Balloon safaris in Tanzania are a romantic and evocative way of experiencing the wilderness of East Africa, as you gracefully and silently fly over the plains teeming with herds of wild life in the early morning.

Typically, a ballon safari begins between 6 am and lasts for around 1-2 hours, during which you will likely see the magnificent wildlife below over several square kilometres of the game park. Ballon safaris are held regularly only in the Serengeti and take off from designated sites (in the Seronera area) where the disturbance to animals is kept to a minimum. Your safari vehicle drops you off at the take off site and picks you up from your landing site. The safari is followed by a champagne breakfast in the bush, a fitting end to your memorable flight in the wild.Maximum in a balloon

Cycling & Mountain Biking

A Tanzanian cycling safari is amazing because there are thousands of miles of single-track routes to explore, most of which are smooth, easy riding.

Tanzania biking tour offers diversity – a range of biking terrain combined with fantastic scenery! With plenty of National Parks and game drives, this tour offers the opportunity to see the Big Five, Mt Kilimanjaro, the Ngorongoro crater, The Usambara and Uluguru Mountains and the stunning beaches of Zanzibar.

Tanzania has stunning landscapes – from the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro to the Rift Valley. This trip offers biking as it should be – off the beaten path and great fun!

Diving and Snorkeling

Tanzania offers divers world-class reefs and plentiful schools of tropical fish just offshore of the popular beaches and secluded locations.

Dive courses are offered at many of the hotels and lodges on the mainland coast as well as Zanzibar, Pemba and Mafia islands, and it is a rewarding skill to learn while on holiday, but the surface swimmer need not to despair since most of the reefs are accessible to snorkellers and equipment are easily rented from dive shops and lodges.

Diving can be done all year-round, however during the rains visibility can be limited.

Museum and Monuments

The National Museum of Tanzania is a consortium of five Tanzanian museums whose purpose is to preserve and show exhibits about the history and natural environment of Tanzania.

The consortium developed from the National Museum of Dar es Salaam, established in 1934 by Tanganyika governor Harold MacMichael. Four more museums later joined the consortium, namely the Village Museum in Dar es Salaam, the National History Museum and the Arusha Declaration Museum in Arusha, and the Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere Memorial Museum in Butiama.

Dar es Salaam National Museum
The Dar es Salaam National Museum is located in Shabban Robert Street, next to the botanical gardens. Established in 1934 and open to the public since 1940, it was originally a memorial museum dedicated to King George V; one of the cars of the King is still on display. The museum was expanded in 1963, with the addition of a second building. It is now dedicated to the history of Tanzania. Its most famous exhibits include some bones of Paranthropus boisei that were among the findings of Louis Leakey at Olduvai. The museum also has a large section dedicated to the Shirazi city-state of Kilwa. More historical miscellaneous material is related to the German and British rule, and ancient Chinese pottery. The museum also has ethnographic collections on Tanzanian cultures.

Village Museum – A traditional hut in the Village Museum
The Kijiji cha Makumbusho, or Village Museum, established in 1996, is an open-air ethnographical museum located in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, on the road to Mwenge and Bagamoyo. It showcases traditional huts from 16 different Tanzanian ethnic groups. There are also examples of traditional cultivations, and traditional music and dance shows are held daily.

National History Museum
The National History Museum in Arusha, open since 1987, is located in Arusha, in Boma Road. It has two permanent exhibits, respectively on human evolution and entomology.

Arusha Declaration Museum
The Arusha Declaration Museum, open since 1977, is located in Arusha, in Kaloleni Road. It displays documents on the colonial history of Tanzania, the fight for independence, and the Arusha Declaration where the first Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere outlined his political vision.

Nyerere Museum
The Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere Memorial Museum, or Nyerere Museum for short, was established in 1999. It is located in Butiama, where Tanzania’s first president Julius Nyerere was born and was buried. The museum display items related to Nyerere’s personal and political life.

Shopping and Nightlife

Pick up African crafts and curios at the most popular tourist centres. Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Stone Town on Zanzibar are dotted with curio shops, markets and bazaars, as well as main roads near parks and reserves, and the coast roads behind beach resorts, all have plenty of roadside stalls.

Items to buy include African drums, batiks, basket-ware, soapstone knick-knacks, handmade chess sets, paintings of Maasai tribes and Serengeti landscapes in the popular Tingatinga style, and large wooden carvings of animals or salad bowls fashioned from a single piece of teak, mninga or ebony.

