Tanzania Family Safaris
Your family can track the Great Migration as it moves across the immense Serengeti plains. You can even have your own luxury mobile camp! See big cats, fearsome crocodiles and almost every African animal you can imagine with your own private guide. Spend time with remote tribal communities like the Hadzabe. Stay in the fairytale like accommodation of Ngorongoro Crater Lodge perched on the rim of the ten mile wide crater and then explore the Rift Valley and beautiful Tarangire where 3,000 elephant migrate during the summer school holidays.
Older children will relish the adventure of flying into Southern Tanzania’s enormous remote reserves. You can walk, canoe and fly camp with amazing guides surrounded by wildlife and the vastness of Africa. Track chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains before cooling off with a swim in Lake Tanganyika. It combines wonderfully with Zanzibar.
Why Choose Tanzania For Your Family Safari?
Would Tanzania be the ideal country for your family safari? It’s less travelled than neighbouring Kenya. Yet within Tanzania’s borders are some of Africa’s icons: the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro. In the south, are vast relatively untouched national parks which have the ingredients for a thrilling family trip with teenagers.Would Tanzania be the ideal country for your family safari? It’s less travelled than neighbouring Kenya. Yet within Tanzania’s borders are some of Africa’s icons: the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro. In the south, are vast relatively untouched national parks which have the ingredients for a thrilling family trip with teenagers.
There are no direct flights from London or the USA so we would fly you on KLM via Amsterdam or an alternative hub. Travel to the northern reserves, such as the Serengeti, are by small plane or overland in a private safari vehicle with your own private guide.
Travel between the southern and western reserves, such as Selous and Mahale, are by light aircraft. The main rains in Tanzania fall from early April to mid-June. There is a shorter rainy season in November. The rest of the year is mainly dry and sunny which means that the school holidays (unless Easter falls in April) are a good time to travel.
Another factor that may influence your timing is the wildebeest migration. It traverses the Serengeti throughout the year; though it largely moves into the Kenyan Masai Mara July to September. During these months, we can select one of the superb smaller camps right up in the north, which will enable you to see it.
From November to April the huge herds are gathered on the short grass plains of the southern Serengeti. Here a collection of luxurious mobile camps are perfectly positioned for you to immerse yourselves amongst the wildebeest and zebra.
The national parks of the north and the south offer different kinds of safari. The north includes the Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire and Kilimanjaro and these are suitable for families of all ages.
The south includes the Selous and more remote areas like Ruaha and to the west Katavi and Mahale. These areas are perfect for a family with older teenagers and offer more adventurous activities such as walking,chimp trekking, canoeing and fly camping.
Parts of northern Tanzania can get busy. We make sure you avoid the crowds, staying in smaller, exclusive lodges and camps. You can even have your own private mobile camp with its own support team.
We have devoted over 30 years to discovering and building relationships with the best small safari properties in Tanzania. Some are located on private wildlife reserves, most notably in the Serengeti. Here are some of our favourite family lodges and camps.
Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean coast are just a short flight from northern Tanzania or the Selous. Your family can move seamlessly from lion and elephant to dolphin and a hundred kinds of reef fish.
We know delightful ocean hideaways which complement the style and service you will have enjoyed on safari. Zanzibar and the islands of Pemba and Mafia have superb beaches, snorkelling and diving. For centuries the island was a port linking Africa and Arabia and the Old Stone Town has a colourful history.
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Top 10 Family Activities in Tanzania
If you think that being on safari is all about sitting in a vehicle, think again. With Journeysmiths, your luxury family travel to Tanzania will be full of adventure and new experiences.If you think that being on safari is all about sitting in a vehicle, think again. With Journeysmiths, your luxury family travel to Tanzania will be full of adventure and new experiences.
Gaze in awe as nearly two million animals move across the Serengeti. We make sure the experience is as private as possible.
We can even arrange for your family to have your own mobile camp and support team to shadow the great herds. We also use semi-mobile camps and private and luxurious safari villas like Mkombe’s House in the remote north of the park.
From beautiful Chem Chem Lodge, your family can take off at dawn and soar above spectacular scenery.
This is the best way to appreciate the incredible sunken Rift Valley. Drift over beautiful Lake Manyara, seeing elephant among the sausage trees. To the west is the towering mass of Ngorongoro.
The Wahadzabe bushmen are hunter-gatherers living a traditional lifestyle beside Lake Eyasi.
We can arrange for your family to spend a day with them, learning how to make a poisoned arrow and hunting with the tribesmen. See how the women make jewellery from porcupine quills. There’s also plenty of wildlife to spot near the lake.
Imagine sleeping out in the middle of the vast Selous. During your stay at Sand Rivers Lodge, we can arrange for your family to set off on foot with a guide and support team.
They will set up a simple fly camp as you watch for elephant and giraffe. Chat around the campfire, enjoy a delicious meal and sleep in the wild heart of Africa.
