We are a group of seven including three teenagers going to Tanzania in August for our first safari (approx. one week), followed by a beach holiday in Zanzibar (ideally about 16/17 days total). Our priorities for the safari are:

The Big Five
Not too many camps (less travelling)
Balloon safari
Not too busy (too many jeeps vieing for position etc.)
Stunning views
If possible flying between camps
Not too primitive (comfortable camps not necessarily luxurious)
Approx. £3,000 per person

We have had varying reports, some favouring the north, some the south. We understand that the Arusha - Serengeti camps can be over-busy in August but that the variety and volume of animals and the views are better than Selous and Ruaha in the south. Conversely the camps in the south are reputed to be much quieter and by utilising internal flights between the camps the hours on the road (track…) are less. However, does this compromise seeing large quantities of animals or are they just as abundant as in the north? Another possibility could be to combine Selous with one camp in the north, is this possible and/or practical? Your thoughts please and some Expert Africa costings. Robin Raymond, by email

Hi Robin

Many thanks for your questions.

The choice between northern and southern Tanzania is one that a lot of people battle with – and it’s a really interesting one. They’re very different – and your understanding is very close to the reality.

The north has been visited by tourists for many, many decades; hence the routes are generally well-trodden and the volumes of visitors and vehicles in the more accessible areas are very high. They’re attracted by the stunning sights of the great Rift Valley, the picturesque Lake Mayara soda lake, Ngoronongoro Crater – and, of course, upwards of 1.5 million animals partaking in the Serengeti’s great migration.

The closest parts of these areas are generally fairly easy to drive to from Arusha in a day or two. Hence much of the tourism in this region revolves around groups taking a driver and vehicle around the whole area. For your group of seven, your own vehicle and guide would be perfect (choosing a good guide needs care; some are shockingly bad).

In price terms… if you want a “cheap” safari, then a week from Arusha can be very cheap, especially when the vehicle and guide costs are divided by seven visitors. £700 each for a week’s safari, including all accommodation, meals and activities is probably attainable. However, you would be staying in big, impersonal hotels, and being driven by more of a “spotter” than a good wildlife guide.

However, if you want to use smaller, out-of-the-way camps in good, but more remote areas – and so see many fewer other visitors, then you’ll pay two or three times that. I’d argue that if you’re going to the north at all, then this is worth it, but this makes a safari to the north where you see great wildlife, but don’t see many people, often quite an expensive proposition.

You’re considering a trip in August. See here for a useful moving map of the migration, and explanation of its route, and you’ll realize that in August the great migration is in the far north of the Serengeti. This is a stunning area, with relatively few visitors – basically because it’s isolated and hence expensive to get to (by contrast, Kenya’s Maasai Mara also host the migration then – and it’s packed with people, and easily accessible – so fairly cheap).

A typical week’s safari from Arusha by vehicle just hasn’t got time to get up to the far north of the Serengeti properly. It’s a very good two-day drive each way. A fly-in trip here would be a possibility, but quite expensive for a week – eating up probably more than your budget in a week’s safari.

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