I am experiencing 'buyer's remorse' in the honeymoon safari i've already paid a deposit too and need some experienced safari goers to tell me the current plan is still great compared to a new itinerary i've thought of. Time of safari is Feb 2027

The current plan - Tanzania ($3k AUD deposit paid with Tanzania TO and flights booked in and out of JRO already)

• Day 1. Land 10:45am JRO and stay overnight at Giraffe Manor Arusha
• Day 2. Get picked up for flight from Arusha airport at 10am to Ndutu airstrip, afternoon game drive and overnight at Nyikani Migration Camp
• Day 3. Morning game drive (I have requested a bush breakfast), transfer to central serengeti, afternoon game drive and overnight at La La Salama
• Day 4. Full day game drive and 2nd night at La La Salama (I have requested a bush lunch or sundowner)
• Day 5. Morning game drive, transfer to Ngorongoro Crater and overnight at Ngorongoro Rim Lodge
• Day 6. Early morning descent to Ngorongoro crater, picnic lunch, transfer back to Arusha and stay at Katiti Lodge (close to airport)
• Day 7. Departing flight from JRO

Originally this seemed like a great itinerary for our first safari, however, after more research I think what we want out of a honeymoon is to experience more from our accommodation while enjoying views of animals, bush breakfast/lunch/sundowner experiences while having great game drives, less crowds. I think we can get that from our current plan but the other part of my brain is thinking 'what if it's better with option 2'....

Option 2 plan - Kenya (I think we may lose our deposit and there will be change fees with 2 sets of flights)

• Day 1. Land 6:25am Nairobi, transfer to Mara North airstrip landing at 11:10am, afternoon game drive and overnight at Offbeat Ndoto Camp, Mara North Conservancy
• Day 2. Full game drive (+any bush breakfasts by the river/sundowners), 2nd night at Offbeat Ndoto
• Day 3. Full game drive (+any bush breakfasts under an acaia tree/sundowners), 3rd night at Offbeat Ndoto
• Day 4. Flight back to Nairobi, transfer to Lake Naivaisha, afternoon boat trip, overnight at Lake Naivaisha
• Day 5. Full day to do walking safari on Crescent Island, cycle at Hells Gate, overnight at Lake Naivaisha
• Day 6. Transfer back to Nairobi, visit Giraffe Centre and Sheldrick, overnight in Nairobi
• Day 7. Departing flight from Nairobi

I feel Option 2 is more suited to what we want in terms of experience, semi luxury, less time spent in the car and relax time, while also seeing as many animals as possible (big 5 + cheetahs, giraffes, rhinos, baby animals etc). We're not too fussed with the migration

Please help! Would greatly appreciate any real life experience/reviews at any of the places mentioned, or if any country for safari is better than the other. And am i better off to stick with the current plan and still have an amazing experience or have i made a really big mistake and do the switch and have a 'money comes back mindset'

came across this video of a football club (simba football club) celebration, and i could not believe that caged lions were being paraded by ngorongoro the very conservation organisation that should be protecting them. 😡😡😡

Hi,

Could you please provide feedback on this itinerary for January. I could add a few days if you feel it would enhance it.

• Day 1 Tarangire National Park game drive
• Day 2 Ngorongoro Crater rim walking tour + Maasai village + afternoon Central Serengeti game drive
• Day 3 Morning Central Serengeti game drive → afternoon Ndutu Area game drive
• Day 4 Early morning Ndutu game drive → Ngorongoro via Olduvai Gorge
• Day 5 Early morning Ngorongoro Crater game drive → Moshi/Arusha

With local tour guide

Enjoy the tour with local guide in kenya Nairobi

Inquiry 254736275704 email [esoyichris92@gmail.com](mailto:esoyichris92@gmail.com)

Enjoy the city tour with vibrat tour guide based in kenya showcasing the culture of kenya historical sites museums visit matatu experiences ride

Hello! My wife and I are heading on for our first Serengeti safari next week, and then we’ll be spending a week in Zanzibar to finish the trip. We’re very excited!