Set your guide the challenge of tracking down the Big Five in a single day!
The most amazing setting is inside the 2,000 foot walls of the Ngorongoro Crater. It will take an early start and you’ll spend a whole day covering the 90-square mile crater floor. Record it all on camera as you encounter lion, rhinoceros, buffalo, leopard and elephant.
Amazing Kichaka Camp deep in Ruaha only takes eight guests. We can book the whole camp just for your family for an unforgettable multi-day safari.
Hosts Moli and Noelle will take you exploring, fly-camping, walking, swimming and fishing in the river. Ruaha is remote, spectacular and full of amazing wildlife.
The forested Mahale Mountains are one of a handful of places where you can spend time with chimpanzees. Chimp families have been habituated over many years.
The mountains run down to Lake Tanganyika and on the beach is Greystoke Mahale. It’s one of the most remote places in Africa and in the most glorious of settings.
Cheetah are extremely elusive big cats. They are vulnerable to larger predators and use their incredible speed to survive and hunt. They do 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds!
Luxurious Namiri Plains Camp is on a private reserve in the remote eastern Serengeti. The reserve has long been the centre of a cheetah conservation project, so it’s the ideal place to encounter them.
With all this talk of safaris, remember that historic Zanzibar is part of Tanzania.
We can arrange for you to round off your safari at a beach hideaway where you can snorkel, dive and swim with dolphins. Set aside a day to see ancient architecture of the Old Stone Town.
If you have the time and the stamina, we can arrange a private six to ten day hike up Mount Kilimanjaro. You’ll take a quiet, spectacular route with your own guide and support team who’ll set up camp beside glaciers.
If you can’t fit it in, try a couple of days on Mount Meru, or a one day hike up the beautifully conical Ol Donyo Lengai volcano.
Best Time to Go to Tanzania
July to September, the dry season, considered some of the best months for a Tanzania safari experiencing the Great Migration in privacy, spotting the Big 5 and countless other species, trekking with chimps in Mahale, climbing Kilimanjaro or enjoying beach holidays in Zanzibar. However, there is plenty to experience outside of these months and the best time to visit will depend on the activities you are interested in and the wildlife you'd like to spot. Tanzania's seasons and wildlife numbers are governed by the rains, so your experience will vary dependant on when you choose to travel.July to September, the dry season, considered some of the best months for a Tanzania safari experiencing the Great Migration in privacy, spotting the Big 5 and countless other species, trekking with chimps in Mahale, climbing Kilimanjaro or enjoying beach holidays in Zanzibar.
However, there is plenty to experience outside of these months and the best time to visit will depend on the activities you are interested in and the wildlife you'd like to spot. Tanzania's seasons and wildlife numbers are governed by the rains, so your experience will vary dependant on when you choose to travel.
What You Need to Know about the Weather in Tanzania
Tanzania is located just south of the Equator and has generally dry, warm weather. The exception is from mid-April to mid-June when the main rains arrive. Tanzania also sees some rain for part of November. These November “short rains” don’t really interfere with your safari. The coast and Zanzibar receive more rainfall and are hotter and more humid than the inland safari regions.Tanzania is located just south of the Equator and has generally dry, warm weather. The exception is from mid-April to mid-June when the main rains arrive. Tanzania also sees some rain for part of November. These November “short rains” don’t really interfere with your safari. The coast and Zanzibar receive more rainfall and are hotter and more humid than the inland safari regions.
Safaris are taken first thing in the morning and late afternoon when temperatures are lower. Another factor to bear in mind is altitude. Much of the Serengeti is at between 3,000 and 5,000 feet above sea level and the Ngorongoro Crater floor is at 6,000 feet. So it can be quite chilly at the start of a morning game drive. By mid-morning the weather gets warmer and outside the rainy season, humidity levels away from the coast are low. November to March is generally the warmest time of year.
Christmas and the main summer holidays are ideal times to visit Tanzania. The weather is usually warm and dry and these are excellent times to be on safari. If Easter falls in March, that is also a good time to travel, though rains can fall from about the second week in April. The Great Migration can be seen at any time of year in Tanzania, though a large part of it crosses into Kenya from June to October.
The coast and Zanzibar are low lying, so are hotter and more humid than the safari regions. November to March are the warmest months, with temperatures in the low to mid 30s. June to October is pleasantly warm with temperatures in the high 20s and you can expect a steady ocean breeze. In April and May, rainfall is heavy and in November the weather is prone to thunder showers.
Which Areas of Tanzania Should You Visit?
It’s 180 miles from Kilimanjaro to the middle of the Serengeti. Packed into that space you have Africa’s tallest mountain, the Great Rift Valley, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti plains. And more besides! Then there are the south and west, perhaps Africa’s greatest areas of untapped potential. Selous, Ruaha, Katavi and the Mahale Mountains are wild places, where an adventurous family can enjoy luxury travel of a lifetime.It’s 180 miles from Kilimanjaro to the middle of the Serengeti. Packed into that space you have Africa’s tallest mountain, the Great Rift Valley, Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti plains. And more besides! Then there are the south and west, perhaps Africa’s greatest areas of untapped potential. Selous, Ruaha, Katavi and the Mahale Mountains are wild places, where an adventurous family can enjoy luxury travel of a lifetime.
