US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Colin S. Johnson Photography
Ngorongoro Crater is one of the most unique places I have ever seen. You literally are deep inside of an extinct volcano crater that is so massive you could fit three Washington, DC's inside of it. The best place in the world to see Black Rhinos in the wild. It was almost like being in a natural theme park. An incredible place that must be given two days minumum to enjoy. So much to see and the animals have little movement so they are easy to find. But the rhinos are scarce even in the crater. I could have spent a week here and still wanted more. An incredible experience.
US
35-50 years of age | Experience level: first safari
A small safari to get you started on your Tanzania adventure
My time in Tanzania was to start on the Serengeti, move to Ngorongoro Crater, then to Tarangire, and finish at Arusha National Park. After doing some research I changed that order and reversed it...and I am glad I did.
Arusha National Park is far smaller than the other parks and doesn't have the larger wildlife the other parks have like elphants, hippos, rhinos, etc. What it does have is a thriving flamingo population, baboons, and black and white colobus monkeys. It is a great park to start your journey through Tanzania because it gives you a way to sort of dip your toes into the safari travel without being immersed in it. The roads are dirt, the wildlife is right outside of your car, the views are beautiful but it is a small park and the animals are smaller and less intimidating than other parks.
We stopped for lunch at a picnic grounds and could see baboons around the restroom area maybe 30 feet from us waiting for us to leave so they could scavenge any food we left behind. Impressive animals but at no time did I feel threatened. The lakes were filled with greater and lesser flamingos in the thousands. The Black and White Colobus monkeys played in the trees above our heads in the jungle sections of the park. And the bird species were innumerable.
You will get a feel of a safari vehicle riding on dirt roads, get a bit of jungle, plains, lakes, etc that you will encounter at the larger parks without feeling over-whelmed. But Arusha is simply not as thrilling as the big three. The Serengeti is unmatched, Ngorongoro is unique, and Tarangire provides amazing landscapes as backdrops to the many elephants in the park. The other three are better for seeing the big 5 and most of the animals you came to Tanzania to see, but Arusha is a good way to start your journey...just don't finish it there or you will be disappointed. But when you start there...you get a brief look at the bigger things to come.
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Tarangire National Park by Tom Robinson
A beautiful park with lots of elephants. It seemed a little busier than other parks we visited but we saw a lot and very close up!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Serengeti National Park by Tom Robinson
An amazing environment that you cannot miss! The park is huge and will get you a lot closer to nature. You can see all the big cats here and the wildebeest are amazing!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
Review about Ngorongoro Crater by Tom Robinson
A relatively small area with quite concentrated wildlife populations. This is your only realistic chance of seeing a rhino! If you like your birds you will see a lot of kori and black kites. We also saw lots of lions and even a serval cat here!
20-35 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A wonderful variety of wildlife and habitats with many opportunities for close encounters!
Arusha national park is only a short drive from Arusha itself and is a great introductory day for your safari trip. Whilst smaller than a lot of the other game reserves you may visit Arusha offers a fantastic range of wildlife and habitats; from rainforest to open grass planes and lakes. If you are interested in birds then Arusha is a paradise of abundance and my personal highlights include a crested eagle, hoopoe, kingfishers (nesting by the road), grey crowned cranes and of course the thousands of flamingo.
In terms of animals there is also a huge range of things you can see in a very beautiful setting. Of particular interest would be the beautiful black and white colobus monkeys that you are unlikely to see elsewhere. You will also see many troops of baboons, giraffe, buffalo as well as a variety of antelope.
Whilst the tour of Arusha is mostly driven, there is the opportunity to take a walking tour, which i think is worth it. You will get closer to some of the wildlife and see more of the beautiful landscape.
All in all it is definately worth a visit to Arusha national park. You will see all of the park in a day so its just a quick trip before you depart for the larger reserves such as Tarangire or the Serengeti,
35-50 years of age | Experience level: 2-5 safaris
A close encounter with another world
I was extremely impressed with the wildlife and how close one could get to nature in its purest form.There is a wide range of animal species and my encounter was a real close up one.The guided tours are well organized and the guide provided a lot of information about the species and park.The weather was great for it being a winters month and if you looking for food they got reasonably priced restaurants.
NO
20-35 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Safari near Johannesburg
Me and a friend stayed at Kwa Moritaine for a weekend and enjoyed two safari rides, one morning ride (with the sunset) and one during daytime. If you only have time for one safari join the morning one. The mornings is the best time to spot the animals. Except for leopard we saw all the "big five" in addition to lots of other antelopes, zebras. Our guide was very talented and knowledgeable. He could answer any question we threw at him.
The highlights of the safari was seeing lions in the wild (2 adult, 4 cubs) and a one day old elephant calf. This experience was priceless!
As for the accomodation Kwa Moritaine was a beautiful resort with excellent food and great service. Can absolutely recommend.
NZ
50-65 years of age | Experience level: first safari
Chobe Safari
an excellent experience
staff very knowledgeable and accommodating
both land and river activities were awesome - soooo many photos