Tanzania Safaris
Tanzania – for migration and more!
Tanzania is an ideal safari destination for first timers and seasoned African aficionados alike. The scenery is awe-inspiring and varied and the game prolific. Most safaris into Tanzania are based on either the very popular "northern circuit" based out of Arusha or a wilder "southern circuit" based out of Dar es Salaam, followed by relaxation on the beaches of Zanzibar and southern Tanzania.
A Tanzania safari is most popular from November to March – the main game-viewing months - with a smaller surge June-September when the migration is crossing the Serengeti towards the Mara River. The Ngorongoro Crater is popular all year round. Highlights include:
- The vast plains of the Serengeti, home to 430 different species as well as giant herds of wildebeest: the greatest concentration of large animals on earth, as well as over 1,000 species of bird and butterfly. The Serengeti is famous for its migrations, over a million wildebeest and about 200,000 zebras flow south from the northern hills to the southern plains for the short rains every October and November. They then spiral west and north after the long rains in April, May and June. So strong is the ancient instinct to move that no drought, gorge or crocodile-infested river can hold them back. Resident game (predators and other mammals) are generally fixed to territorial areas and do not follow the migration much beyond their own ranges.
- The Ngorongoro Crater: the 40-mile wide Ngorongoro Crater, the world's largest intact volcanic crater or caldera. The crater formed as a giant volcano exploded and collapsed on itself around two million years ago.
- Lake Manyara and Tarangire Park in the north;
- Mahale National Park on the edge of Lake Tanganyika, famous for its chimpanzee sightings.
- Katavi and Ruaha for their vast open wildernesses
- The picturesque and game-rich but remote and wild Selous Game reserve.
- The coast offers excellent diving and snorkelling around the coral reefs of the Zanzibar archipelago.
Safari during migration - The migration is generally active in Tanzania’s Serengeti for nine months (and active in Kenya’s Maasai Mara for three months during August/September/October). It makes sense to visit the Serengeti from Tanzania’s Arusha and the Mara from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. This will help you decide on beach breaks or other safaris into southern Tanzania or elsewhere in Kenya.
When the migration is “on”, accommodation space is at a premium, prices are relatively high and advance bookings are essential. Crowd density can be a problem in the larger hotels and lodges of the Mara and Seronera areas; they tend to be full even when the migration is happening in a completely different area, but when the migration is in full swing everybody converges to where the action is happening. So what does the discerning traveller do?
The big outfits work to a formula – same circuits and timetables to ensure that their tourists see game, eat and sleep in time for the next day’s action: all of them, simultaneously. So, the answer is to work with smaller outfits who have the flexibility and genuine interest to get into the bush before the hordes arrive, who are happy typically to hold breakfast under a tree when the tour minibuses are doing their rounds and then seek out quieter spots to catch the afternoons and early evenings without crowds.
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