Here are costs for a private safari in Tanzania for a party of 2

1. Basic camping safari costs in the range of USD 200-300 per person per day

2. Safari with economy hotels costs in the range of USD 250-400 per person per day

3. Safari with Mid range hotels costs in the range of USD 350-600 per person per day

4. And a safari with luxury hotels costs in the range of USD 500-1500 per person per day

The costs of these tours are inclusive of park fees, accommodations, meals, transport & game drives in custom land cruisers with professional guides.

Costs vary depending on duration of safari, number of clients sharing the landcruiser, preferred accommodation tier, season of travel, how you want to travel between parks & add-ons you opt for. We discuss each of these and more in detail below.

In This Article You Will Find

1. Cost For A Few Popular Itineraries

2. List of Factors That Will Affect The Overall Cost of Your Tour

3.Breakdown of Costs in A Sample Tour And Its Components

4. Ideas to Reduce The Cost

5. Ideas to Make The Tour More Luxurious

6. Frequently Asked Questions

1. Rough cost for some popular itineraries in Tanzania

The table below gives you an overview of the prices for a few popular itineraries that last from 2 to 9 days. Prices mentioned are per person in USD . They are rough values applicable for a party of 2 adults, doing private tour, sharing a double room, and traveling in July.

Any change in the parameters mentioned (party size, private or group tour, room configuration, travel period) will impact the prices. For the 8 days Ndutu migration itinerary, costs are from February 2023.

2. Factors That Affect The Overall Cost of Your Tour

2.1 Number of Days

Longer the safari, higher the cost, as the accommodation, park, and the vehicle along with guide fees gets added for each day.

2.2 Level of Accommodation

There are a variety of hotels to choose from that cater to travelers with differing budgetary requirements. There are high end luxury lodges or tented camps with spacious rooms, wraparound balconies, and private plunge pools, located in the middle of parks and all the way down to budget camps that are set up in dedicated public camping sites inside the park (and some even outside).

The level of accommodations you choose throughout the journey along with their locations, will impact the overall cost of your tour.

While the lower priced stay options start from around 50-150 USD per person, per night at different locations (covers stay + 3 meals), the very high end accommodation options cost around 2000 USD per person, per night.

2.3 How Many of You Are Traveling

Land cruisers are customized for safaris and can accommodate up to 7 clients with each getting a window seat. Landcruiser with guide rental fee is usually charged on a daily basis and divided amongst all the travelers sharing the vehicle.

In addition there are ertain statutory fees like park entry fees for the vehicle and guide (about 30 USD per day) and Ngorongoro crater service fees (295 USD) that are applicable at vehicle level, regardless of the number of travelers in the vehicle.

So the higher the number of travelers in a vehicle, the lower the amount of fee payable per person towards the vehicle and guide fees and consequently for overall safari.

2.4 Group or Private Safari

In a Private Safari, you will have the entire vehicle and guide reserved exclusively for your party.

In Group Safaris you will be sharing your vehicle (and guide services) with other clients. A vehicle can be shared by maximum 7 tourists, and each one gets a window seat. On an average though, there are usually 3-4 people per vehicle in the group safaris we arrange.

For small parties (like solo travelers or couples), group safaris work out to be cheaper than private safaris. For larger parties, private safaris might cost the same or even cheaper than group joining safaris(and hence not recommended.)

To understand better how a Group Safari differs from a Private Safari, check out our page here.

2.5 Which Park/Regions You Want to Cover

Statutory fees, accommodation fees change from park to park. Out of all the parks in North Tanzania, Serengeti and Ngorongoro are popular and also expensive. Visiting these 2 parks costs higher than visiting other parks/attractions like Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Lake Natron , Lake Eyasi. So the parks you decide to visit will impact the overall tour cost.

2.6 When Are You Traveling

The cost of your safari will also depend upon the season during which you organize your tour. Lodges charge higher rates or offer discounts based on how busy they expect to be during different times of the year. For most lodges, June to October and Mid December to Februaryis peak season. November to Mid December and March is considered mid season and April to May is considered the low season. So prices will be most expensive in peak season, followed by mid season and will be lower during low season.

The difference in prices across seasons will be quite significant in packages with luxury accommodations, and it will be moderate in packages with mid tier accommodations while the prices for packages with economy hotels or basic camping change very little through the year.

In addition to variation in accommodation prices, the park fees also vary slightly depending on the season.

2.7 How Do You Want to Travel Between Parks

You have the option of traveling between the parks in our land cruisers. But if you wish to minimize the transfer times between parks, you can also choose to take chartered planes. Since all the popular parks in North Tanzania are next to one another, usually clients that wish to minimize transfer times fly one way from Arusha to the farthest point in their safari (North Serengeti or Central Serengeti or Ndutu) and then drive back while covering other parks along the way.

