Best way to plan a Tanzania safari and Zanzibar beach combo?
April 20, 2019 7:46 PM Subscribe
I have been thinking about doing a trip that includes several days of safari in Tanzania followed by a few days of beach relaxation in Zanzibar in the late summer (this summer if possible, otherwise next year). Please tell me the best type of itinerary for this type of trip plus any recommendations for packages! More inside.
This would be a "trip in a lifetime" type of event so a little luxury is good, but I also don't want to spend a west coast house downpayment on it. It will be me and my husband, sometime around August-September which I have read is the best time to visit the Serengeti. Budget-wise, $10k for the two of us (not including flights to/from Africa) is ideal, though I could probably go up to $15k to make this truly awesome. Yikes.
First things first: I think 8-10 days is roughly a good amount of time. I would like 3 of those to be on the beach in Zanzibar where I can be lazy and indulgent towards the end of the trip.
While in Tanzania my primary goal is to see lots of big cats, but I'm also interested in other animals and landscapes that I can't see anywhere else. At the same time, I don't want to feel like I'm constantly on the move. Having a good night's sleep and some wiggle room for relaxation/just enjoying staring out into the open wild every once in a while is good.
I have looked at some online travel agents with packages and it seems like there are some itineraries where you jump to a different location every day or two across most of the trip, or places where you stay put for a majority of the time. What is the best itinerary in terms of seeing a variety of animals and landscapes without feeling like you are constantly packing up your suitcase and re-acclimating to a new room? How much time is best for staying in one location in terms of having enough time to see nature on its unpredictable schedule but not being too bored?
Second preference is around budget. Having a very comfortable night's sleep is important to me, or else I won't enjoy the daytime activities. This means a very comfy proper bed, a ceiling fan or other means of keeping cool at night, and a nearby private toilet. I would like great-quality healthy food that is freshly prepared but Four Seasons-style high-end meals are not needed. On-site bar is important but an extra fee for that is fine.
For Zanzibar I want a couple of days of amazing beach time, casual but tasty food, drinks, and fun. I would love to snorkel a little and see some local flavor/historical stuff, but mostly it will be about decompressing from safari adventure time and feeling good.
If you have recommendations for a specific package or travel agent I should check out, please tell me too! I would like a package that includes all transportation once I arrive in a major city in Tanzania, lodging, food, park fees, game drives, etc. Not looking for DIY options.
This would be a "trip in a lifetime" type of event so a little luxury is good, but I also don't want to spend a west coast house downpayment on it. It will be me and my husband, sometime around August-September which I have read is the best time to visit the Serengeti. Budget-wise, $10k for the two of us (not including flights to/from Africa) is ideal, though I could probably go up to $15k to make this truly awesome. Yikes.
First things first: I think 8-10 days is roughly a good amount of time. I would like 3 of those to be on the beach in Zanzibar where I can be lazy and indulgent towards the end of the trip.
While in Tanzania my primary goal is to see lots of big cats, but I'm also interested in other animals and landscapes that I can't see anywhere else. At the same time, I don't want to feel like I'm constantly on the move. Having a good night's sleep and some wiggle room for relaxation/just enjoying staring out into the open wild every once in a while is good.
I have looked at some online travel agents with packages and it seems like there are some itineraries where you jump to a different location every day or two across most of the trip, or places where you stay put for a majority of the time. What is the best itinerary in terms of seeing a variety of animals and landscapes without feeling like you are constantly packing up your suitcase and re-acclimating to a new room? How much time is best for staying in one location in terms of having enough time to see nature on its unpredictable schedule but not being too bored?
Second preference is around budget. Having a very comfortable night's sleep is important to me, or else I won't enjoy the daytime activities. This means a very comfy proper bed, a ceiling fan or other means of keeping cool at night, and a nearby private toilet. I would like great-quality healthy food that is freshly prepared but Four Seasons-style high-end meals are not needed. On-site bar is important but an extra fee for that is fine.
For Zanzibar I want a couple of days of amazing beach time, casual but tasty food, drinks, and fun. I would love to snorkel a little and see some local flavor/historical stuff, but mostly it will be about decompressing from safari adventure time and feeling good.
If you have recommendations for a specific package or travel agent I should check out, please tell me too! I would like a package that includes all transportation once I arrive in a major city in Tanzania, lodging, food, park fees, game drives, etc. Not looking for DIY options.
