Tanzania Travel Guide

Book an organised safari in advance!

We drove down from Kenya (Masai Mara to Arusha via Nairobi in one day - I don't recommend it) and tried to have a look around Tanzania on our own. It didn't work. Immigration kindly informed us that our very expensive visas were only valid for six days, so we booked into a post hotel in Arusha, had a curry for tea, and frantically searched the town for a four day safari to Ngorongoro leaving immediately. Fortunately, Arusha is full of tour operators, so we found one. Unfortunately, it consisted of a mental Michael Schumacher wannabe driving a decrepid Land Cruiser with a cook whose main contribution was to eat all the meat before the tourists got it. The drive to and from the crater was hairy. As such, I would recommend anybody going to do the sensible thing and book a good tour with a reputable company.
The Serengeti and Ngorongoro are amazing parks. The best Leopard action I've ever had, and loads of other excellent animal and bird encounters. The campsites are pretty good aswell. Prices are very high, as they are elsewhere in East Africa, compared with similar parks in southern Africa.
Due to our visa predicament, we didn't have time to see anymore of Tanzania. I'd love to go back though, and go to Zanzibar and the Selous.

Unforgettable honeymoon experience in Tanzania with Jiwe adventures

We spent our honeymoon in Tanzania during and made an 8-day Safari with Jiwe adventures. It was an outstanding and very unique experience which we will never forget! Our trip went from Arusha to Tarangire National Park (2 nights), to Lake Manyara (1 night), to Central Serengeti (2 nights), to South Serengeti/Lake Ndutu (1 night), to Ngorongoro (1 night) and back to Arusha. If you want to make a shorter trip, we recommend to skip Lake Manyara, all other places should not be missed!
Each stop was very different from the other with new highlights every day. We had wonderful lodges and especially recommend Lemala (Tarangire), Ndutu (South Serengeti) and Kubu Kubu (Serengeti). All of them had great views into the endless African wilderness with Zebra & Co. visiting us at the balcony, luxury accommodation, fantastic food as well as very friendly staff. Our driver Chris was super! He drove us to breathtaking places, made us see the big five (finally the rhinos on our last day in Ngorongoro crater), served delicious lunch every day and did not get tired of answering our countless questions from African animal behavior to Tanzanian economy and Massai traditions :) Thanks again Chris, we hope to see you again one day!

A little disappointing.

The weather was very nice. Wildlife not as abundant as I expected but then it was the dry season. MY accommodations were NOT what I paid to have---I paid for a mid-range tented lodge and ended up in a tent on the ground and shorted one day stay in the Serengeti. MY agent took the money I paid (in advance) and did not make any hotel arrangements, no one day hike on Kilimanjaro nor did he provide any arrangements for the 2 day stay in Kenya for Amboseli National Park or the Park fees in Tanzania National Parks (3). This is at least $1,000 loss and time wasted. I actually had to spend a day filing a police report on info@myfriendinafrica.online---Victor Nagol. This site needs to be shut down to prevent this scum from hurting other travelers and ruining the safari business in Tanzania. Most of the people were extremely nice in trying to help sort all of this out for me and make sure I saw what I came to see. I was in a group of 6 but it was a little stressful as the guide/driver never knew what to do with me. Please DO NOT advertise for this site. He is a crook

Ruaha National Park, the best hidden secret

After several safaris in Kenia and Uganda, we decided to go to Southern Tanzania to visit the still unspoiled Selous and Ruaha parks. Ruaha National Park is a beauty. From the landing at the airstrip, you see elephants, zebra, giraffe,... This park is totally uncrowded, you can drive around for several hours without seeing another vehicle. Wildlife is therefore not disturbed by jeeps and is very relaxed. We saw at least 12 lions (even up to 10m), cheeta, leopard, and of course dozens of elephants and hippos. Ruaha is a must for game drive lovers... We stayed outside the park at Tandala Tented Camp. A beauty...very comfortable tents, great bar, excellent food, very friendly staff. Masai protect you as wildlife come into the camp and every evening many elephants come to the waterhole in the camp.

Big beasts, big leaves, big spices

Day one of our trek proper and we were picked up early by our guide (Beerman), who was going to be our driver and tracker for the next three days. We also had our first experience with “African Time” – tell the chef you need breakfast early because you are leaving at 7.30 – “no problems, we will be ready at 7″, only for it to arrive at 8.15 (it was only fruit and muesli!!!)

