Tanzania safari destinations: Seven parks, and each one does something the others can't.

Here's a tip before you start: picking the right mix of parks matters far more than squeezing in one more. These are the parks we work in, and what each one is really good for.

Northern Circuit

Thousands of wildebeest massed on a riverbank during a Serengeti river crossing

Serengeti

Fourteen thousand square kilometres, and the herds decide where the action is.

14,763 km² · established 1952 6 safaris

The Ngorongoro Crater floor seen from the rim, with the soda lake and the far crater wall beyond

Conservation Area · UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ngorongoro

Picture a collapsed volcano twenty kilometres across, with walls on every side.

Crater floor roughly 260 km², walled 600m deep 6 safaris

An ostrich crossing a dirt track in front of a broad African baobab in Tarangire National Park

Tarangire

Giant baobabs, and more elephants than anywhere else on the circuit.

The densest elephant population in northern Tanzania 5 safaris

Zebras drinking from a narrow stream beneath the layered rock of the Rift Valley escarpment

Lake Manyara

A narrow strip of forest, lake and escarpment, packed into one easy morning.

Two thirds of the park is water 4 safaris

A giraffe browsing in bright green woodland after rain

Arusha NP

Mount Meru, crater lakes, and walking safaris less than an hour from town.

One of the few parks where you can safari on foot 1 safari

Southern Circuit

An adult elephant and a calf feeding on dry golden grass in warm light

National Park · UNESCO World Heritage Site

Nyerere

Boat safaris, walking safaris, and hardly another vehicle in sight.

One of the largest protected areas in Africa 0 safaris

Three lions walking abreast through long dry grass towards the camera

Ruaha

Big country, big lion prides, and hardly anyone else around.

Holds one of East Africa's largest lion populations 0 safaris

Not listed here

Wondering about Katavi, Mahale, Gombe, Mikumi, Lake Eyasi or Lake Natron? We travel to all of them. They're just not on the site yet, because we'd rather write something worth reading than put up a page with three sentences on it. Ask us and we'll happily tell you all about them.