From the traveltalk.dk family – started in Denmark in 2018
Read in: Dansk (original)
Safari parks in Tanzania: where to start
One of the best ways to experience Tanzania’s safari parks is to choose the type of safari that suits what you are looking for.
The word safari covers several different experiences, and the choice between them determines how close you get to the animals and how much of the landscape you see.
In the Safari parks in Tanzania the classic vehicle safari is the most widespread. You sit in an open-sided vehicle with a roof, often with a local guide at the wheel, and drive along the set routes within the parks. It is the best way to cover large distances and see many species in a single day, but you are confined to roads and tracks, and the vehicle keeps a certain distance from the animals.
Walking safaris with a ranger take place in areas where this is permitted, typically outside the core zones of the large national parks. Here you go on foot with an armed ranger and learn to read tracks, plants and sounds. The experience is slower and more immersive, but you rarely see the big herds. It suits those who are more interested in ecology and detail than in ticking off a list of animals.
Whichever type of safari you choose, Tanzania’s safari parks will give you unforgettable experiences and insight into its wildlife.
A balloon safari offers the big picture. The balloon lifts off before sunrise, and you drift above the savannah while the animals move below. It is an expensive and brief experience, and it suits travellers who want the iconic image and do not mind getting up early.
Mobile tented safaris move the camp from place to place with the seasons and the animals’ migrations. You sleep in tents with en-suite bathrooms and have closer contact with nature at night. It requires patience and rustic comfort, but it is particularly appealing to those who want to follow the migration closely.
A day on safari
The day begins before sunrise. Your guide collects you from the camp in the dark, and it is often cold in the vehicle, especially in the highlands. An early departure means the animals are at their most active, and that you are out before the large herds gather at the waterholes and the other vehicles arrive.
The morning is spent driving around the park’s areas. There is usually no fixed plan beyond following whatever the guide has seen and heard over the radio from other guides. You may experience long waits by a predator lying still, and brief, intense moments when something moves.
Lunch is taken back at the camp, often between noon and early afternoon, when the heat is at its strongest. Many lodges have a break during which you can rest, read or swim in the pool. It is a good time to nap, as the evening can run late.
The afternoon and evening safari follow the same pattern as the morning, but the light changes the picture. Towards sunset the colours grow warmer, and predators often become more active. You are normally back at the camp before darkness falls completely, as driving in the parks after sunset is not permitted.
Camps and lodges
The price of an overnight stay in Tanzania reflects more than comfort. It also says something about where the camp is located, how many guests it has, and how much of the money stays in the local area.
Budget campsites are simple. You get a pitch for your own tent, access to shared toilets and showers and often a campfire in the evening. You must bring your own equipment, and there is no service beyond the basics. This can be a good option if you are travelling with your own vehicle and have camping experience, but campsites are often further from the best wildlife areas.
Mid-range lodges offer permanent tents or cabins with a bed, an en-suite bathroom and meals in a shared dining area. The staff are typically well trained, and the service is reasonable without being lavish. For most travellers this is a sensible choice, offering good comfort and close access to the park.
Luxury camps are often in smaller and more secluded areas and host only a few guests at a time. You get larger tents or villas, personal service, more refined food and often a guide who is assigned only to your group. The price is high, but it also covers a more private experience and fewer vehicles at each animal sighting.
Check carefully what is included. Park fees, drinks, and transport and activity charges are not always part of the advertised price.
Visas, health and getting around
For visas, health precautions and advice on getting around Tanzania and the wider region, see the Traveltalk guide at https://traveltalk.travel/travel-to-africa-guide/.
How the main parks differ
The Serengeti is the best-known park and the setting for the migration. Its scale is vast and its open grassland makes wildlife easy to see, but it is also the most visited, and at the most popular spots in the peak months the vehicles can gather in numbers. Those wanting space and quiet often look further afield.
Ngorongoro is a conservation area rather than a national park, and it contains the crater, an enclosed caldera where animals live year-round. It is compact, rich in wildlife and easy to reach from the northern circuit, but the crater floor can be crowded, and the rim is often cloudy in the early morning.
Tarangire is known for its large elephant herds and for its baobab trees. It is smaller than the Serengeti, and the wildlife concentrates around the Tarangire River in the dry months, when it is especially good for birds and elephants.
Ruaha is one of the largest parks in the country and is much less visited. It is remote, with rugged scenery and strong populations of predators and sable antelope. Access is harder, and the camps are fewer, so it suits travellers willing to trade ease for solitude.
Selous, now usually called Nyerere National Park, is the largest protected area in the country and is best known for its rivers and boat safaris. It is far from the northern circuit and has a quieter character, with a wider mix of habitats and fewer vehicles.
For most first-time visitors the northern circuit offers the most straightforward introduction, but the other parks reward those who want something less busy.
Approximate costs
Prices in Tanzania vary considerably with the season, the area, the number of guests and what is included, so the figures below should be seen as a rough starting point rather than a quote. Always check current prices directly with the camp or operator.
A vehicle safari in a shared vehicle is typically the cheapest form, while a private vehicle with your own guide costs markedly more. Walking safaris with a ranger and balloon safaris generally sit in a different price bracket, with the balloon being the most expensive of the common options.
Park fees are a fixed expense, typically charged per day and per person, and they are higher for foreigners than for locals. The fee for the large national parks is considerably greater than for smaller reserves, and there may be separate charges for the vehicle and the guide.
