I want to get licked by a giraffe, it’s been my lifelong dream since April of the same year- so I booked a trip to Tanzania. I later learned that the giraffe is their national animal. I love when I make good, thought-through life choices.
My route:
- non-stop Amsterdam to Kilimanjaro airport with KLM since most safaris start in Arusha. 2 nights in Arusha before the 6 day safari (arrived late the first evening)
- 7 days of safari
- 1 half day walking tour Arusha National Park- booked through accommodation
- 6 day/ 5 night budget camping I paid a deposit for 5 months in advance
- fly to Zanzibar with As Salaam Air (€200 one-way booked 1 month beforehand)
- Stone town- 3 nights
- Paje- 3 nights
- Nungwi- 2 nights
- Dar es Salaam- 1 night
- red eye flight back to Amsterdam from Dar es Salaam
It takes about 2 hours to get from Stone Town to anywhere on the island with dalla dalla (bus), a little less time by taxi.
can’t a gal get excited about good, organized, packing?
I can and I did.
I carefully selected every piece of clothing to impress/ attract all the animals. Chatty says no black or dark blue colours because they attract tsetse flies. Stick with neutral colours (khaki, browns, olive, beige).
Are stripes allowed, or will it give a giraffe the ick? What about grey? Patterns? Never have I ever been so concerned about my wardrobe before and in hindsight, I could have packed better.
My packing list for 18 days in Tanzania:
- 1 conservative striped sundress (Stone Town is mostly Muslim so you should cover up and don’t wear swimwear here)
- 1 beige fleece pullover (camping during the night)
- 1 cotton olive green overalls (I later donated them because everyone in Tanzania made fun of them. They are called “everything pants” for children because children poop in them)
- 1 gray yoga tights
- 2 long sleeves (light blue linen, striped cotton)
- 1 sweater (didn’t wear)
- 1 wool long sleeve base layer
- 1 thermal leggings base layer
- 5 short sleeve tops (they get dusty so I should have brought 1 or 2 less and brought something to wear for the beach in Zanzibar instead)
- 2 bathing suits
- 5 hiking socks (way too many, 1 for the night would suffice. You can wear flip flops in the jeep during game drives- you aren’t supposed to stand on the seats)
- 5 regular socks (I was in flip flops most of the time so I didn’t need this many)
- 1 waterproof flip flops
- 1 hiking shoes (good for the Arusha trek but not required, sneakers could also work)
- Turkish towel for beach
- Quick dry towel for showering
- Kobo e-reader
- Actual book
- hand/foot warmer (I technically didn’t need to use it but in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area campsite it was the coldest. They gave me 2 sleeping bags and I was in my thermals, wool and fleece at night)
- vaccine booklet
- UK plug usb charger
- power bank (lots of places only had 1 power source in a random area so everyone left their phones in the open to charge. Our jeep also didn’t have any working power source)
- first aid pack with plasters and blister stuff
- insect repellant
The thin packing list from the safari company (camping):
- insect repellant
- mask (not sure what this was but I bought a medical mask, which I didn’t use)
- sun glasses
- short sleeves for during the day
- long sleeve for the night
- bath towel
- sandals
- soap
I definitely needed a flashlight/ headlamp at the Serengeti campsite since there was only one light in the kitchen and one in the toilets, but I had to make do with my phone instead.
There was only 1 set of binoculars in the jeep, so we had to share. Personally, I wouldn’t have brought my own because I wanted to see things with my own eyes, it was a good thing I forgot my glasses since I’m nearsighted.
The company provided a sleeping bag, but forgot a pillow for us the first night so I used my jumper. The sleeping bag did the job, but it smelled like an old couch fart.
what colours should you actually pack for a safari?
- White is not recommended only because it gets super dirty/ dusty during the dry season. Especially if you stand up during the game drive. Dust in every crevice.
- Black is not recommended because of the heat. I felt like my log legs were roasting in a campfire. I wore gray yoga tights and got bitten by a tsetse fly on my hand. A Norwegian in my group was wearing beige from head to toe and she got bitten on her leg. The bastards are gonna bite no matter the colour.
- I wore stripes, and we saw the big 5, jus sayin’
the prep in my step
There is much ado about visiting Tanzy.
- Vaccines, malaria pills
- entry visa – get this online beforehand, you can get it upon arrival but the lines were cray cray
- extra Zanzibar health insurance (2025) costing 45USD that was instated October 1 2024. This “insurance” is completely useless, it’s really just an extra tourist fee without calling it a fee. I have Dutch medical insurance, extra travel medical insurance and I still needed to purchase it. A sample of stories from people:
- 1 person snuck past security to avoid it
- 1 argued about it and told them they would only pay 5 USD, which they accepted
- 1 person paid but their scanning system was down and couldn’t scan the QR code so the traveler was almost forced to pay for it again
- cash- I brought 450 USD cash with me to pay for the taxi from Kili airport, some food at my accommodation, one tour etc. Then after the safari in Arusha I got €250 out of the ATM in Shillings. The KCB ATM near the clock tower in Arusha doesn’t charge fees, but it ran out of money the second time I tried to use it. Diamond Trust Bank also didn’t charge me fees. Shillings are better than USD since the denominations in Shillings are smaller, they won’t give you change for 1 USD. You can also barter easier and get a better rate in most cases.
how to find a good safari company?
