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Tanzania Safari

The northern circuit — Tarangire, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti — is Africa's most complete safari destination. The Great Migration, the Big Five, Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar all within one country.

13 circuits trouvés
5-Day Mahale Chimpanzee Trekking

5-Day Mahale Chimpanzee Trekking

5 days·4 nights
Route  Dar es Salaam→Mahale Mountains National Park→Dar es Salaam

This itinerary operates July through October — camps close April through May. There are no roads into Mahale. No vehicles, no convoys, no engine noise — you arrive by light aircraft and boat, and from the moment your feet touch the white sand of Lake Tanganyika's shore, the only soundtrack is birdsong, breaking waves, and the distant calls of chimpanzees in the mountains above. This five-day journey into Tanzania's most remote national park delivers four full days of wild chimpanzee trekking through montane rainforest on the world's second-deepest lake — an experience so completely unlike any other safari in East Africa that first-time visitors often struggle to describe it accurately.

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7-Day Gombe and Mahale Chimpanzee Safari

7-Day Gombe and Mahale Chimpanzee Safari

7 days·6 nights
Route  Arusha→Gombe Stream National Park→Mahale Mountains National Park→Arusha

There are two places in Tanzania where you can track wild chimpanzees. Most travelers choose one. This itinerary chooses both — and the contrast between them is exactly the point. Gombe Stream National Park is where the modern understanding of chimpanzees began, a 52-square-kilometre ribbon of forest on Lake Tanganyika's eastern shore where Jane Goodall first arrived in 1960 and where the research has continued, unbroken, for more than sixty years. Mahale Mountains National Park is something different: larger, more remote, accessed by a ninety-minute boat crossing of the world's second-deepest lake, its forest rising steeply from a white sand beach to alpine heath. The chimpanzees at both sites are habituated, but they are different communities with different histories, different forest types, and different dynamics. Doing both in a single week is the complete chimpanzee education — science and scale, intimacy and wilderness, the story of primatology's founding site and the wilderness experience that followed from it.

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8-Day Serengeti Fly-In and Mahale Chimpanzee Safari

8-Day Serengeti Fly-In and Mahale Chimpanzee Safari

8 days·7 nights
Route  Arusha→Serengeti National Park→Mahale Mountains National Park→Dar es Salaam

Tanzania contains two wildlife experiences so different from each other that most itineraries choose one and ignore the other. The Serengeti delivers open grassland, game drives in a Land Cruiser, and the densest concentration of large predators in Africa. Mahale delivers montane rainforest, trekking on foot, and wild chimpanzees on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. This eight-day fly-in itinerary does both — three nights of savannah spectacle, then three nights of forest immersion — connected by a single bush flight across western Tanzania. The contrast between these two worlds is not incidental. It is the point. Booking note: The Serengeti → Mahale charter operates on the western circuit's Monday/Thursday schedule — confirm departure day alignment with your operator at booking.

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8-Day Mahale Chimps + Katavi Wilderness

8-Day Mahale Chimps + Katavi Wilderness

8 days·7 nights
Route  Arusha→Mahale Mountains National Park→Katavi National Park→Arusha

The western Tanzania circuit is not on most safari maps, which is precisely what makes it worth the journey. This eight-day fly-in combines two of the continent's most remote national parks — Mahale Mountains and Katavi — back to back, connected by a one-hour charter flight across the miombo woodland of the western rift. At Mahale, you spend three nights on a white sand beach at the foot of montane rainforest, tracking the habituated M Group chimpanzees in terrain that resembles nothing else in East Africa. At Katavi, the landscape inverts completely: open floodplains, buffalo herds of five thousand animals, and hippo pools so crowded with bodies that the dominant bulls spend their days asserting hierarchy over neighbours compressed into the same diminishing water. No other itinerary in Tanzania puts these two experiences together at this length.

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10-Day Northern Safari and Mahale Chimpanzee Trek

10-Day Northern Safari and Mahale Chimpanzee Trek

10 days·9 nights
Route  Arusha→Tarangire National Park→Serengeti National Park→Dar es Salaam (+2 more)

Ten days, two entirely different Tanzanias. The northern half visits Tarangire for two nights — sleeping inside the park so you have a full, unhurried day in the deep south before the push west — then two days in the Serengeti, a crater descent that ends the day in Arusha instead of looping back to Karatu, and a morning flight that drops you on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. The Mahale half has no roads, no vehicles, and no noise beyond the water and the forest — and, from somewhere up the mountain, the pant-hoot of a wild chimpanzee that has never left.

