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Safari in Southern Tanzania
The southern parks, including Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha National Park, have great game and some contrasting, spectacular scenery - some of the best Tanzania safari. Guiding standards here are generally high as the guides live at the camps and know their immediate areas well. Safari Tanzania-style means that they're dotted with a handful of widely-spaced small lodges and camps. Selous is easily reached from Dar by daily light aircraft flights which usually take less than an hour.
Ruaha National Park
In the heart of Tanzania, safaris in Ruaha make great extensions to a trip to the Selous; it's hotter, drier and higher - in some ways more like areas further north - and has several species that you won't find south of here.
Selous Game Reserve
Arguably Africa's largest game reserve, the Selous can offer some of Tanzania's best big game safaris with excellent guiding, and it's a relatively short flight from Dar es Salaam and the islands. Selous is perfect for a safari lasting about a week!
Tanzania is a vibrant and beautiful country with many world-class national parks and game reserves. Safaris have been a way of life here for many decades. In the heart of East Africa, Tanzania is not only blessed with truly wild reserves but also tropical beaches and amazing marine life. It's a winning combination. You can come straight from a Tanzania safari camp in the morning and reach the Indian Ocean in time for an afternoon swim. A romantic trip that perfect for a honeymoon, or a great family holiday!
Mikumi and Udzungwa
Mikumi is one of Tanzania's smaller parks. It is best visited with your own 4WD and driver/guide en route to Ruaha. The environment is similar to Selous, and it can be used as a base for trips into the Udzungwa Mountains – a small, densely-forested park where keen wildlife enthusiasts hike in search of endemic primates.
The coast & islands
Zanzibar
The spicy, exotic island of Zanzibar has a cosmopolitan mix of cultures, an enchanted name and gorgeous palm-fringed beaches - which perhaps justify its perennial popularity, especially with honeymoon couples. To cover this island in the detail that it deserves, we've devoted a completely separate section of this website to it. Click here to read more.
Mafia Archipelago
This Indian Ocean archipelago is dominated by the sparsely-populated Mafia Island – which is very laid-back. One side is protected by a huge Marine National Park. Within this are a few small, unpretentious lodges, swathes of empty beaches and some first class diving. Mafia's a firm favourite with most visitors, and superb value.
Tanzania is vast, and we've divided up our selection of places into various areas:
Pemba Island
Pemba doesn't have Zanzibar's reputation, and is a little less easy to reach, so has fewer visitors. It has one good beach lodge, which is popular with honeymooners and divers.
Ras Kutani area
For two nights at the start or end of your trip, consider one of the two excellent, contrasting lodges on this lovely long beach. It's only about an hour's drive south of Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Sallam is a large, bustling capital is the entry/exit point for international flights. It's fine for a night's stay, but many visitors pass straight through.
Safari in Western Tanzania
Western Tanzania is in a league of its own. From the map you'll see that the Katavi National Park and Mahale Mountains National Park are a very long way from Dar es Salaam and the coast. They're very remote, they receive very few visitors and are relatively expensive to reach. Katavi offers top-class wildlife viewing; Mahale has a stunning lakeside location with probably the best wild chimpanzee viewing in the world. Both offer superb and contrasting experiences; they're amongst our favourite parks in Africa, but are also amongst the more costly.
Katavi National Park
One of Africa's most remote safari parks, Katavi has good game, including prolific buffalo and lion, and an unbeatable feeling of wilderness. It's remote even by Tanzania's standards, but a big draw for old Africa hands who have travelled extensively.
Mahale Mountains National Park
Very different from Tanzania's traditional safari parks, Mahale stands on a superb beach. However, the main draw here is the chimpanzees, and watching them at close quarters, with insights into behaviour, make it a riveting experience. Like Katavi National Park, Mahale Mountains National Park is in the far west of Tanzania and so a relatively expensive destination to visit.
How to get around
Camps in the remote areas of southern and western Tanzania are usually accessed by fly-in trips using light aircraft to get to the destination, then 4WDs and boats to get around the parks. Flying allows quick access to even the most far flung locations and light aircraft run frequently on scheduled services between the parks, reserves and islands. Most of our Example Itineraries for Tanzania assume that you travel around by air.
For those who prefer road travel, we can arrange guided 4WD Tanzania safari trips, driven by one of our professional guides. This is ideal if you want to stop in the local towns and get a feel for the rural areas outside the parks. Driving between reserves can give you insights into local life that are both magical and fascinating; a stroll through a dusty village, a fresh papaya cut straight from the tree, or a chat with a local teacher. However, away from the (long) major highways, most 'roads' are simply dirt tracks with no signposts. Travelling by road is a lot slower, and journeys are bumpy, dusty and long.