Tanzania Safari – 10 Things You Might Not Know

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The soft evening light of another day is almost at a close, and your Tanzania safari guide stops the car. A lone lioness has caught sight of something in the distance. She stands facing away from you, unmoving to a point where you wonder if she’s real.

Her seemingly unwavering gaze is broken, and her head turns slightly. Her soft features now visible as she slowly blinks. She is real, and she’s beautiful.

You realize you’re holding your breath because the slightest sound might ruin this magical moment, the latest in a spectacular day of magical moments just like it.

A smile slowly creeps onto your sun-beaten face as a lump catches in your throat. You’re mere meters away from the Queen of the Jungle. This is Africa.

Where will you go on your Tanzania safari?

This all depends on a) where you start from; and b) how long you have. In my opinion a 3 day Tanzania safari is the minimum you should do. It’ll give you chance to see more than one national park as each has its notable residents.

The iconic Serengeti was incredible and I believe a must see. But it is far west. Choosing a safari that includes a plane ride to the Serengeti is the best way to cover as much ground as possible.

Ngorongoro Crater is an unbelievable oasis, and descending into the cavernous valley felt like the ending of The Land Before Time (anyone here old enough for that movie?). With a huge lake, this promises many animals, although very few predators.

Lake Manyara and Tarangire are smaller, and closer to Arusha where you might likely start your Tanzania safari. This make them much more accessible or good for shorter safaris, especially if combining a safari with a Kilimanjaro trek.

Western and Southern Tanzania also have places to visit for your safari. They are often a little wilder, a bit more remote, but the animal populations not as plentiful. That isn’t to say they shouldn’t be visited, but you might want to combine them with one of the more popular parks.

What will you see on your Tanzania safari?

So. Many. Animals! You won’t be bored, or short on wildlife on your Tanzania safari, no matter where you go. It all depends on what you’re interested in though, and your interpretation of whether you’ve “seen a lot”.

It’s not wall to wall lions and elephants. You might have to search a little more for them. But you’ll come across unique birds, perpetually grazing herds of antelopes, and any number of other interesting animals.

For me the giraffe was top of my list to see and I saw plenty. I saw all of the Big 5 except the rhino (which I did manage to see in Kenya). And I was lucky enough to see all the big cats (lion, leopard, and cheetah).

I didn’t see a hyena, which I wanted to see, but I did hear them from our tented camp in the Serengeti in the middle of the night. A chilling sound at 3am.

My friend wanted to see zebras after missing them on a South Africa safari, and we lucked out on this trip as they were everywhere. You haven’t seen joy until you’ve seen zebras celebrating as it starts to rain. Watched them drinking from newly formed puddles after a long drought was wonderful.

The animal I was most surprised to see was the African wild cat. It looked just like my tabby cat Sidney at home, and so little compared to all the other cats we saw.

Try not to set yourself up for disappointment by hoping too much for one particular animal. You’ll see so many animals that you both expect to see and ones you don’t. Either way, it’s an experience you won’t forget.

Is a Tanzania safari worth the money?

Seeing your favorite animals in the wild? Without the bars that usually separate you at a zoo. There’s no question that your Tanzania safari will be incomparable. For me it was well worth the money.

My 3 day safari cost $2000 USD. For that I had 3 nights accommodation, all my meals, a flight to the Serengeti and transport throughout. Plus a dedicated and highly knowledgeable guide. We had a private tour for 2, so had the vehicle to ourselves. This was worth the extra cost.

You can find cheaper Tanzania safari tours, including shorter journeys, or ones without the plane ride which added to our cost. But I’m happy with the tour I did. Especially with the level of service, and our guide who was diligent about his work and the ethical treatment of the wild animals (more on that below).

I booked my safari as part of my Kilimanjaro Trek, so the whole thing was organized by Climb Kili. If you’re thinking of hiking Kili on your Africa adventure, I highly recommend combining it with a safari. Two birds, one stone, right?!

10 Things No-One Told You About A Tanzania Safari Adventure

Sitting back in a jeep, being driven around the African plains as you drift into what feels like a sleepless dream, but is in fact a reality some can only imagine.

