Walking Safaris
The places in northern Tanzania where you can walk, what it's actually like, and what it isn't.
Walking changes the scale of a safari. From a vehicle you look at large animals from a distance. On foot you notice the things a vehicle drives past. Tracks, dung, bones, birds, the smell of a place, how the ground feels underfoot.
It is not a way to get closer to big game. A walking safari that runs into a buffalo has gone wrong.
Where you can do it
- Walking is restricted in Tanzania's national parks and permitted only in designated areas with a licensed armed ranger. In the north the realistic options are:
- Arusha National Park, where the absence of lion and the low elephant numbers make walking straightforward. That is why it's the most common walking day on the northern circuit.
- Tarangire, where guided walking safaris are offered.
- Parts of the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro highlands, in specific concessions, not anywhere you like.
- Lake Eyasi and the surrounding country, where walking is usually combined with time among the Hadzabe and Datoga communities and is as much cultural as it's wildlife.
What a walk involves
A few hours, usually early morning, at a slow pace, with an armed ranger ahead and a guide explaining as you go. You will be briefed on how to behave. Single file, quiet, no sudden movement, and do what the ranger says at once if they say anything.
Walking is normally a morning within a vehicle-based safari, not a trip in its own right. The most natural placements are an Arusha National Park day at the start or end, or a morning at Lake Eyasi partway through a longer northern circuit itinerary.
Arranging it
We don't currently sell a dedicated walking itinerary. Walking mornings are added to a normal safari, subject to the park, the season and ranger availability on the day. If you want walking to be a big part of the trip, not an add-on, say so when you enquire and we'll tell you honestly how much of it is realistic in the north.
The places you can walk
Walking isn't allowed everywhere, and knowing where it's changes how you build the trip.
Arusha National Park is the easiest and the best value. There are no lions, which is precisely why walking works there, and an armed ranger accompanies you through country holding giraffe, buffalo, colobus and a long bird list. It is close to Arusha and to the airport, and it fits an arrival or departure day.
The Serengeti allows walking in defined areas with an armed ranger, and the far north is the best of them. Varied terrain and resident game used to being approached slowly.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area allows walking on the Olmoti and Empakaai crater rims and descents, which are proper half-day walks with a ranger and among the quietest things on the circuit.
Lake Manyara permits walking in defined areas, with the escarpment side giving views over the whole lake.
Outside the national parks, the wildlife management areas bordering them, such as Ikoma near the western Serengeti and areas around Tarangire, allow walking and night drives that the parks themselves ban.
Mount Meru, in Arusha National Park, is a multi-day walk with an armed ranger throughout.
A walking safari, and what it is not
A walk isn't a substitute for a game drive and it doesn't produce the same sightings. You will see fewer animals and see them differently. Tracks, dung, termite mounds, birds, the small things a vehicle drives past at thirty kilometres an hour.
An armed ranger is compulsory everywhere walking is permitted, and the rules aren't negotiable: single file, silence when told, no separating from the group, and you do what the ranger says immediately. Those rules exist because buffalo and elephant on foot are genuinely dangerous.
Minimum ages apply, usually twelve and often higher. Check before booking a family trip around a walk.
Walks must be arranged in advance, not requested at a gate, and they carry a separate fee on top of park entry.
Dress for it: closed walking shoes, long trousers against thorns and grass seeds, neutral colours, a hat and water. Bright colours and strong scent are genuinely counterproductive.
Mornings are the practical window. Midday walking in the dry season is unpleasant and unproductive.
How to build walking into a safari
Walking is an addition to a game-viewing trip, not a replacement for it, and the itineraries that work treat it that way.
The easiest place to add a walk is at the start. Arusha National Park sits under an hour from both Arusha and the airport, permits walking because it has no lions, and turns an otherwise wasted arrival day into a real one.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is the next easiest. The Olmoti and Empakaai crater walks are half-day outings with a ranger and are among the quietest things on the whole circuit. Empakaai is a steep descent through forest to a crater lake fringed with flamingos, with Ol Doinyo Lengai visible from the rim.
In the Serengeti, walking is permitted in defined areas and the far north is the best of them. It needs arranging with the camp in advance, not requesting at breakfast.
Outside the park boundaries, the wildlife management areas, Ikoma near the western Serengeti and the areas bordering Tarangire, allow both walking and night drives that the parks ban. Camps there are often cheaper too.
Mount Meru is the serious option: three or four days with an armed ranger throughout.
What to wear and what to expect
Wear closed walking shoes and long trousers, to protect you from thorns and grass seeds. Choose neutral colours. Bring a hat and water. Bright colours and strong scent genuinely work against you, and blue and black attract tsetse.
Walks happen in the morning. Walking at midday in the dry season is unpleasant and produces nothing, and most rangers will not do it.
The pace is slow and you stop often. A walking safari covers a few kilometres in two or three hours, because the stops matter more than the distance.
An armed ranger leads, and their instructions are not suggestions. Walk in single file. Be quiet when told. Nobody wanders off. If the ranger says stop or back up, do it immediately and ask why later.
There are minimum ages, usually twelve and sometimes higher. The park sets them, not us.
Walking costs a fee on top of park entry, and you must book it in advance. You cannot arrange it at a gate.
You will see fewer animals than you would from a vehicle. Instead you get the scale of the place, and all the things a vehicle drives straight past.
Build the day around a walking safari instead of slotting it in wherever there's a gap.
Go early. The heat makes a walk unpleasant by mid-morning and the animals have moved off anyway. Pick a morning when you're not also trying to cover a long transfer, because a walk plus a five-hour drive makes both worse.
Don't put it on the first morning of the trip if you've just flown in. You'll walk better, notice more and enjoy it more once you've slept properly and had a day to adjust.
The short version
Arusha National Park is the easiest and best value, an armed ranger is compulsory everywhere, minimum ages usually start at twelve, and walks must be booked in advance, not requested at a gate.
Common questions
Where can you walk in northern Tanzania?
Is walking safe?
Is there a minimum age?
Will I see as much on foot as from a vehicle?
Do you need to be fit for a walking safari?
How close do you get to animals on foot?
Can you walk in the Serengeti?
What is the best walking destination for a short trip?
How long is a typical walking safari?
Interested in walking safaris?
Tell us your dates and we will put something together.