How To Plan For A Serengeti Safari

This special place is surrounded with game rich havens that make for an unparallel safari experience. In other words do not hurry your safari, take it gradually or you will miss out on out.

This is the kingdom of predators, while the huge herds of the Migration thunder across the plains in numerous numbers. The Serengeti has so much more to provide that the worlds last continuing to be great migration. However, this migration is so magnificent it is barely unexpected most visitors to the Serengeti try to time there schedule to accompany the migration.

It is a good idea to try to get out and about when on Safari. Whilst it should be said that it is not constantly practical nor a good idea to leave your car on rare events it is motivated. Canoeing on Lake Manyara or strolling in the Tarangire Wilderness Area are terrific ways to stretch the legs and see, odor and feel the African bush far from the boundaries of the 4x4.

This is the one time it is permitted to drive in the Serengeti in the pre-dawn. At times, ascend to 1000 meters or more to see the enormity and remarkable panorama of the Serengeti. From time to time the pilot should put more heat into the balloon with the powerful whisper burners.

A significant consideration for the majority of people is the expense. The Serengeti is not always affordable-- with park fees alone doubling in 2014 to US $60 per individual daily. There are some lodges that cater for budget safaris and if you likewise travel in low season then lodge costs are lowered considerably.

How long should a safari be? The Serengeti alone is so large months could be spent exploring. A general guideline would be to spend 5 days in the main and southern Serengeti or the main and northern Serengeti depending on the time of year is the minimum time to obtain any genuine feel or pleasure for the area.

What time of year is finest? The dry season is July to December and is the optimal time for a photographic safari. The short rains are in November and the long rains from March to mid June. However, the weather does not constantly act naturally. Some years we have had more rain in January and February than the whole of the wet season. It might be better to state the rains are from November to June with a drier period from December to mid March. Remember that low season is both much cheaper and has fewer tourists.

What season to reserve a safari depends on exactly what you want and to work carefully with your trip operator will assist you decide. I would aim to avoid late July to the end of September for the sole reason the parks and limited number of lodges are simply too hectic.

If you are an experienced traveler, there is no reason why you must not arrive in Arusha and arrange your safari with a local operator. I have worked as a tour operator in Arusha in northern Tanzania and designed itineraries for clients who have actually had up to three travel agents in a chain all adding commission onto the rate of the safari.

A safari for one or two individuals is expensive. One method to decrease this expense is to sign up with a group. Joining a group will be cheaper; this being the only advantage if cost is an issue. To share a safari automobile with often requiring unfamiliar people may case problem once the safari begins.

The more concerns you ask the more effective will be your safari. The quality of the answers you get to your concerns will likewise indicate how interested your operator in Tanzania is on the success of your safari verses just making an earnings.

One last remark will be to unwind whilst on safari-- remove you view as it just will not be required. There is not the very same seriousness on an Africa safari.

For more info on a Safari or Zanzibar Holiday please follow the links.

Tortilis Camp Amboseli For Your Top Kenya Safari Vacation

A Kenya Safari Holiday is made total not just by the wildlife seen but also the quality of the camps and lodges you select. Tortilis Camp in Amboseli National Park is a Camp that you will love.

Positioned under a thicket of umbrella shaped trees, and controlled by Mt. Kilimanjaro, there are only 17 extremely spacious tents, each with en-suite centers, and a raised terrace, with camping tents 1 and 2 in specific having incredible views of Kilimanjaro very first thing in the morning, weather condition allowing!

Tortilis Camp is an extremely well kept secret, and those who take a regular Kenya Safari Holiday, and check out Amboseli wish to keep it that method.

The actual safaris, or game drives as we need to call them, from Tortilis Camp are of the top quality, and numerous of the visitors are only used to an African Luxuy Safari, so they expect high quality, and they get it at Tortilis. Very safe guides, who listen, and then care enough making sure insofar as it is possible that you go to where the video game you want to see is most likely to be. That is what an appropriate Kenya Safari Holiday must have to do with.

No Kenya Safari Holiday would be any great without great personnel in a great lodge, and Tortilis certainly has this in abundance, and when you add terrific food, and the formerly pointed out cottage then you just about have it all.

Please note if you are on your Kenya Safari Holiday with nutritional requests, then the chef is extremely open!!

Tortilis Camp has a swimming pool, which is huge enough, very rejuvenating, and just the important things to while the hours away in between early morning, and night game drives. It is an asset that no self respecting lodge must be without a swimming pool, due to the fact that a Kenya Safari Holiday can't be all action, you also require relaxation!!