Your Tanzania safari begins as it ends, in awe of all the animals from your childhood picture books, realizing you might never top this fantastic experience.

But is a safari all that? Aren’t there some down sides too? Everyone know the costs can be high, and the animals plenty. But let me share some of the things I discovered on my Tanzania safari that you might not know. The good and the bad.

THE DUST GETS EVERYWHERE

Your hair, your clothes, your fingertips. Everything will be covered in a fine, silky layer of dust by the end of each day of your Tanzania safari. Especially during the dry season – which is most seasons.

The safari vehicles you ride in, between their pop top and almost permanently open windows, swirl with the dust kicked up along the red earth trails in the national parks.

But I still didn’t expect so much dust. I was therefore glad to have my sunglasses protecting my eyes, and a sun hat that doubled as a dust breaker.

Tanzania seems to have two seasons: Hot and Hotter. So it shouldn’t be surprising that a lack of precipitation leads to more dust. And yet!

TOP TANZANIA SAFARI TRAVEL TIP: Remember to replace your cameral lens cap, even though you’ll be using your camera often. You’ll be cleaning the lens a lot anyway, why add to the problem?!

THE ROADS ARE TERRIBLE

There are seatbelts in the safari vehicles, but you’ll also be constantly up and down taking photos and searching for animals. However, I recommend keeping yourself loosely strapped in to counter against the constant bouncing around as you traverse over potholes worse than your average inner city street. This is the middle of nowhere Africa after all.

Pack a few Tylenol, as your brain will be rattling to escape your skull so the odd headache is inevitable.

And make sure you secure your camera. It’s tempting to put it on the empty seat next to you, until you see it quickly migrate to the edge ready for a gravity defying leap for freedom.

For me the worst thing was that I felt like I was bracing myself for days, my feet firmly planted against the movement of the car. I was getting a major leg workout.

On my first day I bounced out of my seat as we hit one pothole, then immediately the other way when we hit a second, and smashed down on the armrest with my ribs. Not a fun experience, I had trouble with my ribs for days after. Make sure to hold on when moving.

THE PICNICS ARE REALLY GOOD

I wasn’t sure what to expect for food on safari, but limp sandwiches and a piece of fruit crossed my mind more than once. How wrong I was. While some safari companies do stick to a boxed lunch, the majority took picnics to a new level.

At the lunch stop on day one of our Tanzania safari, our guide laid out a table cloth, real cutlery, and then proceeded to unpack large thermos-like tureens with hot food.

For three days our lunches consisted of freshly made vegetarian and meat dishes, often curries or stews, with rice. Fresh fruit, juice boxes and hot coffee were also provided. We didn’t go hungry at all, and this was a 5-star picnic compared to the family holidays I went on.

THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER CARS

If you have this vision of being completely alone in the middle of the Serengeti, the only people around for miles watching a lion stalk its prey, you’ll be a little disappointed.

Tanzania safari adventures are big business, which means there are a lot of other people also willing to pay to see these beautiful animals. And with that comes lots of other vehicles.

As people spot the big ticket animals, it almost becomes a race to get there first. A caravan of safari cars snaking along the trails, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.

Some companies will seemingly do anything to muscle their clients to the front. Ours, thankfully, was not that way. In fact our driver often yelled at other drivers to back off from the animals, and held others accountable to forming an orderly queue so that everyone got a chance to see the wildlife.

YOU WON’T SEE EVERYTHING ON YOUR LIST

It’s true. There are a lot of animals out there, but there are also a lot of places to hide. From predators, from the African sun, and from the cars that seek them out. Fingers crossed you’ll be lucky enough to see some of the most popular animals, or your favorite one. But prepare yourself for the chance you might not.

The great news is there’s so much to see that you’ll be in love with even the most mundane of African animals. Like the parade of animals from the Lion King, it’s a non-stop show of wildlife you’ve only dreamt of seeing in the wild.

In fact I made up Bingo cards to make our wildlife spotting even more fun an activity than it already was. Nothing like a bit of friendly competition amongst your fellow travelers.

