Going on a Safari in Tanzania
Ever since I was 16 years old, my grandma and I had been talking about booking a safari and going to Africa together. Now, 4 years later, we finally decided to go. We decided that we would go to Tanzania for a few reasons…
Tanzania is known to be the most populated area for wildlife. And the national parks stretch over the whole country. It is one of the best places in Africa to go look for the Big 5. Also the Serengeti is worldly known for its wildlife and is a must to visit at least once in your life.
We went with an organization called: De Blauwe Vogel. We decided to go with this organization because they speak dutch and also provide us with a dutch guide during our trip, who will explain everything so my grandma could also easily follow along. If you don’t want a guide in your local language, this will help with cutting down the cost, as most drivers themselves speak English.
I highly recommend Traveling with Gadventures if you would like an international experience with English Guides.
Check out my exact trip here (Dutch only)
(https://www.deblauwevogel.be/index.php?pg=aanbod)
Check out the Gadventures Tours
Day 1 | Travel Day
Our first day was spent mainly on a plane. We traveled from Brussels to Addis Ababa and then flew to Kilimanjaro Airport.
Day 2 | Arriving in Arusha
After our long travel day, we drove to the city of Arusha. We were able to withdraw some local cash at the shopping centre. Having local currency (schillings) was very beneficial as some places only allowed you to use a credit card if you were spending over 50 USD.
TIP:
If you are traveling to Tanzania, I would recommend you to have USD’s on hand for tips, Tanzanian Shilling for small payments at the bars at night and maybe some of your personal local currency as well just in case.
LODGING
We then went to our first location where we would spent one night: Moivaro Lodge, in Arusha. Most of the hotels on our trip were part of the Moivaro Company. This was a peaceful hotel outside of the busy city centre. The rooms were very clean and private, as each person had their own mini house with private room and bathroom. The food was also very good, there were plenty of options, including vegetarian options.
And like the first location, all of our following hotels shared a similar standard. Here are some pictures to get an idea of what kind of accommodation we had in Tanzania.
Day 3 | First Safari Day (Tarangire National Park)
Now I have traveled a fair bit so far, but there haven’t been very many places where I have just been in awe of my surroundings like I have in Tanzania. The amount of wild life you see is incredible. We hadn’t been inside the national park for much longer than 10 minutes and we saw this huge group of zebras and gnus. Later that day we saw more species and had lunch in one of the most incredible viewpoints ever. The wildlife on our first day amazed me so much! I knew we were going to see a lot of animals, but the amount we saw was above any expectation that I had.
Day 4 | Maasai & Lake Manyara
After that amazing first day, I wasn’t sure how much better the next few days could get, but let me tell ya, every day went up from there.
In the morning we went to visit a Maasai Community to see how local people live and experience a part of their culture.
We then moved on to Lake Manyara, which is known for its tree hanging lions. Although that’s what they are famous for, the sight of a lion hanging in the tree is very rare. But this doesn’t mean that Lake Manyara isn’t worth a visit. There are still tons of animals roaming around. I felt like it was the home of the monkeys. There were baboons, tumbili monkeys and more. Also we got to see some elephants up close as they decided to cross the road right in front of our jeep. And we also got to see a second animal of the big five: “the buffalo”.
Day 5 | Ngorongoro Crater Safari
The Ngorongoro Crater is part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It is the worlds largest inactive (above water) volcanic caldera in the world. It is also home to some amazing wildlife. We finally spotted our first bunch of lions, which was a dream come true.
Day 6 & 7 | Serengeti National Park Safari
Serengeti National Park was our final destination on mainland Tanzania.
With it’s 30 000km² it required a bit more time to explore than just a day trip, so our stop there was 2 nights instead of one.
On our first day, we drove on the rim of the Ngorongoro Crater and all the way around it in order to get to Serengeti National Park. Once we arrived we really understood why the Maasai call this place “Serengeti” or “endless plains” for hundreds of kilometres there was nothing. Or so we thought, the plains are home to a lot of wildlife, which at a closer look weren’t that hard to spot.
Our second day in the Serengeti was our final full safari day. And what a day it was… We had seen a leopard before, but they were only visible through our binoculars. But this last day we were surprised by a leopard hanging out in a tree right next to the road! Crazy!!
Later that day we saw more wildlife we had already seen, but also some new wildlife such as cheeta and servals.
Like I said, we had seen some amazing animals and witnessed parts of the circle of life, but nothing was comparable to our last few hours. We had talked about how we would love to see a kill with our tour guide. He told us that this was a very unlikely event that not many people see, as most animals hunt at night. And I would have loved to be that fortunate one, but we were just a little bit too late. A pride of lions had just killed a gnu (wildebeest) and we were able to see them devour their prey.
- THE NEXT IMAGES ARE A BIT VIOLENT, ONLY WATCH IF YOU WANT TO -
Day 7 | Night Safari
We ended our safari part of our trip by going on a night safari. During this night safari we were able to see animals in their natural behavior at night. For example we saw a couple of lions who were on their “honeymoon” as our tour guide called it. Oh, and we ended up with a fun adventure to end the trip… About half way into our journey, our driver hit a rock and we ended up with a flat tire. And let me tell you changing a flat tire sure is an adventure in the middle of the night of the Serengeti.
Day 8-13 | Travel to Zanzibar, Relaxing on the Beach & Flying Home
After our time in Tanzania, we flew out of an airstrip in the middle of the Serengeti, which was so beautiful. You were able to see the wildlife from up in the air as we took off to go to Zanzibar.
We had 2 little stops, one in Arusha and one on Pemba Beach before we flew to Zanzibar. This flight was so beautiful, flying over the white beaches of Pemba and Zanzibar.
After the flight we got to Zanzibar, and for one night, we stayed in Stone Town. This was a bit of a culture shock for a lot of us. It was a nice area, but the locals were very clingy to the travelers and tried to get some money. If you visit Stone Town I would just be careful who you give your stuff and who you give money.
The last couple of days we got to spend at a resort on the southern tip of the Island in the little town of Fumba. At this resort you had all the things you would typically see at a resort, you were right by the ocean and got to enjoy all the amenities they offered. It was the perfect ending to our trip and a good relaxation after the long days of being in the car.
This trip has been so wonderful and I can’t wait to explore more of the world with my lovely grandma. If you want to go on a safari, I highly recommend going to Northern Tanzania as it has some of the most incredible wildlife in a dense area.
Our Safari group and our Guide
