2-day budget safari in northern Tanzania

Hi there, We’re currently planning our trip to Tanzania for August 2025. We’re a family with two teens (16 and 14) and we’re used to traveling with our backpacks, using local transport to create authentic exchanges with locals.

We’d like to do a short safari (2 days and 1 night) during our 3-week trip on a small budget.

If we had to choose just one park in Tanzania in August, which one would you recommend?

Is it easy to rent a jeep with a driver in August without going through an agency in Tanzania?

Who can help us decode the rates offered by agencies? - Park entry: how much per person? Does it vary by age? Are the rates different depending on the park? - Cost of the driver and a guide? - Is accommodation in the park taxed? - Do we need to budget for a tip?

Hi Gaelle,

Sounds like a wonderful trip ahead!

I’d shared a recap—with prices—of our trip with our teens here: https://voyageforum.com/forum/tanzanie-en-self-drive-en-juillet-aout-2018-d9173686/. Though I’m sure prices have gone up since then.

For choosing a park, I’d suggest checking out our travel journal on our site here—you’ll probably find something you like. But for a budget-friendly option in the north, Tarangire National Park is great. In the south, I’d recommend Ruaha National Park.

Hi Gaëlle,

I’m in the same boat—I’m heading to Zanzibar for three weeks in August with my wife and my daughter, who’ll be turning 18. We booked our round-trip tickets from Lyon to Zanzibar without thinking too much about it, and now we’re thinking it’d be a shame not to take advantage of the trip to do a safari. The plan is to do a 2- to 3-day safari, so I’m starting to look into what would be best. How about you—have you made any progress on your plans (choosing one or two parks, picking an operator, budget ideas, etc.)?

Hi there, For a budget-friendly safari, I recommend Mikumi National Park, which is about 300 km from Dar es Salaam. To get there: take the train from Dar to Morogoro (there’s a new electric train that’s been running for about a year, less than 2 hours journey, around 10 € round trip). Then it’s another 2 hours by road to the park entrance. Park entry fee: $35 for 24 hours. You can sleep inside the park for $100 per night/room, but there are only about ten rooms available. Otherwise, check Booking for hotels in the town of Mikumi, which is close to the park. You can find a guide with a car on-site in Mikumi. I can put you in touch with a friend who’s a guide in Mikumi and knows the park very well. The guide can arrange your transfer between Morogoro and Mikumi, or you can take a bus, but it takes longer.

If you’re staying in Dar es Salaam, I recommend staying in the Kigamboni district: it has the most beautiful beaches in Dar (for example, at Kipepeo, the beach is really nice and close to Rasta Zone, with its fishermen and beachfront restaurants). If you’d like, I can give you info on fun activities with a small budget that will also let you meet locals in this neighborhood—I know it well because we help out a youth association there.

Have a great trip! Tanzania is a beautiful country, and Tanzanians are very welcoming.

Hi to all Zanzibar fans looking to do a short safari in the southern reserves!

For an idea, check out the travel journal for Mikumi and Selous here: (Much closer to Zanzibar than the northern reserves = less time wasted and lower transfer costs) https://voyageforum.com/forum/mikumi-selous-dans-sud-tanzanien-juin-2024-d10707408-1/



Cheers,

Puma2A

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Hi there,

If you opt for the southern reserves, you’ll be offered two options: - Either go individually (check with airlines that serve the southern reserves from Zanzibar). Round-trip flight, one night or—better—2 nights on-site, fully organized by a lodge and its guides. I recommend Ruaha or Selous (at Lake Manze camp). - Or join a group crammed into a vehicle, as you can see in the link from the previous post. This will likely be to Selous or more probably Mikumi, which is closer.

You can also contact a travel agency: For years, we’ve used the services of Asanterra, run by a Belgian (so you can communicate in French). They’re the ones who organized our trip, like the one in the previous post’s link. https://asanterra.com/

If your budget allows, spend 2 nights on-site. That’ll give you a half-day safari, followed by a full day, and another half-day safari on the last day. Just don’t expect to see all the animals you’re dreaming of in such a short time! Nature decides what it wants to show visitors.

If you choose Selous (and Lake Manze camp), you’ll go on a boat safari on the Rufiji River the first morning. At Ruaha, there are no boat safaris.

Cheers.

Hi there, For a northern park, I’d say Tarangire, and if you're on a tight budget, I’d recommend public campsites. They’re not expensive, and honestly, even if budget isn’t an issue, I think it’s the ideal place to stay on safari there. Total immersion, and you’ll often see animals in the evening, at dawn, or even during the night.

All the info is on the TANAPA (Tanzania National Parks) website, and for prices, I haven’t found anything more recent than this: en-1647862168-TARIFFS 2022-2023.pdf. I don’t know why, but on every park authority website—whether in Tanzania, Rwanda, or Uganda—price info is hidden and hard to find.

Basically, you pay the entry fee per 24-hour period (exactly), depending on the season, your status (I assume you’re a foreigner), and age (since you have a teen under 15, it’ll be cheaper for them). You also pay for the car entry (based on its registration and weight) and, if you’re staying at a public campsite, the camping fee (a low-cost option for sleeping in the park). In the end, that adds up to the total price.

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Latest update, please read carefully: This is gonna complicate your safari plans...!!

https://www.air-journal.fr/2025-06-21-lue-actualise-sa-liste-noire-en-incluant-les-compagnies-aeriennes-de-la-tanzanie-et-du-surinam-5263599.html

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Thanks for the info. From what I understand, Tanzanian airlines are banned from flying in the EU, which shouldn’t affect us, but I think we’ll decide once we’re there in Zanzibar about booking a safari, rather than reserving from France.

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It’s—for example—in cases of problems related to these potential flights that the issue lies: no insurance will cover you.

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