Have you been to Tanzania? Are you interested in safaris? I have a wealth of knowledge to share after my trip to Tanzania a few months ago. I did 8 days of safari in Tanzania and will describe all you need to know about Tanzania safaris in this post!

You may want to check out my other general and useful post, Safaris – What to Know.

Our trip was booked through a Swiss company called NetTours. We’ve used them many times over the years as they offer a very attractive price for their tours. We used NetTours in May 2024 when we went to Turkey to visit the Cappadocia area (see that blog post here –> Cappadocia Turkey Itinerary). For both of these trips, we went with friends of ours that live in Switzerland.

I will describe our organized itinerary to give you an idea on how you could visit Tanzania to see the best areas. I will also provide links to the lodges where we stayed. We were quite happy with all of the accommodations. It was a unique experience to sleep in tent camps and safari lodges!

If you are more into watching than reading, you’ll want to see my full video on Tanzania here!

Day 1 – Arrival to Arusha

Our first day was a travel day when we left Geneva, Switzerland to fly to Zurich and then a direct flight to Kilimandjaro Airport. We arrived in the evening and were taken to our hotel for only one night before we started the safaris the next day.

The dates of our safari were November 5 through November 13. This period is not ideal to see the Serengeti migration and crossing of the wildebeest and zebras in the Mara river. The best time to see this unique sight in the Serengeti park is end June through October. Although we didn’t see this event, we saw so many animals and were quite satisfied with our Tanzania experience.

Day 2 – Tarangire National Park

Our tour group included 17 people (all from Switzerland and French speaking) and we were split into 3 jeeps, with a max of 6 people in each car. I really liked the concept of having a small group during the transportation from place to place.

On Day 2, our jeep left the Mount Meru Hotel in Arusha toward our first lodge in the Tarangire National Park. We drove for 110 km on this day. As we approached our lodge, we passed many animals including elephants, monkeys, and giraffes.

Once we got settled into our idealyic lodge (called Tarangire Simba Lodge) and enjoyed a nice lunch, we headed out that afternoon for a 3-hour safari in Tarangire National Park. The highlight of this outing was seeing three female lions hanging on tree limbs of a big tree. Here are the animals we saw in Tarangire National Park: Zebra, Warthog, Elephant, Giraffe, Vervet Monkey, Dik-dik, Waterbuck, Superb Starling bird, Hornbill, Guinea Fowl, Vulture in tree, Baboons in tree, Mongoose, and Lions in tree. We were so excited to see all of this on our first real safari day.

Tarangire National Park has an area of 2,600 km2. The enormous, age-old baobab trees make Tarangire one of the most beautiful and picturesque national parks.

We had a relaxing evening at our lodge watching elephants and other animals within 20 meters of our lodge. That experience was very special!

Day 3 – Tarangire to Lake Natron

The following day, we left Tarangire and drove 225kms north to the Lake Natron area. It was a long journey with many bumpy and dusty roads.

The far north of Tanzania is formed and shaped by volcanoes, including the active volcano Oldoinyo Lengai. The Lake Natron area is one of the most beautiful preserved wild areas in Africa.

We arrived in the afternoon and were greeted by Maasai tribe members. This part of Tanzania has many Maasai. We learned a lot about their culture and way of life.

We spent two nights at the Lake Natron Halisi Camp. This particular tent camp was different from all the others as it was very basic, meaning no electricity or normal toilets. Each tent had a chemical toilet (my first time using) and very little hot water for showers. It was an experience to say the least.

That afternoon, we were taken by jeep to a nearby Maasai village to walk around and experience their unique way of life. I loved seeing the women’s colorful clothing and elaborate jewelry.

Day 4 – Lake Natron

The next morning, we started off by foot from the camp for a 2-hour safari walk. It was nice to be out of the jeep for a change and get some physical exercise! We walked to Lake Natron and saw tons of flamingoes. Lake Natron has 3 million lesser flamingos, one of the most important breeding grounds in the world.

It was such an amazing feeling to be walking right next to giraffes and zebras. We saw many wildebeest as well. There were quite a few carcasses from animals that were attacked or died of hunger.

After lunch back at the tent camp, we were taken to a nearby gorge and the Engaresero waterfalls where we hiked into the canyon and had to climb rocks and walk waist-deep in the water. It took our group 45 minutes to reach the impressive waterfall and swimming hole. This was a beautiful area in the middle of dry lands and an unexpected excursion.

For our second night in the Lake Natron area, the camp staff cooked goat meat around a campfire. I have to say the meat was a bit tough but it was interesting to try this local specialty.

