10+ African Safaris: Which was the best?

So many people have asked us which park we liked best of all of the safaris we have done in Africa. We have been here for well over a year now, and can luckily say we have been on quite a few Safaris..some of them for many days.

We have been to more than 10 parks in Africa. We have been to Mikumi, Manyara, Taringire, and Serengeti/Ngorongoro parks in Tanzania. We have been to the Etosha National Park in Namibia, Hlane Game Reserve in Swaziland, and Kruger, HluHluwe, Imfolozi, I’Simangaliso, and Enseleni parks in South Africa. There are more countries in Africa, and more Safari destinations in the countries we have been to. And there are more countries we haven’t visited yet. It would take a lifetime to see them all, and we wouldn’t mind trying. We really love safaris. We wake up at 4am and get out the door the moment it is allowed at each park, we rest midday, and then we go out late afternoon til they force us back in to the gates and lodges at night. We never seem to tire of the search and reward of viewing wild animals on safaris, either in our own small vehicle or in a safari vehicle with a guide.

First, to compare them all isn’t fair. It’s often about luck, weather, and the time of year you are at a location. Hence we want to be sure you know, this is not a scientific comparison, not the most educated one either. Honest and personal yes. We DID recieve a small discount from one operator in Tanzania, but it was so small, I’m not even sure it wasn’t anything more than a standard negotiating discount 😉

All parks in Tanzania were visited in shoulder seasons…while it was dry, but while there were medium amounts of tourists, so the animals were not completely visible when we were in green pastures or in wooded areas. Etosha we visited during extreme dry season, so animals were easy to spot, and many were dying from lack of green food and water. Kruger was visited during wet and busy season, so there were more hiding places from the tourists and watering holes for animals, so possibly we would have seen more in dry season. Hluehlwe and ISimangaliso were very close to where we stayed for the time we spent in South Africa (10 months and counting in this country alone), so we saw them during different seasons, wet and dry, and always had a nice safari but only sometimes an extraordinary amount of sightings. Hlane was in wet season as well, so we often didn’t see many animals.

So here is our order of preferences…based on what we saw while there, how much effort it took us to find animals, the variation in species found…

Best to Worst

 

#1 and #2 Serengeti And Ngorongoro Crater -Hands down the best. Worth going way way out of your way for…a flight to Tanzania is well worth it for this park alone. We didn’t need to rest at mid day becuase the animals were still out, freely around the park. But far, this park has the most number of animals seen, biggest herds, lions close up consistently, and active, one leopard, etc. Best accommodations. By far the worst prices! Even if you camp it’s expensive here! But there is no real way to stay outside the park, there is only very expensive self drive, meals are expensive, hotels start at $300 per night. Ticket to the park, just under $100 for the day per person! And the park is so big, you really are forced to stay inside the park. Ngorongoro Crater is either part of Serengetti or just outside, and is equally as worthwhile, and as a matter of fact if you can’t see the Serengetti, at least get to Ngorongoro…it is a completely enclosed crater, filled with animals, and it is just stunning…huge herds, abundance and variety of animals, scenery..it has it all, just like the rest of the Serengetti! If you get to not one other park in your life, Serengeti and Ngorongoro National Parks are the ones to do! Put these on your bucket list if you love seeing animals in the extreme wild! Choose a tour operator before you arrive to be sure you go with a reputable well organized operator (http://www.FaceafricaAdventures.com is one we can personally recommend, but there are hundreds!) See our Youtube video here:

 

#3 Kruger National Park -Very very wonderful. Worth going on a special trip To South Africa for. We went during a crowded time of year (School holiday) but still didn’t see that many cars, though the lodges were packed and sold out, for Christmas and New Years holidays. And it was rainy season on top of that, though still nice weather, and still we saw lots of animals. Rainy season is always the worst time to go to any national park becuase the animals don’t need the man made watering holes, and can find food and water anywhere. The trees and bushes are greener and fuller so it’s hard to see beyond the road.  It took a LOT of work to find them this time of year, but we had some very close encounters, and brilliant photographing opportunities anyways!  Huge variation of animals… big cats almost every day, one day mating very close to the car, great leopard sighting one day, unbelievable wild dog experience complete with hyenas moving in on the injured dog, up close and personal hyenas every day. A few rhinos in the distance, and all the typical safari animals, big and small.

