Tanzania

Travel Tips

1. You need to time your visit carefully if you want to witness the amazing wildebeest migration in the Serengeti National Park. The sound of thundering hooves raising clouds of thick red dust makes this a once-in-a-lifetime experience. More than 1.5 million animals make the annual pilgrimage to fresh pasture in the north, then the south, after the biannual rains. The timing of the migration varies each year but it generally takes place from January to July and starts in the Ngorongoro conservation area of the southern Serengeti. Calving takes place between January and March. June to August is a good time to visit when the beasts prepare to cross the famous River Grumeti. To track the migration visit the wildwatch web site.
2.  With Tanzania being such a large country, which safari area should you visit? The ‘northern circuit’ is the most popular and includes the Serengeti with its huge amounts of game, the beautiful Ngorongoro Crater and the Rift Valley’s Lake Manyara. However, it’s also the most crowded, with mini buses outnumbering visitors at times. Southern Tanzania offers vast plains, great game-viewing and small lodges, so groups are small and you’ll be driven around in open-top jeeps. Its parks include the Selous Game Reserve, Africa's largest. In the west, safaris are remote and more expensive. Parks include the Katavi National Park and Mahale Mountains National Park.
3. When choosing a safari, it is important to specify the type of type of game you want to see and the activities you are looking for. Although your budget will determine the quality of accommodation you can afford, there are so many different camps and lodges on offer that it is necessary to decide on the type of experience you want. Being under canvas doesn’t mean slumming it – the tents are usually luxurious and the camp fires and closeness to nature will provide a different type of holiday than staying in a lodge. Lodges, however, may offer more facilities such as a swimming pool.
4. The weather is generally pleasant year-round (21-27C) but the equatorial climate brings two wet seasons which you may want to avoid. The masika, or long rains, fall from mid-March to the end of May, and the ‘short’ mvuli are intermittent throughout November and December. Tanzania lies below the equator so its coolest months are during the northern hemisphere’s summer. Between June and October, temperatures range from around 10C in the northern highlands to about 23C on the coast and lower-altitude game reserves. From December to March, the skies are clear – perfect at night for star gazing – and the days are hot and sunny with temperatures from mid 20Cs to low 30Cs.
5. There’s more to Tanzania than safaris – it has some spectacular beaches also. The Zanzibar Archipelago, a cluster of ‘spice islands’ that witnessed the growth of Swahili civilisation until the mid-20th century, offers deserted beaches, traditional dhow cruises, sultan’s palaces, slave caves and spice plantations. Villages such as Pemba still preserve the Swahili way of life, while on the islands of Mafia, old trading towns line the walkways to abandoned ports. The entire Swahili coast is a delight for snorkelers, divers and swimmers who come to see the colourful coral and marine life. It really is a place of untouched beauty.