Tanzania.
Kenya’s ecosystem at three times the scale, with a fraction of the road network and considerably more space to be alone in.
Ten to fourteen nights. Kenya’s ecosystem at three times the scale, with the February calving Kenya cannot offer — and almost no walking, night drives or off-road driving, which Kenya can.
- Give it
- 10–14 nights
- Best months
- Jan–Mar, Jun–Oct
- From
- $1,100 pp/night
- Come for
- Scale, the calving
Space, and the calving that Kenya does not have
Tanzania protects around 38 per cent of its land area — an extraordinary figure — and the parks are correspondingly vast. The Serengeti alone is 14,750 square kilometres, roughly ten times the Masai Mara national reserve, and Nyerere in the south is larger still. If the Mara felt busy, this is the answer.
The migration spends roughly eight months of the year here. The calving on the southern short-grass plains around Ndutu, in February, is arguably the greater spectacle: half a million wildebeest born inside three weeks, with every predator in the ecosystem concentrated on them. Kenya has no equivalent.
What Tanzania does not have is Kenya’s conservancy model. Off-road driving, night drives and walking are prohibited across most of the national parks, and vehicle density at a good sighting in the Seronera can be considerable. The workarounds — mobile camps, private concessions in the west and south — are what a specialist is for.
14,750
km² of Serengeti
~38%
Of the country protected
500,000
Calves born in three weeks
2,300 m
Ngorongoro crater rim
- Scale and solitude
- The February calving
- First-time visitors wanting the classic image
- Zanzibar as a beach ending
Less good for
- Walking and night drives — largely prohibited
- Guests who want conservancy exclusivity
- Short trips: the distances are real
Where we send guests, and when
The northern Serengeti
Jul–Oct · Mara river crossings
Kopjes, plains and the river crossings from the Tanzanian bank. Mobile camps moved to follow the herds.
Ndutu and the southern plains
Jan–Mar · the calving
Short-grass plains, half a million births in three weeks, and predators in numbers found nowhere else on earth.
Ngorongoro crater
Year-round · one full day
260 km² of caldera floor with black rhino and the densest lion in Tanzania. Enter at six, leave by eleven.
Ruaha
Jun–Oct · the connoisseur’s park
20,000 km² in the south, baobab country, huge lion prides and almost no vehicles. Our own favourite park in Tanzania.
Nyerere (Selous)
Jun–Oct · water and walking
The one place in Tanzania with boating and proper walking, on the Rufiji river. Wild dog in numbers.
Zanzibar and Mafia
Dec–Mar, Jul–Sep
Stone Town, the east-coast beaches, and Mafia for whale sharks. The standard ending, and rightly so.
Month by month
| Months | Weather | Wildlife | Crowds | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan – Mar | Hot, short rains ending | Calving at Ndutu; the greatest single spectacle | Moderate | Our recommendation for a first visit |
| Apr – May | The long rains; many camps close | Poor; roads difficult | Very low | We do not sell these months |
| Jun | Drying, cool | Herds moving north-west; good | Low | Excellent value |
| Jul – Oct | Dry, cool, dusty | Crossings in the north; peak game viewing | Very high | Book eleven months ahead |
| Nov | Short rains begin | Herds returning south; good | Low | Underrated |
| Dec | Warm, intermittent rain | Herds on the southern plains | High from the 20th | Good, and expensive at New Year |
Flights and entry
Kilimanjaro International serves the northern circuit and Julius Nyerere in Dar es Salaam serves the south and Zanzibar. Internal flying is by Caravan, as in Kenya. From Nairobi we cross by charter direct from the Mara strips to Kogatende in ninety minutes, with immigration at the airstrip — a road crossing costs a full day and we no longer sell it.
What it runs to
Tanzania is the most expensive country in East Africa to safari in: park fees run USD 70–83 per person per day plus concession fees, and Ngorongoro adds a USD 295 vehicle levy for the crater floor. Budget USD 1,100–1,900 per person per night in the northern circuit high season. All fees are included and itemised in our costings.