Hotels were never more than $100 per night and were clean and decent…self drive was very cheap or free, gas stations were abundant, as were restaurants and snack shops. Entrance was about $25 per day per person, but we had a “wild card” which is like a season pass that had already paid for itself by the time we went to this park. Much more affordable than Serengeti, but lacking two things, in at least the part of the park we were in: 1. Plains that rolls forever, with gorgeous sunsets of amazing colors. 2. the sheer number of animals, the huge herds: If Kruger had 10, then Serengeti had 1000. That said…the animals varied in both parks, and in both there were lots of lions. Still Serengeti tops Kruger if you can afford it. But Kruger can be self drive and save a lot of money. Buy a guidebook if you go to Kruger…you will want to know what the animals are!

 

 

#4 Etosha National Park. This is a park worth flying to Namibia for. We went when it was VERY dry season. Excruciating for the animals, excruciating for our sinuses and skin. Couldn’t imagine being in an open vehicle here…the dust would kill you. There were times when cars passed us that we had to stop and wait for dust to clear. I don’t know how the flora or fauna lives through it. I was very glad to be in our air conditioned self drive car. Hotels in the park were as expensive as Serengetti, but very decent hotels just 1-2 miles outside the park were affordable at under $150 per night with a fantastic breakfast and dinner for 2 included.. Self drive and entrance to the park also very reasonable.

#5 Mikumi National Park, Tanzania. We went during dry season, and saw lots of animals. If you are already in Tanzania, and are looking for a cheaper alternative than the northern parks, and still a good experience…it is worth the bus ride from Dar Es Salam to visit this park. We stayed for 2 nights inside the park, at a somewhat run down but cheap hotel, but it was a great location, with unbelievable sunsets with animals right around the hotel. No crowds at all. Big herds though not as big as Serengeti. But bigger than in other parks. All the common animals, multiple mating lions, jackals, etc. Drove with guide only, though I think you can self drive. Prices here reasonable including entrance, but more than South Africa. A nice first safari, no doubt. I’m not sure if self drive is allowed here..but the  driver we found at the Mikumi Tourist Board found animals we never would have!  (We made a video of our trip here:

 

 

#6 Hluhluwe in South Africa. Imfolozi National Park is now one with Hluhluwe National Park. This is a very good alternative in South Africa if you can’t make it to Kruger. In some ways it’s even nicer due to its small size and lack of crowds.  We went here probably 15 times, mostly overnighters, since it was within a an hour or sos drive from where we were living in the boatyard. Lions only here once, from very far away, so it’s not the Park for big cats. But there are so many Rhinos, and they are active too. We have seen wild dogs, though not often, and all of the common sightings like many elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, Impalas and other antelopes too numerous to mention. During a night safari with a ranger, we saw lots of owls, rabbits, beautiful sleeping birds, and a civet cats, in addition to the day animals. We Baught a “wild card”..a seasons pass, which included Kruger too, so a weekend here with food was always under $125 for 2 days for 2. If we didn’t have passes, it was about $18 per person per day for entrance.

#7 Manyara, Tanzania. We saw no lions in trees, or lions anywhere, which is what the park is famous for, but we only went for one day. We saw some hyrax which we have seen nowhere else, and plenty of the common safari animals including hippos far away, but nothing extraordinary. Many many extraordinarily beautiful birds at this park.. beautiful colors, sizes and shapes, more than any other park we have ever been to. Expensive entrance though I don’t know the exact number, since we were on a tour. We stayed at a cheap adequate hotel/campground just outside the park.

