What to Know Before Your First African Safari - Tanzania edition
I had NO CLUE what to expect before going on my first African safari.
Leading up to it, I would return again and again to the travel agency site and look at photos. I would read and re-read every document they shared with us and anything they had on their website. At work, I would daydream about elephants and zebras, wondering how close we’d actually get.
Would we have an experience like one of those viral videos where a cheetah jumps in the safari truck?
Would we see 10 animals a day?
Would we see 20?
Would we go off road?
I had many questions, and all of them impossible to find answers before I left. Below I’m sharing the 12 most surprising things I learned. Each of these will help any first timer have a better understanding of what to expect, how to prepare, and realistic ideas for the rhythm of an African safari adventure.
These things to know are specific to going on safari in Tanzania but can easily apply to other regions. The parks we visited specifically were Ngorongoro, Taragine, and Lake Manyara.
12 Things to Know Before Your First African Safari
1. The safari will be everything you dreamed of (and more!)
It’s an experience for all five senses. A sight for the eyes. Music to the ears. Etc, etc. The novelty of seeing animals and landscapes you’ve never experienced before drives immense excitement and happiness. Taking a moment to pause and remember how far away from home you might be, traversing land shared with lions and giraffes and elephants. It’s not just the animals, the landscape, or the experience. It’s one of those 1+1=3 moments. Where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. If you’re considering it, do it. Stop second guessing and go.
2. The lodge where you stay might be a far drive (2 hrs+) from the game parks
I really had no idea how safaris ‘worked’. Safaris on TV or in the movies usually looked like you slept in a tent next to the animals, and you set up camp as you moved along each day. Nope — not how it goes in real life (at least for the budget minded safari goers like me). We stayed at the Endoro Lodge. It was centrally located to the three parks we visited over the three days, but even being centrally located, for two of the parks, it took two hours to get to where we needed.
Reason being, the area around the parks is extremely rural. To encourage animals to live nearby, I guess you can’t have a bunch of hotels right next door. It’s an area that serves rural farmers and tourists alike. To get to our lodge, the driver turned off a main paved road onto a 3 mile dirt road past coffee farms, cows and goats walking along side of us.
The long drives aside, we loved where we stayed. It was relaxing and peaceful after an adventurous day on safari. The rooms had amazing showers and comfortable beds with beautiful green views, and the lodge included a cozy restaurant with nourishing meals. What more could we need.
3. A LOT of other people also go on safari
I can’t explain what I was expecting. Because the idea of a safari was so foreign to me, I wasn’t expecting to see many people.
Maybe we’d see only a couple other safari trucks.
Maybe there was only one or two other tour companies.
Ultimately, there were lots of trucks and lots of companies, and a full range of safari styles. There were trucks like ours with every seat filled, trucks with just a couple on a honeymoon or anniversary trip, or these massive semi sized trucks with stadium seating — not joking. That said, we never felt cramped by others driving around the parks. There is so much open space that even with a lot of trucks, you’ll feel like you’re the only one in the park.
4. You will see A LOT of animals — hundreds, thousands
I thought we’d see one or two here, another handful over there. Nope. Especially when we first entered Ngorongoro Crater, we were up high looking down into the crater. Upon first glance I couldn’t tell if all of the specks were animals or trees. We broke out the binoculars, and we were shocked. They were all animals. More than eye could see. More than we could comprehend. Animals. Everywhere.
5. You’ll scout for the Big 5 on safari
I didn’t even know what the Big 5 were before I went on safari, but I quickly found out. The Big 5: rhinoceros, lion, buffalo, leopard, and elephant. Our driver introduced us to the list during our drive to the park on our first day. Not the happiest of origins, the term comes from big-game hunters and these were the five animals that were the hardest to hunt on foot. These days, with hunting removed from the equation, it takes on a much lighter objective — to catch a glimpse of them. It’s a fun checklist (or safari bingo if you will) that kept us engaged and on the look out over the 3 days.