Flying makes the tour more expensive as along with the costs of flights, we also need to account for additional logistic requirements associated with re-routing itinerary.

2.8 Add On Activities During Safari Tours

Our standard safari proposal includes safari vehicle based game drives in each of the parks you will be visiting during the day that will stick to the designated game drive trails. In addition to the regular game drives, each of the parks you visit will provides opportunities for various add-on activities such as walking safaris, hot air balloon rides, walking tours, canoeing, night game drives, cultural tours, museum visits and much more.

In addition, some accommodations will offer additional services like spa treatments, sundowners, private bush dinner etc. All these additional activities/services have their own price. Some clients do not opt for any of these add-on activities/services while some clients opt for multiple add-on tours. So the choices of add on activities will also add to your overall cost.

2.9 Airport Transfers & Arusha Hotel Before/After Safari

Our standard itineraries start in the morning of day 1 at Arusha and end in the evening of the last day at Arusha. We offer a complimentary pickup/drop off service from any hotel/airport in Arusha on first and last day of the safari.

If you need to be picked up from or dropped off at Kilimanjaro airport before and after your safari, we can arrange it at an additional cost. We can also arrange an accommodation in Arusha before and after the safari at an additional cost.

2.10 Tour Extensions

Many clients choose to combine their safari tour in Tanzania with a relaxing holiday at Zanzibar island. Clients spend about 2 to 10 nights in Zanzibar.

Some clients opt for additional tours near Arusha before/after the safari, like a day hike on Kilimanjaro, a day trip to one of the waterfalls/coffee plantations around Arusha or an Arusha city tour etc.

We can arrange these tour extensions at an additional cost.

2.11 Extra Costs to Consider

Other elements that will add to your tour costs are the international flights you travel by, VISA, tips to safari guide/hotel staff, snacks, alcoholic or non alcoholic beverages and souvenirs.

3. Break Down of Costs In A Sample Itinerary

We have shown the cost breakdown for a sample itinerary of five days/four nights to Tarangire (1 night), Central Serengeti(2 nights), and Ngorongoro (1 night), for you to understand how safari costing works. For accommodations, we considered low priced accommodations available inside the park for each night and for two people traveling to Tanzania in the month of July.

Tour itinerary for 5 Days - Tarangire, Serengeti, and Ngorongoro

Day 1 - Arusha to Tarangire. Game drives at Tarangire. Overnight at Ang’ata Tarangire camp Day 2 - Transfer to Central Serengeti. Afternoon game drives in Serengeti. Overnight at Tukaone camp Day 3 - Central Serengeti. Overnight at Tukaone camp Day 4 - Morning game drives in Central Serengeti and transfer to Ngorongoro. Overnight at Ngorongoro Kuhama camp Day 5 - Ngorongoro Crater Tour (5 hours) to Arusha

Cost Components:

3.1 Park/Concession/Statutory fees (including 18% VAT):

Park fees for Tarangire: USD 59 per person per day Concession fees for Tarangire: USD 59 per person per night Transit fees through Ngorongoro: USD 71 per person for transit Park fees for Serengeti: USD 83 per person per day (required for 2 days) Concession fees for Serengeti: USD 71 per person per night (required for 2 nights) Park fees for Ngorongoro: USD 71 per person per day Concession fees for Ngorongoro: USD 71 per person per night Ngorongoro crater service fees: USD 295 per vehicle

Total statutory fees for 5 days safari: USD 1573

All of the above are inclusive of 18% VAT.

3.2 Accommodation fees:

Accommodations for safari are booked on a full board basis which means an overnight stay plus three meals per day.

Ang’ata Tarangire camp: USD 192 per person per night

Tukaone Camp, Central Serengeti: USD 144 per person per night (required for 2 nights)

Ngorongoro Kuhama Camp: USD 176 per person per night

Total Accommodation (on full board basis) fees for 4 nights: USD 1312 (includes 18% VAT)

3.3 Safari Vehicle with guide fees:

Safari landcruiser with guide is offered at USD 300 per day. This is inclusive of:

• VAT
• Fuel cost which is about 60 USD
• Driver and vehicle's park entry fees which is about 30 USD
• Driver's salary
• Driver's accommodation and meal allowance
• Vehicle rental fees

Vehicle rental fees in turn covers our vehicle servicing and maintenance fees after each tour, fees to recover a part of the EMI charges on the vehicle, and our margins to recover our advertising and marketing and sales expenses.