 

 

#8 Tarangire National Park, Tanzania. famous for huge herds of elephants of which we saw many of in a day visit. We stayed in the same hotel as above since these 2 parks are very close to eachother. Besides the huge numbers of elephants, we saw the common safari animals easily, during dry season. Expensive entrance though I don’t recall the exact number because we were on a tour.

#9 Hlane Park, Swaziland. The worst roads of any park for sure. We were still able to drive them in an economy car, but it wasn’t pretty. One of the best watering holes, especially early in the morning, with rhinos and elephants and other every single morning. The one drawback of this park is that if you want to see the lions, you must pay to go on a guided safari. They aren’t that expensive but it does take some freedom away to stay as long as you want, waiting for the lion to wake up and start his hunt. They don’t allow self drive vehicles in to that area of the park and it’s locked and fenced. So you are sure to never see any lions on your own drives…which is a major bummer to us. But at night, you could hear the lions roaring…even my half deaf husband could hear them!  We only saw the most common safari animals, with the addition of rhinos, often, and up close at this park. The accommodations inside this park were nice, and about $100 per night. There is however no electricity at any time, not even a generator. They supply paraffin lanterns to each guest, and in every room. Romantic, but inconvenient at times. There is also a campground. There were many tourists here for their first African Safari, but in our opinion, unless you are visiting Swaziland anyways, it’s not worth a special trip to this country for a Safari in and of itself.

 

 

#10 Enseleni. This is a walking safari, small nature reserve 10 minutes from where we were in the boatyard. It had Wildebeest, zebras, and hippos though we never saw a hippo. One day we got a lot of ticks on us, so we never walked there again. The price was very cheap to enter…about $2 per person. There are no accommodations inside. It’s a nice safe place to walk, and nice to walk so close to zebras and many kinds of antelopes and duikers. It’s only rated last because it’s small, and doesn’t have that many animals. But it’s a pleasant afternoon walk if it’s a cool day. This is a park to visit only if you are around Richards Bay, South Africa. It is not worth a special trip here.

A little time off for a safari, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

7 Tanzania Safari Tips- Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro National Park, Manyara National Park and Tarangire National Park

 

Safaris -What Park is Best in Tanzania?

Information for Safaris in Tanzania, by a cruiser, for cruisers…

First, Where to leave your boat when you go on a safari In Tanzania

We left our boat in Dar Es Salaam in care of Haji and Jason at Slipway. I have no experience with the yacht club except that we went there by foot to inquire and the list of requirements to leave your boat on a mooring there overwhelmed us and we did not want to pursue the matter. It included doing extra things with officials…and we don’t like to do anything more than what is required!

Some cruisers left their boat on a mooring and even at anchor in Dar Es Salaam, the biggest city on the coast, while they travelled, with varying results. One had an outboard engine stolen which was locked to their big boat, but felt they could have done more to protect it. We employed a Guard for at night while we gone, since this was the custom even with local boats. We don’t know of any other cruising boats that did this. We paid our guard extra to shine stainless steel and feed and water the cat while we were gone for 5 or 6 days on a safari to Mikumi National Park. All was well when we returned. Lily seems to have shed her fear or prejudice against black people, and loved her substitute dad. The SS shining, cat sitting and guarding costs us 20,000 per night. It would have been 10,000 if we didn’t have him do the extra things. 10,000 is about $4 usd and we did not negotiate for this, feeling it was fair. The guard reportedly took his chores very seriously.

We did this trip in November. The winds were still east in Dar Es Salaam, so the anchorage was protected. We were on a mooring that Patrick deemed strong and in good shape. There is a shuttle service that comes as part of the fee you pay each month to be there, so we didn’t have to loan out our Dinghy. We put absolutely everything loose on deck down below including empty jerry cans, outboard motors and even sheets and blocks. We left snacks in the cockpit and water for both the cat and the guard.