A bush breakfast and sundowners are a vital part of any high-end African safari, especiallya Kenya Safari Holiday, when tey are arranged by Tortilis, you get the best. Strolling with a young Maasai warrior is about as good as it gets.

The automobiles. Any Kenya Safari Holiday is excellent, however restricted if you share a minibus, and have to stand up to see the game. At Tortilis their open Land Rovers, with simply your family, and not unfamiliar people, with an experienced guide is as good as any Kenya Safari Holiday can get.

Discovering The Tanzania Safari

The Northern Game Parks in Tanzania are famous for the wildlife migration which continues its yearly cycle through the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Lake Manyara offers the uncommon opportunity to find tree climbing up lions and a range of experience activities from the cliff neglecting the lake.

Tanzania is becoming significantly checked out and deservedly so, however there is a lot more to Tanzania than the Northern Circuit of parks. Most safaris want to include the Great Migration as it is so magnificent and is the world's last making it through fantastic migration. There is an issue that the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro have ended up being so popular that drastic steps are being taken to divert people somewhere else in Tanzania.

Tanzania has so much more to offer than simply the Serenegei and Ngorongoro Crater. In the remote and almost unattainable Western Tanzania is the great Katavi National Park. This park is wonderful, remote and amazing.

There is the Selous Game reserve in the South and this reserve is big and remote, although more easily accessible than Katavi. The game in this park is truly wild as they have not had opportunity to become habituated to human beings and vehicles. The lodges right here are couple of and excellent quality and they provide a game safari along the marvelous Rufiji River. From this park there is a short air travel to Mafia Island which provides a remote Island vacation with great diving and protected white beaches.

For the energetic there is the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, this is a park that boasts no roads and excellent tropical rain forest. This park was developed mostly for the protection of flora instead of animals.

There are West and East Usambara Mountains where the world's preferred flower the African Violet was found. Saadani Bay is where the bush satisfies the sea, elephants and lions have actually been found on the beach, a truly special experience along the East African Coast.

The list could go on. Tanzania offers a lot you could invest a life time exploring this corner of East Africa. This country is mosaic of mysteries and contradictions. To discover it, to consume in the rich culture and varied landscapes involves moving the nation, not racing from one area to the next. To do this will lead to safari tiredness. Chose sensibly and take your time to find, gradually slowly is the only method to appreciate and come to know, just a little, the magic that is Tanzania.

For more information on a Tanzania Safari or a Zanzibar Holiday please follow the links.

Mnemba Island Lodge

It's a very intriguing journey to obtain to Mnemba Island Lodge. It began with a bumpy and quite terrifying flight in a single engined aircraft from Dar es Salaam to Stonetown in Zanzibar.

This was followed by an amazingly rough trip, much of it on unmade up roadways and tracks, followed by a ferry journey, which African style implied wading off the beach to obtain on the boat, although in fairness my spouse was carried, as was the baggage!!.

If you don't wish to arrive a physical and mental wreck maybe a 10 day safari in Tanzania initially would be a good idea.

Numerous of the guests at Mnemba were either honeymooners, or couples, however most were on R & R after a safari.

Whatever - the large high-end, love, and general spoiling at Mnemba Island Lodge, albeit in an understated method makes the trip so well worthwhile.

As you may or may not be aware, Mnemba Island Lodge is an intimate personal island off the north east idea of Zanzibar, surrounded by its own coral reef within an aquatic preservation location, so if you scuba dive, then Mnemba Atoll is rated one of the best reefs in East Africa.

If like my spouse and I, you just snorkel, then there is magnificent snorkelling, almost off the beach.

The Mnemba Island Lodge provides privacy, and exclusivity, and although the reef is a popular site for worked with dhows from all over the north east of Zanzibar, it is rather fun to view them indulging the open sea, having taken a trip possibly for over an hour to get there, understanding it is all on your doorstep!!

Now there is something you need to be clear about, Mnemba does not have a number of things-- specifically cooling, windows, no selection of menu at mealtimes, no television or radios, and the water you wash in, is a bit salted.

Having stated that your lodging appears to be in thatched huts, when in fact it is in 10 well remote split level beach bandas, built on platforms raised off the sand, which have been smartly positioned making sure they are entirely personal.

