At first, planning a safari looks like hard work: what itinerary? which Parks? where to sleep? What's the best time to visit?
We want to simply this task for you as much as we can by providing an excellent, fast customer support and a clear price structure for itineraries based on your preferences.
Based on years of customer care, we have created a list of frequentely asked questions with respective answers. Though we hope it helps you making a decision, it is natural to still have some doubts as there are always specific situations we cannot address here. If applicable, please feel free to contact us and we will assist you in any question you might have.
This is not an easy question, as Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly one of the most famous places on earth along with Ngorongoro Crater, which makes the northern circuit more popular. Nonetheless, the south is perfect if you're looking for a off the beaten track circuit with great wildlife and much less tourists. If your are coming to Tanzania for the first time, we will definitely recommend The Northern Circuit. On the contrary, we will suggest the Southern Circuit for those who have already visited Tanzania or for those landing in Dar es Salaam with few days for safari.
The usual starting and finishing point for the Northern Circuit Safaris is Arusha and for the Southern Circuit Safaris Dar es Salaam. We can also provide pickup services from other cities like Moshi.
From the moment you contact us for a quote, we immediately provide different levels of accommodation. The standard one, which refers to public campsites, is included in the daily price for the safari. Our staff, including a cook to prepare your meals, will take your tent (and set it up), as well as sleeping bags, pillows, mats, sheets, food and cooking equipment.
Upgrading the level of accommodation means increasing the level of comfort, as you will stay in private lodges or tented campsites. Any of these options have large tents/rooms, real beds, private ensuite toilets and showers. As for the meals, they will be prepared by these lodges/tente campsites (full board is always included), so we won't send our own cook.
The difference between further higher levels of luxury is in the quality of the tents/rooms, decoration, service, quality of the restaurant, location, among other things.
- Up to 30 days before departure: Penalty of 20%
- Up to 21 days before departure: Penalty of 50%
- Less than 7days before departure of no show: Penalty of 100%
All safaris have, at least, the following inclusions:
* 4WD Toyota Land Cruiser with pop-up roof
* Accommodation as detailed (Full Board)
* All National Park entrances **
* Unlimited Water and Unlimited mileage during game drives.
* Donations/payments to local community projects.
As all safaris are tailor made, there are always services/tours that can be added to a specific safari, like flights, hotels, balloon flights, etc.
** Unexpected official Governmental increases of park fees or taxes (after booking time), which are beyond our control, are not included and may be charged to the client.Because the safaris start early (9am), we strongly recommend sleeping at least one night in Arusha (Northern Circuit) or Dar es Salam (Southern Circuit). Otherwise, you will lose valuable time. In any case, it's always a good ideia to stay one day in Arusha for orientation, to rest and even to prepare for any flight delay or luggage loss.
Safaris usually finish around 5pm in Arusha / Dar es Salaam, but we can be flexible with time and finish earlier for you to take your flight. Precision Air has flights to Zanzibar around 6.30pm, and to Dar es Salaam after 8pm, which are compatible with the safari on that day. However, we recommend that you go to your next destination only the day after, so you avoid rushing to the airport.
These are our recommendations::
* Khaki, green, beige and neutral colours (dark blue and black clothing should be avoided as it attracts Tsetse flies)
* Shirts with long sleeves (even in summer, as protection from the sun, mosquitoes and Tsetse flies)
* T shirts
* Shorts or a light skirt
* Jeans or safari trousers for evenings and cooler days
* A jacket and sweater are recommended for early morning and evening game drives
* Lightweight water-proof jacket
* Swim and beachwear
* Comfortable walking shoes
* Sun block, sunglasses, hat, moisturizer and lip-salve are all essentials
* Strong but natural insect repellent
* Camera equipment
* Good quality safari clothing is available in safari shops
* Bath towels and emergency toilet paper (only if you do a budget safari. Otherwise the hotels will provide the towels).
All safari costs are included:
* All National Park entrance and camp site fees
* Accommodation as detailed - Luxury tented camps or lodges or public campsites. If doing a budget camping safari, we provide all the camping equipment as well.
* Transport with qualified driver/ guide in well maintainted 4*4 Land Cruiser with Safari pop-up open roof.
* High-End Nikon/Olympus/Bushnell Binoculars.
* All food - breakfasts, packed lunches and evening meals.
* Bottled water and sof drinks in the vehicle during the safari.
* Pickup/dropof in Arusha hotel before/afer safari.
* Services of various local guides.
* Donations and payments to local community projects.
Of course, if you request it, we can add other items to the contract, like domestic or international flights, accommodation in Arusha or Zanzibar, extra tours (like balloon flight in the Serengeti or walking safari in Ngorongoro), Flying Doctors insurance, Welcome pack, etc.
* Tips for the guide (the industry guidelines is $10 USD per person per day, but it is ultimately up to the client's descrition).
* International visa for Tanzania (can be obtained on arrival in Tanzania for $50 USD per person)
* Visas for Tanzania or medicine/vaccination
Most countries can get Visa on Arrival at the airport. The only exception is citizens of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka, Abkhazia, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Kyrgyzten, Mauritania, Palestine, Somalia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Djibouti, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Uzbekistan and Refugees or stateless individuals.
Remember that, with arrival visa or not, your passport needs to have at least 6 months of validity when you arrive.
We cannot legally provide medical advise as we are not a health institution, but most travellers take vaccine for Yellow Fever and take prophylaxis pills for Malaria. Some travellers do not take the prophylaxis pills and instead protect themselves by covering their body at night, using mosquito repellant and/or mosquito nets. If you plan to go to Zanzibar, or if you come from an Endemic yellow fever country (or do a stop-over there) we recommend taking the yellow fever vaccine as it may be requested upon arrival at the airport.
Once we have designed your itinerary (only safari or also including transfers, flights, hotels in town, etc.) we will send you a contract with everything. We require a down-payment which can be paid via bank transfer or by Paypal (which also accepts credit cards). The remaining payment can be paid using the same method or, if you prefer, can be made once you arrive in Tanzania, in cash or credit card.
We recommend getting the visa upon arrival as it is a very straightforward process and just takes a few minutes. We recommend bringing a pen and the money for the visas in cash to make the process faster. The price is $50 USD for all nationalities except citizens from the USA who have to pay $100 USD per person.
All nationalities can get a visa upon arrival except citizens of the following countries: Abkhazia (Republic inside Georgia), Eriterea Republic, Mauritania Republic, Sri Lanka Republic, Turkmanistan, Afghanistan Republic, Ethiopia, Morocco, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh Republic, Kazakhstan Republic, Niger Republic, Somali Land, Wakimbizi (REFUGEES), Chad Repubic, Kyrgyzsten Republic, Palestine State, Stateless People, Djibout Republic, Lebanon Republic, Senegal Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Mali Republic, Sierra Leone Republic and Tajikstan.
Yes. it does not matter if you do a budget camping safari or upgrade to a higher level of accommodation, we are able to accommodate any specific request (vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher, paleo, gluten-fee, specific allergies, etc.). These are very common requests and not an issue at all.
