Serengeti
Set in the north of Tanzania, Serengeti is the mother of all safari reserves, a most extraordinary place, best known for its enormous wildebeest and zebra migration, but with prolific wildlife year round. Guest accommodation is in a fabulous range of over 100 camps and lodges, offering a range of safari and cultural activities.
Zanzibar
Set off the coast of Tanzania, Zanzibar Island is a fabulously beautiful and extremely historic place with glorious white sand beaches, coral lagoons and excellent diving. Guest accommodation is in around 120 decent lodges, hotels and resorts, offering a wide range of marine and cultural activities.
Serengeti Mara
Set in the north of Tanzania, Serengeti Mara is the prime but potentially busy area for migration herds and river crossings during the Jul-Nov dry season and a wonderful quiet backwater at other times, with guest accommodation in around 30 small lodges and camps, offering a good range of safari experiences.
Serengeti Central
Set in the north of Tanzania, Serengeti Central is the heart of this remarkable reserve, with guest accommodation in around 25 camps and lodges, offering prodigious wildlife viewing year round, but with serious potential for traffic problems in core areas.
Serengeti Southwest
Set in the north of Tanzania, Serengeti Southwest is the main area for migration action during the key Dec-Apr calving season and a peaceful backwater at other times, with guest accommodation in around 30 small lodges and camps, offering a good range of safari experiences. Traffic issues in peak migration months.
Ngorongoro
Situated immediately to the south of Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Highlands is a range of dramatic volcanic peaks which is traversed during private-guided overland safaris through the region, notably passing through the famous Ngorongoro Crater.
Arusha
Located in Tanzania North, Arusha is a significant and relatively pleasant town, the start point for safaris into the Serengeti region, with guest accommodation in a good range of largely rural lodges. Overnight stops are frequently needed here in order to make flight connections.
Tarangire
Located 200 km southeast of Serengeti, Tarangire is a solid safari area renowned for great baobab trees and prodigious herds of elephants. Guest accommodation is in around 20 camps and lodges, offering a good range of safari activities, notably including walking safari and night vehicle safari.
Ruaha
Set 500 km inland from Dar es Salaam in the south of Tanzania, Ruaha is the second largest wildlife reserve in the country, an intense and hypnotic place to go on safari. It’s wonderfully remote, receives only around 5% of the visitor traffic into Serengeti and contains just a handful of small and very high quality camps, offering top quality safari guiding. Walking safari is particularly strong.
Ngorongoro Crater
Situated immediately to the south of Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater is a mind-bogglingly amazing place, packed with wildlife year round. Guest accommodation is in a diverse range of camps and lodges, offering a range of safari, active and cultural activities. But there are significant traffic issues.
Serengeti West
Serengeti West is a major area for migration action during the Apr-Jun rutting season, but is of lesser interest at other times. Guest accommodation is in a handful of permanent lodges and seasonal mobile camps.
Stonetown
Set on the west coast of Zanzibar Island, Stone Town is a fabulously historic and chaotic place, with guest accommodation in a wide range of characterful hotels, offering a wide range of largely cultural and historical activities.
Ngorongoro Karatu
Situated 10 km to the southeast of the Ngorongoro Crater, Karatu is an area of fabulous rural scenery centred on a busy agricultural town, with guest accommodation in some lovely farmhouse lodges, offering a wide range of cultural, active and safari experiences.
Selous
Set 200 km inland from Dar es Salaam in the south of Tanzania, Selous (Nyerere National Park) is the only major wildlife reserve on the humid coastal plateau and has a uniquely languid and tropical feel, with a good range of wildlife, notably including wild-dogs and excellent motorboat safari.
Matemwe
Set on the northeast coast of Zanzibar Island, Matemwe is a very beautiful stretch of white-sand beach, with an excellent range of guest accommodation in smaller and more intimate properties, offering a wide range of marine and cultural experiences. Very strong for diving.
Bwejuu
Set on the southwest coast of Zanzibar Island, Bwejuu is a stretch of the famous East Coast beaches, with guest accommodation in a good range of lodges and resorts, offering a wide range of marine and cultural experiences.