Maasai items such as beaded jewellery, decorated gourds and the distinctive red-checked blankets worn by all Maasai men make good souvenirs. Kangas and kikois are sarongs worn by women and men respectively and are often in bright colours and patterns. These are made into other items including clothes, cushion covers and bags. In Zanzibar, find old tiles, antique bowls and the famous carved wooden Zanzibar chests (once used by the Sultans to store their possessions, but today ornate replicas), and pick up packets of Zanzibar’s famous spices in Stone Town, as well as on a spice tour.

A Tanzanian specialty is the semi-precious stone called tanzanite, which ranges from deep blue to light purple and it is only found around Arusha. Tanzanite jewellery can be seen in upmarket curio and jewellery shops in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar’s Stone Town.

Whilst most prices in shops are set, the exception include the curio shops where a little good-natured bargaining is possible, especially if it’s quiet or you are buying a number of things. Bargaining is very much expected in the street markets.

Tinga Tinga

From the most humble of beginnings, Edward Saidi Tingatinga, the founder of the famous Tinga Tinga Art, born in 1932 in a tiny village called Namochelia in Mindu area, near the village of Nakapanya in the South of Tanzania slowly and subtlety began a movement in Tanzania that would subsequently revolutionize the way art in Tanzania would be made.

Tinga Tinga Art began as a simple idea: Use recycled, low-cost materials, like masonite squares, ceramic fragments, and bicycle paint.

His style was naïve, bordering on surrealistic and humorous; most of his subjects were stereotypical African icons, such as wildlife or savannah landscapes.

Edward’s Tingatinga’s paintings became very popular among European residents and tourists, and he was subsequently able to transition his previously part time job to a full time profession as an artist.

“If one were limited to a single word when defining ‘luxury’ travel, that word would be accommodation.

Where will you put your head to pillow after a day’s touring adventure. Be it on safari, by rail or by private vehicle, there simply are magnificent choices in all regards. Thereafter, one should decide upon joining a group with very limited membership or choose customized travel, with a private driver and guide.

The luxury of a custom tour allows one to choose to spend more or less time at a particular site and to end the day when they so please. Add to that the undivided attention of ones private guide.

“People’s travel aspirations are changing, and this is true throughout the market. The new definition of luxury is no longer a 6-star hotel with flunkeys and banquets and ever more exquisite spas, but is an experience created for your own personal preferences that combines enrichment, enjoyment and education, with the time to appreciate your surroundings at a price that represents value for money.

The coast of Tanzania is perhaps most famous for the Zanzibar Archipelago, a cluster of islands that saw the growth and survival of Swahili civilisation and trade until the mid-twentieth century.

Zanzibar enchants and beguiles with its oriental mystique and forgotten exoticism — the very name evokes the Spice Islands and the dhow trade, sultans and palaces built of limestone and corals against the palm trees and the crashing surf. But there’s more to the islands of Tanzania than just Zanzibar.

Throughout the archipelago, deserted islands and sandbars beckon and abound. Some have slave caves and colonial graves, others have the ruins of sultan’s palaces and stately plantations. In Pemba, villages steeped in culture and traditions which preserve the Swahili way of life, almost oblivious to the world around them.

On the islands of Mafia, old trading towns line the walkway to abandoned ports and the gentle sea. Throughout the Swahili Coast, diving, swimming, and snorkeling offer superb vistas of thriving coral and marine life. Whether you’re content to stay on the mainland coast, or want to venture off into the atolls and islands of the Indian Ocean, the Tanzanian coast is a place of untouched beauty and enchantment.

Discover the real wild side of Africa on an adventure safari, choose an exciting tour that will ensure you have the holiday of a lifetime.

When choosing a safari operator, be sure to specify what kind of safari you want. Trips can be tailor made according to your travel preferences, the time of year, and what you want to see, so don’t hesitate to let your operator know exactly what you want.

While the quality of safaris can vary according to what you will be paying, all visitors should expect the best of their safari team, from competent, well-informed guides to well served food and comfortable accommodation. Remember that many of these multiple safari options are available in the same areas and parks, and that what differs is only the accommodation facilities offered; not the wildlife and the scenery that you will see.

Safaris in Tanzania have something to offer to everyone. Experience the adventure of budget camping or the opulence of luxury camping safaris. Enjoy a truly memorable lodge safari, or take it one step further and go fly camping. Hunting safaris are also possible.

Game drives are the most important part of a wildlife safari.
Standard Game Drives
There are several types of Standard Game Drives, which are listed below. With a tailor-made safari and your own vehicle, you are able to choose the types and durations of the game drives you go on. If you are on a group safari, the types and durations are usually predefined and fixed. On safaris where you fly to the game park or reserve, the game drives are normally set and controlled by the lodge or camp you are staying at.

