Tanzania

Trip Details

  • Family trip for 10 days (12 days with travel) on Safari
  • The entire trip was planned and organized via a travel agent

Itinerary

  • Day 0: Arrive in the late evening at Kilimanjaro Airport
  • Day 1 (Arusha): Relaxation Day, Coffee Farm Walk
  • Day 2 (Tarangire): All-day game drive in Tarangire National Park
  • Day 3 (Tarangire): Morning game drive and late afternoon game drive in Tarangire National Park
  • Day 4 (Lake Manyara): Maasai Village Visit, afternoon game drive in Lake Manyara National Park
  • Day 5 (Ngorongoro Crater): All-day game drive in Ngorongoro Crater
  • Day 6 (Central Serengeti): Flight to Seronera, morning game drive and late afternoon game drive in central Serengeti
  • Day 7 (Central Serengeti): morning game drive and late afternoon game drive in central Serengeti
  • Day 8 (Northern Serengeti): Flight to Kogatende, late afternoon game drive in northern Serengeti
  • Day 9 (Northern Serengeti): All-day game drive in northern Serengeti
  • Day 10 (Arusha): Flight to Arusha, relaxation day, flight to USA via Amsterdam

Travel Agent

  • Africa Adventure Company (AAC)
  • Took care of basically everything! – Accommodations, tours/guides, transportation
  • AAC is an American-based company that contracts with Love Live Africa on the ground in Tanzania, which is run by Anita and her husband. We stayed at cottages on their property the first night which were very nice and we loved getting to meet them.
  • Our tour guide for the first 4 days was Wilson Urio and he was AWESOME! Highly recommend! Once we flew to other areas we had other guides, but if you drive instead of fly, you may be able to keep the same guide.

Hotels/Camps

  • Arusha- Kahawa Cottages @ Anita’s house
  • Tarangire- Ndovu Tented Lodge
  • Lake Manyara- Gibbs Farm
  • Central Serengeti- Olmara Camp
  • Northern Serengeti- Lemala Mara Mobile Tented Camp
  • Arusha- Day lodge at the Arusha Coffee Lodge

Eats

  • I wouldn’t say there is any particular food to try or place to eat. Since you are in the bush, there are no restaurants so all food is provided at the lodges/camps or packed for you during the day.
  • Most foods seemed very “American” – meats, potatoes, veggies – but some meals with an Indian flare

Other Tips

  • Weather varies anywhere from 80 degrees during the day to the 40’s at night- wear/bring lots of layers and warm clothes for evenings and mornings
  • All the camps are just that – camps with tents to don’t expect any temperature control at night
  • Public restrooms often don’t have toilet paper so carry some tissues with you
  • We got and took malaria medication for the trip but didn’t need it. This might vary by season, but we saw almost no mosquitos and got no bites.
  • Americans shouldn’t drink the water in Tanzania. Bottled water is provided and all camps we stayed at were great about washing produce with clean water.
  • All places take US dollars – it is sometimes preferred over the Shilling
  • Visa- you do need a visa to visit Tanzania. You can do this online beforehand or on arrival. Both are the same cost. We did it online to save time on arrival, which I felt was a good move. It takes about a week to process if done online.
  • Tipping is part of the Tanzanian culture. This was not included in the trip fees so extra cash was needed for tipping guides and camp staff. Our travel agent was very helpful in suggesting tip amounts.
  • Tanzania has a ban on plastic bags. Ziplocs are fine but they do not allow plastic grocery bags. You cannot carry them in public or throw them in the trash. I had a few in my suitcase just for dirty shoes and laundry which is fine, but don’t keep them out in public.
  • For us, the trip was maybe one day too long. While the game drives are all different and there is always something new to see, sitting in a jeep on bumpy unpaved roads for 6-8 hours per day can get exhausting.
  • Pack light! We were able to re-wear clothes a lot since the weather is mild – not too hot or rainy. Also, we carried on all our luggage on and didn’t check anything due to the airport issues in Amsterday (July 2022). While it was a pain the carry everything, we didn’t run the risk of losing anything and didn’t pack more than we needed. This was the packing list from our travel agent http://www.africa-adventure.com/pdf/packing_list.pdf
  • Binoculars- recommend 1 good pair for every person on the trip, maybe 1 pair per every 2 people. Don’t plan on sharing much!
  • Camera- we are not big photography people but were recommended to bring a camera with good zoom since animals can be far away. Instead of buying one we will never use again, we rented it from a place in Tennessee which was the perfect idea. Highly recommend!

Blog

Read all my Tanzania blog posts here!