Central Tanzania Safaris

Overview

Why choose a Central Tanzania Safari? There are far fewer visitors compared to the northern Tanzania parks. It offers the feel of an old-time safari experience. The number and variety of safari animals is excellent with few other vehicles. The exception to this is Mikumi which is a busy park. The itineraries depart from Dar es Salaam traveling by safari vehicle or you can fly-in. Safari flights into this area are available departing from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar, Arusha, or Serengeti.

×

Mikumi National Park

This park is the most accessible when driving from Dar es Salaam and its location make it a common choice for a short safari starting from Dar es Salaam. The game viewing here is very good with a wide variety and good number of animals. Typically 1 - 2 days at this location is sufficient. It is approximately a 4 hour drive from Dar es Salaam.

Nyerere National Park / Selous Game Reserve

Selous Game Reserve was a huge game reserve covering approximately 50,000 sq km. In 2019 it was divided with the creation of Nyerere National Park taking 30,893 sq km from Selous Game Reserve. This makes Nyerere National Park the largest national park in East Africa - 2x the size of Serengeti National Park. The Selous/Nyerere area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The number of animals in this park is huge and is home to half of all the elephants in Tanzania with more than 30,000 residing in the park. A boat safari in the Rufiji River is a popular option to see hippos, crocodiles, and a wide variety of birds. It is very easy to find privacy in this huge park. We suggest the time at this destination to be from 3 - 7 days.

Ruaha National Park

This park receives the fewest visitors of the destinations mentioned on this page. Ruaha has a size of 20,226 sq km, which is larger than the Serengeti. The diversity of wildlife here is very good and Ruaha is home to 10% of the world's lion population. It also has a high number of cheetahs, wild dogs, cape buffaloes, and elephants. The park has the option of an early morning balloon safari for a unique game viewing experience. We suggest 3 - 7 days at this destination.

Udzungwa Mountains National Park

This is a small park, just 1,990sq km in size. There are no roads, just a variety of hiking trails. The hikes can range from 20 minutes to 5 days. The most popular of these is the hike to the Sanje waterfall – during which you will encounter monkeys and an opportunity to swim in the refreshing plunge pools. The other hiking trails include: Sonjo Waterfall Trail, Msolwa Waterfall Trail, Hidden Valleys Trail, Mwanihana Peak Trail, Prince Bernard’s Waterfall Trail and the Lumeno Trail. The highest elevation in the park is Mt Luhomero reaching 2,579m.

There are over 400 bird species present in the park and the park also has cape buffaloes, elands, wild dogs, elephants, and leopards. A popular side trip is visiting the Wadzungwa Tribe and seeing their traditional way of life. Camping is the only accommodation option inside of the park.