Southern Tanzania safari, where you are often the only jeep

The wild parks of the south, Nyerere, Mikumi and Ruaha, where you are often the only jeep and the wilderness is still properly wild.

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3

Untouched parks in the south

5%

Of safari travellers come here

50,000+

km² of wilderness

Highlights of this southern Tanzania safari

Safari far from the crowds. In the south you are often the only jeep at a sighting. No rows of vehicles around a leopard, but hour after hour of open wilderness that feels like yours alone.
A boat safari on the Rufiji River. In Nyerere National Park you glide silently over the water, past hippos in the shallows and crocodiles sunning on the bank. A safari from the water, and one you will not find in the north.
Rugged Ruaha, land of the elephants. Ruaha is one of the wildest parks in Tanzania, with big herds of elephants looking for shade under baobab trees centuries old. Safari here feels like Out of Africa, except real.
Animals you rarely see in the north. Ruaha and Nyerere are known for their large lion populations and enormous herds of elephants. And with some luck you see animals the north barely knows, like the rare African wild dog and unusual antelope species.
Finishing on Zanzibar. After the rough wilderness of the south you trade the dust for the white beaches of Zanzibar, where you sit with your feet in the sand and let everything you have seen settle into place.

Download the southern Tanzania itinerary, with the day-by-day and the price

You get the complete 15-day trip in your inbox, worked out day by day, with the price per season.

The whole route day by day, from Dar es Salaam to Zanzibar
The accommodation in the parks, out in the wilderness
The guide price per person, per season
The boat safari and the game drives, and how we work

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Makasa Tanzania Safaris Sample itinerary South Tanzania

Why the south is different

About ninety-five per cent of safari travellers go north, to the Serengeti and the crater. Impressive, and in high season also busy. The south is the opposite. Here you drive for hours through untouched wilderness without meeting another jeep, you stand alone at a herd of elephants, and safari still feels like discovering something. This is not country for ticking things off, it is for people who take their time, look for the quiet, and want to see the real, raw Africa.

Often the only jeep

No rows of vehicles around a leopard, no queue at a sighting. In the south you often have the wilderness to yourself, and that changes everything about how a safari feels.

A safari from the water

In Nyerere National Park you take a boat safari on the Rufiji River, past hippos and crocodiles. An experience you will not find in the north, and one of the high points of this trip.

A real African road trip

You travel by private 4x4 straight through the south, with long drives between the parks. On the way the real Tanzania goes past your window, villages, baobabs, changing landscape. If you would rather fly between the parks, that works too, and we arrange it.

For people who already know the north

If you have seen the Serengeti, or you want to get off the beaten track on purpose, the south is your next step. Rougher, quieter, and with animals you rarely see in the north.

Your south Tanzania safari, stage by stage

Fifteen days, a real road trip through the untouched south. You start on the coast, then head deep into the wilderness, from park to park, and finish on the beaches of Zanzibar. This is the route in outline, and the itinerary has it day by day.

Arrival in Dar es Salaam

You land at Dar es Salaam International Airport, where your driver is waiting. Most flights come in during the evening, so you drive under an hour to your hotel and feel the rhythm of this busy coastal city straight away, warm evening air, street noise, the sea close by. A night to recover from the journey, before the adventure starts the next morning.

Nyerere National Park Boat Safari Rufiji River

Nyerere National Park, and the boat safari on the Rufiji

After a long drive inland you reach Nyerere National Park, formerly Selous, one of the largest and most untouched wild areas in Africa. Here you spend several days with your own guide in country so vast that you feel like an explorer. You look for elephants, giraffes and lions, and on one of the mornings you trade the jeep for a boat. You glide silently over the Rufiji River, past hippos lounging in the shallows and crocodiles sunning themselves on the bank. A safari from the water, quiet and striking, and one you will not find in the north.

Mikumi National Park

On the way south you visit Mikumi, with open plains that bring the Serengeti to mind. Zebra and giraffe move past in small groups, elephants cross the road, and with some luck you see lions stretched out in the sun. A good stop along the way, with a picnic lunch out in the savannah.

Ruaha National Park, the wildest in the south

Further inland lies Ruaha National Park, one of the roughest and most striking parks in Tanzania. Here you spend several days in a landscape of rocky hills, dry riverbeds and open savannah. Ruaha is known for its big herds of elephants, which look for shade under baobab trees centuries old, and for its lions. You often find the game with no other jeep anywhere near. This is safari as it used to be, big and empty, the real Out of Africa.