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10-Day Western Tanzania Grand Safari (Gombe + Mahale + Katavi)

10-Day Western Tanzania Grand Safari (Gombe + Mahale + Katavi)

10 days·9 nights
Route  Dar es Salaam→Gombe Stream National Park→Mahale Mountains National Park→Katavi National Park→Dar es Salaam

The definitive western circuit — all three parks, two chimp populations, and Katavi's legendary dry-season concentrations. Ten days from Dar es Salaam along Lake Tanganyika's eastern shore and into the miombo interior: Gombe's Goodall chimps, Mahale's Nkungwe group in steeper mountain forest, and a final pivot east to Katavi where buffalo herds of a thousand animals move across the floodplain in a column of dust visible from three kilometres. Remote, expensive, and worth every shilling.

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12-Day Serengeti, Mahale Chimps and Katavi

12-Day Serengeti, Mahale Chimps and Katavi

12 days·11 nights
5.0(1)
Route  Arusha→Tarangire National Park→Ngorongoro Conservation Area→Zanzibar — Beaches→Dar es Salaam (+4 more)

Tanzania is not one country but three, stacked against each other in a geography so diverse that no single itinerary can contain it — unless it tries. This twelve-day journey moves through all three: the classic savannah of Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and the central Serengeti; the montane rainforest and Lake Tanganyika shoreline of Mahale Mountains, where wild chimpanzees live in a park so remote it has no roads; and the prehistoric solitude of Katavi, Tanzania's third-largest national park, where buffalo mega-herds and hippo-jammed river pools play out without an audience. Three parks. Three ecosystems. Three completely different definitions of what a safari can be. Booking note: Mahale charter flights operate Mondays and Thursdays only (Safari Air Link / Zantas Air). Departure day must be chosen so that the Day 5 Seronera→Mahale connection falls on a Monday or Thursday.

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Tanzania is Africa's premier safari destination, drawing more than 90% of its visitors to the northern circuit — a sequence of parks that runs from the elephant country of Tarangire through the volcanic Ngorongoro highlands and into the vast grasslands of the Serengeti. For those with more time or a taste for solitude, the southern parks of Ruaha and Nyerere and the remote western wilderness of Mahale and Katavi offer fly-in alternatives where you may go entire game drives without seeing another vehicle.

The northern circuit#

The standard northern circuit runs in a single direction: Arusha → Tarangire → Lake Manyara → Karatu/Ngorongoro → Serengeti. Each leg follows a well-maintained road and there are no backtrack days, so the route works efficiently even on tighter schedules.

  • Tarangire National Park (2–2.5 hrs from Arusha): Africa's highest elephant densities in the dry season, ancient baobab forests, and 550+ bird species. Park fee: $59.10/adult/day. Best June–October when the Tarangire River acts as the only water source for miles around and animals converge in thousands.

  • Lake Manyara National Park (1.5–2 hrs from Tarangire gate): Famous for its tree-climbing lions, groundwater forest, and flamingo-ringed alkaline lake. A half-day here pairs well with a stay in Karatu, 30–45 minutes away. Park fee: $59.10/adult/day.

  • Ngorongoro Conservation Area (20–30 min from Karatu): The crater — 264 sq km on its floor — holds one of Africa's densest wildlife populations: black rhino, lion, elephant, buffalo, and cheetah compressed into a world-heritage caldera. Karatu is the standard overnight base (45 min to the crater rim), though rim lodges are available for those who want the crater at their doorstep. NCA conservation fee: $82.60/adult/day. The crater floor has a strict 6-hour maximum stay per visit.

  • Serengeti National Park (3–4 hrs from Karatu via Ngorongoro): Africa's most iconic savanna. Park fee: $82.60/adult/day. The Serengeti has four distinct areas — central Seronera (year-round predators, the standard base), southern plains/Ndutu (calving December–March), western corridor (Grumeti River crossings in June), and northern Kogatende (Mara River crossings July–October). Which part you visit should depend on your travel dates.

Cross-links: great migration timing · Kilimanjaro climbing · Zanzibar safari and beach combos

The southern circuit#

Tanzania's southern parks sit in a different league from the north: more remote, with fewer visitors, a longer immersion required, and experiences not possible in the national parks — boat safaris, walking safaris, fly-camping.

Ruaha National Park covers 20,226 sq km, making it Tanzania's largest national park. It holds an estimated 10% of the world's remaining lions, the largest elephant population in East Africa, and is one of very few places where both greater and lesser kudu coexist. The relative quiet is matched by a relative bargain on fees: $35.40/adult/day, less than half the Serengeti rate. Flying from Dar es Salaam takes roughly two hours.

