A Tanzanian Safari on a Student Budget
One of the main draws for doing an elective in Tanzania was being able to discover the natural beauty of Africa and the diverse flora and fauna that inhabits it. The documentaries I had watched on National Geographic as a kid had imparted in me that no true experience of Africa would be complete without seeing a pride of lions sink their teeth into a straggling gazelle as the shimmering sunsets over the savannah. Disney’s Lion King was also unashamedly my favourite animated movie and so it was almost a no-brainer that a safari was on my bucket list for my trip to Tanzania.
Tracking and spotting camouflaged wildlife is all part of the safari experience.
However, as I soon discovered a Tanzanian safari is not exactly something that can be done on a tight budget. If you do some reading you might find that with enough time and research you can plan your safari by directly organising your own, car and driver-guide when in the area, paying for your own game park fees, organising camping equipment, planning and preparing every meal while on the move all while figuring out where to find where all the animals are. This may slightly reduce the price of the safari but in our minds, there were too many variables coming into this. With limited experience in organising extended overland trips in a foreign country, we decided the best option was to book a safari through a local Tanzanian tour operator and save our money by reducing any third-party costs. This would ensure that we could enjoy our safari and focus on the long game drives without stressing about logistical problems.
A quick google search of “Tanzania Safari” will reveal hundreds of tour companies that advertise various safari packages that range from basic group packages with overnight camping to luxurious private packages that include a bottle of champagne with every meal and stay at the Four Seasons in the Serengeti. This is because for many a safari is a glamourous getaway that you can easily book from a reputable transnational travel agency all from the comfort of your own home.
For us, as a group of young medical students, our main income source came from the odd hours of tutoring each week (and who can forget the generous Youth Allowance from the Australian Government). Admittedly our budget was a little more than the backpack traveler 270 days away from home. However, we knew that if we wanted a sufficiently long safari of the Northern Circuit that would satisfy our wildlife-cravings then forgoing any added luxuries (our dreams of sipping Moët from a hot air balloon over the Serengeti slipping away) and booking with a local Tanzanian operator would be the way to go.
Serengeti means Endless Plains but there was definitely nothing plain about it.
Our 4-day/3-night safari of Tanzania’s Northern Circuit in December 2018 was 640 USD per person (+ extra 20 USD per person for tips). This was for what you could call an all-inclusive safari package at the most basic level (camping safari accommodation, game park entry fees, driver-guide, 4x4 Landcruiser with unlimited fuel, cook/chef, nutritious meals with an assortment of beverages, pick-up & drop-off from Moshi and 2 beers per person per night!). We believe that this would be close to the minimum if not the minimum that one could book a basic Northern Circuit safari package.
A 4x4 Landcruiser with a pop-up top is a must for optimal viewing potential
At over 160 USD per day you can see how a safari can quickly consume through your travel budget. However it’s important to note that over the 4-days we did not have to spend an extra dollar Tanzanian shilling on anything else and need I say that we were well-housed tented, well nourished and well wildlife-ed out by the end of it.
So how did we manage to reduce the price of our safari?
Booked through a local tour operator based in Moshi
Booked as a group of 5 people
Booked as a group safari (as opposed to a private safari)
As a student undertaking a medical elective at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania the main advantage was being able to meet with local tour operators after arriving in Tanzania. There are many local tour operators that are owned by Tanzanian locals and these generally offered lower prices for similar packages when compared to international travel agencies (they don’t have to pay for marketing, international representatives etc.). While international operators may have a better online presence with more reviews, it’s debatable whether they offer anything of added benefit besides a reliable reputation which may obviously help provide peace of mind for someone booking from another continent.
In fact, we discussed our experiences with other students staying at KCMC who had booked similar packages through other international agencies and our experiences were pretty much the same (same itinerary, same vehicle, same parks and routes, same accommodation, same food).
We booked as a group of 5 and contacted various offices in Moshi via email for their itinerary, inclusions and pricing. We literally found these operators by typing “Safari Moshi” on Google Maps and contacting every single one that came up (the same can probably be done for Arusha). We short-listed several operators based on the aforementioned criteria as well as reviews from TripAdvisor, Google & Facebook.
A quick search in Google Maps reveals all the companies with local offices in Moshi, the same can be done for Arusha.
We then met with the managers of these companies in-person at their offices mainly to confirm all the details and to settle any doubts about their legitimacy. However, if you’re booking from outside Tanzania and flying in for a safari then meeting up with these operators is probably not possible. I think that while having an in-person meeting did add some peace of mind it wasn’t particularly necessary especially with companies with sufficient raving reviews.
As I mentioned before the local company (Joining Safaris) we ended up going with offered and delivered on everything that we had asked. The landscapes were breathtaking, the game drives were exciting, the food was nourishing and the camping much more comfortable then expected (even when it rained for two nights!).
There was one thing that we had to fault though and that was the limited information that the driver-guide would voluntarily impart on us. On these safaris, the driver usually double-ups as the guide. Although our driver-guide was quite knowledgeable and able to spot and recognise animals that we had trouble seeing with our binoculars and zoom lenses he would only relay information when asked directly and kept to himself most of the time. He did manage to track down the Big 5 and we were thrilled when he rushed to secure prime viewing of a quite intense scene involving a pride of lions, a zebra carcass and some jackals. However, a more interactive and engaging guide may have made the experience more educational and enjoyable. From observations of fellow safari-goers, the proactive guides were often involved in the higher-grade packages and their enthusiasm would demand a premium tip.
One of the most intense scenes of our safari in the Ngorogoro Crater - A lion pulling a zebra’s head from its remaining carcass.
Alas other students from KCMC who had paid for a similar basic safari through a more expensive international agency before they arrived in Tanzania reported similar issues with their guide. So it seems that if you value an informative experience then a basic safari package won’t be sufficient for you. However, if you want to witness the magnificence of the African landscape and the animals that thrive in this intricate ecosystem while on a student budget then I guess a little bit of compromise and research is going to be well worth it.
A young male lion sits metres away from our jeep in the Serengeti.