Winding down on Zanzibar

After the rough wilderness of the south you fly to Zanzibar. Here you trade the dust and the long days for white beaches and the warm Indian Ocean. You swim, you snorkel, or you do nothing for a few days. If you feel like it, you wander an afternoon through the narrow streets of Stone Town. The quiet, earned finish to a demanding trip.

So in fifteen days you travel from Dar es Salaam to Nyerere, the former Selous, with the boat safari on the Rufiji, and by way of Mikumi to Ruaha, and then on to the beaches of Zanzibar. This is the trip in outline, the full day-by-day, the accommodation and the price per season are in the itinerary.

2nd trip with Makasa

We loved our first safari with Makasa so much that we had to do it again! Throughout, it is a professional, customer-oriented, organization. If a Tanzanian safari is on your to-do list, do it with Makasa. We plan on making it a regular trip throughout the years. You will be amazed!

Linda and Eric Browlee

The best safari ever!

We absolutely loved the accom-modations Makasa selected. All of them!! I highly recommend their service. And our guide Jamal was a pure delight. Very suitable for us, Hakuna Matata was the perfect phrase to describe him. Thank you and I hope we can meet again in near future.

Silvia Ravel

Beyond perfect

If you want to give your kids the ultimate wildlife experience combined with some local insights you should choose Makasa! Reliable, more than flexible, professional and passionate our words to subscribe them. We are Makasa most grateful for this great family experience!

Gerdien van Schelven

The same two people, from your first email to your flight home

Booking a trip this far away with a company on the other side of the world feels like a leap for most people. So you are never dealing with an anonymous office here. Zara answers every English enquiry, from Moshi. She thinks it through with you, replies in your language, and knows your trip from the first question to the last day. Selma runs Makasa from Moshi with her husband Ngomi. The person planning your trip and the people driving these roads live in the same town, so your question always lands in the right place. You get both halves, someone who writes back in your language, and people on the spot who know the country, the parks and the seasons.

Zara

Zara came out to visit Selma in Tanzania in 2024. In early 2025 she moved from Australia to Moshi with her two young children, so she knows the drives, the seasons and the camps from living here, not from a brochure. The long drives in the south are the thing people ask about most, and she can tell you how they feel from the back seat. Zara looks after your enquiry, from your first question to the day you fly home.

Selma

Selma moved from the Netherlands to Tanzania in 2009 and has run Makasa since 2010 together with her husband Ngomi. With their three children, who are growing up among the parks that Selma and Ngomi know inside out. She knows the camps, the seasons and the places from her own experience. While Zara plans with you, Selma makes sure your trip in Tanzania runs the way it was meant to.

If you want southern Tanzania, we are adventurers together. But we know the way.

Book a call for free travel advice

Settled before you pay, from your deposit to your flight home

A trip this far raises questions, and we understand that. So we have answered the most important ones here, which means you can book with your mind at rest.

Your money goes to a company, not a person

Makasa is a licensed Tanzanian operator with TALA, and a member of TATO, and you pay into the company account.

Everything confirmed in writing

Before you pay the balance you get written confirmation naming every camp, every date and your vehicle.

One contact, start to finish

You arrange your trip with Zara in Moshi, and your guides on the ground speak excellent English.

Is Tanzania safe?

Yes. Tanzania has been one of the most stable countries in Africa for decades, with warm, welcoming people.

Is a safari dangerous?

No. You are always with an experienced guide. Follow his instructions and there is hardly any risk.

What about malaria?

Tanzania is a malaria area. Your doctor or a travel clinic will advise you what suits your trip.

Your trip leaves something behind

We live in Tanzania, so this country is not our market, it is our home. You notice it in the small choices we make every day. Our own camp Kimbilio runs on solar power, and the packed lunches you take on the road use materials that break down, so we leave nothing behind in the nature you came for.

We look at the accommodation and the partners we work with the same way, at what flows back to the people who live there. And the people we work alongside, our guides and colleagues, are Tanzanians, many of them trained by Ngomi himself. So most of what you spend on your trip stays in the country, with the people who make your trip possible.

If you want to go further, we are glad to think with you. We can add a visit to a local project to your trip, so you see for yourself where your money goes.

This is an example, your trip becomes yours

The trip you just read is one of our best routes through the south, but it is a starting point, not a fixed package. More days in Ruaha, shorter or longer on safari, or finishing with a few extra days on Zanzibar, all of it is possible. If you would rather fly between the parks than drive the long stretches, we arrange that too. We build the trip around what you are looking for, and the itinerary gives you a picture of the options and the price.

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