Tanzania Escorted Tours

Tanzania Safari Tours

The Essence of Tanzania

A warmly welcoming country, witnessing the awesome Great Migration, and boasting an A to Z of African animals, Tanzania is home to the continent’s highest mountain, largest lake, most ancient fossils, and most famous safaris.

Why choose a tour in Tanzania?

Cut by the Great Rift Valley, rising to Kilimanjaro’s snow-capped peak, encircling the vast Lake Victoria, and spreading offshore to spice-scented islands, Tanzania is a truly terrific touring ground.

With Africa’s Big Five: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo, its Little Five: ant-lion dragonfly, leopard tortoise, rhino beetle, elephant shrew, and buffalo weaverbird, and everything in between, from aardvark to zebra, from Arusha to Zanzibar, the country spans the spectrum of wildlife and landscapes in a thrilling, unforgettable experience.

Among its famous and less familiar parks and reserves, Tarangire is named for the river running through it, studded with sturdy baobabs, and inhabited by wetland and woodland birds, eland, elephants, and oryx.

The diverse ecosystem of Lake Manyara National Park is home to civets and porcupines, and famed for the tree-climbing lions which sleep on shady branches, in a landscape described by Hemingway as “the loveliest in Africa.”

Legendary Ngorongoro is the largest unbroken caldera on Earth. Its 600m-high crater walls protect prolific wildlife, surrounding Lake Magadi and its flocks of flamingos, and encompassing the Olduvai Gorge, where fossil footprints date back 3.6 million years.

Renowned for its numerous prides of lions, the Serengeti is synonymous with the phenomenal Great Migration of huge herds of wildebeest, zebra, and antelope, tracked by their Big Cat predators. Often billed as an annual event, it is actually a continuous circular movement from season to season.

The largest of Africa’s Great Lakes, Victoria looks like a freshwater sea, sprinkled with shoreline settlements, peppered with islands, hemmed with papyrus swamps, and brilliant for birdwatching, with species from swifts and lapwings to crakes and cranes. 

In the 'secret' south, Saadani National Park describes itself as “where the beach meets the bush”, a mix of salt pans and sandbanks, coastal forest, and coral reefs; while Nyerere National Park (formerly Selous Game Reserve), is UNESCO listed for its huge, untamed wilderness, home to hyena, hartebeest and hippo, wild dog, waterbuck, and large numbers of lion and leopard; and Mikumi’s landscape is low-lying wetlands, flanked by mountains, and supporting plains game, 400 bird species, and the Big Five.

Offshore, in the Zanzibar archipelago, the main island’s east coast beaches reveal starfish pools; white sands line the northern shores; to the west, Chole Island Marine Park sits just off the old Swahili trading port of Stone Town, and a route through Jozani Forest leads south to sea turtles in Menai Bay; while smaller ‘spice islands’ are sprinkled with cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg groves.

When to go on Tanzania holidays

Hot and humid on the coast, the tropical climate is more comfortable on the higher altitude of the plateau, which covers much of the country, and where Tanzania’s northern parks and reserves are concentrated. There is little variation in daytime temperatures throughout the year, generally between 24 and 28°; though ‘the rains’ do vary from region to region, the short, sharp downpours are most likely from December to February on the plateau, and March to May on the coast.

Jules Verne’s tours run between January and June, and from late August to the end of October.

Who are Tanzania tours suited to?

With accommodation in permanent tented camps and lodges within the parks, and in the moveable ‘Bush Rovers’ creation of tented cabins constructed on working Land Rovers, on a Jules Verne tour in Tanzania, you are always well placed to experience the sights and sounds of the wild. The country is enthralling and tremendously rewarding for naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts, where every safari is tinged with a sense of adventure.

Why book Tanzania tours with Jules Verne?

With 45 years’ experience and a passion for creating extraordinary journeys, Jules Verne finds the most intriguing, adventurous, and inspiring places to explore. Our Tanzanian safaris typically take to the tracks with small groups of travellers and a knowledgeable driver/guide, well versed in the habits and habitats of the country’s amazing animals; and include a canoe ride through Lake Victoria’s ‘Little Okavango’ channels, and a Bush Rover camp in the Serengeti, which can be re-positioned, season by season, to place you close to the animals, and away from the busiest viewing sites.

Our guided tours to Tanzania are ABTA and ATOL protected, and we offer a 100% price guarantee, so you can book with complete confidence.