Before leaving Lake Natron, we arranged with the staff to escort us to the mountain top to see the sunrise. There were many baboons on top of the mountain. It was a beautiful and peaceful setting. I had no regrets to get up at 5am for this unique experience.

Day 5 – Lake Natron to Lake Manyara

On Day 5, we headed south from the Lake Natron area to the town of Karatu where we would spend one night at the Karatu Simba Lodge. The ride was long again at 180 kms but we survived the scenic journey and saw vultures, ostriches, giraffes, gazelles, and a roadrunner.

We went directly to the Lake Manyara National Park where we saw many baboons and different birds. Lake Manyara was described by E. Hemingway as the “most beautiful thing he had ever seen in Africa”. The terrain resembled a jungle with many trees.

These are the animals we saw in Lake Manyara National Park: Baboons, Trumpeted Hornbill,  Red-and-yellow barbet bird, and Blue monkeys. Although there was less wildlife in this park, we enjoyed the jungle-like landscape.

Our group stopped at a picnic spot inside the park for lunch before heading to our next lodge in Karatu.

After a long day, we arrive to our wonderful lodge (Karatu Simba Lodge) that had a great view and pool. We were always excited to see each lodge and have a nice meal in the restaurant. The food was normally served as a buffet with many delicious options.

Day 6 – Ngorongoro National Park

The next day was a long visit to the Ngorongoro crater and national park. This UNESCO World Heritage site was formed after a collapse of a volcano around 3 million years ago. A fertile crater with a diameter of 20 km was created, surrounded by walls reaching 600 meters high. The interior of the crater is 300 sq kms and home to nearly 25,000 large mammals.

When our jeep was riding down into the crater, I looked as far as I could see and there were no visible animals. Boy, was I wrong, as we saw endless fields of wildlife once we arrive at the bottom.

Ngorongoro is the world’s largest intact volcanic caldera and home to the highest density of big game in Africa. Here is a list of animals we saw in the crater: Hippopotamus, Rhinoceros, Gazelle, Zebra, Flamingo, Zebra, Buffalo, Jackal, Warthog, Kori bastard bird, Grey-Crowned crane, Egyptian goose, Hyena, Heron, and Ibis.

After riding through the crater for a couple of hours, we stopped for a picnic lunch in the park before driving 5 hrs north to Serengeti park.

While driving through Serengeti park on the way to our lodge for two nights, we already spotted many animals. The most impressive was a group of mother lions and babies who were sitting near a dead zebra. Apparently there was a kill before our jeep arrived. This was amazing to see, something like watching a National Geographic special emission.

Animals we saw in Serengeti on this day: Gazelle, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, dead Gazelle in a tree from leopard kill, Wildebeest, Zebra, Stork, Young male lion sleeping in field, Elephant, and Baboon.

The Serengeti Simba Lodge was like an oasis in the middle of nowhere. The lodge sat high on a hill and offered fabulous views and a nice pool.

Day 7 – Serengeti National Park

“Land without end” is how the Masai people named their land “Serengeti”. UNESCO has declared the ecosystem of this site the most complex and least disturbed natural world heritage site in Africa. During the annual migration from Serengeti to the north of Masai Mara, there are 1.6 million herbivores and thousands of predators.

The Serengeti plains are home to more than 2 million wildebeests, 300,000 gazelles, 200,000 zebras, and 100,000 buffaloes. Nowhere else in the world can you see such huge herds of giant herbivores traveling together across the plains.

We spent a full day driving around this park to spot animals. Regarding hunting in this area, an area of 2,286 square kilometers was established in 1930 as a game reserve in what is now southern and eastern Serengeti. They allowed sport hunting activities until 1937.

Animals we saw during our full day in Serengeti park: Wildebeest, Giraffe, Zebra and 1 day old baby, Vultures, Marabou stork, Hartebeest, Topi and baby, Impalas and babies, Baboons and babies, Waterbuck, Crocodile, Many Gazelle with babies, Hyena sleeping, Lions sleeping on big kopje rock, Mongoose, Impala, Mother cheetah and two babies, Secretary bird, Big male lion with lioness sleeping together, and many Hippopotamuses in a river.

Day 8 – Serengeti National Park to Lake Eyasi

We left our comfortable lodge for two nights in Serengeti to drive south 265 kilometers, again passing through Serengeti park. Animals we saw while passing through Serengeti: Hyenas eating, Vultures, Marabou stork, and Lions sitting after kill of Wildebeest with vultures around.

Our destination was Lake Eyasi to spend one night at the Lake Eyasi Safari Lodge. During the rainy season, the lake stretches up to 70 km long. It is a seasonal shallow endorheic salt lake on the floor of the Great Rift Valley at the base of the Serengeti Plateau. Lake Eyasi is located just south of the Serengeti National Park and southwest of the Ngorongoro Crater.