On honeymoon, we did a trip like this. We flew into Dar es Salaam, took an internal flight in a very small plane to the Selous reserve, and stayed for like 4-5 days in a small tented camp. Not luxury, but very comfortable - each tent was like a good-standard hotel suite, under canvas. We watched elephants from our veranda! Based there, we did driving, walking & river safaris. No big buses or traffic jams - just on the back of an open Land Rover with like five other people. Then we flew back to Dar es Salaam & onwards to Zanzibar - another 3 days (I think?) at a beach resort in the north-east called Ras Nungwi - and then finished with another 3 days in Stone Town.
This whole itinerary was planned for us by a very good travel agent in London. I don't remember the name, I could probably dig it out if you're specially interested (memail me if so) but you probably want someone online or local to you. I'm glad we had in-person experienced help with the planning, because we could talk about what we liked & wanted to see & do, which reserves were best at which time of year, which kinds of animals we really really needed to see (so many giraffes! also lions - and we saw a leopard - hippos were my favourite though - or maybe warthogs) - and the agent could translate that into exactly how many days at which location(s) at which budget, plus book all the transfers, plus tell us exactly where to go to kill four hours in Dar es Salaam between flights, plus... generally make it easy & smooth. We specifically chose a small-scale camp in a less-busy reserve, where they had a whole range of landscape & wildlife in easy reach, and no crowds. My nightmare would be to sit on a bus with 50 other people while it all rolls by outside your window and you try to tick off your Big Five or whatever. So much better to have some space & in-person attention. I loved our walking safari early one morning, where our guide took just the two of us to where there had been a giraffe kill a couple of days before - there was very little left, just bones & hooves really, but we learned so much about the hierarchy of predators & scavengers which all descended, plus all the plants & birdlife that we could see & learn about on the way. I still have the vulture feather that I picked up in that spot. You need a few days in a single place to have the chance for that level of interaction with the landscape.
This was 17 years ago but it's an enduringly popular kind of trip for very good reasons, so you should find a specialist easily enough. Your timing & balance of safari + beach looks good to me. On your budget, you can do it in grand style. Have a wonderful time! I would go back & do exactly the same trip in a flash if we could ever afford to do it again, maybe with one night less in Stone Town & one night more on safari, or you can skip Stone Town altogether & focus only on safari & beach.
posted by rd45 at 4:26 AM on April 21, 2019
This whole itinerary was planned for us by a very good travel agent in London. I don't remember the name, I could probably dig it out if you're specially interested (memail me if so) but you probably want someone online or local to you. I'm glad we had in-person experienced help with the planning, because we could talk about what we liked & wanted to see & do, which reserves were best at which time of year, which kinds of animals we really really needed to see (so many giraffes! also lions - and we saw a leopard - hippos were my favourite though - or maybe warthogs) - and the agent could translate that into exactly how many days at which location(s) at which budget, plus book all the transfers, plus tell us exactly where to go to kill four hours in Dar es Salaam between flights, plus... generally make it easy & smooth. We specifically chose a small-scale camp in a less-busy reserve, where they had a whole range of landscape & wildlife in easy reach, and no crowds. My nightmare would be to sit on a bus with 50 other people while it all rolls by outside your window and you try to tick off your Big Five or whatever. So much better to have some space & in-person attention. I loved our walking safari early one morning, where our guide took just the two of us to where there had been a giraffe kill a couple of days before - there was very little left, just bones & hooves really, but we learned so much about the hierarchy of predators & scavengers which all descended, plus all the plants & birdlife that we could see & learn about on the way. I still have the vulture feather that I picked up in that spot. You need a few days in a single place to have the chance for that level of interaction with the landscape.
This was 17 years ago but it's an enduringly popular kind of trip for very good reasons, so you should find a specialist easily enough. Your timing & balance of safari + beach looks good to me. On your budget, you can do it in grand style. Have a wonderful time! I would go back & do exactly the same trip in a flash if we could ever afford to do it again, maybe with one night less in Stone Town & one night more on safari, or you can skip Stone Town altogether & focus only on safari & beach.
posted by rd45 at 4:26 AM on April 21, 2019
Our safari + beach trip is literally the only trip I've ever used a travel agent for. If this is your trip of a lifetime I would find an Africa specialist who has visited all of the camps you are considering.