Camp types follow the same pattern as before: campsites are cheapest, mid-range lodges sit in the middle, and luxury camps are clearly the most expensive category, often with rates per person per night several times higher than in the mid-range. Always ask whether meals, drinks and activities are included.
Indicative price ranges per person
As a rough guide only, a shared vehicle safari for a day tends to cost noticeably less than a private vehicle with your own guide, and a balloon flight sits well above both. Walking safaris with a ranger fall somewhere between the two. Park entry fees are charged separately and are higher for non-residents, with the large national parks costing more than smaller reserves.
For accommodation, campsites are the cheapest option, mid-range lodges sit in the middle, and luxury camps cost several times the mid-range rate per person per night. Within each category, the difference between one camp and another can be considerable, depending on location, season and what is included.
Figures change frequently with exchange rates, seasonal demand and operator policy, so any numbers given in a guide like this will quickly become out of date. They should be read only as a sense of relative cost. Check current prices directly with each camp or operator.
Ask in advance what is included, particularly meals, drinks, park fees, vehicle and guide charges, and any activity costs. Advertised rates often leave some of these out.
Local guides and communities
Most guides in Tanzania have completed a formal training programme at state or private educational institutions and have passed examinations in natural sciences, first aid and safety. Many grew up near the parks, and it is often there that their knowledge of tracks, behaviour and the changing seasons comes from.
The communities around the parks experience both benefits and drawbacks. Tourism creates jobs in lodges, transport and crafts, but it also generates conflict when animals wander onto cultivated fields or when access to grazing land is restricted. Some camps deliberately work to spread the income more widely, including through local purchasing and support for schools.
Maasai communities have lived in the area for generations, and their grazing has long been part of the ecosystem. There has been much debate about how they can live alongside wildlife conservation, and several projects are trying to find the balance. As a traveller, it is worth asking how a visit actually benefits local people, and whether it has been arranged with the proper authorities and local leaders.
Wildlife conservation is not only a question of park boundaries. It also concerns who has the right to use the land, and who pays the price when animals go beyond the fence.
Operators working in Tanzania
Asilia Africa runs lodges and mobile camps across the northern and southern parks of Tanzania.
Nomad Tanzania is a Tanzanian operator running mobile tented camps and vehicle safaris in the northern circuit.
&Beyond is a South African-based luxury safari operator with lodges in Tanzania’s northern parks.
If your company is happy for us to link to it directly, let us know.
Who takes you there
Asilia Africa runs lodges and mobile camps across the northern and southern parks of Tanzania, and it is a Tanzanian company.
Nomad Tanzania is a Tanzanian safari operator. It runs mobile tented camps and vehicle safaris in the northern circuit.
&Beyond is a South African-based luxury safari operator with lodges in Tanzania’s northern parks.
If your company is happy for us to link to it directly, let us know.
Guides: training, licensing and what they know
Safari guides in Tanzania are not all the same. Those who work inside the national parks usually hold a licence issued under the country’s tourism regulations, and many have completed a formal course at a training college. The courses cover natural history, the behaviour of the main species, first aid and vehicle and walking safety. Some guides go on to specialise as birders, as walking-safari rangers, or in the particular habitats of one park.
What a guide knows is usually built over years rather than taught in a classroom. Many grew up in villages on the park edge and learned to read tracks, alarm calls and the habits of particular prides or herds as children. Good guides also share information with one another over the radio, which is why a guide who has spent a season in one area can often find a leopard faster than a newcomer with better equipment.
It is reasonable to ask a camp or operator how long its guides have worked in the park and whether they hold the relevant national licence. Ask, too, what they are best at. Some are strong on predators, others on birds or on the plants and insects that most visitors overlook.
For general practical matters such as visas, health precautions and getting around the country, the Traveltalk Africa guide is a useful companion to this article.
When the wildlife is best
The Serengeti migration follows the rain, so there is no single month that suits everyone. Wildebeest and zebra move towards fresh grazing, and their location shifts from year to year. It is a good idea to confirm with your operator which part of the park lies in the period you are travelling, rather than relying on a fixed calendar.
The rainy season makes the animals harder to see. Tall grass hides both predators and prey, and roads can become impassable. Many lodges in the southern and western areas close or have fewer guests during the wettest periods. In return, the landscape is green, birdlife is rich, and there are few other visitors.
In the dry season the animals gather around the few waterholes, which makes them easier to find. Predators often follow the herds, so there is a good chance of seeing them hunting. Visibility is better, but the dust can be bothersome, and the popular spots become busier.
The Ngorongoro Crater is different, because it is an enclosed bowl where the animals live year-round. Here the rainy season matters less for spotting wildlife, but visibility beneath the clouds can vary greatly from morning to afternoon. Early mornings are often the clearest.
Planning around the Serengeti migration
The migration is a loop rather than a fixed route, and its position in any given month changes from year to year. The broad pattern is that the herds spend the early part of the year in the southern plains, where they calve in the short-grass country, and then move north and west through the middle of the year towards the rivers and grazing of the western corridor. Later in the year they shift back towards the south and east as the rains return. Treat this as a general guide rather than a timetable.
In the first months of the year, the southern plains are the place to look, with calving herds and the predators that follow them. From around the middle of the year, the herds are often in the north and west, where the river crossings draw the most attention. Late in the year the movement tends to swing back towards the central and eastern areas.
Because the timing depends on rainfall and grazing, the only reliable way to plan is to ask your operator where the herds were in the most recent weeks and what they expect in the period you are travelling. A camp in one corner of the park can be a long drive from the herds in another.
Build some flexibility into the itinerary, and do not treat a single river crossing as guaranteed.