animals | Another Travel Blog

Just two weeks ago we were in Tanzania and spent 4 days on a safari through Lake Manyana, Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro creator. We chose Tanzania on recommendations from friends, and I can say it was definitely the best game viewing I have ever experienced and I’d highly recommend the trip to anyone.

We travelled with Victoria Expeditions – on recommendation – and found them really good to deal with. Although it really is all down to the guide – and our guide (Richard) like many works for a number of different safari companies. There are a lot of safari companies and most offer the exact same tours at similar prices, so getting a good guide is more important than choosing a particular company,

A 4 day camping safari through Victoria was US$640 each – including all meals, transport, entry fees, tents, guide, cook and a free night at a hotel in Arusha. Our guide and cook were both excellent. It wasn’t super rustic camping – the first night was in a permanent campsite with beds, and the last 3 nights in tents which the guide and cook set up – sleeping bags and mattresses were included, and all of the campsite had electricity, hot water and sit down toilets.

At least half of that $640 goes to the incredibly high entrance and camping fees the Tanzanian government charges – so after fuel and food costs the guide and cook don’t get paid much. Tips are expected, and recommended to be up to 10% of the cost of your trip. There were 5 of us on the safari and we all tipped the recommended US$35 each.

The game viewing was amazing – we saw a lot of animals in all of the three parks we visited. It was low season at January is when there is a small rainy season in between the heavier rains of December and February – but the Serengeti is apparently good to visit any time of year. It was ideal for us as it wasn’t very hot (maximum of high 20’s) and it got quite cool at night (down to 13 degrees in Ngorongoro).

At Lake Manyana we saw a lot of elephants and baboons up close. In the Serengeti we witnessed the migration of thousands of wildebeast, gazelle and zebras, and also saw cheetahs, giraffe, buffalo, a jackal, hyenas, a leopard, quite a few lions (including a whole pride in a tree) and 3 lions up really close to the car, and a lot of other animals. On our final day in Ngorongoro we saw zebras, buffalo, wildebeast, a few rhinos (in the distance) and just as we were finishing our game drive, a group of 12 lions spend around half an hour ambling past all of the game vehicles that had gathered – two even rested next to our car – which was amazing!

You can never be sure what you’re going to see when on safari so we were very lucky. Here are some photos below.