We felt safe here, both while gone and while we there in the city etc. Uber offers exceptionally low rates with plenty of drivers eager to pick you up and provide good service. We were warned by locals, even at the upscale Slipway area to hold tight to our bags since there are driveby  purse snatching motorcycles there regularly but we never had any issues anywhere. We rarely went to town at night though. We took tuk tuks and Uber’s everywhere and never had issues.

Come December, Dar starts to be a much more open anchorage and we didn’t want to leave the boat there with the prevailing winds for our next Safari in January. Sailing there, via Zanzibar was easy and pleasant.

For our next Safari, we left the boat 100 miles or so north in Tanga, a sleepier, more boring town on the coast, with less dining options, far cheaper prices, but nothing much for supermarkets, never mind first class supermarkets like in Dar. It is however,  is a much better anchorage even when the NE winds come in. We left the boat there at anchor because the mooring we were offered did not pass the muster, though there may be other ones that were already taken. The one we didn’t like later held another heavy boat for a while but it was dubious as to how long it will. The holding is great, and we held very very well in mud.  We were encouraged by the commodore to NOT have a Guard on the boat at night when we left. We put away outboards, Jerry cans and other loose things inside to not take any chances. One boat this year did have its outboard motor stolen here as well. It was locked to the transom of the Dingy and the transom was cut off the Dingy to get the outboard which was a real shame. While we were there, there were at least 2 boats left for at least a month and neither had any issues. At least one of them left their outboards chained to their transom, but the other one also put their outboard inside. Nobody had any theft issues. We didn’t have a Guard, as I mentioned…and there is no shuttle or Dingy service so transport back and forth would have involved our dinghy which we were not keen on at all. Nobody cares about your old dinghy like you do yourself. We rowed ashore, pulled our Dingy up with its wheels to the boat storage area, covered it, and all was fine when we returned. Everything on the big boat was fine too. We were gone 11 days for this safari.

So that is the lowdown on boat storage while on safari…

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So now…for what Safari was actually better…?? Don’t read half of this article please. Stop here if you can not read the whole thing. I know it’s long…but for every point I make about each of the parks, there is a reason I will explain at the end…as to why this is all very relative, and specific…

The details on our Mikumi National Park, our first Safari, in November:

  1. PRICING Ludovic Saronga at the Mikumi Tourist Board hooked us up for safari and accomodations and nice safari Vehicle with driver we could not find online anywhere for the prices we had…about $80 per night per room, inside the park, with reasonably priced restaurant for lunches and dinner…and free small breakfast. So prices were much cheaper to go to this park as long as you don’t want something fancy. So if you take the bus roundrip to get there, and do Safaris for 2 full days or 3 half days, we stayed under $700 for 2 people total, with our food quite easily. Mikumi is the cheaper of the areas we went to. This was basically for a 3 day/2 night safari. We didn’t use a tour operator, we only used the Mikumi Tourist Board and they found the operators and it was much less than we found trying to book it online, and found hotels inside the park that were actually affordable, and not advertised anywhere else at all. Even when I know the name of them, the Mikumi Bandas, I could not find them online.

  2. DRIVING DISTANCES IN PARK. It’s a smaller park…the animals at least in November, are very concentrated near manmade lakes, so it’s easy to find animals in large numbers. This is ecspecially for a family with children because there isn’t as much time necessary to drive, and pee breaks are possible much more often!

  3. The CROWDS in Mikumi, at least in November, are nonexistent. If we saw 3 Jeeps all day long, that was a lot. We were by ourselves most of every day. There was at most two other guests staying at the property.

The numbers of animals we saw were wonderful. We have no complaints at all. It was a great first safari, but it left us wanting more! We didn’t see any leopards, and we only saw lions mating, never traveling or doing much more than mating or sleeping! We had to get up early or stay out til nearly dark, to see lions at all.

