Sample Itinerary - Western Tanzania and Chimps

Discover urban living at its finest at Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel, ideally located in the heart of the city's business district. This cosmopolitan gem offers a unique blend of pan-African style and professionalism, creating an oasis for both business and leisure travelers. It's just moments away from sandy Indian Ocean beaches, vibrant fish markets, craft bazaars, and delectable restaurants.

Amidst tropical gardens, this distinctive five-star hotel promises a warm welcome, vibrant experiences, and indelible memories. With a generous offering of 230 rooms, the hotel provides an abundance of options for your stay.

Dar es Salaam Serena Hotel is celebrated as one of Tanzania's most prestigious establishments, embodying the city's essence: diverse, stylish, yet remarkably relaxed and down-to-earth. It's a place where you can immerse yourself in the cosmopolitan charm of the city while enjoying the comforts and conveniences of a retreat, all set against the backdrop of the Indian Ocean and the lively cityscape.

Perched on a dramatic escarpment in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park, Ikuka Safari Camp offers commanding views and a sophisticated, organic design. Managed by experienced guide Mark Sheridan-Johnson, the camp features six open-sided rooms built from local white quartz and natural thatch, strategically positioned to capture either the sunrise or sunset. The interiors blend rustic elegance with comfort, featuring super king-size beds, leather sofas, and natural elements like quartz boulders and indoor greenery. While the spacious en-suite bathrooms offer rainfall showers and twin stone basins with stunning vistas, the open-plan layout prioritizes an airy, connected feel over total privacy.

View our own short video here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8duKDHOFyQI&t=1s

The communal areas are equally stylish, featuring a wood-and-thatch mess tent built around existing trees and boulders. This central hub includes a sociable dining area for group meals, a library of field guides, and a viewing scope for spotting game on the plains below. For relaxation, guests can transition from the comfortable lounge to a raised wooden veranda, where an oval swimming pool and shaded loungers provide a cool retreat served by attentive staff. A new sleep-out deck located a short distance from the main camp offers an additional layer of adventure for those wishing to spend a night under the stars.

Safari activities at Ikuka focus on 4x4 game drives in the wildlife-rich Mwagusi River area, renowned for frequent sightings of elephants, lions, and leopards. For a more intimate perspective, guests can book guided walking safaris led by expert guides to track wildlife and discover the park’s smaller wonders. These morning treks typically conclude with a full breakfast served in the bush, offering a seamless blend of adventure and traditional safari hospitality.

Guided walks are also available for an extra cost of US$50 per person, and need at least 24 hours’ notice, so that the necessary park rangers can be arranged. The walks are usually led by Ikuka’s owner Mark, a highly experienced guide. You will typically head out early in the morning to learn about the tracks and signs of the bush and discover some of Ruaha's lesser-known birds and animals. You’ll then normally end with a full breakfast out in the bush.

Conservation Safari Company recommends Ikuka as a slick, personally managed lodge with good food and hospitality. The rooms are charming and original. The 20 minute drive up and down the ridge is a little tiresome after a while but all in all and fantastic camp. 

Rates include all meals, drinks and game drives - walks are additional.
 

Little has changed at Chada Katavi since the Nomad Tanzania founders arrived 20 years ago. From the air you have to look carefully to spot it, you'll find your eyes are immediately drawn to such wide open spaces. That's the promise of Katavi, total absorption into the natural world.

Chada Katavi is a masterclass in classic, expedition-style safari, designed for those who value immersion over opulence. Tucked beneath a canopy of acacia and tamarind trees on the edge of the vast Chada Plain, the camp possesses a nostalgic, low-impact aesthetic that feels like a private outpost from a bygone era. Its six spacious Meru-style tents are elevated on wooden platforms, featuring wide mesh windows that invite the sights and sounds of the bush indoors. While the design is intentionally minimalist, it remains deeply comfortable, offering en-suite bathrooms equipped with traditional bucket showers and eco-flush toilets that honor the camp's commitment to the environment.

The social heart of the camp is an open-sided mess tent that houses a communal dining area, a library, and a bar, all designed to foster a sense of shared adventure. Most of the experience takes place outdoors, from fireside sundowners to alfresco dinners under the stars. The activities are equally immersive, focusing on the high-density wildlife of Katavi National Park. Guests can explore the plains via open-vehicle game drives or engage in world-class walking safaris. For a more visceral connection to the land, the camp also offers fly-camping, where guests spend a night in a remote, lightweight camp under the vast African sky.

Accessing this remote sanctuary involves a light aircraft flight—typically from Arusha or Dar es Salaam—landing at the nearby Ikuu airstrip. The camp operates seasonally during the dry months from June to October, a period when the surrounding rivers recede and the landscape teems with massive herds of buffalo, elephants, and some of Africa’s largest pods of hippos. It is a destination that rewards the effort of the journey with a level of solitude and raw wilderness that is increasingly rare to find.

There are few places left on earth that might rightfully be called Eden, and the Mahale Mountains, on the edge of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania, is one of them. Life at Mahale is easy in this barefoot paradise. