WHERE TO TAKE A WALKING SAFARI IN TANZANIA
We at Extraordinary Journeys enjoy pushing guests just past their comfort zone since we think that's where the true magic happens. Although we acknowledge that game drives are among the most thrilling aspects of a Tanzanian safari, we wouldn't be doing our best if we didn't advise you to at least once forego the Land Cruiser in favor of experiencing the exhilaration of walking across the savannah.
A Walking Safari: What Is It?
One way to characterize walking safaris is as an escorted trek into the wilderness. Trails vary from paths marked by game or cattle herders to complete way finding, and are led by a guide, a tracker, and perhaps a local or Maasai guide. Walking safaris are a longer excursion through the wilderness as opposed to bush walks, which often take place close to camp and last around an hour. In their most basic form, walking safaris—whether they are a fly, mobile, or permanent installation—return to camp every night.
A Walking Safari: Why Take One?
Walking sharpens your senses. The sights, sounds, and smells of the environment instantly trigger your primal impulses. By slowing down, the supporting players in the savannah take center stage. Without a thundering engine, you'll be able to see hard-working insects and fragile flowers while abruptly paying close attention to the wind's direction.
Who Would Take Pleasure in a Walking Safari?
Both experienced and novice safari-goers like walking safaris. The chance to stretch your legs while taking a stroll on the wild side is what makes the experience so enjoyable for everyone. Twice-daily wildlife watching drives are the main focus of traditional safari days, so you'll be sitting in a 4x4 for a considerable amount of time. You can experience unplanned moments in pristine environment when you have the chance to (quite literally) venture off the beaten road. You'll also value the breadth of information your guide will teach, from identifying plants and tracks to interpreting bush signals.
Are Safari Walks Exhausting?
You will only need to bring a day pack with drinking water for a walking safari, which is not a very technical experience. Your guides will utilize any curiosity as an excuse to pause, even if the distances traveled are moderate and the terrain is rough. To avoid the heat of the day, you'll probably leave early in the morning and reach camp by noon.
Are Walking Safaris in Africa Safe?
Raising an eyebrow at the thought of traversing big game territory without the protection of a vehicle is quite normal. Although a walking safari carries some risk, you're in good hands with knowledgeable, well-trained guides. Additionally, there will always be an armed member in the party. Guides will give a safety briefing prior to departure. It is crucial to abide by the rules (such as walking in single file) and pay great attention to the directions given by guides. Additionally, pay attention to the weather. Wear appropriate clothing, stay hydrated, and shield yourself from the sun. Walking safaris do not allow children
We only collaborate with the most respectable operators because we value guest safety just as much as our preferred partners do.
Hold on, what exactly is fly camping?
Fly camping has nothing to do with flying, as the name implies. Instead, it's a throwback to the early days of safari, when hunters sought cover under "flysheets," which are lightweight covers that hang over a tent. Some safari resorts provide a unique experience called fly camp, which transports visitors from opulent canvas tents into the bush for an unstructured night (or two) in the wild. A guide and a ranger will accompany you on your trek to the fly camp, where you will find a fully furnished camp.
With a dining area, a long drop toilet, a heated bucket shower, and your own simple, netted tent. After enjoying a hot meal and sipping a sundowner, assemble around the campfire under the stars. To keep an eye out for any wild animals that go bump in the night, a warrior or ranger will be on duty.
Top Destinations for a Walking Safari in Tanzania
Northern Tanzania offers a wealth of famous East African experiences, from the Serengeti and its Great Wildebeest Migration to Mount Kilimanjaro and Ngorongoro Crater. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people visit each, occasionally soaring to fever pitch at the busiest time of year. However, individuals who choose to walk instead may be able to enjoy these "wow" locations in relative seclusion. (Even the Serengeti, yes!)
The Great Rift Valley, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park, and a hidden gem in Nyrere National Park are all on our favorite Tanzanian treks. Continue reading.
Serengeti National Park's Wayo Walking Safaris are the best walking safaris in the area.
In Serengeti National Park, game viewing typically entails 4x4ing along well-traveled, approved roads. You will go from camp to camp on a private walking safari with Wayo Africa, traversing "wilderness" and "rhino protection zones"—large, unexplored areas of the Serengeti that few other people are allowed to enter. This path is devoid of commercial highways, trails, and permanent lodging. Your portable eco-camp is packed and driven to the next picturesque spot every day. With the assistance of an armed ranger and an experienced, informed guide, you will walk eight to ten leisurely miles while only carrying your daypack. Stopping is justified by any curiosity, be it paw prints or petals. Later, you will meet up in a completely set-up camp, generally by midday, where you will be served food and hot shower water
Even though your fly camp won't serve crème brûlée in crystal plates, you will still be able to enjoy three courses of delectable meals and sleep on four-inch beds with pressed cotton linens covering you. Putting creature comforts aside, the isolated setting of a Wayo Walking Safari immerses you in the abundant resident game of the Serengeti, which includes lion, elephant, leopard, buffalo, giraffe, and zebra. Camp sites become flexible during the Great Migration, shifting to cross wildebeest columns. Every Wayo walking safari is customized and exclusive. Trips can be easy or difficult, and they can be long (around 8 nights) or short.
Adventure Fly Camping, Serian, Serengeti
With their colorful canvas bell tents, Serian's fly camping/walking safaris enhance the ordinary. A few days of fly camping are interspersed with stays at the group's opulent Serengeti North or Serengeti South mobile camps during their week-long Soul Surfer and Soul Searcher itineraries. The fly sites are far from any well-traveled path, even though the mobile camps are regarded as isolated in their own right. The forest will be all yours, isolated from other cars and tourists. You will enjoy the tranquility that permeates the vast open stretches of the Serengeti when there is
no engine hum.
You will walk in unison with knowledgeable, specialized walking guides Alex, Chris, John, or Adrian, as well as Hadzabe guides who are traditionally dressed and armed and whose families have inhabited this area for generations. Together, they will unravel the significance of hidden signs and what the environment tries to hide. Your relationship with the environment is more important in the walking safari than the number of miles you've traveled. Comforts like warm bucket showers, comfortable beds, and filling meals eaten at the campfire under a starry sky are available at the end of the day, when the sun makes its slow arc toward the horizon. One-night or two-night/three-day excursions are available for Serian fly camping.
The Ngorongoro Crater's Greatest Walking Safaris
Unquestionably a natural wonder, Ngorongoro Crater is a well-liked halt on the Northern Circuit. Because of the high cliffs that descend 2,000 feet to the crater bottom, about 25,000 animals are cradled inside the collapsed caldera. Unfortunately, both humans and animals are affected by the fish bowl issue in Ngorongoro. It's not exactly EJ's favorite viewing experience when numerous vehicles crush wildlife during peak and high seasons, especially when predators are spotted. Fortunately, we are aware of a few exceptional hikes that will broaden your horizons away from the throng.
Entamanu Ngorongoro
We enjoy sending tourists to Entamanu Ngorongoro, an eco-lodge located in Maasai territory close to the northwest rim. The front decks of this seven-room camp overlook the Serengeti plains, while the rear gives expansive views of the crater. (A private access road that avoids the lengthy lines that build at the main gates is another advantage for visitors.)
Before arriving at the Crater Rim Viewpoint (2–3 hours; 1.8–2.4 miles; seasonally from July through March), walk along historic cattle pathways from the camp, where you might see some Maasai neighbors herding cattle. Amazing views of the entire crater may be seen from this captivating viewpoint. If you want to see wildlife from a high position, make sure to train your binoculars downward. The Crater Rim Walk is between 3.7 and 5 miles long for a longer excursion. You can do it as your arrival or as a day hike, beginning close to Seneto and ending with a lengthy but enchanted walk into camp, where the crew will be ready to greet you.
Take a Maasai Boma Walk for a highland stroll that is culturally immersive. Before being welcomed into the boma, you will enjoy views of the Ol Balbal Depression and the boundless Serengeti grasslands as you follow the northern slope of the crater for two to three hours.