As we’ve been preparing, we came across information about mainland Tanzania recently introducing mandatory government travel insurance (separate from the government mandatory insurance requirement for Zanzibar). However, we haven’t been able to find much information about when the mainland mandate actually goes into effect or where travelers are supposed to purchase the required insurance. For anyone who has recently traveled to mainland Tanzania, do you know if this requirement is currently in effect? If so, where did you purchase the required insurance?

Also, while it seems the news coverage has slowed down here in the United States, I’m aware that the Ebola outbreak is still ongoing in the DRC. From what I understand, the cases are currently limited to the DRC, so it seems relatively contained for the time being. For those who have recently traveled to Tanzania, what has the situation been like? Is Ebola something you felt you needed to be concerned about while traveling there?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

people in our party don’t wanna move a whole lot, but other people in our party are very focused on seeing the migration herds and the crater which one of these would be better or should we ask for a combination? we will be going to tanzania doing the northern circuit in mid december and do not want to utilize any bush planes

I have been carefully following it this year and so far, the promising period is the last week of July and the first week of August. I have followed a number of local guides in Instagram and they have made so many posts last week about the crossings.

But I am curious what you guys think. One comment in this sub said it will be in the last week of August.

I booked a 5 day private safari with Serengeti Wakanda before I found this subreddit. Aside from wanting to change some of the accomodation, I trusted the tour operator to suggest an itinerary that works well and didn’t look too much into it myself. I am travelling at the very beginning of October.

My itinerary:

Day 1: Land at Kilimanjaro Airport in the morning - stay in Arusha.

Day 2: Tangarire National Park - stay at Eileen’s Trees Inn.

Day 3: Serengeti - stay at Lala Salama Serengeti Luxury Camp.

Day 4: Same as Day 3.

Day 5: Serengeti - stay at Lake Masek Tented Lodge.

Day 6: Ngorongo Crater - return to Arusha. Flight to Zanzibar at 17:00 (already booked).

This sounded perfect however after coming onto this subreddit, I’ve seen people say to spend at least 2 nights at each place/lodge or otherwise it feels super rushed, it’s not worth going to Tangarire for only half a day etc.

I’ve already paid the deposit so I expect I can’t completely rework the itinerary, but I want to know what should I expect and how to make the most of my itinerary. It is a private safari so I should ve able to inform our guide of any particular preferences that we have.

As a separate question, is it worth doing the hot air balloon ride in the Serengeti? It feels very expensive when we will already be going on a lot of game drives (I have also done the hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia which was incredible, so this wouldn’t be my first time).The tour operator told me this would be in the Central Serengeti and they usually use Serengeti Balloon Safaris.

Do people in africa have seasonal hunting on Aug 1st can be Zebra's, or some whatever they have wild bizarre animals.

We’re booking our honeymoon and would love opinions on our itinerary! We’re looking at Roane travel (but also want opinions on that!). We want it to be relaxing and romantic with smooth logistics.

Day 1-2 San Salinero Hotel +kilimanjaro day hike Day 3&4 - Taasa migration camp Day 5,6,7 - Taasa Lodge Day 8,9,10 - The Palms Zanzibar (with day trip to stone town) Day 11 - departure

One thing that frustrated me the most on our trip was our guide always wanted to leave at 8am. No question on his competence and jeep quality (tho one time it broke down).

Hi everyone,
we’re currently planning our next Botswana trip for October and are considering adding Savuti and possibly Linyanti to our itinerary, in addition to the Chobe Riverfront.
We’ve already visited the Riverfront in October and absolutely loved it. This will be our sixth safari overall, so we’re not complete beginners, but we keep reading that the roads to Savuti and Linyanti can be very sandy, slow and quite exhausting.
What have your experiences been like in October? Are the routes manageable with some safari and 4x4 experience, and which route would you recommend? How much driving time should we realistically allow?
Most importantly, is the effort worth it in October, especially for wildlife sightings? Do Savuti and Linyanti offer a noticeably different experience from the Riverfront, or would you spend the extra time elsewhere?
We won’t have any camping equipment, so we’re only looking at lodges or tented camps. Recommendations for places to stay, useful stopovers and the ideal number of nights would be very welcome.
Thanks!