Anyway, we still didn’t really know what to expect – so we met with our guide for the three day safari (Beerman) and rode off towards the Serengeti National Park. The drive up took about 5 hours and we first had to go through the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation area (Ngorongoro means “cowbell” in Masai because apparently that is what the word sounds like.) We didn’t go into the crater on the first day, instead we drove around the rim and down into the plains of the Serengeti. First of all we were so excited to see anything we stopped to take pictures of whatever we saw, no matter how far away they were. But once we got down onto the vast plain, there were no shortage of things to look at – especially wildebeest, impala and zebra, which are in total abundance.

Approaching dusk, we pulled into our campsite for the night – not exactly completely in the bush (there was at least a toilet (long drop, not very pleasant) but there was no fences and nothing to stop the animals coming in…

Beerman and some others from the safari company cooked us dinner and we were a little disconcerted that they slept in the caged off area that served as the kitchen while we were out in the open!! We managed not to get eaten alive although everyone (apart from me) heard a pride of Lion killing a buffalo scarily close to our campsite.

And that was just day one!!!Day two in the Serengeti started (after swapping stories of hearing lion in the night – some other group got a little over-excited and claimed that the lion were walking in between our tents!!!) with an early morning game drive – we left about 6.30 so any notion of this being a relaxing holiday soon got abandoned.

It wasn’t looking like being a terribly successful morning – we saw a herd of elephant in the distance, a water buck and some interesting birds (as well as the ever present impala and a few buffalo).

Then possibly the highlight of our tour thus far; going back through the main plains of the serengeti we spotted a cheetah in the distance. There were three about two hundred metres to our left and we watched them walking for about 10 minutes. Then, when we thought they were just going to wander off, they suddenly changed direction and headed towards the road. It turns out that they had spotted an Impala standing on a termite mound 300 metres to the right of our road. We watched them, a mother and two young, cross the road right in front of us and then slowly approach and stalk the impala right up until the final chase. The kill happened just over the brow of the hill so we did not see that (and neither impala or cheetah were seen again so we new they had made the kill) but that didn’t stop it being an amazing site!!!

That night we camped on the crater rim, which was alot colder than we had been used to. Also the campsite (another bush camp) was also occupied by an old (and grumpy) buffalo who grazed the site during the night and chased anybody who dared to go to the loo.

Surviving the night on the Crater rim with the not-so-friendly buffalo, day three of our Serengeti excursion started early again (6am) and straight after breakfast we descended through the mist into the crater itself, a massive caldera. David Attenborough could possibly tell you why but there is but there is an unbelievably amount of animals in the one location. Unlike the plains of the Serengeti, these animals do not migrate so there is always alot to see. The first thing we say as soon as we reached the bottom was this massive bull elephant. We had a distant view of a black Rhine, saw some Zebra giving themselves a sandbath and then spotted the aftermath of a lion kill. The Hyena were fighting over the carcass.

The most eye-opening and life-changing experience I’ve ever had.

I’m writing this review many years late. But my appreciation for Tanzania, the people I met there, and the wildlife is still a driving force in my life. I went in 2012 and my tour guide on this safari was Loth Kornelio and his team. They were absolutely incredible—they had extensive knowledge of the land and wildlife, were so kind, and gave us all memories we’ll cherish forever. I’m so grateful for them and their hard work—I hope to go back some day!

A respite from quarantine

After a few months of restrictions of our normal activities, we decided to return to our favorite destination, Tanzania.
We have traveled with African Big Cats in the past and would not consider traveling with any other tour company. Emanuel assisted us in arranging a unique itinerary allowing us to experience new locations. He assured us of the precautions being taken by the country and his company regarding Covid. We saw wash stations, use of hand sanitizers, and sanitizing in all the accommodations and parks. It was a perfect time to experience the parks with so few tourists, and with Emanuel's exceptional guidance. For us to return to Tanzania at this time was the perfect antidote to the restrictions of our daily life. A wonderful break from this "new Normal."
Asante sans, Emanuel

Top experience

Everything was well executed, the guide was on time to pick us up from the hotel. The weather was favorable, it rained a few times. The nature is incredibly beautiful. Our guide and driver Mr William was really on top, taking us there and back even though the flooded river was an obstacle. Due to the rains, the roads were in poor condition in places. The accommodation was ok, the food could have been better.

We saw a lot, maybe the highlight was eating wild dogs, eating a dead hippo. We saw lions, elephants, giraffes, Hippos, and others.

You can see the Big Five and many others.

Saw the big 5 easy

Bring heeps of US dollars. Everybody wants payment in US$. I brought $3000us I should have brought $6000 for Kilimanjaro,safari,gorillas,Zanzibar,hotels,tips,day trips etc. I did 3 country's in east Africa. A stable currency is preferred over a fluctuating local currency. Foreign owned business have to pay tax in US$ I was told.