Info

This is the perfect safari. It gives a real taste and feels for all of the parks and includes Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti, and Arusha as well as Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Crater.

Safari, in Kiswahili, simply means “journey”, but it has now become a synonym for an African wildlife adventure.

Our partner organization in Tanzania arranges a 5-day camping safari to Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and Serengeti National Park for volunteers.

Transportation is in a land cruiser with maximum 4 other volunteers, so everyone has a window seat.
You will camp in a spacious tent with beds and access to toilet and shower, clean drinking water and 3 meals a day.

The safari staff includes a professional guide, cook and crew in charge of practical tasks and safety at the campsites. All vehicles have VHF radios.
The safari starts and ends in Arusha.

The cost of this 5-day Camping Safari is 850 USD or its $170 USD per person per day.

You will also be asked to tip the cook and driver at the end of the trip, 5 USD per day to the cook, 10 USD per day to the driver.

Included in this fee

Entrance fees.
Full board and accommodation.
Driver and guide in a 4×4 vehicle.
Game drives.
Extra bottle of water daily.
Visit to a Maasai village in Ngorongoro, on the way to Serengeti
Visit to Olduvai Gorge in Ngorongoro.
Government taxes.
Not included in the fee

Extras at campsites i.e. drinks, telephone, laundry etc.
Tips to the driver and cook.

If the start dates for the safari do not fit with your volunteer work stay, the coordinator can arrange a break in your volunteer job, so you can return to work after the safari.

Start Dates

East Africa Safari Calendar

There are two traditional rain seasons, the long rains fall during the months of April and May and short rains fall between October and November.

The Serengeti plains are +/-2000m above sea level with a temperature ranging from10 to 20 degrees Celsius. During mid winter the evenings and mornings are often chilly, the Ngorongoro Crater at +- 2200 m above sea level could drop to below freezing during June / July.

The closer to the coast you get the hotter and the more humid with Zanzibar experiencing almost unbearable humidity during the summer months, so please bear this in mind when planning your beach holiday and choose a lodge offering fans and air conditioning.

Tanzania

Highlights and best times to visit the Serengeti National Park:

February–April: Migration on the southern Serengeti plains
August–October: Migration crossing the Mara River
July–January: Good predator sightings
June-July: Migration through the Western corridor
June–March: Best time for general game viewing
April-May: Cheapest time to travel (and still really good)

The Serengeti has a lot more to offer other than the migration, not only would there be less visitors, the sightings of other plains game would generally be better and the big cats are more prolific outside of the migration months too. The excess supply of food leads to the cats becoming lethargic (as they lie and digest their latest feast throughout the day) and you generally do not see them that often except early morning and or late afternoon. The cats would also be outside of their normal structures and or territories because finding food is easy with the migration passing through.

Highlights and best times to visit the Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater has good game viewing all year round because of the resident game and the density of the animals within the Crater.

February-March: Lake Ndutu in the greater Ngorongoro Crater Conservation witness the migration pass through

July and August: can be very dusty and busy – this is also the most expensive time to visit Ngorongoro Crater.

April and May: Due to the rainfall and are beautiful, everything is in flower and you actually see more because the soda lake is full condensing the animals into the space available.

Highlights and best times to visit Tarangire National Park
Tarangire is arguably Tanzania’s second best wildlife destination offering massive elephant herds and wonderful Baobab trees. Being a dry season park the best time to visit would be from June – November, traditionally it is not visited from March to the end May.

The rest of the parks and reserves within the north of the country would be good to visit all year round; this includes Lake Manyara National Park, Arusha National Park, Loliondo game controlled area and Grumeti Reserves.

Mount Kilimanjaro National Park, (climbing Kilimanjaro)
The best time to summit the world’s highest free standing mountain would traditionally be July – October, but it is possible to climb Kilimanjaro anytime of the year because most of your climb would be above the clouds so you will not be affected by rain, but to avoid a muddy first 2 days then best do not climb during April / May and November / December. Another tip would be to try and coincide your climb during a full moon; this makes your summit attempt not only easier but more scenic as this last part of the climb takes place during darkness so to enable you to reach the summit for at sunrise.

Costs / Benefits

Tanzania Safaris prices for Camping Safaris
3 days Ngorongoro Crater $ 570
3 days Ngorongoro & Lake Manyara$ 570
4 days Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro & Tarangire $ 760
4 days Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro $ 760
5 days Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro & Tarangire $ 900
5 days Lake Manyara, Ngorongro & Serengeti $ 900
5 days Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro $ 950
5 days Serengeti & Ngorongoro $ 950
6 days Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro $ 1,100
6 days Serengeti & Ngorongoro $1,100
7 days Serengeti & Ngorongoro $ 1,130

7 days Lake Manyara, Serengeti & Ngorongoro $ 1,230

Requirements

No any qualifications are necessary to join most of our Tanzania volunteer programs, just a good dose of enthusiasm and some experience if you have it and if you don’t have it then no problem with it! Everyone is welcome on a micatz programme, whether gap year, undergraduate, on a career break - or even retired! From 15 years old upwards, and all nationalities. This placement would suit anyone who wants to make a real difference, wants first-hand experience of a different culture and has initiative.