Total cost for safari vehicle with guide: USD 1500

3.4 Drinking Water and Day 1 lunch:

Drinking water costs about USD 1 per person per day. Since we book accommodations on a full board basis for 4 nights, they provide 12 meals, while a total of 13 meals are required from lunch on day 1 till lunch on day 5 in the 5 days/4 nights safari tour. So we provide lunch on day 1 (packed lunch box from Arusha) while all the remaining 12 meals are provided by the accommodations. This lunch on day 1 costs USD 10 per person.

Total cost for drinking water with day 1 unch: USD 30

3.5 Total Cost:

Adding all the above costs, total cost for 2 person private safari in July for 5 days safari covering Tarangire, Central Serengeti & Ngorongoro with accommodations inside the park (low priced) for all 4 nights is USD 1723 + 1312 + 1500 + 30 = USD 4415 or USD 2208 per person.

4. Options to reduce costs in above example:

You can stay at an economy hotel at Karatu after Day 1 and Day 4. An example is Omega View Karatu. You also save on concession fees if you stay outside the park. Resulting price will be around USD 1820 per person for a private tour in a party of two.

You can stay at basic camps in public campsites inside parks on all nights. This will reduce park fees and accommodation fees, and the resulting price will be around USD 1550 per person for a private tour in a party of two. In general, basic camping safaris would be cheaper by about 10-15% compared to lowest priced ensuite accommodations, depending on the itinerary. But basic camping might not be possible in all itineraries as some locations (like Ndutu) do not have public campsites.

You can opt for group joining safari. With economy hotels (in Karatu/Mto Wa Mbu) on Day 1 & 4 and at Tukaone camps in Central Serengeti for day 2 & 3, and with a group joining plan, this tour costs around USD 1520 per person for a group tour. In general, group joiining safaris would be cheaper by about 15% compared to lowest priced ensuite accommodations, depending on the itinerary. Group joining itineraries are usually available only for select itineraries and on fixed dates.

5. Options to make the above tour more comfortable/luxurious:

You can add flights on day 1 to Central Serengeti and start the tour with game drives at Central Serengeti (2 nights), followed by Ngorongoro (1 night) and end with Tarangire (1 night), returning to Arusha on the last evening. This will cost an extra USD 330 per person. This extra cost will be mostly for flights, arranging landcruiser for an additional day and resulting change in park fees.

You can upgrade to higher tier tented camps or tented lodges inside the national parks for each night. There is a wide range of mid tier and luxury hotels available in all 3 parks.

6. Frequently asked questions on Tanzania Safari costs:

6.1 Can I get a discount on the listed price?

Unfortunately No. Our prices are fixed, we work with very low margins. Our margins are in low single digits. We believe our prices are fair and we can share the breakdown for your reference. Offering lower price would have detrimental effects on the quality of services we offer both before and during the tour which we cannot allow. We do not wish to offer lower prices for clients who request for discounts and charge higher rates from those that do not request. So we do not offer any discounts. Nor can we afford discounts for our business to be sustainable.

Having said that, some categories of travelers - like kids under 16, East African citizens, and Tanzania residents get discounts on park and accommodation fees which we pass on to customers. Further, some luxury lodges offer special discounts for honeymoon couples or when some clients stay at their properties for multiple nights. Once again, in such cases we pass on the discounts to clients, when informed about group details.

Lastly, in some very rare cases, we might have geniuenly madey a mistake in calculation of prices for some tour. If you suspect there might be a mistake somewhere in our price calculation, please let us know and we will be happy to recalculate and reconfirm the price. But the chances of a mistake and price correction is usually rare as our prices are double checked in most cases before we share them with clients.

We recommend you to read all the points from below price related FAQs to get a better understanding of our prices.

6.2 Why is your safari price higher than some competition?

We operate our tours at very low margins and our prices are lower than 90% of reputed operators (top 50 on Tripadvisor) for most of the tours and the exact same plans. In many cases where customers compare our prices with competition, it turns out there are differences in itinerary, like day 1 or last day on safari from our competition being just a transfer from/to airport without safari, while our standard tours include safari on all days.

Having said that, it is possible that some of our competitors might be offering some tours at a lower price than ours. Here are few reasons why our tours might be more expensive than competition.

• We work with top-quality guides and 99% of our clients rate 5/5 stars for our guides. Many of our guides have over 10 years of experience. It costs us to attract and retain top quality guides.

• For the safari vehicles we use, we buy pickup toyota landcruisers and get the body manufactured by RSA, a premium vehicle conversion company in Tanzania. They charge a premium (almost 10,000 USD higher than local/budget conversion companies) but their vehicles have stood the test of time with good safety standards for over 2 decades. They are used by most of the top/premium safari operators and high end luxury lodges. Our safari vehicles are regularly serviced after each tour.