Nyerere National Park (formerly the Selous Game Reserve) is Africa's largest protected area and the only park in Tanzania offering Rufiji River boat safaris — the hippos and crocodiles come to you rather than the other way round. Walking safaris and fly-camping are also permitted. Park fee: $82.60/adult/day. Gateway: Dar es Salaam, 30–45 minutes by air or 4–5 hours by road. Most camps close March–May during the long rains.

For true remote wilderness, the western circuit adds Katavi (vast dry-season hippo and crocodile spectacles, June–October only) and Mahale (chimpanzee trekking on the shore of Lake Tanganyika). Both are fly-in only destinations requiring at minimum three to four nights each.

Cross-links: Tanzania's remote southern parks

Best time to visit Tanzania#

MonthBest areaNotes
Dec–MarSouthern Serengeti (Ndutu)Calving season — 500,000 wildebeest born; intense predator action
JunWestern Corridor (Grumeti)Grumeti River crossings; far fewer vehicles than the north
Jul–OctNorthern Serengeti (Kogatende)Mara River crossings; peak season — book well ahead
Jun–OctTarangireDry season: elephant herds at Tarangire River
Jun–OctNgorongoro, Ruaha, NyererePeak dry across all parks — reliable game viewing
Apr–MayAnywhereLong rains; most southern camps close; not recommended

How much does a Tanzania safari cost?#

The largest variable is lodge tier. Verified accommodation rack rates for Tanzania mainland (per double room per night, high season, full-board including game drives) run: mid-range $200–$420, luxury $500–$850, and ultra-luxury $900–$4,000. Park fees add to this: Serengeti and Ngorongoro are $82.60/adult/day; Tarangire and Lake Manyara are $59.10/adult/day; Ruaha and Mikumi are $35.40/adult/day.

The prices on this site are per person, direct from the operator — no middleman markup layered on. For comparison between budget and luxury options, see value-tier Tanzania safaris and Tanzania's top luxury lodges.

Getting there#

The international gateway for Tanzania's northern circuit is Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO), about 45 km east of Arusha. Most international visitors fly via Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Dubai or Doha. Arusha is 2–2.5 hours from Tarangire gate. For the southern circuit the gateway is Dar es Salaam Julius Nyerere International Airport (DAR).

Bush flights from Arusha connect to all northern-circuit airstrips: Seronera (central Serengeti) in approximately 1 hour, Ndutu in approximately 1 hour, and Kogatende (northern Serengeti) in approximately 1.5 hours. If you start or finish in Nairobi, see Tanzania safari from Nairobi.

Tanzania or Kenya?#

Tanzania for the Great Migration's full arc — three of its four seasonal phases happen on the Tanzanian side of the border, in the Serengeti. Also Tanzania for Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, and the southern wilderness parks that have no Kenyan equivalent. Kenya for conservancy experiences (night drives, walking safaris, horseback) that are not permitted in Tanzania's national parks, easier access from Nairobi, and northern dry-country specials in Samburu that you won't find in the south. Many itineraries combine both countries. See Kenya safari itineraries.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Tanzania safari cost?
Lodge accommodation is the main cost driver. Verified Tanzania mainland rack rates (per double room per night, high season, full-board) run: mid-range $200–$420, luxury $500–$850, ultra-luxury $900–$4,000. Park fees are on top: Serengeti and Ngorongoro charge $82.60 per adult per day, Tarangire $59.10 per adult per day. Prices on this site are per person, direct from the operator — no middleman margin.
What is the best time to go on a Tanzania safari?
It depends on what you most want to see. For calving season and dense predator action, go to the southern Serengeti (Ndutu) in February. For Mara River crossings, target the northern Serengeti (Kogatende) or Kenya's Masai Mara between July and October. For the northern circuit in general, June to October (dry season) is the most reliable window. April and May should be avoided — long rains close most southern camps and make roads difficult.
How many days do I need for a Tanzania safari?
Six to eight days is the sweet spot for a first northern circuit: enough time for Tarangire, Ngorongoro, and two to three nights in the Serengeti. Add two to three nights for Zanzibar or a specific migration event. The southern circuit (Ruaha and Nyerere) works well as a five to seven day fly-in trip from Dar es Salaam.
Do I need a visa for Tanzania?
Most nationalities require one. Tanzania offers an e-visa online at evisa.go.tz — allow five to ten business days for processing. Citizens of a handful of countries can obtain a visa on arrival, while some East African Community members enter visa-free. Always verify current requirements from official sources before travel.
Is Tanzania safe for tourists?
The main safari areas — the northern circuit and Zanzibar — are well-established tourist destinations with a strong local operator infrastructure and no significant security concerns for visitors. Standard travel-safety precautions apply. Check your government's current travel advisory before departure.