The bandas are all made from natural local products, and from the outdoors appearance quite standard, and it is not until you go into that you understand how great they are. The bathroom is roomy with shower, his 'n' her washbasins, and different w.c

. However you will sleep in the greatest beds you can possibly imagine, covered in rippling muslin internet, cooled to excellence by a constant sea breeze coming off of the Indian Ocean.

As the banda, you also get your own little pagoda with sun beds on the beach itself (with blinds that can be decreased must you desire protection from the sun) and the most fantastic double bed-sized swing with mattress on the beach.

We loved the food which is prepared virtually solely from regional ingredients but in the modern restaurant design.

By the way, there is no space service as you know it, because there are no telephones, nevertheless that is arranged by talking to your very own personal butler!!

I must likewise add there are literally no menus, however the food is scrumptious, and if you desire something, then all you have to do is ask.!!

Mnemba is the perfect location to leave all the fears of the 21st century behind, along with your shoes.

There are few choices delegated make, apart from what you want to consume now, what you wish to consume later, and where you want your butler to set it up, and after that exactly what you want to do tomorrow.

It's costly, it's simple it's unsophisticated, and it's worth it.

End Your Tropical Honeymoon Holiday In The Mafia Archipelago Off Tanzania

Numerous young couples have a tropical honeymoon getaway, and some take an African Safari Honeymoon to Tanzania or Kenya, and then urgently seek a tranquil quiet escape for the last few days, and this is where an Indian Ocean Island in the Mafia Archipelago off Tanzania called Chole is available in.

There are few better places to lastly end up in than Chole Mijini Lodge which is the epitome of a charming honeymoon getaway. This is never ever more real if you are really aware of the damage that brand-new vacation developments can do to the regional environment or population, due to the fact that Chole Mijini Lodge has developed with the very best concepts of echo tourism and benefiting local neighborhoods.

Chole Mijini Lodge is on a tiny fertile island called Chole, some twenty minutes cruise from Mafia. It has been established as a partnership with the owners Jean and Anne de Villiers and the people of Chole Village. $10 per night per guest goes to resource neighborhood advancement projects, and this is working exceptionally well.

This has up until now led to the Community having, and more significantly being able to manage to run a primary school, a kindergarten, an adult knowing centre with computers and English classes, and a clinic and a market.

Chole Mijini Lodge is really near the town, and is unfenced, being positioned in the middle of the ruins of an old town that was heavily associated with the slave trade 2 centuries earlier.

There are six tree houses high up on stilts, and a big suite on the ground. The tree homes are rather fantastically designed and incredibly uncommon, with the whole effect being one of a tropical garden amidst the ruins, and it is spectacularly efficient.

The tree houses all have a view over the mangroves to the sea, and consist of a restroom at ground level with a long drop composting loo, which although it sounds very basic, does work very well. If Chole is to be part of your honeymoon, and you don't such as the noise of this, then book the ground level suite which boasts the only flush toilet on the island!

There are hot showers for all the lodgings, and there is a dhow where you can spend a night far from the lodge.

Mijini Lodge has a really comfy primary lounge with great deals of huge colorful cushions to lie about on, with loads of books and video games.

This really is an escape and a charming getaway location.

It is likewise fair to mention that Mijini Lodge has no electrical energy supply, and it is full board, with dining at a large household design table, and just water is included in the complete board rate, although alcohols can be purchased. You will find the the food simple imaginative and exceptional, with different meals to lure even the most seasoned palate!

The service is exceptional throughout the lodge, constantly there, and extremely discreet. If you are fretted about security, there are guards around all the time especially at night so so feel safe at all times.

In regards to exactly what you do at Mijini Lodge, there are cruising trips, forest walks, and basic expedition of the historical ruins, and general history of the area, snorkeling, and diving. There is everything from shallow shallows to deep dives, and a completely set up PADI.

Tanzania, and the Mafia Archipelago makes everyone consider white sand beaches, and they are quickly available by dhow, if not fairly on the doorstep. A few of the beaches you will be required so remote, entirely untouched and lovely.

Exactly what you absolutely need to do is to take the distinct chance to see how the regional village lives, and to experience it. Majini provides you a special chance to do this, and provides you an insight into everyday African life.

Without wanting to be unfavorable, the most significant downside to Chole Mijini Lodge is the heat typically a benefit during the day, but in the evening when the breeze drops, the lack of a fan, and the ever present malaria mosquitoes implies that the bed enclosed by nets ends up being an oven. Now this is also the case at lots of safari camps in Africa, however is something to be aware of right here.