• Our vehicles include the following: Radio to communicate with other guides, fridge, two binoculars, wifi, charging points, maps, first aid kit, toolkit and tow rope.

• We provide lunch hampers (tiffin boxes, plates and cutlery) that can allow us to pack a better menu for picnic lunch in the park. On the other hand, packed lunches provided by most of the other operators contains dry items, and gets a bit repetitive and uninteresting quickly.

• Our sales and operations team will be available online and will just be a whatsapp message away for about 14 hours a day. So if you face any issues while on tour, we can resolve them quickly.

• Please check that you are comparing the same itinerary. Some operators consider day 1 as arrival and hotel in Arusha, which may seem quite less conpared to our day 1. That is because our itinerary considers day 1 as the beginning of the safari which costs more comparatively. Some operators do not include safari on last day and just include transfer to Arusha, while our tours include safari on the last day as well.

• Please check the reputation of the operator. We are confident that our prices will be lower than all well rated operators.

• Our prices are sustainable. While our net margins are low (low single digits), they are still positive and we regularly evaluate our financials and make sure our prices are sustainable. We have honored each and every refund request so far, including during covid times. Over the years, we have seen multiple examples of operators that offer low prices, do decent business for a while and then go bankrupt.

• We are VAT registered. So the rental fees we charge from you for the vehicles with guide is inclusive of VAT which goes to the government. In Tanzania, all tour operators that do business of over 50,000 USD per year (about 25-30 clients in the whole year) should be VAT registered. But the ground reality is that many (usually small) operators under-report their numbers so that they do not come under VAT registration requirements and can therefore avoid VAT on vehicle fees. Consequently, their costs will be about 30-50 USD cheaper than ours, per day. We however, request clients not to see VAT as an avoidable expense as this goes towards funding several welfare programmes offered by the government in one of the poorest parts of the world.

So, there can be several reasons why some operators might be offering a tour at a lower price than outs. But, we are sure even the low priced competition cannot offer more than about 5% lower than our rates for the exact same itinerary.

6.3 Why is your safari price lower than competition?

Primarily because our margins are lower. We benchmark our prices with operators that are in the top 50 on Tripadvisor and try to stay lower than most of them while still being able to recover our costs. However, we are financially sustainable and we make sure our prices are at a level where we can run the business profitably.

We are a local tour operator. Many of the businesses that market Tanzania safaris are agencies based in Europe/UK/USA and they outsource clients to local operators. The rates offered by overseas agencies are generally expensive than what is offered by local operators like us.

We believe that our marketing and sales are also more efficient than many of our competitors which reduces our overheads, allowing us to offer lower prices.

Finally, our packages do not include pickup from/drop off at Kilimanjaro airport or Arusha accommodations before/after safari (we offer these at extra cost). Some operators might also include drinks (soft drinks, wine) and snacks during the safari, which we don’t. We recommend clients to buy snacks and beverages from stores in Arusha and carry them if required. Or, if clients share their preferences for snacks/drinks they would like us to include, we can arrange those items for them and add to the tour cost.

6.4 What is not included in the listed package price?

Detailed list of inclusions and exclusions is mentioned in our tour pages. Usually all tours include the statutory park fees, accommodations with meals, taxes, safari landcruiser with an english speaking guide, and drinking water. More inclusions can be added based on customer's requirement at an extra cost.

Standard safari tours exclude international flights, VISA, JRO airport transfers, pre and post safari accommodations, beverages while on tour, and tips to the guides or other locals (tipping norm to the guide is about USD 25 per day from everyone in the vehicle combined and paid at the end of tour).

6.5 How can I do this safari at a lower price?

This depends from tour to tour. But in general to reduce prices, you can consider the following - Reduce the duration of safari, reroute the itinerary to spend time at parks that cost lower, switch to budget camping, plan to travel in low season, or try to do the safari with a larger party or join group safari.

6.6 Do you offer early bird/last minute discounts?

No.

Given our low margins, we are not able to afford discounts either for early bookings or last minute bookings.

But booking early gives you the advantage of finding availability at the camps or lodges that you prefer. Further, we also offer customer friendly cancellation and refund policies, so your deposit would be secure and fully refundable if you cancel in advance.

Booking last minute might result in preferred lodges or camps not being available.

6.7 Do kids get a discount?

Yes, kids under 16 get discount in park fees and accommodation fees. Please check with our tour consultant for the exact discounts possible for your kids for the tour you are interested in.

6.8 I saw a different price for the same package/same tour dates on your website last week and today. Why is that?

Prices on website can change from time to time (for same packages/same dates/same party size) as we re-evaluate our costs and pricing strategy.