 

The details of Serengeti National Park (combined with Manyara Lake National Park, Tarangire National Park and NgoroNgoro Conservation area and Ngorongoro Crater)

  1. PRICING. Luckily we found Face of Africa Adventures. They can do big expensive Safaris, but when I didn’t want to camp…and I wanted to be inside the parks or right outside the gate at worst, they had a GREAT solution for me when other companies did not.  The Safari we picked was 6 days/5 nights long with a night the day before and after also included at our start/end location, for a total of 8 days/7 nights,  included all of our food, and everything else except alcohol, so twice as long as the Safari in Mikumi, but unfortunately, more than 6 times the price. And unless we camped, this was the absolute cheapest I could find. Granted we ate better, and we had nicer hotels for most nights. It was about $1900+ PER PERSON, sharing the Jeep with other people during the day. So if you need cheap, you better be prepared to camp and share with other people during the day, or just stick with Mikumi which is not a bad choice at all, truly. Face of Adventures does Mikumi too, so you can openly discuss the options with them.
  2. DRIVING DISTANCES were great…we had to drive a lot in this park every day. Pee breaks were far and in between, and you got a little sleepy at times with all the driving involved. With that said, the tour operators are great at finding animals at every turn, and you are never bored!  But children may have a harder time in this safari area.

3.The CROWDS. Many more people and Jeeps than in Mikumi. If there were  lions, before long there were 25 Jeeps there. Everyone played nicely and everyone had a good view, though I think our driver managed the best view primarily because he was the one that found them for everyone else, so we were there first. But there are a lot of vehicles on this route even when it’s shoulder season…January…dust gets stirred up…people with allergies may have a harder time here.

BUT…with that said…about the CROWDS….there is a good reason it’s more crowded here…it’s virtually guaranteed to see more animals here. (see the link below for why) We had to get up early in Mikumi to MAYBE see Lions. There were times when there were no animals. Sometimes for hours in Mikumi.  It’s probably important to go in a dry season so that the animals can be found at the water holes, rather than scattered. Mikumi National Park is a smaller park, but it’s still huge. The Serengeti is REALLY HUGE! We saw but a small slice of it while we there. But there were animals almost all the time…We didn’t have to go out in the mornings to see the lions active. We didn’t have to stay out til dusk to see them. They were there every day, in large numbers, active and doing what lions do. The great migration that you always read about as being about the Gnus…the Wildebeest Crossing the river, is actually a year round event…they are always moving in one big circle between Kenya and souther Serengeti, so you can always see huge huge herds of animals moving, searching for more nutrient rich grams, calving, matin, etc.  There is also a much wider variety of animals in the Serengeti as well. In Mikumi we saw maybe 10 different wonderful kinds of animals. In Serengeti it would be more like 25 or more different wonderful kinds of animals. Out of the ordinary..ones our guide in Mikumi said don’t even live in Mikumi ever. Everything seems to live, in abundance in the Serengeti. So I personally would say, if you consider seeing wildlife in great abundance, awake and doing things, in large numbers, and animals really are your thing…go to the Serengeti…but if you absolutely have to be budget minded and can not splurge, go to Mikumi. Both are wonderful for the reasons outlined above, and both provide really excellent experiences.

We are so thankful we were able to do both circuits, north and south. Mikumi will be plenty for many people. We are totally animal people who can watch the same elephant for hours.  But still to spend nearly $4000 is a HUGE deal for us…but we have been waiting to get to Africa for probably a lifetime. We HAD to go to both. We just had to. Thank you credit cards!

Now you ask…how about those other parks you mentioned…are those worth it…Here is my take on each! Keeping in mind, seasons…see the link below…

NgoroNgoro Crater. You can’t NOT go here if you go to the Serengeti unless it’s possibly the time of year where it’s the Northern Serengeti you are stationed in…in which case Ngorongoro is really far. But if there in January as we were, it would be incredibly negligent to skip this park. It not only breaks up the trip, but timing wise it allows you more time to stay in the Serengeti since you have to pass through the rather big Ngorongoro Conservation area anyways, as well as pay for it, even if you don’t go in the Crater!  It’s on the way and way back from the Serengeti and no trip to the Serengeti would be complete without the Ngorongoro Crater really. Beside the rhinos, it was all the same animals we saw elsewhere, but the setting was absolutely incredible, the animals had less fear of vehicles, and we would not miss it. We would go again if we were there. But I liked the Serengeti better.