We went to Botswana due to time of year so I have no domain expertise, but we did two camps for three days each and that felt about as long as I would want to do it, and I thought it was amazing.
posted by JPD at 4:31 AM on April 21, 2019
We went to Botswana due to time of year so I have no domain expertise, but we did two camps for three days each and that felt about as long as I would want to do it, and I thought it was amazing.
posted by JPD at 4:31 AM on April 21, 2019
This whole itinerary was planned for us by a very good travel agent in London.
I'm no expert on the field, but this is the raison d'être of Abercrombie & Kent, so quite possibly it's them.
posted by ambrosen at 4:38 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
I'm no expert on the field, but this is the raison d'être of Abercrombie & Kent, so quite possibly it's them.
posted by ambrosen at 4:38 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
I have done the budget version of this trip and I would say that you can very easily plan the Zanzibar section on your own. I was going with a budget operator for the safari section but I would recommend just finding a tour guide and doing that. I was very happy with my experience and for the most part we were out doing our own thing in the Jeep but we sleep on the ground in sleeping bags and bathroom facilities were, ahem, minimal.
If you are interested in the cats I would also check out Cheetahs Rock in Zanzibar. It was a very cool experience.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:15 AM on April 21, 2019
If you are interested in the cats I would also check out Cheetahs Rock in Zanzibar. It was a very cool experience.
posted by raccoon409 at 6:15 AM on April 21, 2019
Our family (2 adults, 3 kids aged 9, 10, 13) is in Kenya right now at the end of our weeklong trip. The secret of keeping the budget down is to do as much planning and reservations as you can on your own.
Our planning started with reserving the flights in/ out of Nairobi, even though we live in Boston area we chose the direct flights from New York on Kenya Airways. This was $4,200 for the 5 of us.
Once the flights were reserved we started to look for safaris/ camps in Maasai Mara. These are expensive, but April is low season and per comments upthread the rains are late this year. We ended up reserving 4 nights at Losokwan Camp through Expedia. The family tent (2 connected luxury tents) with all fees including extra guest fee (the 13-year old one) was another $4,300. This includes the stays, 2 game drives per day, and all meals and drinks (except alcohol & special requests). The place is absolutely amazing and despite the unseasonably dry conditions we saw lions, elephants, leopards, buffalos, etc. Tents are nicer than 5* hotels and food is made by chefs and served on the edge of the savannah. It's worth noting that this is not inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve, but rather in a community owned conservancy. We opted for few extras – visit to the National Reserve (entry fee $85/ day/ adult + $260 for the extra drive with the guide) and a village visit at $150 for the 5 of us.
The Maasai Mara stay was two nights after our arrival to Nairobi, and we came back to Nairobi yesterday one day before our return flight to JFK. We planned it this way so that we could have the internal flights nestled between the international flights with small chance of missing flights. We booked internal flights from Wilson Airport to Mara North Airstrip directly through Air Kenya, the cost for all of us was $1,250.
Once all the above was booked, we bookended the trip with the Nairobi stays. Upon arrival we stayed two nights at an amazing AirBnB. Last night we stayed at a hotel with a pool using points, but it wouldn't have broken the budget on an Easter Weekend either. Tonight we are taking the 15 hour flight back to New York.
Additionally we spent money for having a car for the airport transfers and visit to Nairobi National Park (where we saw rhinos in addition to other animals), as well as some entry fees in Nairobi (Elephant Orphanage, Karen Blixen Museum, Giraffe Centre, and Nairobi National Park). If there wasn't 5 of us, we could have saved quite a bit of money by just using Uber, but those only seat 4 passengers. Our rate fora day with the driver was $150 for the Nairobi National Park, and $30 - $50 plus tips for the airport transfers.
While the trip certainly was not cheap, it certainly was not tens of thousands per person as many people suggested when we started to plan this. We could have done this cheaper by choosing cheaper options at Maasai Mara and in Nairobi. If we have more time that 7 days in Kenya we'd opted to go to the beach for additional days.
Putting together your own itinerary saves money, but you need to be comfortable in making your own decisions and bets. We tried to minimize risk by having everything booked separately and leaving some time between international and domestic flights. Only slight mix-up was with the camp as they initially thought (by email) that the stay booked through Expedia didn't include the game drives, but they corrected themselves even before I got to answering them. The Losokwan Camp, their guide, rest of the staff and the game drives were the highlights of the trip. Now we have to endure the flight back.
Good luck and buy travel insurance.
posted by zeikka at 6:22 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
Our planning started with reserving the flights in/ out of Nairobi, even though we live in Boston area we chose the direct flights from New York on Kenya Airways. This was $4,200 for the 5 of us.
