arusha except Karatu, and nothing after Karatu.

TANAPA and the Ngorongoro authority in Arusha

Tanzania National Parks has its head office at the Mwalimu Nyerere Conservation Centre on Dodoma Road (PO Box 3134, Arusha), telephone +255 27 297 0404 or 0405, email info@tanzaniaparks.go.tz, WhatsApp +255 747 426 310. It also publishes the TanapaGo app and an online reservation and payment system for campsites and fees.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, whose land you cross on the way to the Serengeti, has an information office in Arusha (PO Box 776), telephone +255 734 160 014 or 015, and another in Karatu (+255 27 253 4068). The NCAA does not publish how a self-driver buys the permit; one hire company says it needs arranging in advance, so ask here before you set off.

For an operator, the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) keeps the list of licensed members. The FCDO's advice is to use only reputable operators and never to buy a safari from a tout.

Hospitals and vehicle repairs

Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre (ALMC) is a private hospital with an emergency department and urgent care, general and orthopaedic surgery, neurosurgery and an intensive care unit. Mount Meru Regional Referral Hospital, the government hospital, is on East African Street near the Arusha to Moshi road. The FCDO notes that medical facilities are limited outside Dar es Salaam, and serious cases from the Serengeti are flown out; the health page covers evacuation cover.

Arusha is also the base of the 4x4 hire firms, and the place to have a vehicle checked before the park. There are no roadside rescue or breakdown services in Tanzania (FCDO), so fix anything doubtful in town.

The drive from Arusha to Naabi Hill Gate

The road is paved for 139 km to Karatu, about 2.5 to 3.5 hours. Lodoare Gate, where the Ngorongoro Conservation Area begins and the NCAA permit is paid ($70.80 per non-resident adult, $47.20 for a foreign car under 2,000 kg), is 15 km further. From there about 100 km over the crater rim and across the plains, 3 to 4 hours on gravel, bring you to Naabi Hill Gate, about 254 km and 6 to 7 hours from Arusha. Seronera is 49 km beyond.

The Serengeti's gates open at 06:00 and close at 18:00, and serengeti.com advises arriving at a gate no later than 15:00. The NCAA permit is single entry and valid for 24 hours, so you cannot sleep on the crater rim on one permit and cross the plains on it the next afternoon. That is why operators usually spend a night in Karatu, enter the NCA early the next morning and cross to Naabi Hill well inside the 24 hours.

  • Leave Arusha early with full tanks, food, water and a working card.
  • Karatu, 139 km: last reliable fuel and the last shops.
  • Lodoare Gate, 154 km: pay the NCAA permit; the 24-hour clock starts.
  • Naabi Hill Gate, about 254 km: pay the TANAPA fee; $82.60 per adult per 24 hours from 16 May to 14 March.
  • Seronera, about 303 km: lodges, public campsites and the visitor centre.

Karatu: the last town before the park

Karatu, on the edge of the Ngorongoro highlands, is where road safaris usually spend the night before the Serengeti. It has fuel, small shops and many lodges, and it is 15 km from Lodoare Gate, close enough for an early start. Octagon Lodge, a small private lodge with self-catering family cottages, describes itself as twenty minutes from the NCA gate.

Several Karatu hotels named in older guides have lost their websites since, so book through a current site or your operator.

Mwanza: the western gateway

The Serengeti has a second gateway city on the other side. Mwanza, on Lake Victoria, is a full city with fuel and supermarkets and an airport with domestic jet services. From there the paved T4 runs 149 km to Ndabaka Gate, 2.5 to 3 hours, and a park track continues 135 to 145 km through the Western Corridor to Seronera. Auric Air also flies Mwanza to Seronera in the afternoon for $247, if four seats are sold.

The Mwanza route does not cross the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, so it saves both NCAA permits. Speke Bay Lodge, on the lake shore 15 km from Ndabaka Gate, is the obvious overnight stop on this side. Choose Mwanza if you are arriving from Lake Victoria or want the Western Corridor in June and July; choose Arusha for everything else.

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