After spending months doing online research beforehand through reviews and various companies, I felt overwhelmed by both the lack of information on safaris in Tanzania and the sheer deluge of... read more reviews online. I found that many reviews online were short on detailing and centred mostly on people’s expectations of the company, or the accommodation provided. In this review, I have tried to include details from my experience that I hope are helpful for others as organising a safari can be a little stressful. I will use our experience with AMAZING KILIMANJARO (Godfrey) as an example and will try to include details of the information that I wish I had known beforehand and that didn’t appear in any reviews. Our trip exceeded all of our expectations and beyond. It was incredible. A huge thank you to Godfrey and AMAZING KILIMANJARO.
Booking Before Arrival Versus Booking Upon Arrival
The debate about booking a safari before arriving and booking on the ground left us baffled as to what to do. However, paying a deposit upfront is considered standard practice in Tanzania. Most companies have to pre-book accommodation costs. A deposit will secure your booking. Paying a deposit beforehand will also be less stressful if you want to avoid large bank fees as it is difficult to pay for things in things in Tanzania with large amounts of cash. Card payments charge approximately 5% on the whole amount. ATM machines in Tanzania will only allow you to take out €160 (400,000 Schilling) ($170) per transaction. With banks on both sides charging, you can easily get charged more than €10 per transaction. A sting indeed! Luckily Godfrey took us to a bank in Arusha that is free from a Tanzanian charge and my own bank only charged €2 per transaction. You will need to make a few trips to the bank. Even though we rang our banks and told them we were abroad, we could still only take out €500-€600 per day. This can make you sweat if you are time-limited and arriving directly to start the safari the next day. Paying a deposit can save you lots of time in the long run.
I would recommend if travelling for anything less than 3 weeks then it makes more sense to pre-book and do as much organising as you can before landing, otherwise you will spend a lot of your holiday time trying to find wifi connections and generally wasting precious fun holiday time. For example, we ended up spending a whole day trying to sort out safari payment which in the end we didn’t achieve success, that was one full day that we missed out on in Zanzibar.
How we booked
I came across a recommendation in Zanzibar for Godfrey and Amazing Kilimanjaro. We were looking for a budget/camping safari for 5 days/4 nights departing from Arusha. I arranged details with Godfrey over Whatsapp, we made a deal and then I looked up some reviews which were quite negative. Godfrey assured me that these reviews were from 2 years ago and that whilst they did have some problems in the past, these issues had been resolved. This discussion was happening on the day we were due to arrive. I took a leap of faith and continued with our arrangement, and I am so glad I did. Our trip was simply amazing. It has made me think of the potential power that negative reviews can have on a small business. If you are travelling for longer period of time then shopping around on the ground may save you money.
Deciding on Budget/Mid Range/ Luxury Safari
For me, I decided that I wanted more “safari” time and fewer home comforts and we opted for a budget camping package with 5 days of gaming and basic accommodation. If travelling with children, I would recommend mid-range or luxury accommodation as the camping option is quite adventurous with wild animals around most of the time. For peace of mind and to get some sleep in the heat, mid-range and luxury lodges are beautiful and the service provided is excellent, all of the luxuries you want, electricity, fan, air-con, delicious buffet meals, swimming pools with stunning views.
Romantic couples may also prefer to select an accommodation in the mid to high-end bracket, I guess it depends on how you define romance. If gazing at the stars in the Serengeti with hyenas and lions walking around your tent sounds romantic-then the camping option is also for you.
Most tour operators are quite flexible and can cater to your specifics around collections and departures. In our case, Godfrey organised our tour so that on the last day, we were on safari until lunchtime and then we were collected and brought straight to Arusha airport for our flight. We were also given packed lunches for the road. There is a level of flexibility here to align your flight arrival with hitting the road as soon as possible or as late as possible. There isn’t a thing that wasn’t thought of on our trip.
Travelling on Safari
The typical 4/5-day safari departing from Arusha will cover approximately 1500km from Tarangire National Park -Serengeti National Park- Ngorongoro National Park and Lake Manyara. You will be in your jeep a lot travelling long distances for extended periods of time each day between the parks. The roads are bumpy, the scenery is vast and breathtakingly beautiful. Side note (4 out of 5 of us managed to have sneaky siesta sleeps during travel time between parks. If this doesn’t appeal to you, you could do a trip which focuses more exclusively on one or two parks instead to cut down on daily travel.
Important items to bring-
Camera- I cannot emphasise the importance of bringing a camera. So many people were using camera phones. I would highly recommend if splashing out on one item for a safari- make it a camera. You wont regret it.
Binoculars- We didn’t particularly use binoculars that much. Most of the reviews state they are a must have but I found that we were generally so close to the animals that we didn’t need or use the ones we brought which were quite large. If you do bring some, make sure they are small and don’t take up too much luggage space. I imagine that at different times of the year binoculars may become more important to bring.
Accommodation Arusha- Raha Leo Inn Accommodation
Basic but clean accommodation with a good location in Arusha. The staff were extremely nice and helpful. The Internet connection was good. A perfectly adequate low budget hotel which I would stay in again. The breakfast was slightly disappointing but for the price of the room, I don’t think you can complain too much.
