There is a wide gap between a mid-range Tanzanian safari and a luxury one, and most of that gap is spent on things that make very little difference to the days you will remember. Here is where to put the money and where not to, from an operator that runs both.
Spend on the guide
This is the whole argument. Your guide decides where the vehicle is at six in the morning, reads what the other drivers are saying on the radio, knows which track the cats have been using this week, and can tell you what you are looking at. A good guide in a mid-range trip produces a better week than an indifferent guide at three times the price.
When you compare quotes, ask about the guide by name and ask how long they have worked the parks on your route. An operator that cannot answer is telling you something.
Spend on location, not on thread count
Inside the Serengeti, where you sleep determines how much of the morning you spend driving before you are in wildlife. A modest camp well inside the park beats a smart lodge an hour outside the gate, every time. That hour is the best light of the day.
The same applies at Ngorongoro. A property on the crater rim puts you at the descent road early; a cheaper hotel down in Karatu costs you the first hour and a half.
Where to save
- Arusha hotels. You arrive late and leave early. A clean, comfortable, well-located hotel does the job; a luxury one is money spent while you sleep.
- Pool and spa facilities. On a safari week you are out of camp from dawn until late afternoon. Facilities you will use for ninety minutes are not where the budget belongs.
- Room size. A larger tent is a larger tent. It does not change what walks past it.
- Beach nights before the safari. If you are combining with Zanzibar, put the coast at the end. You will appreciate it more and you will not be paying safari-season beach rates to recover from a flight.
The one upgrade that changes the trip
A private vehicle. On a shared game drive you move when the group moves and you leave a sighting when somebody else is ready to leave. A private vehicle means you stay with the leopard for forty minutes if it is worth forty minutes. It is not the cheapest line on a quote and it is the one that most changes how the days feel.
What this looks like in practice
Our mid-range trips run from around $265 a night for eight days, against luxury properties that start well above $500 and climb from there. A mid-range trip with a strong guide, a private vehicle and one well-placed camp inside the Serengeti will give most people a better week than a luxury trip that has spent the difference on the room.
Tell us your budget honestly and we will tell you where it goes furthest. We would rather place your money well than quote you a number that looks impressive on paper.