The Serengeti covers 11,500 square miles, so it’s nearly 20 times bigger than Greater London. It has richly diverse habitats of forests, rivers, hills and those wonderful endless plains. Animals, especially big lion prides are everywhere. You could devote 10 days just to exploring the Serengeti — three nights minimum! Our advice is to follow the Great Migration and build your trip around that epic event. We track the migration and know the best camps in each part of the Serengeti.
The Ngorongoro Crater is 8,000 feet high, 10 miles across and 2,000 feet deep. Around 20,000 animals roam the 100 square mile crater floor. Everybody wants to experience it! We will make your safari as private as possible by selecting small, exclusive accommodation on or very near the crater rim. We wake you early and get you down onto the crater floor at the earliest opportunity in your private vehicle. Then when it gets busy, we take you off to explore other amazing areas nearby.
Iconic baobab trees and termite mounds dot Tarangire’s remote landscape. Amongst them wander waterbuck, giraffe, dik-dik, and impala, as well as the more unusual banded mongoose and olive baboon. Tarangire has a strong population of elephant and big cats, and there are even rare sightings of dwarf mongoose, oryx, and gerenuk, a funny antelope that stand on their hind legs to reach the trees.
Most guests visit Lake Manyara en route to the Ngorongoro Crater, but it’s a pity to rush your time idea: the park has a special atmosphere all of its own. The park is famous for its elephant and large numbers of baboon, but also for buffalo and those tree-clibming lion. The birdlife is varied, with flocks of flamingo and pelican floating blissfully in the middle of the lake. In the enchanting evergreen forests you are likely to spot exciting species of bird such as the noisy silvery-cheeked hornbill, crowned eagle, crested guinea fowl, and raptor species.
This is Africa’s largest protected area of land and a place of great adventure. Your family can enjoy canoeing rivers, camping out in elephant country and tracking lion on foot. Sand Rivers Lodge beside the Great Rufiji River and Beho Beho up in the cooler hills are our favourite hideaways. They are both among the best lodges in East Africa, long established with superb guides and a base for memorable safari adventures.
Ruaha sits on the convergence zone where East African and Southern African bird and mammal species meet. This means that it has an incredible variety of mammals and 530 bird species. It has an enormous lion population as well as wild dog cheetah and leopard. We know some superb little camps like Kichaka which takes only 8 guests on superbly guided walking safaris. Ruaha is 50% bigger than the Serengeti with 10% of the tourists. It embraces mountains, savannahs, rich forests and major rivers.
Mahale is unlike anywhere else in Africa! Steep sided mountains clothed in rainforest run down to the awesomely deep Lake Tanganyika. On the beach where the mountains meet the lake is Greystoke Mahale Lodge. You arrive by light aircraft and river dhow and spend your days wandering the mountains encountering habituated families of chimpanzee. There are countless birds and seven other species of primate. In the afternoon dive off a dhow into the clear waters of the lake and swim to your heart’s content.
The light aircraft that takes you to Mahale also calls in at Katavi and these contrasting places combine perfectly for a week’s safari. Four great floodplains are the setting for rising degrees of animal mayhem as the dry season advances from June to late October. Immense herds of buffalo and elephant, antelope and plains game gather as rivers diminish to pools. Noisy commotions break out as tempers fray among the hippo community. Lurking crocodiles and greedy prides of lion complete the picture. And with just a handful of tiny camps you have the place pretty well to yourselves.
Why Travel with Journeysmiths
We are a boutique travel specialist. For over 30 years we have been creating luxury tailor-made safaris to the timeless savannahs of Africa. Your time is precious and with a world to see, we understand the importance of getting it absolutely right for you, every time.We are a boutique travel specialist. For over 30 years we have been creating luxury tailor-made safaris to the timeless savannahs of Africa. Your time is precious and with a world to see, we understand the importance of getting it absolutely right for you, every time.
Looking for Inspiration?
The Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater are truly spectacular settings filled with great herds and big cats. We take you far from the crowds and minibuses with your own private guide, staying in exclusive accommodation. Families with older teenagers will love the wildly remote Selous, Ruaha and Mahale, where you can walk, canoe and even track chimpanzees. Round it off on exotic Zanzibar.
We’ve collated a list of our ten favourite Tanzanian experiences to show you what’s possible in this incredible country.
At Journeysmiths we take you out into the wilds to enjoy all kinds of activities with expert, personable guides. Read our top ten Tanzania family safari experiences.
The best time to visit Tanzania will depend on the activities you are interested in and the wildlife you'd like to spot. Read our month-by-month seasonal guide, and responses to your most popular Tanzania safari questions