On the way to our lodge, we stopped off to see how the local tribe called Datoga live and make weapons from scrap metal, copper, and brass. We went into their clay houses to watch how they make corn meal. The Datoga tribe has a population of 88,000. They live in the Singida and Manyara Region of north-central Tanzania. The Datoga people are herdsmen, and cows are their most important possessions.

Day 9 – Lake Eyasi to Lake Manyara

After leaving our lodge at Lake Eyasi, we visited the tribe of Hadzabe bushmen who have been settled there for more than 10,000 years. They live in the wilderness and hunt with bows and arrows. Their diet consists mostly of meat from baboons, antelope, and small animals like squirrels and mongoose. It was amazing to see these people and their way of living.

For this tribe, nothing has changed since the Stone Age. Even today, these people are considered the last true hunter-gatherers. The Hadzabe population is gradually diminishing as there are approximately 700 left living around Lake Eyasi. 

For our last safari lodge, we returned to the Lake Manyara area and stayed in a lovely place called Kirurumu Tent Camp. It overlooked Lake Manyara and the service was excellent.

One nice thing about each of the lodges where we stayed was the treatment upon arrival. The friendly staff would welcome us with a cool wet washcloth and a non-alcoholic fruit cocktail. After the long drives, it was a real treat!

Day 10 – Lake Manyara

On our final morning in Tanzania, we had a 3 hr walking tour in Manyara to learn about the rice fields and banana plantations. We visited a site where they carve and make beautiful products from ivory, rose wood, and teak.

After visiting the local market, we had a traditional meal of food from this part of Tanzania.  This excursion was not on our itinerary (had to pay extra), but it was definitely interesting and worth the experience.

After 8 thrilling days of safari life, we flew on Nov 14 from Arusha to Zanzibar Island to spend 5 relaxing days at the beach. I will be posting a separate article focusing on Zanzibar… stay tuned!

Summary

How do I summarize such a fantastic experience? It was amazing as I hope you could see from my photos. I had previously been on safaris in Kenya and Sri Lanka, but they didn’t compare to Tanzania. I highly recommend doing a safari trip to any of these parks. My favorite parks were Ngorongoro and Serengeti for the animals, but I really enjoyed the Lake Natron scenery.

I do have some ‘lessons learned’ or tips (in addition to the ones I mentioned in my post Safaris – What to Know). We had asked our tour company about the distances we would travel between each location (see below summary). I knew the time in the jeep would be long on many of the days, but I underestimated the bumpy dirt roads we had to travel on.

The journeys were quite uncomfortable even though we were surrounded by beautiful scenery. The agency told us our jeeps would be air-conditioned (meaning we could keep the windows closed to avoid dust), but our driver said the air conditioning didn’t work well and never used it. We had to open our windows to have cooler air but had to roll up the windows each time another jeep passed us. Although this issue can’t be avoided, be advised to bring scarfs, hats, or facial protection against the immense dust!

Travel distances on our tour:

• Arusha / Tarangire Simba Lodge – 110kms
• Tarangire / Lake Natron – 225kms
• Lake Natron / Karatu – 180kms
• Karatu / Serengeti Simba Lodge – 275kms
• Serengeti / Lake Eyasi – 265kms
• Lake Eyasi / Lake Manyara – 100kms
• Lake Manyara / Arusha – 130kms

Based on the driving time we had to endure, I would also recommend to shorten your safari trip to 6 or 7 days. Another option would be to spend at least two nights at each location to not feel so rushed when going from park to park. We spent two nights in Lake Natron and two nights in Serengeti. It was nice to have a break from the long jeep ride days. You could also book a local flight for the long distances. This was not an option for our tour but many people do this to save time on their safari tours.

Some more tips I would have after doing the Tanzania safaris:

• Bring soft luggage that can easily go in the back of the jeeps
• Layer your clothes for cool mornings and warm afternoons
• Wear or bring flip flops for the jeep rides to be more comfortable
• Wear medium weight neutral-colored clothing – avoid black as they say it attracts the Tsetse flies
• Always use the toilets when available during the long drive days
• Consider bringing a neck support pillow for the jeep rides
• Bring binoculars to see the animals better
• Use a zoom lens on your camera/phone for better photos

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If you are looking for assistance to plan your next trip, I am here for YOU! I love to plan travel itineraries for myself and others. For more details on how I provide this service, please check out my Itinerary Planning page and drop me a quick email at jan@janadventures.com to get started!