What makes the Best Safari in Tanzania?

But to me, there is so much more than just the wildlife. Seeing good wildlife, especially in Tanzania, is a given. But I feel that you also need to get off the beaten, tourist track in order to have an exclusive experience and nobody does that better than a great friend of ours, Alex. If its a first time safari, most people have the archetypal image of East Africa, courtesy of Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in Out of Africa, of those infinite savannah plains, teeming with wildlife.

In the Serengeti, this is delivered to you time and again, but we would urge getting away from the main hub of camps and activity by either staying at a semi mobile tented camp where you can game view on foot as well as 4 x 4 vehicle with some of the greatest guides, or for those looking for complete exclusivity, flexibility and freedom, then having a luxury camp erected just for you, complete with your own private guide, vehicle, chef and crew. This is undoubtedly the best way of going on safari, although it is better if there are 4 or more of you as the cost is amortised between the people in the group.

Tarangire is another real gem of a park in the winter months of June through to October and it has its own migratory system. Here, you can go out on night game drives, go walking (one learns so much more on foot) and game view in the more traditional manner by 4 x 4 vehicle. Again, one can have a private mobile camp erected for you or stay at a couple of wonderful camps in the park. Lake Manyara too is a lovely park to see in the winter months, renowned for her tree climbing lions. Ngorongoro Crater, although commercial, is still a Unesco world heritage site and a good inclusion on a safari to northern Tanzania. For those looking for complete and utter luxury and exclusivity, we have some glorious private houses in the Serengeti and we also offer some fabulous horse riding safaris too.

But, for a more experienced safari goer, I would recommend southern Tanzania every time. The best safari in Tanzania to me, takes you to places like the Selous, with its ever changing scenery, its beautiful rivers and diverse vegetation. I have been lucky I know, but every time I visit the Selous, I see wild dog - so impossibly rare to see elsewhere. Katavi remains my favourite park with a couple of truly fabulous camps here. I remember doing a fly camp for a night - which is where one spends the night out in the middle of the bush. This was simply perfection to me - watching the birds at sunset coming in to roost in the boughs of the trees. Walking to the camp which was set up just for the two of us, was incredibly special. Having the most gorgeous meal served beneath the stars and then sleeping on a really comfortable bedroll,in a guaze pop up tent, so that one can see the stars and planets blinking at you at night, was a memory I shall always have. Then, if you have any interest in knowing what one of our closest relatives is like, you have to visit the Mahale Mountains - home to the greatest concentration of habituated chimpanzees in the world. Situated on Lake Tanganyika, the world's second largest freshwater lake and the second deepest too, one can spend time swimming and fishing on the lake and spending time with chimpanzees which is simply extraordinary.

Another park which is excellent for both walking and game viewing by vehicle is Ruaha and again, there are some truly excellent camps here, with fabulous guiding. A Tanzania safari is simply the best because it offers so many very different experiences. Contact us now to create your safari of a lifetime - with a team of specialists who come from Tanzania and with over 25 years of perfecting tailor made safaris, we are the perfect choice for you!