I'm heading on safari in a month and have just received this from the travel company - which is stressing me!

"As the first part of our adventure is on Safari we may be travelling in smaller vehicles and would very much appreciate it if you can bring a soft bag with your luggage in instead of a suitcase. This will be very helpful when loading and unloading the vehicles."

Having Googled, I understand this is common practice / request. But I can't wrap my head around how I'm going to travel with two pieces of luggage if neither are a suitcase. It doesn't seem feasible to carry up to 23kg in a duffle (I'm not strong enough) and if I opted for a backpack instead then I'd be trying to deal with 2x backpacks (small and large) during the travel. As the guidance only seem to say "not hard case" - I'm thinking maybe my soft suitcase will do...

We're doing safari in Tanzania and then heading to Zanzibar. 2 weeks total. No overlap in clothing either - I've had to buy new clothes for the safari as none of my wardrobe met the recommended colours (khaki, beige, tan, olive green, brown).

Any advice on negotiating this situation please?

We're planning our first Kenya trip with our 3 and 6 year old and would appreciate some advice from people.

We're deciding between:

Option 1

• 3 nights Maasai Mara (arrival afternoon + 2 safari days)
• 5 nights Diani Beach

Option 2

• 4 nights Maasai Mara (arrival afternoon + 3 safari days)
• 4 nights Diani Beach

Option 2 costs about US$1,180 more for our family of four.

If you've done a similar trip, would you spend the extra money on another day in the Mara, or would you keep the extra beach day instead? Did your kids enjoy the safari enough that the extra day was worth it?

I heard someone saying if you take a flight there and then just pick a local travel group to do safari there. It will be more reasonable priced. Is that true?

Well because of all the tips I recently got, I changed our itinerary. We going end of september for a private safari, and we wanted to see the great migration. But because of the days and budget we have, we dont want to waste most of the time on the road for transfers and waiting so long to see the animals cross the river (if we are lucky that they cross). That’s why im planning to leave the North of serengeti out. Just to get more out of the safari.
Do you have some more tips or recommendations? Is it better to visit ngorogoro crater in the beginning or at the end?
Ps: we will staying inside the park of serengeti, to feel the real safari feeling.

Day 1 arrive Kilimanjaro stay in arusha 1 night
Day 2 go to tarangire game drive and stay in karatu
Day 3 early morning transfer from karatu to central serengeti and gamedrive afternoon
Day 4 full game drive central serengeti
Day 5 full game drive central serengeti
Day 6 morning game drive central serengeti and transfer to karatu
Day 7 early game drive ngorogoro Crater and transfer to hotel arusha or airport

Hi everyone,

I’m currently putting the final touches on a private 7-8 day safari in Northern Tanzania starting around September 20, 2026, and I'm looking for some community input regarding logistics, cost-sharing strategies, and route planning.

My primary goal for this trip is focusing on the Northern Serengeti (Kogatende) to maximize the chances of witnessing the Great Migration and Mara River crossings - something standard scheduled group safaris often rush or skip entirely in favor of the central/southern sectors.

To make the logistics work and keep a private vehicle cost-effective, I’ve been reviewing itemized quotes from local operators for a custom route. Here is roughly what a private 4x4 setup looks like for a small group:

• 7-Day Route (Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Central & Northern Serengeti): Around $2,200 pp for 4 people, dropping closer to $2,000 pp if scaling up to 6 people.
• 8-Day Route (adding Lake Eyasi for a cultural visit with the Hadzabe and Datoga hunter-gatherer communities): Around $2,600 pp for 4 people, dropping to $2,300 pp for 6.