Manyara Lake National Park. There was not an inordinate number of animals here. It actually reminded me of Mikumi National park. No crowds. Smaller numbers of animals. More variation though. Very beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of animals, just in smaller groups and variety. There are times of the year that there may be greater numbers when the Great Migration comes through.  And the birds…well, if you are a birder, this place will amaze you, at least in January. But when you are paying so much for a safari…and you usually go birding as a FREE hobby, I wasn’t as keen to see birds as I normally would be. But the birds really were amazing. Every kind is here, from lovebirds, to funny hunting black herons, to birds who you would think would be called birds of paradise but aren’t. Big birds we have never seen anywhere with funny courting postures, to, well, everything. The birds were astounding really. I don’t regret going to this park for sure…and if I was in the area again and could drive myself in and not have to pay so much, I would go again. The tree climbing lions are a bit of fable according to the guide. Not that many people get to see them, nor did we. We did see some lions from far away, but not climbing trees.

Tarangire National Park. This is another one that sort of reminded me of Mikumi. The animals were in great number here, and a pretty good variety, but still not as big of numbers as in the Serengeti. But elephants…there were MANY more elephants than anywhere else,  even more than in Serengeti I think. Huge herds, and many herds. Many birds…many other animals and a good variety. We were surprised how much we liked this park, though again…no lions, no leopards, no cats of any kind. Maybe not the season. (See link below for possible explanation) Serengeti just had much more lions..much more active, much closer, much bigger prides, much more action, every single day we were there. Serengeti really is, if you are gonna go to just one park…THE one to go to. But if you are going the southern route in…both Tarangire, and ecspecially Manyara, are RIGHT on the way, and break up the ride nicely. And they are less expensive and you can stay just outside the park and save a lot of money. So we have no regrets going to them. Serengeti is so big that you would spend all day getting to where animals can be found in highest concentration, and then no time to spend with them since you would be driving back out to get out by 6 pm when the park shuts down for exiting and entering. Serengeti you MUST stay inside the park. This drives up the cost hugely with government taxes and conservation fees and other fees that double the price of the already outrageously expensive hotel rooms. With that said…our tented camp Kisura Serengeti Tented Camp(luxury!) and the lodge we stayed in inside the park (Rhino lodge), were our best accommodations and meals. I don’t quite know how we paid as little as we did considering this tented camp is $1000 or more per night, and the Rhino Lodge is easy $350 per night or more. That’s $2400 of our $3800 safari. That leaves $1400. Four more hotel nights, all the entrance fees for the two of us…at least $700, the Jeep for 6 days though of course we shared this , and all that gas, and extra attention before and after the Safari, and all of our food when not st those expensive hotels in Serengeti/Ngorongoro…that can’t leave much profit, that’s for sure, unless maybe he is getting some REALLY good rates with these lodges! I don’t know. We were very pleased with the value we got, and felt in no way overcharged. And if you know me… I always feel overcharged 🙂

 

Without a doubt…Serengeti was my most favorite park of the 7 we went to here in Tanzania. But it was leaps and bounds more expensive too….so if I just couldn’t afford to go to Serengeti, I’d probably opt for Mikumi and maybe add on Ruaha or Selous…with the caveat of finding out from Face of Africa Adventures,  the best times to go to these other parks. It could be a real bust if you go at the wrong time.

 

There is a very good reason that Serengeti was my favorite. There is a link below from Face of Africa Adventures. It explain month by month, Park by park, where you should go, when, to have the best experience, and see the most animals. We went to the Serengeti at the exact right time, hence many animals, and a great experience. We went to Mikumi at not the ideal time…not the worst, but not the best. Perhaps why there were no crowds, perhaps why there were less animals.