Notwithstanding Chole Mijini Lodge is an entirely unique spot to end an African safari honeymoon, but not for people who require all the luxuries of the 21st century. If it is for you, then the experience you will have will make this a romantic honeymoon getaway you will never ever forget.

It isn't truly a base for a complete Tanzania getaway, however a great location for two or three days, hidden so to speak, among the islands in the Mafia Archipelago.

If the tourists don't go on safari the poachers move in.

Paul Goldstein, co-owner of Kenya-based Kicheche Camps, says: "If the tourists don't go on safari, there are no eyes on the ground and the locals don't get paid. The poachers move in.".



Goldstein was shocked last December to see a dead elephant, tusks removed by poachers, in the Maasai Mara park: this would have been unthinkable a year earlier.



Read the Foreign Office advice on travel to Kenya and you 'd be forgiven for avoiding the place altogether. According to Kenyan government statistics, British visitor numbers have fallen by more than a third since 2012 (from 185,976 to 117,201 in 2014).

Proving a link between the drop in visitors and a rise in poaching is difficult, but the fact that tourists, by their presence, help protect wildlife is something Zimbabwe learned the hard way when the country descended into economic chaos between 2003-2008 and visitors stopped arriving. Mark Butcher of Imvelo Safaris, who runs camps there says he saw the heavy price paid by the wildlife: "When people are hungry, they don't worry about conservation.

When Tanzania closed its border with Kenya between 1977 and 1983, visitors to the Serengeti dropped from 70,000 a year to around 10,000. The loss in revenue caused a 60 % decline in anti-poaching patrols and a rapid rise in poaching. Rhino disappeared, elephant numbers dropped and meat poaching skyrocketed. Similar things are now happening in northern Mozambique, where a government-backed survey has estimated that half of the country's elephants (almost 10,000) have been illegally killed in the past five years.

Like many in the safari business, Butcher thinks Kenya's conservancy movement is its brightest hope. This has seen large areas of Kenya protected by small landowners pledging land to communal conservation zones. Franchised safari camps pay landowners according to the number of tourists they take. "Communities set aside land for wildlife because it's financially in their interests," says Butcher. "But in the absence of tourists, poachers give the incentives.".

A report in March by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) highlighted the scarcity of data on the economic value of wildlife tourism in Africa, but surveyed data from 48 government bodies and 145 tour operators from 31 African countries and concluded that poaching "threatened the tourism sector's long-term sustainability". However, only 50 % of the operators were directly funding anti-poaching initiatives or engaging in conservation projects.

Encouraging them, and getting tourist numbers back up is vital. Jonathan Scott, who presents the BBC's Big Cat Diary and has lived in Kenya for 40 years, says: "If the world is serious about helping to prevent poaching, we need those tourist dollars.".

For more information on safari holidays please follow the links or call: 01227 753180

Saadani River Lodge

Saadani National Park is one of the last remaining protected coastal areas in Africa allowing native plants and abundant wildlife to flourish. Our guests are likely to catch sight of cats, antelopes, giraffes, elephants and buffalo. Encounters with other vehicles during game drives are uncommon and game drives occur in the early morning and late afternoon/evening when the temperature is more agreeable to both our guests and the wildlife.

For more information on Saadani River Lodge or Safari Holidays to Tanzania please follow the links or email: info@puresafari.com 

Tanzania's Top Destinations

Designated as a World Heritage Site, the crater has one of the largest concentrations of wildlife in Africa. An estimated 25,000 large mammals in a relatively small area make it a 'must' destination when on safari on the Northern Tanzanian Safari Circuit. Ngorongoro is home to one of the few remaining populations of black rhino in Tanzania.

The Serengeti National Park has so much to offer for it is vast and every season is special in this amazing National Park. For most safari itineraries the main focus of any trip to the Serengeti is the migration, depending on the long rains from February to May, where up to two million herbivores take advantage of the short grass of the southern Serengeti to calve and feed, before moving north westerly to eventually arrive at the dramatic crossing of the Grumeti river, home to some of Africa's biggest crocodiles.

The Zanzibar archipelago consists of fifty or so islands the main island is called Unquia but usually referred to as Zanzibar Island. Stone Town is the capital of Zanzibar being the port and entrance to these spiced islands.