A Maasai walking guide, an armed ranger, and a guide accompany every highland walk.
Walking Safari & Fly Camping Adventure: Serengeti's Ngorongoro Crater
Asilia's nine-day walking safari-fly camping trip redefines what it means to take a stroll on the wild side. You will traverse the Ngorongoro Highlands, pass through the Ngorongoro Crater, and enter the eastern Serengeti by hiking nine to fifteen miles every day. You will go deep into areas of the park that are rarely frequented, following in the footsteps of Maasai cattle herders. You will eat and sleep every night in a lightweight fly camp that has been prepared in advance of your arrival. (On the first night, donkeys carry the camp!)
The famous Ngorongoro Crater, the expansive and pristine Salei Plains (where you can spot gazelles, bat-eared foxes, jackals, and warthogs), seeing Ol Doinyo Lengai and Pride Rock, and traversing Olkerien Gorge are some of the expedition's highlights. Situated in a rough, wind-whipped plain that had been off-limits to tourists for 20 years in order to conduct a big cat research, the walk culminates at the barefoot-luxurious Namiri Plains Camp.The end result is pristine wilderness that is suitable for bush walks and preferred by cheetahs.
A minimum age of 16 is required for this seasonal walking program in Asilia, which runs from December to March (not including the Christmas vacations).
Walking Safari Transfer from Camp to Camp: The Serengeti's
Try this eight-day Walks, Wildebeest, and Wild Flowers program, which includes a camp-to-camp walking safari component that travels through comparable environments, if expedition fly camping seems too devoted. Before setting out on foot with Maasai guides for the Serengeti, spend the first two nights at Entamanu Ngorongoro. (Walking down the rim onto the plains is preferable to driving.) You will pass through acacia trees and Maasai bomas as you follow historic livestock pathways. As you descend from the highlands onto the edge of the endless plains, you are treated to breathtaking views of the Gol Mountains, Olduvai Gorge, and the Serengeti. The stroll may be you can choose to make it an hour or as long as a half-day. A cookout lunch is provided wherever you stop, and a support truck completes the trip to Serengeti Safari Camp, a posh six-tent mobile camp that travels a few times a year based on the Great Migration's path. Spend a few days taking solo or group game drives while seated ringside for this magnificent wildlife show. Next, move onward—by air—to Lamai Serengeti for a trio of nights. The Mara River-bisected plains that surround the gorgeous eight-room lodge play host to migrating wildebeest. Bush walks (not always permitted in national parks) are a wonderful way to experience this game-rich sliver of the Serengeti.
Southern Tanzania's Finest Walking Safaris
Fly Camp in Sand Rivers, Nyerere National Park
Then there is Nyere National Park, and then there is remote. The uncrowded Southern Circuit attracts adventurous tourists who are interested enough to answer its call, even though it is hundreds of miles away from Tanzania's main attractions, which include the Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, and the Ngorongoro Crater. There is a game drive ground transfer after wheels down on a short air strip to Sand Rivers Selous resort. Now picture yourself walking a few hours farther into the jungle to reach the hidden spot of your fly camp, which is currently miles away. Your primitive senses are stimulated by being surrounded by wildness.
A sincere sense of adventure counterbalances a sense of vulnerability. You may see buffalo, giraffes, hippopotamus, lions, and zebras on the way in. You are greeted upon arrival to a properly furnished camp, probably beside a sandy riverbank where monkeys rustle in the trees and hippos roar. Apéritifs are served, the table is set, and the aroma of freshly baked bread fills the air. After you're satisfied, post up around the roaring campfire and share stories with your hosts while the stars are twinkling.
Even though the only thing separating you from the cacophony of nighttime bush sounds while nestled into your bedroll are the "walls" of your mozi-net tent, you will still feel safe and comfortable. Most visitors stay at Sand Rivers Fly Camp for one or two nights, but as it's a private add-on, you are welcome to create your own unique experience.