The cheapest way to do a Tanzanian safari properly, and an honest account of what you give up.
A camping safari uses public campsites inside or beside the parks. Tents are put up for you, and a cook travels with the trip and prepares the meals. The game drives are the same as any other safari. Same vehicle, same guide, same parks, same animals.
Places Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro
Four days from Arusha through Lake Manyara, the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, in a private…
Places Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Olduvai Gorge
Six days with two full days in the Serengeti, Olduvai Gorge on the way in and the Ngorongoro Crater to…
Places Tarangire, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, Lake Eyasi
Seven days through Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater, ending with a morning at Lake…
Shared washing facilities, which vary from decent to basic. Cold water at some sites. Less privacy. Nights are genuinely cold on the Ngorongoro rim. That surprises people who have pictured Africa as uniformly hot, and it's the most common complaint from travellers who didn't pack for it.
The obvious thing is money: this is the cheapest way to do a real safari here, and it often makes the difference between a four-day trip and a seven-day one. The less obvious thing is the nights. Public campsites inside the parks are unfenced, and lying in a tent listening to hyena and lion is an experience no lodge reproduces.
Travellers who would rather spend on days than on bedding. Anyone who has camped before and knows they don't mind it. Younger travellers and small groups where splitting the vehicle cost matters most.
Anyone who sleeps badly on a thin mattress, or who is travelling with very young children, or for whom the trip is a one-off that needs to be comfortable as well as memorable. There is no shame in that. Say so and we'll quote mid-range instead.
Worth knowing when you compare quotes: Tanzanian park fees are set by the government and are the same whatever tier you travel in. They make up a large share of any safari price, which is why the cheapest camping trip still isn't cheap, and why a quote far below the others is usually cutting something it hasn't told you about.
Camping safaris use the public campsites inside the national parks, and it's worth being precise about what that means because the word "camping" covers everything from a swag on the ground to a suite under canvas.
Public campsites are basic and communal. A shared ablution block with cold or lukewarm water, a covered cooking area, and a patch of ground where your crew pitches your tents. There is no fence. Buffalo, hyena and occasionally elephant walk through camp at night, which is safe if you stay in your tent and is the single most memorable thing about the trip for most people who do it.
Your crew does the work. Tents are pitched and struck for you and a cook travels with the group. Camping safaris aren't self-catering.
The tents are dome tents with foam mattresses, not walk-in tents with beds. You will be on the ground and you'll be cold at night in the Serengeti and colder on the crater rim.
The safari itself doesn't change. Same parks, same vehicle, same guide, same animals, same hours. The compromise is entirely in where you sleep and how you wash, and for a lot of people that's exactly the right trade.
Camping suits travellers who would rather have more days in the parks than better sheets, people who genuinely enjoy being outside, younger travellers, and anyone for whom the alternative is a shorter trip or no trip.
It also suits anyone who wants to be inside the park boundary on a budget. A public campsite in the Serengeti puts you on a game drive at first light in a way a cheap lodge on the park edge can't.
It doesn't suit anyone who sleeps badly on the ground, anyone with a back or hip problem, or anyone who is going to be miserable without a hot shower after eight hours of dust. Being cold and tired for a week doesn't improve a safari, and there's no prize for enduring it.
The cold is the thing most people underestimate. The Serengeti sits at around 1,500 metres and the crater rim at 2,300, and nights from June to August are genuinely cold in a dome tent. A proper sleeping bag rated well below what you think you need is the difference between the trip working and not.
If in doubt, mix it: camp in the Serengeti and take a lodge on the crater rim.
The kit list for a camping safari is short and getting it wrong is the difference between a great week and a miserable one.
A proper sleeping bag, rated well below what you think you need. This is the single most important item. The Serengeti sits at around 1,500 metres and the crater rim at 2,300, and nights from June to August are genuinely cold in a dome tent. A summer bag won't do.
An inflatable sleeping mat, if you can, on top of the foam mattress provided. Ground comfort decides whether you sleep.
A headtorch, with spare batteries. Campsites have no lighting and you'll need to find the ablution block in the dark.
Warm layers for the evening and early morning, and a windproof. Sitting outside after dark is most of the social life of a camping trip and it's cold.
A quick-dry towel, biodegradable soap and flip-flops for the shared showers.
A small daypack for the vehicle with water, binoculars, camera and a fleece, so the main bag can stay packed.
And earplugs. Campsites are communal and hyenas are loud.
You aren't giving up the safari. Same parks, same vehicle, same guide, same tracks, same animals, same hours as a trip at five times the price.
You aren't giving up food. A cook travels with the group and the food at public campsites is generally better than people expect.
You aren't giving up safety. Campsites are unfenced and animals move through at night, which is normal and isn't a problem provided you stay in your tent after dark and don't walk around camp.
You're giving up a bed, a private bathroom, reliable hot water and warmth at night. In the dry season that's a real cost, and anyone who sleeps badly on the ground should think hard about it.
You are also giving up privacy. Public campsites are shared with other groups and can be busy in the high season.
A sensible hybrid, for anyone unsure, is to camp in the Serengeti, where being inside the park at dawn matters most, and take a lodge on the crater rim, where the cold is worst and the campsite is at its least appealing.
Most people who sleep badly on a camping safari sleep badly on the first night and fine after that. It's usually the noise, not the ground.
A few things help. Bring earplugs. Not for the animals, but for the camp generator and your neighbours. Bring a head torch and keep it where your hand falls. Sort out anything you'll need in the night before it gets dark, because it gets dark quickly and completely.
It's colder than people expect, especially in the crater highlands. A warm layer to sleep in earns the space it takes in the bag.
Same safari, simpler nights. Bring a sleeping bag rated far below what you expect to need, and consider camping in the Serengeti while taking a lodge on the cold crater rim.
Tell us your dates and we will put something together.