Before you go
A Tanzanian visa is required and the East Africa Tourist Visa does not cover it — apply online well ahead. Yellow fever certification is required if arriving from Kenya. Malaria prophylaxis throughout except on the crater rim. Fifteen kilogram soft-bag limit on internal flights.
Mobile camps, and why they matter more here
Because Tanzania forbids off-road driving in most parks, where your camp sits determines what you see. A mobile camp moved three or four times a season to stay with the herds is worth considerably more than a permanent lodge with a better bathroom, and this is the single most important decision on a Tanzanian itinerary.
We book the northern Serengeti mobile camps directly with their owners rather than through a booking engine, which is why beds appear for us in August when the systems say none exist. In the south, Ruaha and Nyerere have a handful of owner-run camps of real quality and very little else.
On Ngorongoro we use a lodge on the rim rather than in the crater — nobody sleeps in the crater — and we accept that the good ones are large. One night is right; the crater is a single full day and then you leave.
Ten nights, as we would build it
Arusha
Landed at Kilimanjaro and driven to a coffee estate outside Arusha. Nothing arranged; most guests sleep for eleven hours.
To the crater highlands
Up onto the Ngorongoro rim, cool and forested. Afternoon at the rim; an early dinner and an earlier night.
The crater floor
Down at six before the gate traffic — black rhino, the densest lion in Tanzania — and out by eleven. Olduvai Gorge and the Laetoli footprints in the afternoon.
To Ndutu or the north
Flown to the southern plains for the calving in February, or the northern Serengeti for the crossings from July. Your specialist routes by month.
The plains
First light out, long breakfast, the hot hours at camp. Predators are constant here in a way they are not further north.
The plains
A day held open. By now your guide knows how you travel and this is where he uses it.
To Ruaha
A long flight south to the country almost nobody visits: baobabs, sand rivers and prides of twenty.
Ruaha
Full days in 20,000 square kilometres, and on most of them not another vehicle.
To Zanzibar
East to the archipelago. A house on the east coast, a cook, and nothing scheduled.
Zanzibar
Stone Town in the morning if you want it, and otherwise the water.
Homeward
A late-morning flight to Dar or direct international from Zanzibar.
Tanzania against its neighbours
Against Kenya: more space, bigger parks, the calving, and the classic Serengeti image. Kenya has the conservancies, walking, night drives, off-road positioning and lower prices. One ecosystem, two philosophies — which is why we sell the two together more often than either alone.
Against Botswana: Tanzania is cheaper, easier to reach and has the migration; Botswana has water, genuine exclusivity and far fewer vehicles. Botswana is the better second safari.
Against Zambia: Zambia walks better and costs less; Tanzania has the spectacle. Ruaha and South Luangwa are the two parks most alike, and Zambia wins on guiding.
Every country we work in
On Tanzania
Serengeti or Masai Mara?
One ecosystem, split by a border. The Serengeti is ten times larger with more space and the calving; the Mara has higher predator density, conservancies, walking and night drives. If you can only do one, the Mara for a first safari and the Serengeti for scale.
When is the migration in Tanzania?
Roughly eight months of the year. The calving at Ndutu is January to March; the herds move west and north from May; the Mara river crossings from the Tanzanian bank run July to October. It is a year-round circuit, not an event.
Why is Tanzania so expensive?
Park fees are the highest in East Africa — USD 70–83 per day plus concession fees, and USD 295 for the crater vehicle — and the good camps are small and remote. Budget 20 to 30 per cent above the equivalent Kenyan journey.
Can we walk?
Barely, in the national parks. Walking, night drives and off-road driving are prohibited across most of them. Nyerere and the private concessions in Ruaha are the exceptions, and if walking matters to you, Zambia or Kenya’s conservancies are the better country.
Do we need a separate visa from Kenya?
Yes. The East Africa Tourist Visa covers Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda but not Tanzania. Apply online ahead of travel; we send the links and deadlines with the first draft itinerary.