Michamvi
Set on the southeast coast of Zanzibar Island, Michamvi is a pleasantly remote beach area, with guest accommodation in several good quality lodges, offering a wide range of marine and cultural experiences. Less strong for diving.
Serengeti Grumeti
Serengeti Grumeti is a prime private safari area adjoining the main reserve, with great scenery, rich wildlife and a small collection of very high quality camps which are free to offer an unusually wide range of safari experiences.
Lake Manyara
Located 150 km southeast of Serengeti, Lake Manyara is a pretty little national park, renowned for its tree-climbing lions and approachable elephants, but rather busy with vehicles and encroached upon by human settlement at the north end. Guest accommodation is in a wide range of properties, offering a good range of safari, cultural and active experiences.
Kiwengwa
Set on the northeast coast of Zanzibar Island, Kiwengwa is a beautiful stretch of beach, where guest accommodation is dominated by larger Italian resorts, but with a couple of decent smaller lodges in between, offering a wide range of marine and cultural experiences.
Nungwi
Set on the northwest tip of Zanzibar Island, Nungwi is a traditional fishing village which has become dwarfed by a vast range of lower quality guesthouses and larger resorts, offering a wide range of marine and cultural experiences.
Mafia Island
Set off the southern coast of Tanzania, Mafia is a relatively little-visited tropical island, best known for its great diving, swimming with whale sharks, authentic Swahili culture and characterful lodges.
Jambiani
Set on the southwest coast of Zanzibar Island, Jambiani is a pleasant and authentic village area, with guest accommodation in several simple and lower cost lodges, offering a wide range of marine and cultural experiences.
Mount Kilimanjaro
Located in Tanzania Northeast, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa, the highest walkable mountain in the world and one of the ultimate outdoor challenges. We are one of the leading providers of high quality treks, with five to eight night options, exceptional summit success rates and an exemplary safety record.
Pongwe
Set on the east coast of Zanzibar Island, Pongwe is a peaceful area of stunning coves and pretty small beaches, with guest accommodation in a handful of decent lodges, offering a wide range of marine and cultural activities.
Kendwa
Set on the northwest coast of Zanzibar Island, Kendwa is a beautiful and unusually non-tidal beach, with guest accommodation in a hectic collection of properties, dominated by larger resorts, offering a wide range of marine and cultural experiences.
Dar es Salaam
Set on the mainland coast of Tanzania just south of Zanzibar Island, Dar es Salaam is the economic capital and a major transport hub for the country, of little general interest, but where safari travellers are often obliged to overnight in order to make flight connections.
Usambara Mountains
Located immediately 200 km southeast of Mount Kilimanjaro, Usambara Mountains is a substantial range of great conservation value, with very high levels of endemism, but is of only marginal interest to the majority of safari travellers and has very little in the way of quality accommodation.
Katavi
Set in the far west of Tanzania, Katavi is an extremely remote safari area. Essentially a seasonal floodplain, the central sweetspot at the heart of the reserve boasts the highest biodensity of any reserve in Africa during the Jun-Oct dry season. Unusual highlights include epic hippo and crocodile action. Guest accommodation is in a handful of good quality camps.
Paje
Set on the southeast coast of Zanzibar Island, Paje is a stunning kite-surfing beach, with guest accommodation in a handful of busy guesthouses and decent lodges, offering a wide range of marine and cultural activities.
Pangani and Tanga
Set on the northern coast of Tanzania, the Pangani and Tanga area represents an interesting lower cost alternative to Zanzibar, with guest accommodation in a dozen largely simple lodges, offering a good range of marine and cultural activities.
Pemba Island
Set just north of Zanzibar, Pemba Island is a relatively remote and extremely beautiful place, with guest accommodation in just a handful of good quality lodges, offering a very strong range of marine and cultural experiences, including some absolutely superb diving.
Lake Natron
Located 100 km east of Serengeti, Lake Natron is a surprisingly remote and magical area of stupendous Rift Valley scenery, with a good range of cultural, palaeontological and active experiences, notably the epic hike up the active volcano Oldonyo Lengai. Guest accommodation is in just a handful of simple camps.