Once the flights were reserved we started to look for safaris/ camps in Maasai Mara. These are expensive, but April is low season and per comments upthread the rains are late this year. We ended up reserving 4 nights at Losokwan Camp through Expedia. The family tent (2 connected luxury tents) with all fees including extra guest fee (the 13-year old one) was another $4,300. This includes the stays, 2 game drives per day, and all meals and drinks (except alcohol & special requests). The place is absolutely amazing and despite the unseasonably dry conditions we saw lions, elephants, leopards, buffalos, etc. Tents are nicer than 5* hotels and food is made by chefs and served on the edge of the savannah. It's worth noting that this is not inside the Maasai Mara National Reserve, but rather in a community owned conservancy. We opted for few extras – visit to the National Reserve (entry fee $85/ day/ adult + $260 for the extra drive with the guide) and a village visit at $150 for the 5 of us.
The Maasai Mara stay was two nights after our arrival to Nairobi, and we came back to Nairobi yesterday one day before our return flight to JFK. We planned it this way so that we could have the internal flights nestled between the international flights with small chance of missing flights. We booked internal flights from Wilson Airport to Mara North Airstrip directly through Air Kenya, the cost for all of us was $1,250.
Once all the above was booked, we bookended the trip with the Nairobi stays. Upon arrival we stayed two nights at an amazing AirBnB. Last night we stayed at a hotel with a pool using points, but it wouldn't have broken the budget on an Easter Weekend either. Tonight we are taking the 15 hour flight back to New York.
Additionally we spent money for having a car for the airport transfers and visit to Nairobi National Park (where we saw rhinos in addition to other animals), as well as some entry fees in Nairobi (Elephant Orphanage, Karen Blixen Museum, Giraffe Centre, and Nairobi National Park). If there wasn't 5 of us, we could have saved quite a bit of money by just using Uber, but those only seat 4 passengers. Our rate fora day with the driver was $150 for the Nairobi National Park, and $30 - $50 plus tips for the airport transfers.
While the trip certainly was not cheap, it certainly was not tens of thousands per person as many people suggested when we started to plan this. We could have done this cheaper by choosing cheaper options at Maasai Mara and in Nairobi. If we have more time that 7 days in Kenya we'd opted to go to the beach for additional days.
Putting together your own itinerary saves money, but you need to be comfortable in making your own decisions and bets. We tried to minimize risk by having everything booked separately and leaving some time between international and domestic flights. Only slight mix-up was with the camp as they initially thought (by email) that the stay booked through Expedia didn't include the game drives, but they corrected themselves even before I got to answering them. The Losokwan Camp, their guide, rest of the staff and the game drives were the highlights of the trip. Now we have to endure the flight back.
Good luck and buy travel insurance.
posted by zeikka at 6:22 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you want to spend tons of money on a safari experience, look no furthur than National Geographic Tours. But for the level of relaxation you are describing and wanting to spend multiple days in a couple places, I actually think that self-booking the trip has the potential to be easier than you might expect, and save you a ton of money, plus you might have a lot more fun?
If you have any flexibility on the timing, I would consider early January over the "great migration time".
Why early January? Because the grasses are low and it's easier to see stuff. It's also the low season but the weather is still good, so everything is a bit cheaper and there is not so many hoards of safari jeeps surrounding any wildlife, which is a very real problem during the great migration. You know what else is a real problem during the great migration? The stench and the bugs that come with a bunch of dead wildebeests and zebras. Yuck!
But also... Have you considered Kenya? Kenya is extremely rad, has lovely people, and better developed tourist infrastructure than Tanzania. Also the beachy parts of Kenya (Lamu & Diani are the top beachtown contenders) are more chill than Zanzibar which is kind of over-run at this point, but have the same beautiful beaches, snorkeling, and Dhow boats.
We took a 2 week trip over new years, so we flew Kenya Airways to Mombassa via Nairobi, Had a driver pick us up for the 90 minute drive to our beach destination and stayed for a week, spent a 3 days with a guide called Jimmy who drove us from Nairobi to Samburu and back (we also stopped to get custom clothes made in Nairobi)We spent one night in Nairobi, Flew from Wilson airport to the Mara on the morning flight, stayed 3 days, returned to Nairobi for one night, and then flew Kenya Airways back to NYC.
