Tanzania Safari Guide, Planning, How to Choose (Updated 2024)

Our Tanzania Safari Guide shows you when to go to Tanzania, how to combine the best safari destinations, and how to get the best value for money. An excellent Tanzania Safari Guide will enable you to make an active and educated decision when organizing your Tanzania safari, but it won’t replace the guidance and support of one of our Africa Safari Experts.

In this Beginner’s Safari Guide to Tanzania, we focus on the tips and insights that will help you make the most of your time and money.

Tanzania Safari Tips – How To Have An Incredible Safari In Tanzania!

Location: Where is Tanzania?

Tanzania is the second largest country in East Africa and one of the continent’s stalwart safari destinations. It lies on the idyllic Indian Ocean coast and shares borders with other incredible safari destinations like Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.

Top Experiences in Tanzania

1. Excellent Year-round Game Viewing

SERENGETI GAME DRIVE | Tanzania

Tanzania is home to a great diversity of wildlife, fascinating cultures and natural, scenic beauty. It’s a dream destination from the classic, sweeping savannah of the Serengeti to the flamingo-lined shores of Lake Manyara, world wonder Ngorongoro Crater and Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa’s highest mountain).

It also offers bucket-list experiences that like chimpanzee trekking in the rainforests of Mahale and Gombe, and game viewing in the far-flung wildernesses of Katavi, Ruaha and Nyerere National Park (Selous).

Tanzania’s best wildlife safari destinations are:

• Serengeti National Park: Witness the Wildebeest Migration, High density of big game like elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard and giraffe
• Mahale Mountains National Park: Trek for chimpanzee in remote mountains, Sunset boat cruises on Lake Tanganyika
• Nyerere National Park (Selous): Remote, raw and phenomenally wild, See animals in very large numbers – elephant, buffalo, hippo and giraffe, Home to rare wild dog
• Ruaha National Park: Undiscovered and off the beaten path, See the biggest elephant herds in East Africa, Superb predator sightings, especially wild dog
• Lake Manyara National Park: Boat safaris, Excellent bird watching, especially flamingos, Spot tree-climbing lions
• Tarangire National Park: See huge numbers of elephant, buffalo and giraffe (June to October), Fantastic bird watching – over 550 species
• Ngorongoro Crater: Best place in Tanzania to see the Big 5, Incredible cliff-top lodges

It’s worth noting that Tanzania combines beautifully with other safari destinations in East Africa like Kenya (home to the Masai Mara), and Uganda and Rwanda (exhilarating gorilla trekking adventures).

2. The Wildebeest Migration

Without a doubt, Tanzania’s greatest wildlife attraction is the annual Wildebeest Migration, which sees almost two million wildebeest and zebra follow seasonal rains across the Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem each year. Tanzania hosts the lion’s share of the Migration – two main events take place in the Serengeti:

• The mass calving season when almost a quarter of a million babies are born in the southern Serengeti.
• The dramatic Grumeti River crossings.

If witnessing the Migration is on your bucket-list, then knowing when to go is all-important:

Great wildebeest migration crossing the Mara River between Masai Mara and Serengeti [Kenya-Tanzania]

3. Bush-and-Beach Holidays

Tanzania offers superb safari-and-beach combinations, thanks to its long tropical coastline and coral-fringed islands. You can easily fly from a safari camp after breakfast and be on a powder-soft beach in time for sunset cocktails.

Tanzania’s top tropical islands are:

• Zanzibar – one of the world’s most romantic honeymoon destinations.
• Mnemba Island – a private island holiday paradise.
• Pemba Island – among the world’s best diving sites.
• Mafia Island – swim with migrating whale sharks (about October to April).

Why We Love Tanzania

It’s easy to fall in love with Tanzania’s rich cultures, big game attractions and natural beauty. As safari experts, what we value most about this country is the old-school service, the authentic safari style and the level of luxury you’ll experience here. Not to mention the incredible game viewing in Tanzania’s heavyweights like the Serengeti!