6.9 How long is a quotation valid?

As mentioned, prices on website can change from time to time (for same package/same dates/same party size) as we re-evaluate our costs/pricing strategy.

But once we share a quote by mail, we will honor it's costs for a period of 30 days before revising it, if at all.

6.10 When should I travel to get the lowest prices on safari packages?

April and May offer the lowest prices for most packages. But when it comes to camping or economy hotels the difference in their rates between the off season and peak season is low to basically insignificant.

Difference in prices becomes prominent in mid tier packages and is even more significant in luxury packages.

6.11 My friends did the same tour in 2019 and the prices were cheaper then. Why are they higher now?

We see that accommodations increase prices every year by anywhere from 3 to 10%. Fuel prices go up each year (with Russia’s war on Ukraine in early 2022, diesel prices increased by 45% in 3 months and have been increasing gradually). National Park fees has been hiked by the Tanzania government by 10-20% in 2020. Due to inflation, cost of living and cost of doing business is higher now than it was before. So prices keep increasing each year to be sustainable.

6.12 How much is landcruiser with guide rental fees and what it does it cover?

We charge around USD 300 per day for safari landcruiser with guide rental. This is a rough number and the exact cost we include for landcruiser changes with season and is based on our market and financial assessment from time to time.

This fees includes the following

• VAT (18%)
• Fuel fees (about 60 USD per day)
• Vehicle and guide park fees (about 20-30 USD per day)
• Vehicle maintenance and servicing fees. Given the rough driving conditions, tyres get worn out about every 3 months. Combined with the expensive spare part costs in Tanzania, this comes to about 30 USD per day on average for the days the vehicle is on safari.
• Guide salary + accommodations & meals allowance
• Cost to recover investment in Landcruisers. Safari landcruisers in Tanzania are expensive. We buy Toyota pickup Landcruisers for 2nd hand in very good condition and these cost about 45,000 USD. (New landcruisers cost about 65,000 USD and there is often a waiting list of more than 6 months to get one). We then get the body converted into a Safari landcruiser with a pop-up roof. This conversion costs about 22,000 USD for converting with a premium vehicle engineering company (RSA). Usually these are financed with a loan, and the interest rate in Tanzania is in the range of 12-14%. So on a 5 year loan, we incur an EMI of about 1500 USD per month. On an average, vehicle stays on the road for 18 days a month. Remaining time is required for servicing and repairs. Due to the seasonality of the business, during some months the vehicles get super busy while during other months they travel very less.
• So a return of about 85 USD per day is required if we are to recover the investment on vehicle in 5 years.
• Our margins. We need to recover the business and administration costs, and a small part of landcruiser rental contributes towards our margins.

6.13 Why is Tanzania safari expensive?

While there is a huge variation in safari prices within Tanzania to cater to clients in wide budget range, in general Tanzania safari prices might be a bit higher than safari for similar duration and similar tier accommodations in neighboring countries like Kenya. This is because:

• Park fees in Tanzania is expensive. To give you an idea, for 24 hours in Serengeti, it costs USD 154 per person while for Masai Mara in Kenya, it costs USD 80
• Accommodations in Tanzania are expensive. A similar tier accommodation in Serengeti, Tanzania might cost over 20-50% higher than the one in Masai Mara, Kenya
• Because of higher customs/duties/taxes, a safari landcruiser in Tanzania costs higher than in Kenya. In addition, the interest rate is also higher. So the vehicle rental rate in Tanzania is higher than it is in Kenya.

However, given that the national parks in Tanzania are beyond comparison with any other country in Africa or the world, we think safari experience in Tanzania is well worth the money for any client who loves wildlife and adventure!

6.14 Why should I share my budget for custom safari planning?

We might ask for clients budget (exluding international flights) in some scenarios to get an idea of what itinerary to recommend or what tier accommodations to include or if we can provide transfers by flight etc. Given there are several variables that effect safari prices, if we know client's budget, it makes it possible to send best possible plans while staying close to or under clients budget.

From our side, we can assure that knowing client's budget will not make us alter our margins to fit within budget. For a given plan, our price remains same.

We often share proposals without knowing clients budget in advance as well. We usually start with multiple itineraries and lower tier accommodations and based on clients feedback, we shortlist one or few itineraries and upgrade accommodations as required in such case. But it needs more research/effort from client's side and needs overall more time/more mails to plan the safari. So knowing a rough budget (even if it is a wide range) can help us suggest an ideal tour faster or in case where the budget is not realistic, we let client's know that so they can either revise their budget estimate or can save their time and look into other options.