Tanzania Beyond the Migration

April 1994

My first safari in Tanzania was during the rains. We had the Serengeti to ourselves. Literally. Green plains, dramatic skies, extraordinary wildlife—and not another safari vehicle in sight.

More than thirty years later, I still think about that experience. Tanzania has changed enormously since then, but it leaves me with a question: can we still give travellers that feeling of having a wild place almost to themselves?

Beyond the headline

The Great Migration is extraordinary—there is a reason it sits on so many safari wish lists. But at the most anticipated river crossings, extraordinary wildlife can also mean dozens, sometimes hundreds, of vehicles waiting for the same moment.

Look beyond the migration and Tanzania’s wildlife remains every bit as compelling: lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants, buffalo and plains game are here year-round. The green seasons bring migratory birds, dramatic skies and landscapes transformed by rain.

For some travellers, the greater luxury may be space: time with wildlife without a line of vehicles beside you, and the freedom to experience a landscape rather than race towards its headline event.

Forest. Plains. Ocean.

Where do we find that combination of wildlife, wilderness and space? Off the beaten track, with access to distinctive ecosystems—and where tourism is actively contributing to their preservation.

Three examples I particularly love:

Koroi Forest Camp

Arusha is usually an overnight stop before heading for the Northern Circuit’s famous parks. Yet just beyond the city, Koroi opens up the montane forests of Mount Meru: colobus monkeys, giraffe, buffalo and extraordinary birdlife in a surprisingly wild corner of northern Tanzania.

Chem Chem

Between Tarangire and Lake Manyara, 20,000 hectares of unfenced wilderness offer exceptional year-round game viewing—elephants, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, plains game and predators—with something increasingly precious: space.

Chem Chem’s conservation work has also helped elephants return to an ancient wildlife corridor.

Fanjove Island

A secluded island retreat surrounded by white sand and coral reefs, where the wildlife experience moves underwater: colourful reef fish, turtles and dolphins.

Conservation work with local fishing communities is helping the marine ecosystem recover—while giving travellers extraordinary access to it.

Finding the space

What made that first safari so extraordinary was simple: wildlife, wilderness and space.

More than thirty years later, Tanzania still offers all three—from the forests and mountains of the north to the great wildernesses of the west and south, and out into the Indian Ocean.

The migration may be Tanzania’s most famous wildlife story, but it is very far from being its only one.