I tried to find some blogs with recommendations, but it was fruitless. I used a booking comparison site called Tanzanian Safari, where you can request free quotes and if you go over your quote limit, you can search the company website and contact them directly.
I contacted maybe 10-15 companies. Finally picking one based on the driving route mostly and I wanted to stay at Simba campsite to pay my respects to The Lion King. In the end, the route I picked didn’t matter.
Here’s why:
I had a bit of African spice on Monday, 30 hours before my flight departure and 3 days before my scheduled 6 day safari that I booked 5+ months in advance and paid a hefty deposit for.
The safari company WhatsApp’s me asking if they could call me.
Sure
Hello, The Oct 25 group is departing now on Oct 26. We were wondering what your onwards journey is after the safari?
I’m flying to Zanzibar.
Oh okay thank you bye
Then I get a message asking me what time my flight is at.
1430.
Radio silence for 5 hours so I WhatsApp her back.
2 hours later she responds saying it’s fine and that I will go with a different group on the same day as planned originally but with the start and end parks are reversed.
What a doozy start to the trip.
Here’s the thing, some companies work together to fill the seats in the jeeps. It’s like an overcomplicated game of musical chairs. You may have the same people in your group for a couple of days, then it can change when a new tour starts.
You may get a new guide. You may have the same chef. You’ll probably have to wait for others to arrive at a location by van, you may get dropped off at a gas station to meet with another van (they usually wait with you) or you may need to wait for the group with larger numbers to finish whatever it is that they are doing that morning (eating breakfast, visiting a school etc).
See overcomplicated.
In the end, my route changed for the better since it had a nice build up to the Serengeti and I had a great group that stayed the same for 5 out of 6 days so I was a happy camper.
what national parks should I visit?
Having been to all 5 national parks/ conservation areas in Northern Tanzania, what would I recommend? Keep in mind, I get an excitement quiver the 30th time I see a giraffe so for me 7 days of safari was unreal and the perfect amount of time. For some people, it may be too much.
Serengeti National Park
This is THE national park. Inspo for The Lion King, this park is massive with wide open plains as far as binoculars can see in every direction. It’s a drive through Ngorongoro, past 3 checkpoints to get here, about 3.5 hours, but she is worth every bump on the unpaved road. You can spot everything here, other than the rhino. Hippos!! Cheetahs!! Leopards!! The opening scene at Pride Rock is pretty much real and it’s happening in the Serengeti, sweetheart.
Arusha National Park
The only national park in Tanzania where you can do a short 1.5 hour circuit walk with an armed ranger to see the animals since there are no lions in this park. It’s best to go in the morning because there is one main open plain at the start of the park where the animals sleep.
They usually go into the trees when eating, and since they believe in breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner and supper- most of their day is spent eating. Here is where I saw my first giraffe right on the side of the road and I almost cried. Buffalos were abundant and warthogs. Zebra and wildebeests were far away but all chillin’ here together like the best of friends.
Tarangire National Park
This large park had a lot more diversity of animals when compared to what I saw in Lake Manyara (zebras, wildebeests, warthogs, elephants, giraffes). Elephant poaching was very prominent here. Poachers used to hide their murdered elephant ivory in the baobab trees since they are hallow. Then at night they would sneak the ivory out past the rangers. You can see one of these trees with a whole in it at this park.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
It’s a conservation area since the Maasai people are allowed to live inside it. This is the only park where there are rhinos- if you see them, it will be from a distance with binoculars. Ngorongoro is referred to as a crater but it used to be a mountain higher than Everest that collapsed in on itself.
Lake Manyara National Park
This technically is part of Tarangire National Park (shares the same landscape, but the highway and then the massive lake separate the two parks). There are signs that you can spot lions that sleep in the trees. This does happen, but only during the rainy season because the termites and insects litter the park floor so the lion climbs trees to avoid this annoyance. This park can be hit or miss. I was told that seeing 1 elephant was common and I saw 3 herds and a lioness with her cub. This was one of the closest places I got to an elephant.
If you could only do one park, Serengeti would be my top choice.
Every time I saw Pumbaa I sung in my head when I was a young warthog..
Every time I saw a lion I sung in my head So enemies, beware. Well, I’ve never seen a king of beasts. With quite so little hair
Every time I saw a hyaena I sung in my head It’s clear from your vacant expressions. The lights are not all on upstairs
Yes, when I was 6 I had The Lion King green cassette tape and song book and, yes, I used to line my stuffed animals up on a couch and conduct them with lyrics. Thanks for asking.
If you are short on time and don’t want to spend half a day/ day getting to the Serengeti from Arusha, I would say do Tarangire National Park because there is a larger range of animals in abundance, you just may not get too close to them.
If you are adamant on getting out of a vehicle- Arusha would be the one. You can still see some animals, but the driving route I did was smaller than Tarangire and you can’t see much from the driving part around the lakes.
Ngorongoro has a very unique landscape since it is the only crater on the list. We didn’t get that close to any animals except maybe the flamingos, but I don’t like birds.