Serengeti North
Serengeti North is pretty in parts, but is something of a transit area through which the migration herds pass northbound Jun-Jul and southbound Nov-Dec. Guest accommodation is in only a modest selection of lodges and camps.
Stonetown North
Set on the west coast of Zanzibar Island, Stone Town North is a stretch of coastline which is now heavily developed and not of general interest. A handful of interesting islands lie just offshore, with at least one modestly interesting lodge.
West Kilimanjaro
Lying between the eponymous mountain and the well known Amboseli reserve, West Kilimanjaro is a quiet safari area with fabulous views, sparse wildlife, a small selection of camps, offering an unusually wide range of rather cool activities.
Saadani
Set on the mainland coast just north of Dar es Salaam, Saadani is arguably the only reserve in East Africa to be able to properly offer safari and beach in the same location. The opening of Kasa Bay Lodge in 2025 has breathed new life into this largely forgotten backwater.
Udzungwa Mountains
Set 325 km inland from Dar es Salaam in the south of Tanzania, Udzungwa Mountains is a substantial forest reserve and a renowned island of endemism, of huge interest to naturalists, but tending to only be of niche appeal to most travellers.
Mahale Mountains
Set in the far west of Tanzania, Mahale Mountains is not only an incredibly scenic location on the distant shores of Lake Tanganyika, but it also happens to be the best location in Africa for chimpanzee tracking. In fact this is almost certainly the ultimate primate experience in Africa, even better than gorilla tracking. Guest accommodation is in just a couple of very remote camps.
Arusha National Park
Located immediately north of the town of Arusha, this small national park contains a limited range of wildlife, but some really diverse and attractive scenery, plus activities including hiking, canoeing, mountain biking and the very serious three night trek to the summit of Mount Meru.
Mufindi
Mufindi is an upland area which was once home to extensive high altitude forests, but which is now dominated by attractive tea plantations and small scale agriculture. There is one decent quality lodge which occasionally features in trips as an easy place to rest up before a safari in nearby Ruaha.
Kizimkazi
The southwest of Zanzibar is a relatively quiet stretch of coastline with much lesser beaches than the East Coast, but with superb diving in a major marine reserve. Guest accommodation is in only a handful of lodges, some quite high quality, offering a wide range of marine and cultural activities.
Lake Eyasi
Located 100 km south of Serengeti, Lake Eyasi is a relatively little-visited area renowned for fascinating cultural interactions with the local Hadzabe hunter-gatherer people, with guest accommodation in a couple of decent lodges.
Mikumi
Set 275 km inland from Dar es Salaam in the south of Tanzania, Mikumi is the fourth largest reserve in the country and an important conservation area, but one which is unfortunately of marginal interest and is rarely included in quality safari trips.
Marangu Village
Located on the southeast side of Mount Kilimanjaro, the village of Marangu is the main base for the busy Marangu Trail to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, which we do not recommend. It is also the main staging post for the more attractive Rongai Trail, further to the northeast.
Serengeti Southcentral
Serengeti Southcentral is one of the most magical of areas, with migration calving Dec-Mar, superb Maasai interaction, incredible palaeontology and just two rather cool mid-priced lodges.
Kilwa
Set on the mainland coast of Tanzania, 250 km south of Dar es Salaam, Kilwa is a little-visited area with some extremely important and picturesque Swahili ruins. Offshore, there is one fabulously remote private island lodge.
Ngorongoro North
Adjacent to the main crater, Ngorongoro North is a remarkably little-visited upland area which contains the mysterious Empakai Crater and a superb trekking trail all the way down to Lake Natron.
Serengeti Southeast
Serengeti Southeast is one of the least visited parts of the park, an awesome empty place which features migration calving Dec-Mar and superb Maasai interaction year round. There are no permanent accommodations, so we use mobile tented camps.
Stonetown South
Set on the west coast of Zanzibar Island, Stone Town South is a stretch of coastline which was home to the British residential area, but which is now heavily over-developed. There is one interesting offshore island, with an innovative eco-lodge, renowned for strong snorkelling.