Despite having lots of time on my 3 day Tanzania safari, I still left without seeing a rhino. Luckily I’d seen one a couple days before on my Nairobi safari experience in Kenya. But if I’d been chasing the Big 5 here, I was at least one short.

Your guide will do everything they can to help you see your favorite stars of the Serengeti, but they’re not magicians, and animals cannot be dialed up for display. To balance it out though, you’ll probably see animals you didn’t even think you might see. May the odds be ever in your favor, though.

THE BUGS MAY NOT BE AS BAD AS YOU EXPECT

As a mosquito magnet I was terrified of being accosted the minute I stepped out into the African bush on my Tanzania safari. Instead, I didn’t see a single mosquito in 3 days, and only a couple of the notorious tsetse flies.

The tsetse flies do bite, and if you see them coming make sure to have something to swat them away with. It’s painful, but brief. Unlike mosquito bites which cause me to itch for days.

It was explained to us that since mosquitoes love to hang around stagnant water, and since during the dry season there isn’t much of that, then it stands to reason you won’t encounter your favorite blood-sucking pests.

I hadn’t put two and two together before our trip so I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of mosquitoes.

EVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE THERE ARE TOURIST TRAPS

We debated the popular Maasai Village tour, pushed pretty hard by everyone. For around $50 you get to explore a typical Maasai Village, take photos and videos, hear from those who live there, and it all culminates in some traditional dancing.

I wasn’t sure if it would feel like having people “perform” for us, and we opted out of this as I didn’t feel comfortable with it. If you’ve done it, I’d be interested to hear your experience (no judgement).

We did however decide to give money back to the communities as Maasai villages sold their locally made honey on the side of the road. What we weren’t prepared for was a rush of people as soon as we slowed down.

On safari your windows are open. What we thought was a family working together to sell honey became obvious that a competition was under way for our money. Bottles of honey were hucked through every window with us throwing them back just as quickly like they were live grenades.

My friend wanted one single bottle of honey, not enough to feed 17 Winnie-the-Poohs. Eventually our guide stepped in and helped organize the situation. It was an experience, but even in the middle of the Serengeti you will be able to find a “gift shop”.

Speaking of gift shops, on the way out of the park, our driver wanted to stop for a coffee. Which we still believe to be a reason to drop us at his friend’s gift shop for 20 minutes. Get your bargaining pants on, even on your Tanzania safari.

YOU’RE IN FOR EARLY STARTS AND LONG DAYS

Sitting in a car looking at animals doesn’t seem like it would be exhausting, but it can be. For one thing, you’re always on alert, your eyes constantly scanning the horizon, the trees, and anything that moves in the wind. But also because you have some long days.

Day 1 of our Tanzania safari involved getting up for a 9.30am flight from Arusha. Allowing time for breakfast, to get to the airport, check in etc., we were up at 7am. That day we were go go go until getting to camp at 6pm. We had 30 minutes, then dinner.

Day 2 and 3 involved getting up at 6.30am-7am for breakfast before we left again. Each day was long, with organized meals and not much alone time.

Would I change anything though? Probably not. If you’re on a Tanzania safari, you want maximum animal time. And in reality you’re not really doing anything all day except looking out of a window. Turns out I’m pretty good at that.

TOP TANZANIA SAFARI TRAVEL TIP: Liven up your day with a bit of friendly competition. Safari Bingo! I made fun bingo cards for my friend and I, which not only kept us alert, but made a cool game out of an already incredible experience.

TANZANIA SAFARI GUIDES ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR WORK

Our guide Siegfried/Kweka (for all seem to have their English name and their African name), was very serious about being a guide. He told us all about the schooling, the studying he does each night, and the other guides he works with and how they are constantly learning and educating to be the best guides they can be.

Safaris are big business here in Tanzania so it could be easy to think they just need enough drivers to shuttle high paying tourists around for a day or two. But not only did we see that Kweka was good at his job catering to us, but was even better at caring about the animals.

When a safari vehicle kept creeping past all the other vehicles to get closer to the elephants, Kweka cut him off, forcing him to retreat since the driver was scaring the animals. They were nervous to cross the road so our guide yelled at the other driver, telling him to allow the animals space and get back. Respect!