6. Checking off a Big 5 animal might be for only a quick glance or from a far away view
We spotted all five on our three-day safari! To cross one of the Big 5 off your list, it’s not required to be close to it or even to see it for very long.
For us, checking off the black rhinoceros involved spotting a small black dot far off in the distance. After taking a photo with a telephoto lens and zooming in, we could get a better look at him or her.
For the cheetah, we saw it ahead of the truck crossing the path. When we moved closer, a few in our truck were able to see it in the brush. We all heard a growl, and then quickly he or she was off — truly a matter of seconds. This isn’t to say that the far distances or quick moments didn’t get our adrenalin going or our excitement up. We were fully enthralled in the moment no matter where they were.
Buffalos, elephants, and lions - we saw plenty of those over the three days!
7. Lots of safari trucks in one area means you’re about to see something spectacular
My first reaction when we saw a group of safari trucks was that there was a backup — as if too many set off at the same time and ended up in the same place on the track. I blame this on too many trips on Disney ‘safaris’ where the sign that everything is going well is that every truck is spaced perfectly. Instead, on a real safari out in the wild, multiple trucks in one area means you're about to see one of the Big 5 or beautiful animals close to your vehicle. When you notice your driver moving towards the cluster, don’t feel disappointed, get excited!
By the end of our first day, we noted this as the the universal sign for something amazing ahead.
8. Lions are not afraid of the safari trucks
On our second day we approached upon our first lion. He was resting on top of a hill far in the distance. The truck pulled to a stop and our entire vehicle fell to a whisper, not wanting to startle the beast ahead and lose sight of him. We thought it was our good efforts on remaining quiet that kept him resting in the same place. Silly us, he could have cared less we were even there.
Later, when we happened upon one of the safari truck gatherings (read #7), we found ourselves in an open field surrounded by lions. Lions on all sides. We probably saw fifteen. They came up to the truck and would rest in its shade.
Ultimately, the lions have come to remember they are in a protected reserve where they are the king of the jungle. They don’t fear us because they no longer have to.
So that lone lion we saw on the hill earlier in the day, we could have even honked the horn at him, and he would’t have flinched.
9. Safaris are not just about the animals. You’ll be blown away by the landscapes.
I spent all of my energy daydreaming about the animals we would see that I didn’t consider how beautiful the surrounding area would be. It is truly stunning. Landscapes and environments I’d never seen before. Lush green forests, wide open plains, craters, lakes, so much beauty. The incredible wonder of nature itself.
10. You’ll be jaded by the end of the safari
Yup. When we first set off we were snapping pictures of every bird, monkey, or landscape we saw. By the end of the first day, the majority of the truck didn’t care to stop to see another bird. And by the end of the third day, we saw so many zebras that we basically stopped taking photos. It’s an amazingly beautiful and wondrous experience, but after thousands of zebras, 1,001 doesn’t elicit the same fanfare.
11. Being on safari is tiring
I can still remember like it was yesterday. We eagerly entered our first park on our first day, eyes peeled to the windows and photographing every moving living thing. And to our over-eager surprise, we drove past other safari trucks with their passengers fast asleep.
There we were saying that will never be us.
Loe and behold, by the afternoon of day two a good percentage of the group was snoozing.
The why… You’re in the safari truck all day long. Sometimes you’re driving long stretches before arriving at animal hotspots. You also wake early so by 2 pm after riding in a cozy, roomy safari truck all day sleep comes easy. Ultimately, don’t judge sleepers and no judgment if you sleep yourself. You’ll definitely get your share of animal sightings even in three days.
12. No safari is too short
We went for a three-day safari, and by the end of it, I didn’t have FOMO for not going on for a few more days. We saw more than I bargained for in those three days, and the experience alone, no matter the length, is such an exciting opportunity. If three days is all you can budget (money or time), don’t hesitate and do it. If you have the money and time to spend more time on safari, do it!
