The South of Tanzania offers, in our opinion, the best tours in Tanzania. With better value accommodation than the north, and a less touristy experience, it may not be a classic ‘big five safari destination’ but you will have the most incredible time.
The Selous Game Reserve is a huge dry season park offering boating, walking safaris and fly-camping with excellent possibilities of seeing Africa's wild dogs.
Ruaha National Park is a beautiful red-earth park where you can also enjoy walking, fly-camping, super prides of lions and huge buffalo herds. Ruaha is home to 10% of the whole world’s lions, so to say the wildlife here is not as prominent as in the north could be a mistake!
The west comprises of Katavi and Mahale which are expensive to get to, but because of their relative inaccessibility offer a simply magical experience alone in the wilderness, where you can trek chimps in the Mahale Mountains and see some of Tanzania’s most dramatic safari scenes in the depths of Katavi’s harsh dry season.
Southern safari itineraries are usually made up of either three of four nights in both The Selous and Ruaha. For those who want a shorter Tanzania safari tour and more time to enjoy the sand beaches, then the Selous for four nights can be an easy and dependable option. However, we would recommend trying to combine both if budget allows, as this will provide you with diverse landscapes, wildlife and a range of safari experiences.
Very few travellers head to Katavi and Mahale because the flights are simply very expensive, and the few lodges available there are too. If you did go though on the Western tours in Tanzania, you can either fly from Arusha via the Serengeti or from Dar, but via a night or two in Ruaha. Flights only operate a few days a week though, so the west is usually only doable for those with a big budget who are very set on visiting it and who will revolve their entire holiday around doing so.