Samburu is also a pretty incredible safari zone, and has a differently interesting landscape to the Mara. We stayed at Sabache Camp and visited the Reteti elephant Sanctuary there so we could skip the one in Nairobi. I would 100% do both Samburu and the Mara again, but I think if you have to choose one, the Mara is probably the way to go.
At Masai Mara, We stayed at Mara Intrepids, which was awesome and all-inclusive except for booze. It's very central to all the animal habitats within the park and has its own airstrip, and the aesthetic is very safari. Absolutely loved it, saw all of the big 5, and booked a Luxury Safari tent on Hotels.com that had hot showers and toilets and beautiful hardwood floorsk and was inclusive of Safari Drives, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
If I have managed to convince anyone on self planning in kenya please don't hesitate to me-mail me, I can hook you up with contact info really wonderful local tour guides and drivers to pick you up and take you around, both on the coast, in Nairobi, and even at safari, and happy to share all of our travel spreadsheets and tips from earlier this year.
For kenya in-country flights, check out at JamboJet, Safarilink, and airkenya. For hotels, Hotels.com was awesome.
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:03 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
If you have any flexibility on the timing, I would consider early January over the "great migration time".
Why early January? Because the grasses are low and it's easier to see stuff. It's also the low season but the weather is still good, so everything is a bit cheaper and there is not so many hoards of safari jeeps surrounding any wildlife, which is a very real problem during the great migration. You know what else is a real problem during the great migration? The stench and the bugs that come with a bunch of dead wildebeests and zebras. Yuck!
But also... Have you considered Kenya? Kenya is extremely rad, has lovely people, and better developed tourist infrastructure than Tanzania. Also the beachy parts of Kenya (Lamu & Diani are the top beachtown contenders) are more chill than Zanzibar which is kind of over-run at this point, but have the same beautiful beaches, snorkeling, and Dhow boats.
We took a 2 week trip over new years, so we flew Kenya Airways to Mombassa via Nairobi, Had a driver pick us up for the 90 minute drive to our beach destination and stayed for a week, spent a 3 days with a guide called Jimmy who drove us from Nairobi to Samburu and back (we also stopped to get custom clothes made in Nairobi)We spent one night in Nairobi, Flew from Wilson airport to the Mara on the morning flight, stayed 3 days, returned to Nairobi for one night, and then flew Kenya Airways back to NYC.
Samburu is also a pretty incredible safari zone, and has a differently interesting landscape to the Mara. We stayed at Sabache Camp and visited the Reteti elephant Sanctuary there so we could skip the one in Nairobi. I would 100% do both Samburu and the Mara again, but I think if you have to choose one, the Mara is probably the way to go.
At Masai Mara, We stayed at Mara Intrepids, which was awesome and all-inclusive except for booze. It's very central to all the animal habitats within the park and has its own airstrip, and the aesthetic is very safari. Absolutely loved it, saw all of the big 5, and booked a Luxury Safari tent on Hotels.com that had hot showers and toilets and beautiful hardwood floorsk and was inclusive of Safari Drives, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
If I have managed to convince anyone on self planning in kenya please don't hesitate to me-mail me, I can hook you up with contact info really wonderful local tour guides and drivers to pick you up and take you around, both on the coast, in Nairobi, and even at safari, and happy to share all of our travel spreadsheets and tips from earlier this year.
For kenya in-country flights, check out at JamboJet, Safarilink, and airkenya. For hotels, Hotels.com was awesome.
posted by wowenthusiast at 8:03 AM on April 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I would say 3-4 nights in a park the size of Maasai Mara is a good amount of time. You get to see a variety of animals, but you won't see the same stuff over and over again. Since you have 8-10 days, I would suggest visiting 3 parks (or areas of the same park since I know Serengeti is massive compared to the parks in Kenya), with different ecological features. The reason is that you will see a different mix of animals in different habitats. In Kenya the options are lakes, plains, and semi-arid, so try to find something similar in terms of variance.
At your budget level, I'm sure the accommodations will have a good bed and hot showers and flush toilets in your tent, so I wouldn't worry about that.
BTW, heard from friends that the Mara (which is really the northern end of Serengeti, just in a different country) is not getting the rains they're expecting at this time of year. Not sure if Tanzania is experiencing something similar, and/or if that affects the herds at all come August. I'm thinking no rains = no grass regrowth = thin herds, potentially.
Feel free to memail if you think my Kenya knowledge could be useful.
posted by tinydancer at 8:52 PM on April 20, 2019 [1 favorite]