🇹🇿 Tanzania
Summit, savannah and spice island.
Why go to Tanzania.
Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti migration and the Zanzibar archipelago sit within one country — the classic combination of high-altitude trekking, big-game plains and Indian Ocean recovery.
- Kilimanjaro is the highest walkable summit on earth — no technical climbing.
- The Serengeti migration is genuinely the largest land mammal movement.
- Ngorongoro Crater packs a full ecosystem into 260 km².
Conditions on the ground.
Where it sits, and how to move through it.
What to see, do and find.
- Kilimanjaro
- Serengeti
- Ngorongoro Crater
- Tarangire
- Stone Town
- Machame route summit
- Sunrise balloon over Serengeti
- Crater floor game drive
- Usambara Mountains
- Lake Natron flamingos
- Mafia Island whale sharks
- Moshi trek lodges
- Serengeti mobile camps
- Stone Town riads
Explore Tanzania before you land.
Explorer-captured immersive footage is available for Tanzania. Step inside the landscape before committing to the route.
Open immersive modeTanzania requires TCAA permits and an import permit; national park drone use is effectively closed to visitors. Plan ground-based capture only.
Full drone rulesDay by day through Tanzania.
- Day 1Arusha
Kit check, briefings and acclimatisation walk. Rent anything missing here, not on the mountain.
- Day 2–3Tarangire & Lake Manyara
Baobabs and elephant herds, then the escarpment and flamingos of Manyara.
- Day 4–6Serengeti
Central Seronera for cats year-round; north for the Mara River crossings in August and September.
- Day 7Ngorongoro Crater
Descend at gate opening — the caldera floor holds the densest predator concentration in East Africa.
- Day 8–14Kilimanjaro (Machame or Lemosho)
Seven days minimum for summit odds. Lemosho gives an extra acclimatisation day and a quieter approach.
What it takes, and what it costs.
Kilimanjaro International (JRO) is the gateway for the northern circuit and the mountain; Dar es Salaam (DAR) for the south and Zanzibar ferries. Arusha is 45 minutes from JRO.
Vodacom and Airtel cover Arusha, Moshi and the park gates. Expect no signal on the Serengeti plains and above Barranco on Kilimanjaro.
- Safari (mid-range, per day)
- €250–400 pp
- Kilimanjaro 7-day trek
- €2,100–3,200 pp
- Park fees (Serengeti)
- €63 pp / day
- Crater service fee
- €250 / vehicle
- Guide & porter tips
- €250–350 per trekker
Eat, behave, pack.
- Nyama choma with kachumbari
- Ugali as the base of every plate
- Chapati and mandazi for early starts
- Kilimanjaro and Serengeti lagers, cold and cheap
- Swahili greetings open doors — 'mambo', 'poa', 'asante sana'.
- Modest dress inland and mandatory on the Zanzibar mainland streets.
- Tipping crews on Kilimanjaro is expected and pooled — carry USD in small notes.
- Bargaining is normal in markets, never in restaurants.
- Broken-in boots and a four-season sleeping bag
- Duffel under 15 kg for porters
- Diamox if your doctor approves
- Dust buff and neutral safari clothing
- USD notes printed after 2013 — older ones are refused
What explorers ask before Tanzania.
No technical climbing, but altitude decides it. Seven- and eight-day routes pass around 85%; five-day routes far less.
Calving in the southern Serengeti January–March; river crossings in the north July–September.
Visa on arrival or e-visa, USD 50 for most passports, USD 100 for US citizens.
Required only if arriving from an endemic country, but frequently checked.
What the brochures leave out.
- Add two acclimatisation days — summit success rises sharply.
- Park fees dominate the budget; they are non-negotiable.
- Yellow fever certificate needed when arriving from endemic countries.