Game drives can be long, hot, dusty and bumpy (ladies don’t forget your sports bra), but are great fun!

Note: Most game drives avoid the heat of the day when many of the animals are sheltering from the sun and it is generally recognised that early morning and late afternoon game drives provide the best opportunities for game viewing, but as the animals go where and when they want, this is not always true.

Early Morning Game Drive
An Early Morning Game Drive starts just before dawn at around 6 am and normally finishes by 8:30 am when you return for breakfast. Virtually all lodges and camps will have tea, coffee and biscuits etc. available from around 5:30 am, so you can partake of a little light refreshment before you go.

Morning Game Drive
A Morning Game Drive usually starts after breakfast at around 7:30 am and finishes in time for lunch at around 12:30.

Late Morning Game Drive
A Late Morning Game Drive is usually done in tandem with an Early Morning Game Drive and starts between 10 and 11 am, returning for lunch at around 12:30.

Afternoon Game Drive
An Afternoon Game Drive usually starts around 4 pm, returning before dark between 6 pm and 6:30 pm.

En-Route Game Drive
An En-Route Game Drive usually takes place in the morning or late afternoon and as the name suggests, is performed en-route to a lodge or camp etc. The duration can vary wildly depending upon the journey undertaken, and can even be just the short drive from the lodge or camp to the park exit and vice versa.

All Day Game Drive
An All Day Game Drive, as the name suggests, effectively lasts all day and usually a packed lunch is provided. They normally start after breakfast at around 7:30 am and return before dark between 6 pm and 6:30 pm. They are usually done in large parks/reserves where you cover long distances, or in the case of the Ngorongoro Crater, to avoid dual entry fees.

With over 120 resident different tribes, there is plenty of local history and colour to be found in all areas of Tanzania.

Tanzania’s people are among the most welcoming and approachable on earth with diverse and unique cultures ready to be shared with visitors. It is a rewarding experience to leave your 4X4 vehicle behind and walk through scenic local resident villages with greatest Cultural landscapes in Africa. On the lash tropical slopes of Mt Meru, and Mt Kilimanjaro Waarusha, Wameru or Wachagga guides will proudly describe their carefully cultivated ‘shambas’ with coffee, bananas, fruits, vegetables and dairy cow farming while the World famous Maasai will share with you their age-old pastoralist heritage. Spend part of your time to meet friendly faces of Africa and learn about their ways of life

“Cultural Tourism is beneficial to everyone…. the tourists get unforgettable and unique experience while the local people generate income that improves their standard of living….”

Various local communities run their own cultural programmes and welcomes visitors to their homes, bringing income directly to local community while giving local people an opportunity to showcase their way of life to the outside world. This creates mutual understanding and friendships between tourists and local people, offering tourists from all over the world the possibility to experience Tanzania’s cultural diversity and providing local people in various rural areas the opportunity to build sustainable livelihoods

With local guides born and raised in the area, you can discover how many steps it takes to grow, pick, dry, roast, pound and brew fresh aromatic coffee. Participate in the process personally before enjoying the taste and taking home a very personal pocket of Tanzanian coffee! In the pastoral areas of the North and Lake Zone, follow the Sukuma, Iraqw, Barbaiq, and Maasai tracks to explore almost unforgotten traditions and a way of life that is closely linked to nature and wildlife.

Follow the famous drumbeats and let the Ndali and Matengo dancers of Southern Tanzania interpret the music and performances they inherited from their ancestors. Taste the local cuisine, with all the culinary variations of Ugali, Mlenda,Machalari, Makande, Matoke, tasty Pilau, Nyamachoma, and sample some of the finest local wines and beers. Spend your precious time with local Mamas and learn how to cook a wide range of African cuisines and making authentic handcrafts

Cultural tours can be half day excursions or customized to longer stays for a couple of days among local people in their home villages and towns. Depending on how much time you have and interest, you can choose to embark on boat ride down a river or raw on one of the many lakes while listening to hair-raising legendary tales. Paddle between mangroves. And sail with the fishermen to pristine sandy islands of Indian Ocean, Lake Nyasa and Lake Victoria. Meet the “Hadza” hunter-gather remaining communities in Lake Eyasi and Yaeda valleys or spend part of your holiday with friendly inhabitants of Tanzania’s “Switzerland” while hiking through the Usambara Mountains. Admire ancient irrigation systems- or today’s craftsmanship. Listen to a traditional healer’s diagnostic methods and obtain the correct remedial prescriptions