The questions we're asked most often, answered in full.
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…
Places Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro, Serengeti
Seven days pairing the parks with cultural time: Lake Manyara, Lake Eyasi, the Ngorongoro Crater and the…
Places Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro
Eight days built around the herds: Lake Manyara, Ndutu in the calving season, two days in the Serengeti…
Places Lake Manyara, Serengeti, Ngorongoro
Nine days across the northern circuit at an unhurried pace: Lake Manyara, the Serengeti, two nights at…
Most of what follows are the practical questions people ask before booking. Three larger ones sit behind them. Answer those first, because the rest make more sense afterwards.
How long should the trip be? Four days reaches the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater and nothing else. Six is where it starts to breathe, with a full Serengeti day and a separate crater day. Eight or nine removes the compromises and adds the southern plains or the far north.
When should we travel? June to October for classic dry-season viewing and the northern crossings. December to March for the calving and the best light. April, May and November for the lowest prices and the emptiest parks. The central Serengeti and the crater work in every month, so fixed dates are never a barrier.
What makes one quote different from another? Almost always which camps it uses and how far each is from a park gate. Park fees are identical for every operator and are the largest fixed cost, so the variation lives in accommodation, group size and the number of days.
Cash in small denominations for tips, curio stalls and community fees. Cards aren't usable in the parks and cash machines don't exist beyond the main towns. US dollar notes should be recent series and undamaged. Older or torn notes are often refused.
Power inside the parks is solar with limited charging hours. There are no hair dryers at any price point, and a 12v power bank charged in the vehicle is more useful than another adapter.
Mobile coverage is patchy and mostly absent away from Seronera. Camps advertising wifi generally mean a slow shared satellite connection in the mess tent.
Laundry is done at most camps, so pack for three or four days, not the whole trip. Many camps won't wash underwear.
Plastic carrier bags are banned in Tanzania and can be taken off you on arrival.
Camouflage clothing is restricted and is best left at home, and drones are prohibited in the national parks entirely.
Planning
What to bring on safari and up Kilimanjaro, and what you can leave behind.
Planning
Most visitors need a visa, and most can get one on arrival or online in advance. What the visa covers, what to bring to the desk…
Planning
Park fees are the largest fixed cost of any safari or climb, and they are the same for every operator. Who sets them, how they…
Planning
Fly into Kilimanjaro International for the northern circuit, Dar es Salaam for the south, Zanzibar for the beach. Airports…
Planning
A permanent lodge, a tented camp, a mobile camp that follows the migration, or a tent you camp in yourself. Each level described…
Planning
Tipping is customary in Tanzania and it is a real part of what your guide and camp staff earn. Who to tip, how it is usually…
Planning
Malaria, yellow fever, the routine jabs, and the small things that spoil a trip. What to discuss with your doctor or travel…
Planning
Tanzanian shillings for small things, US dollars for the big ones, and cash for almost everything outside the cities. How money…
Planning
An enquiry, a conversation, a draft itinerary, a quote, a deposit, and then the details. What happens between your first message…
Planning
Early mornings, long quiet stretches, a vehicle that becomes home, and hours that pass in a way nothing else does. What the days…
Planning
Medical cover with a high limit, evacuation from the bush, cancellation, and the activity clauses. What a safari policy has to…
Wildlife
Where the wildebeest herds are through the year, and what that means for when to travel.
Places
A national park on the doorstep, a crater lake, coffee farms, the markets and Mount Meru. The best ways to spend a day or a half…
Places
Materuni waterfall, Kikuletwa hot springs, Marangu, Lake Chala and the coffee cafés. What to do with a day or two in Moshi before…
Kilimanjaro
Six routes go up Kilimanjaro. They differ in days, scenery, crowds and how well they help you get used to the altitude. This page…
Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro is a walk, not a climb. The altitude, the cold on summit night, and the length of the days make it hard. This page…
Kilimanjaro
Altitude sickness is why people turn back on Kilimanjaro. This page explains what it is, what it feels like, how to lower your…
Kilimanjaro
Wake-up tea at six, breakfast, walk, lunch, walk, camp by mid-afternoon. Here is how a day on the mountain runs, from the first…
Kilimanjaro
Three cooked meals a day, snacks on the trail, and more of it than you expect. This page covers what the crew cooks, how, and why…
Kilimanjaro
A Kilimanjaro climb is carried by a crew that outnumbers the climbers. Here is who they are, what they do, how they are…
Kilimanjaro
You do not need to have climbed a mountain before. Most people on Kilimanjaro have not. This page covers what a first-timer needs…
Kilimanjaro
Three months of regular walking, some hills, a loaded daypack, and two long days back to back. Here is a training plan that…
Kilimanjaro
You leave camp at midnight, climb for six hours in the cold and dark, reach the roof of Africa at sunrise, and then descend for…
Kilimanjaro
Tents on every route but one, huts on Marangu, and a high camp on bare rock the night before the summit. A tour of the camps…
Kilimanjaro
Daily health checks, trained guides, emergency oxygen, and a park rescue system. Here is how safety works on the mountain, and…
Kilimanjaro
Warm forest, cold nights above 3,000 metres, and a summit that can be twenty below with wind. The weather on the mountain, zone…
Kilimanjaro
Every month on the mountain, in one place: weather, crowds, summit snow and which route works best. Pick your dates from this.
Kilimanjaro
The porters carry your main bag. Each day you carry a small pack with water, layers, snacks and a few essentials. Here is exactly…
Kilimanjaro
Your insurance must cover trekking to 6,000 metres, and many ordinary policies stop far lower without saying so. The warning…
Kilimanjaro
Fly into Kilimanjaro International, stay in Moshi or Arusha, and drive to the gate on the first morning. Here is how the arrival…
Kilimanjaro
Three points on the crater rim count as the summit of Kilimanjaro. Here is where each one is, what it takes to reach it, and why…
Kilimanjaro
Two landmarks on the southern routes that every climber asks about. One is a scramble with your hands. The other is the day that…
Kilimanjaro
Nobody climbs Kilimanjaro unaccompanied, but plenty of people arrive alone. Private climb or join a group, what each costs you…
Kilimanjaro
There is ice on the equator, and it is disappearing. What the glaciers are, why they exist, how much has gone, and what you…
Kilimanjaro
The numbers people ask for: how high, how wide, how old, how many climb it, and why it stands alone. Clear answers, one fact at a…
Kilimanjaro
The questions people ask before they book a climb, in one place, with short honest answers and links to the pages that go deeper.
Kilimanjaro
Most climbers add a safari, and the order, the rest day and the route between mountain and parks decide how well the two fit. A…
Kilimanjaro
Meru is 4,566 metres, four days, and an hour from Arusha. Climbing it first is the best acclimatisation there is. This page…