Tarangire National Park is probably Tanzania's most underrated park. This park is used as a stop over point on the way to or from the Serengeti. It is a special area, a bird watchers paradise and in the dry season many animals are attracted to the area as it has a year round water supply along the River Tarangire. There are some wonderful camps here such as Swala Camp and then the magnificent Oliver's Camp in the wilderness area of the Park. The park is most legendary for the large concentration of elephants and the huge baobab Trees that dominate the park.

Lake Manyara National Park is a small but scenic safari park. It is most unusual for lions to climb trees, this park is famed for its tree climbing lions.

Mt. Kilimanjaro, sitting on the Tanzania- Kenyan border, is remote, alluring and simply put, awe inspiring. Located in Northern Tanzania, Kilimanjaro dominates the landscape.

It is not as popular as the national Parks in the North of Tanzania, in recent years visitors have begun to realize this park has much to offer the tourist looking for the remote wilderness experience. The northern section of the park has a handful of luxury camps. This park truly offers the Out of Africa experience.

Ruaha is probably the most arid of Tanzania's parks. It is on the Southern Circuit and is sometimes know as Giraffe Park as it has in excess of 8,000 Maasai giraffe. From December to January the park enjoys a large number of the rare Eleanor's falcons.

Mafia Island is set off the coast of central Tanzania, twenty kilometers from the Rufiji River Delta, making this remote island an ideal place for relaxing after a safari in the Selous. A small island, fifty kilometers long and fifteen kilometers wide and completely surrounded by a barrier reef, entry by light aircraft is required. The reef is teaming with marine life. There are over 460 species of tropical fish in these reefs as well as five species of turtles. The diver, either beginner or more experienced, has a profusion of underwater habitats to explore.

Arusha National Park is a lovely park is set between the peaks of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro. It is a tiny park - only 53 square miles. The Park is an area of outstanding beauty and can be visited easily for a few hours from the nearby town of Arusha. The highlands are forested, with the peak of Mount Meru rising above the forests to dominate the park. The forests are populated by a thriving and varied bird life and climbing in the ancient cedar trees is the dramatically marked black and white colubus monkey, barking its haunting call through the quiet forest.


For more info on travel to Tanzania or Safari Holidays please contact info@puresafari.com

Zanzibar to attract more visitors.

Zanzibar is set to attract more tourists following increased advertisement of the islands globally, President Ali Mohamed Shein said while in Germany.

Dr Shein added that the government has been working hard to promote Zanzibar as the best tourist destination in East Africa and the results are bearing fruit.

“As we advertise the tourism attraction sites in Zanzibar, we have been also overcoming different challenges,” Dr Shein said in an interview with members of the press in Wurzburg- Germany where he has been since last Tuesday for an official visit.

The president underscored the importance of tourism to Zanzibar socially and economically, and that the Islands still have unique attraction places including its history admired by many people who visit East Africa.

He said that in addition to the contribution of tourism to Zanzibar economy, it has also enhanced good relations with foreign nations through cultural exchange like in this years’ International African Music festival in Wurzburg, where artists from different countries had an opportunity to meet.


“Hospitality, our traditions, behaviour, local music and local food are some of the things which unite people of Zanzibar and attract tourists,’ said Dr Shein. According to a press release from the President’s press team, Dr Shein said his government was determined to make sure that Zanzibar is widely advertised including through festivals held in different countries around the world. During the interview with Germany journalists, Dr Shein said Zanzibar government was improving infrastructure and promoting peace/stability as prerequisite to development. Dr Shein together with his delegation also visited the Department of Tropical Diseases at Wurzburg Mission College of Health Sciences, where the Chairperson of the Board Prof August Stich said his institute has been collaborating with various higher institutions across the world including Bugando in Mwanza, and KCMC in Moshi. “During the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, my institutions trained 200 health workers who were working in affected countries,” Prof Stich said before bidding farewell to Dr Shein and his delegation who left Wurzburg for Berlin where he is scheduled to meet Germany leaders and members of the business community.

For more information on holidays in Zanzibar or safari holidays, please follow the links or email info@puresafari.com 

No more yellow fever requirement for travellers from SA to Zambia

Travellers heading to Zambia from South Africa will no longer be required to get a yellow fever vaccination, the Department of Health has announced.

Tourism Update reports that the decision was made at the World Health Assembly in Geneva on Friday and lifted with immediate effect.

According to the Lusaka Times, the decision comes after the World Health Organisation confirmed that Zambia had low yellow fever exposure status.

The decision is expected to boost travel to the region somewhat.

For more information on travel to Africa please call: 0044 (0)1227 753181