DAY 1 SAFARI Tarangire National Park & Panorama Camping Site
Collected from accommodation and brought to a massive supermarket to purchase last minute things. This supermarket literally has everything. Tip- Do not buy too many snacks as we did. Your chef will make you delicious meals and you will be stuffed. The lunch is really a dinner, and the dinner is a two/three-course meal including a starter of soup, main course, and fruits. So much food. Thank you, Moshi, for spoiling us and looking after us. Side Note -Also, worth noting that your jeep may have a fridge so if you wanted to buy chilled items such as beers, you can keep them cool. I bought 6 cans of beer for 11000 schillings. 1 bottle of beer around the national parks can be up to 6000 per bottle which is fair in my eyes due to location, but if you need a lot of beer-best go to the supermarket beforehand.
A few hours’ drive to Tarangire National Park from Arusha. A stunning park with clean facilities. We were in the park approximately 90 seconds before seeing our first leopard. It was mind-blowing! Tarangire National Park was such a lovely start to ease into a safari. Lots of animals here to look at.
Igloo styled accommodation. This accommodation site was amazing. More like glamping than camping. Bar/Restaurant area onsite with the internet and selling cold beers. A view of Manyara Lake and live entertainment provided with drummers, singers, dancers, and acrobat displays. There is a gift shop selling a variety of tourist items. The entertainment group is amazing, if you can support them, please do by giving them a generous donation after their show.
Day 2- Seronera Campsite, Serengeti National Park
In the morning we drove (a long drive) to reach the Serengeti passing through Masai tribal areas and had our first-afternoon safari. Vast planes of grasslands and lot of animals to look at on the way. Our guide Rashidi was so relaxed and gave us time if we ever wanted to stop and take in the beauty of the natural world. So patient! We started our first game safari on the Serengeti in the late afternoon and we had a beautiful experience. So many animals to see here. Plenty of lions to see here.
The online reviews of this campsite make it sound terrible. I think this campsite needs to be contextualised within its location. Firstly, it is a campsite. Secondly, it is a campsite in the middle of the Serengeti in one of the most remote parts of the planet. It is simple, basic, and clean. We had the most fun at this campsite, meeting other tourists and sharing experiences. There is a large indoor/outdoor space and each group brings their own table and chairs to set up. Large kitchen area for chefs to create their delicious meals.
This night was the most surreal, funny, and exhausting night. This campsite is literally in the middle of the wilderness. A sense of adventure is needed as wild animals walk through this campsite. You are advised to do bathroom visits at night time in pairs. Plenty of bugs here. As we settled for the night, we had hyenas, baby dik-diks and LIONS walking around the camp during the night. Exhilarating to say the least.
Day 3- Serengeti National Park Morning Drive and Simba Campsite
A beautiful morning drive to see the sunrise and go looking for animals. Our tour guide Rashidi did not disappoint. We saw an incredible amount of wildlife. We also had the privilege of hanging out with two cheetahs for about 20/30 minutes. A mother and her cub, so elegant, graceful and powerful. After lunch back at Seronera campsite, we bade farewell to the Serengeti and travelled back towards Ngorongoro Simba Campsite where we pitched for the night.
As the crator is 2000 metres above sea level, the weather here in much cooler and makes a refreshing change from the dead heat of the Serengeti. Again here, is a lovely large indoor room for dining and a lovely cooking room for all the chefs. Bathrooms are clean and there is a shop selling ice creams, beers and other snacks and treats. We had the honour (or terror?) of a buffalo bull sleeping right beside our tent for the evening. Cooler climate, you will need warmed clothing for this part of the trip.
Day 4 Ngorongoro Crater National Park & Kizomba Campsite
Ngorongoro is like entering Jurassic Park. A beautiful park with all the usual suspects including rhinos. Simply stunning. After a full morning safari drive in the crater, we returned to our Simba campsite for lunch and then proceeded to drive to Kizumba Campsite. This campsite is more like luxury glamping. Huge tents with comfortable beds, electricity and an indoor/outdoor eating area. Cold drinks are available here. Very relaxing spot.
Overall Remarks
Campsite facilities were clean and provided both Asian and western-style toilet facilities. Most also had toilet rolls but bring some just in case.
Timetabling of your safari trip may vary slightly due to weather, and other guests coming and going, try not to stress. These things happen. In general, people want to help you out if you have any problems.
For a budget camping experience, this trip exceeded all of my expectations. You can be on safari on your last day and then be brought directly to the airport. All of above relates to travel to Arusha in April during the low/rainy season and therefore things may be different during the high season.
Guide & Chef
We were incredibly lucky to have a wonderful chef and tour guide. Moshi takes huge pride in his cooking and really looked after us with delicious meals each day. Plenty of variety for vegetarians too. I was hoping to maybe lose a few pounds of weight going on safari, but in all honesty, I probably put on weight. Our tour guide Rashidi has an eye for detail and spotting animals is simply a gift. He made the safari exciting for us. It really was so much fun. He was patient, kind and very perceptive of the group
Companies
During the low season when business is slower companies tend to pool together to put trips on. This makes sense on so many levels practically, financially, and ethically. Our safari was a mix of people from Amazing Kilamanjaro and Wanyama Safari.
Will add photos shortly to review!