I have a file from Face of Africa Adventures, which I am attaching below. It talks about each park they do, and which months are best for each. They are the experts…they know these parks in excruciating detail since they have been in operation for something like 17 years. They are definitely worth getting a quote from , and having a conversation with before you book your Tanzania safari! They are based in Arusha, in a real brick and mortar, air conditioned, modern office unlike so many operators there, and are Trip Advisor winners nearly every year. They are nice honest people on top of that. We met with and worked with each one and there is not a bad apple in the bunch!

Here is the file from Face of Africa Adventures. It sums it all up so concisely. Their contact information is on there for further questions. Remember as you read it that English is perhaps their 4th or 5th language. They are better at speaking English, but they have written this up on short notice especially for me to post. So cut them some slack on the English. They are way better with English than I am at Swahili!!

Also, in fairness, I need to tell you that I was given a small discount to include this companies name on my blog post and in the videos below. It wasn’t big, and we would have gone with them anyways…but I wanted to tell you to be sure you know.

Face of Africa Adventures – What Park is best for a safari this month? Next Month?

a 15% Discount

7 Tanzania Safari Tips- Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro National Park, Manyara National Park and Tarangire National Park

 

Safari at Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

A little time off for a safari, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

 

What I did when I Lost ALL the data on SD Card after a Safari

 

 

 

 

 

7 Tanzania Safari Tips- Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro National Park, Manyara National Park and Tarangire National Park

If you are looking for a sailing video…stop reading here. Because last week…we weren’t sailing!

But if it’s the adventure you get to have when you are not sailing, but parked somewhere in Tanzania Africa, watch on…a beautiful and near constant parade of amazing animals, big and small were ours for 6 days in The Great Plains of the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Manyara National Park, and Tarangire National Park.

Here are the details of what and where I booked for other cruisers who may want to do the same. As usual, I researched to death and found the Safari I wanted, at the price tag I needed. I wasn’t about the pay thousands of dollars that I didn’t need to spend. But I didn’t want to regret not spending a few hundred more and getting my dream come true safari.

We didn’t stay in luxury. But we didn’t go camping either. I didn’t want to waste the time setting up tents, and not being able to sleep well the night before a safari because it rained and night and I had to take care of my pillow or stuff.

Face of Africa Adventures

Basic Info

Face of Africa Adventures was the tour operator we went with, and it turns out, they were the prefect choice. They made a lot of promises I doubted they would actually keep, ecspecially since much of them were not in writing…but they kept every promise, delivered more than they promised to, and provided a really quality experience. It’s not our first Safari in Tanzania, and if we went somewhere else, we would use them again, no question. They must have some great connections with the parks since there is no way we could have stayed where we stayed and paid the price we paid if booking through ALL other operators I got quotes from.

Besides the game drives themselves ( the complete highlight of the trip), The Kisura Tented Safari Camp was a highlight , in the Serengetti for 3 days, 2 nights. I can see why I’ve dreamed of this place my whole life. It lives up to every expectation!

Day 1 Tarangire National Park, overnight in bungalow at FANAKA Tents and Lodge

Day 2 Manyara National Park, overnight in bungalow at FANAKA Tents and Lodge

Day 3 Serengetti National Park, overnight Kisura Tented Safari Camp (our luxury splurge)

Day 4 Serengetti National Park, overnight Kisura Tented Safari Camp

Day 5 Serengeti National Park, Overnight Ngorongoro Rhino Lodge

Day 6 Ngorongoro Crater, Green Mountain Lodge

Day 7 Arusha

 

Here is the first Safari we took in Tanzania. It was an awesome shorter safari for much less money…and although there were many great things about it…I have to admit, Serengetti, and the surrounding parks…better…a dream for sure!

Safari at Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

 Here is the post to our NON sailing channel…Share with your friends …the ones who don’t have an appreciation of sailing perhaps…