Tick a few African safari destinations off your bucket list during a one-week Tanzania tour. Cover wildlife reserves along the northern circuit and visit Ngorongoro Crater for a safari experience of a lifetime.
Photographers flock to Tanzania for its lush wilderness landscapes. Capture wide shots of the savanna and get up close with birds and animals in their natural habitat.
1 week
For those with limited time, a one-week Tanzania safari can still be a rewarding experience. Tick the Big Five off your list on game drives in the endless savannah of Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, visit Lake Manyara for birding, or learn about human evolution at Olduvai Gorge. If you’d like to relax on the beach, Zanzibar offers secluded stretches of sand.
A two-week trip to Tanzania opens the door to a more thorough exploration of the nation’s culture. Cover nature reserves along both the northern and southern circuits or focus on a close examination of a few national parks. Combine wildlife safaris with a climb across the foothills of Mount Meru, or cross off the well-worn path and follow in the footsteps of primatologist Jane Goodall at Gombe National Park.
Alternatively, head into the more untamed wilderness of parks such as Selous and Ruaha for a taste of true wildness. Drift off to sleep with the trumpeted calls of elephants in the background and wake up to evocative paw prints beside your tent.
2 weeks
A safari in Tanzania is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s not cheap and you need to budget for the cost. You’ll also want to add extras like travel insurance from World Nomads that will cover trip cancellation costs, medical expenses and other things, Check out the post right here.
A two-week tour gives you enough time to explore the savannahs of the Northern Circuit, with the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater as centerpieces. Add days at Tarangire National Park, a foresty ecosystem outside the Serengeti, or Lake Manyara, where baboons and blue monkeys crowd around the lakeshore.
June to October is peak season for the Serengeti, where the Great Wildebeest Migration roars through the park. It’s also a popular time to visit the Lake Manyara and pristine Nyerere National Park. In contrast, the low season from April to May and November to January is more tranquil but wildlife viewing can be challenging when waterholes are dry and animals are more sedentary. During the low season, fly to Katavi National Park and spend two days exploring its wetlands teeming with hippos and crocodiles, then transfer to Mahale National Park for chimpanzee trekking.
3 weeks
A three-week Tanzania safari will allow you to cover the country’s renowned northern safari circuit and southern parks along with a beach break in Zanzibar. It will also give you time to climb Kilimanjaro and delve deeper into its untamed wilderness in southern parks such as Ruaha, Katavi and Selous.
Getting to these remote wildlife destinations takes time, often due to the terrain and lack of roads. Those on longer safaris will often take light Cessna planes between camps to reduce driving and travel times.
A safari isn’t about tick lists of elusive creatures, it’s an immersive experience that brings intimate encounters like trumpeted herds of elephants and squabbling buffalo at your doorstep. Relax and let the magic happen. It may not be what you expected but the memories will last a lifetime.
4 weeks
For most people a Safari is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. It seems a shame to spend all that time traveling to Africa and not see as much of it as possible.
With four weeks, you can take more time at each safari camp and see more parks. This also gives you more time to relax after a long day on safari.
June to October is the best time for a Tanzania safari, as it is the dry season. That means that wildlife congregates around watering holes and is easier to spot.
Conclusion:
The Serengeti’s endless grass plains are the highlight of any trip to Tanzania. This is the place to witness the Great Wildebeest Migration. On the coast, Zanzibar’s pristine beaches are ideal for rest and relaxation. In the west, remote mountainous parks like Ruaha and Selous have an air of untouched wilderness. Meanwhile, in the south, untamed reserves like Mahale and Gombe have a reputation for serious chimpanzee-spotting.