The Heart of African Safari
Safaris in Tanzania
Tanzania is the complete safari country, home to the Serengeti's Great Migration, the wildlife-packed Ngorongoro Crater, elephant-rich Tarangire and Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. No other destination combines so many icons in one journey, and as a Tanzanian-owned company this is the land we know street by street and track by track.
Best time to go
Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Jan · Feb
Climate
Warm year-round. Dry seasons June to October and January to February; long rains April to May, short rains in November. Cooler on the crater highlands and Kilimanjaro slopes.
Currency
TZS
Languages
Swahili, English
The country
About Tanzania
Tanzania is the complete safari country, home to the Serengeti's Great Migration, the wildlife-packed Ngorongoro Crater, elephant-rich Tarangire and Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. No other destination combines so many icons in one journey, and as a Tanzanian-owned company this is the land we know street by street and track by track. The classic northern circuit strings Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti into one loop, while the wilder south (Nyerere, Ruaha, Mikumi) rewards travellers seeking solitude. Finish on the spice-scented beaches of Zanzibar, the perfect bush-and-beach combination.
Visas & entry
Most nationalities obtain a Tanzania eVisa online or a visa on arrival (USD 50; USD 100 for US citizens). Passports need six months' validity. We advise applying online ahead of travel, requirements change, so confirm with your nearest embassy.
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Start planningWhy Tanzania is Africa's benchmark safari destination
Close to a third of Tanzania is under some form of protection, and the country holds the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest elephant populations in East Africa and the full Great Migration cycle. A Tanzania safari is also unusually easy to combine: the mountain, the plains and the Indian Ocean sit within one country and one visa.
What confuses most first-time visitors is not whether to come but which part. Tanzania's parks fall into three distinct safari circuits, and they are genuinely different trips, in cost, in crowd levels, and in what you will see. Choosing the right circuit is the single most useful decision you will make.
Tanzania's three safari circuits
Most itineraries stay within one circuit. The distances between them are large. Combining circuits is very possible, but it usually means an internal flight rather than a drive.
Northern Circuit
The classic and by far the most visited: Serengeti National Park for the Great Migration and big cats, the Ngorongoro Crater for the highest concentration of the Big Five in East Africa, Tarangire for enormous elephant herds among baobabs, and Lake Manyara for tree-climbing lions and birdlife. All within driving distance of Arusha, which makes it the most practical circuit for a first safari or a shorter trip.
- Best for
- First safaris, the Migration
- Typical length
- 5-9 days
- Access
- Drive from Arusha
- Season
- Rewarding year-round
Southern Circuit
Remote, far quieter and wilder. Nyerere National Park (the former Selous Game Reserve, and one of the largest protected areas in Africa) adds boat safaris on the Rufiji River and walking safaris that the northern parks cannot offer. Ruaha is Tanzania's largest national park, with exceptional lion prides and a striking mix of northern and southern species. Mikumi is the most accessible of the three from Dar es Salaam.
- Best for
- Second safaris, solitude
- Typical length
- 5-8 days
- Access
- Fly from Dar es Salaam
- Season
- June to October
Western Circuit
The least-travelled corner of Tanzania, and the only one where you can trek wild chimpanzees. Mahale Mountains rises straight out of Lake Tanganyika and holds one of the best-studied chimpanzee populations in Africa; neighbouring Katavi delivers extraordinary dry-season concentrations of buffalo, elephant and hippo with almost no other vehicles. Expensive and logistically demanding, and unlike anywhere else.
- Best for
- Chimpanzees, true remoteness
- Typical length
- 6-10 days
- Access
- Charter flight only
- Season
- July to October
Beyond the game drives
Most of our Tanzania itineraries add at least one of these. They are what makes the country combine so well into a single trip.
Zanzibar & the coast
Three to seven nights of Indian Ocean beach after the dust of the parks, plus Stone Town, spice farms and some of the best diving in East Africa. A 90-minute flight from the Serengeti.
Zanzibar guideMount Kilimanjaro
Africa's highest point at 5,895 m, and a non-technical climb, no ropes, no prior mountaineering. Most climbers pair the summit with a short northern-circuit safari afterwards.
Climbing guideNgorongoro Crater
A collapsed volcanic caldera holding roughly 25,000 large animals year-round, including one of the last reliable places in Tanzania to see black rhino.
Crater guideOlduvai Gorge
The Leakey excavations that reshaped our understanding of human origins, on the road between Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, an easy and worthwhile stop.
Olduvai GorgeCultural days around Arusha
Maasai villages at Monduli Juu and Olpopongi, the Mto wa Mbu market, and Lake Eyasi, where the Hadzabe are among the last hunter-gatherer communities in East Africa.
Lake EyasiBalloon over the Serengeti
A dawn flight over the plains followed by a bush breakfast. Expensive, and the one add-on almost nobody regrets.
Serengeti safarisQuestions
Planning a Tanzania safari
June to October is the classic dry season: sparse vegetation, animals concentrated around water, and the Mara River crossings in the northern Serengeti. January and February bring calving season on the southern plains and outstanding predator action. April and May are the long rains, the cheapest and quietest months, with genuinely good game viewing if you accept wet afternoons. The southern and western circuits are strongly seasonal and best from July to October.
Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO) is the right choice for the northern circuit and for climbing Kilimanjaro. Julius Nyerere International in Dar es Salaam serves the southern circuit and Zanzibar. Zanzibar has its own international airport (ZNZ) if you are starting with the beach.
Most nationalities need a visa, available online in advance or on arrival. A yellow fever certificate is required if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is a risk; hepatitis A, typhoid and routine vaccinations are commonly recommended. Malaria prophylaxis is advised for all safari areas. Check current requirements with your travel clinic before you fly, as they change.
We own and maintain our own fleet of extended-body Land Cruisers with pop-up roofs, four and seven seaters. Every guest is guaranteed a window seat. We do not fill the middle. Vehicles carry a cooler box, charging points, a two-way radio, first aid kit and reference books.
All of our driver-guides work in English and Swahili. Spanish, French, German and Italian-speaking guides can be arranged with notice, and Mandarin by special arrangement. Tell us at enquiry stage and we will confirm availability for your dates.
Full board is standard. Lunches on game-drive days are usually served hot under a canopy in the bush (soup, a starter, a main and dessert) rather than a packed box. Vegetarian, vegan, halal and allergy requirements are catered for with advance notice.
Around US$20 per guest per day for the driver-guide is the customary guideline, with camp and lodge staff tipped separately into a shared box. Tipping is genuinely discretionary and should reflect the service you received.
Tanzania is politically stable and tourism is a major part of the economy; the safari circuits are well established and well policed. Normal precautions apply in cities, use hotel or operator transport rather than hailing taxis on the street, and do not display valuables. Your guide is with you throughout the safari itself.
Find your bearings
Tanzania on the map
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Where to go
Destinations in Tanzania
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