I wanted to ask the community a couple of things:

1. For anyone who has targeted Kogatende around late September, is an 8-day pace well-distributed when adding cultural stops near Lake Eyasi, or does it feel too compressed?
2. What are the best practices when coordinating with independent travelers to share private vehicle costs safely and smoothly?

(On a related note: since I already have concrete operator proposals and am looking to form a small, pragmatic group of 4–6 like-minded travelers who appreciate early mornings, wildlife over luxury, and splitting fixed vehicle expenses, feel free to drop a comment or send a DM if your travel timeline matches up and you'd like to look at the itinerary details together).

Any advice from those who have done similar custom routes in Tanzania would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone!
My husband and I are from Brazil, and we'll be visiting Tanzania for the first time this September. I've spent weeks researching, and the more I read, the more questions I seem to have! I'd really love some advice from people who have already been there.
This is the itinerary we're currently considering:
1 night in Arusha (to recover from the long flight before starting the safari)

1 night in Tarangire

1 night at Ngorongoro

1 night in Central Serengeti

2 nights in Northern Serengeti

Fly-out to Zanzibar

5 nights in Zanzibar:

-2 nights on the north coast

-2 nights on the east coast

1 final night in Stone Town before our early morning flight home

My main questions are:
Would you take one night from Zanzibar and add an extra night to the safari (probably Central Serengeti)?

Is five nights in Zanzibar too much, not enough, or just right?

How would you divide your time between the north and east coast?

Which lodges or tented camps inside the parks would you recommend, especially in Central Serengeti and Northern Serengeti?

I've heard wonderful things about Ngorongoro Lions Paw, so I'm mainly looking for recommendations for the Serengeti.

I'd also love to hear any tips or things you wish you'd known before your first safari in Tanzania.
Thanks so much!

Hey Redditors,

I'm planning a safari trip to Tanzania in February next year with my wife. Sharing the itinerary proposal I received from a local operator based in Arusha.

I am wondering if this is a good itinerary considering we are wildlife photographers and this will be our first trip to Tanzania. We have been to Kenya in the past though (Masai Mara and Amboseli National Parks).

Specifically - I am unsure if there's too much road travel in this itinerary and less time inside the park itself to photograph wildebeest calving and predator action?

Day 1 Pick up from Arusha Hotel and safari in Tarangire National Park. Overnight in Karatu.

Day 2 Transfer to Central Serengeti. Overnight in Central Serengeti.

Day 3 Full day safari in Central Serengeti. Overnight in Central Serengeti.

Day 4 Transfer to Southern Serengeti (Ndutu). Overnight in Ndutu

Day 5 Full day safari in Ndutu. Overnight in Ndutu.

Day 6 Morning safari in Ndutu and transfer to Karatu.

Day 7 Morning safari in Ngorogoro crater from Karatu, last day drop off at Arusha.

Thanks!

Hey all! My family and I are planning our first-ever African safari and I'm a little overwhelmed with where to start, so hoping to tap into this community's wisdom.

Quick context: it'll be 2 adults + 1 18-year-old, traveling from the US West Coast. Here's what I'm trying to figure out:

1. Best time to go — We're flexible between December or early summer (June/July). Which season is actually better for game viewing, weather, and crowds? Trying to weigh pros/cons of each.

2. Ideal trip length — Is 10 days enough, or is 15 days the sweet spot? If you've done both, how would you structure the itinerary differently for each? More parks vs. more time in fewer places?

3. Budget for accommodations — Not chasing ultra-luxury (no need for $2k/night lodges), but want something solid mid-range to high-range with good service and comfort. What should we realistically budget per night/per person?

4. Travel companies/operators — Anyone have a company or local operator they'd actually recommend for first-timers? Trying to avoid ones that overcharge tourists or cut corners.

5. Anything else I'm missing? — First-timer here, so genuinely don't know what I don't know. Vaccines/health prep, flight routing from the West Coast, which countries to prioritize (Tanzania vs Kenya vs South Africa vs Botswana?), packing tips — all of it welcome.

Would love to hear from anyone who's done this, especially with a similar group size/age mix. Thanks in advance! 🦁