And when a convoy of safari vehicles set off in hot pursuit of a lion, Kweka held back. He told us he wasn’t going to go speeding around the Serengeti scaring the lion, and instead went the opposite way, knowing where it might end up.

We then waited patiently as, like he predicted, the lion changed route and we were in prime position as the other vehicles missed out. Understanding the wildlife is just as important as being able to track it.

IT’S NEVER ENOUGH TIME

3 full days of driving the wide open African plains and I still wanted longer. We’d covered only a fraction of the area that is home to some of Africa’s most famous inhabitants. Our Tanzania safari was at an end and it just left me wanting more.

The hours fly by, and while you’ll long for a smooth road again, you’ll never have enough time on your African safari tour, and always be disappointed when it ends.

Just one more baby elephant, spraying his friend with a trunkful of water. One more sleepy big cat, blending in with the high up tree branch it has decided to occupy. Another comical warthog, sniffling through the long grasses only to dart across the road, squealing into the distance.

Whatever you do, don’t sell yourself short on time, book at least a 3 day safari if possible. Luckily we’d also had a Nairobi safari tour on our preceding trip to Kenya. But none of it was enough for me.

The best thing about a Tanzania safari

Unsurprisingly it’s the animals. But more than that – it’s getting to see animals much closer than you imagine. I thought a Tanzania safari might be like going to see your favorite band at a concert – they’re a tiny dot in the distance you can only see on the big screen (i.e. with a zoom camera lens). That wasn’t true.

Yes, some of the animals were a little further away, but we also got super close. A male lion walked within 2 feet of our car, with my window open and camera ready I could almost have reached out and touched him if I didn’t fear for my arm.

A herd of elephants were on the move, and ended up passing within a few feet of the front of our car. I watched silently as they formed a line, protecting the youngsters in the middle, and with a casual glance at us and a flip of the trunk they sauntered on by.

Under a tree, sheltering from the midday sun, we came across a cheetah sleepily laying down in the dirt. She had no qualms about the excitement she was causing with her mere presence. We got incredibly close, and she barely batted an eye.

Would I do anything differently on my next Tanzania safari?

Despite the cost involved, if I were to do another Tanzania safari, I would certainly spend longer than 3 days. The time flew by, and we moved from place to place, always on the go since we had a lot of ground to cover to get back to Arusha. I would love to spend an extra night at least in the Serengeti camp. And at least 5 days total.

Having already experienced some of the bigger parks in Tanzania, I would think about looking at some of the lesser visited parks.

The Mahale Mountains national park would be high on my list to be able to see chimpanzees. But I would still visit the Serengeti again as it has the biggest abundance of wildlife.

Although I do have a camera with a good zoom lens, I would look at upgrading my camera for a future safari. The opportunities for photo taking are endless, and there were some shots I just unfortunately wasn’t able to make.

I would, however, do a private safari tour again. Having a safari guide for the two of us for three full days was a great experience. It gave us lots of opportunities to ask questions and really tailor our trip.

I also do recommend the flight option as it cuts down on driving time in non-park areas and allows for maximum game driving.

Experiencing a Tanzania safari

As with any trip there are the things you expect and the things that you don’t. A safari, by nature, is unpredictable and that was one of the things that kept it exciting. You never knew what you would see that day.

Overall I had a wonderful Tanzania safari experience. We got to see so many animals, learned a lot about Tanzanian people and their culture, and got to really immerse ourselves in the beautiful countryside.

I am very grateful for the safari guide we had, who was the exact type of guide you hope to get. One who truly cares about the animals and the work he does. I was captivated listening to all the information he shared about every animal we saw.

If you are planning a Tanzania safari, I’ll leave you with the best piece of advice we received from our safari guide, Kweka. Remember to also take photos with your eyes.

It can be easy to snap away constantly, but he liked to remind us to also just sit and watch, and take it all in. Like the lioness in the fading light of day, those are the moments you’ll remember the most.

If you’ve enjoyed this post leave a comment or share using the social media buttons below. Have you done a Tanzania safari before? What were some of the things that surprised you, or tips you might share with people looking to do one for the first time?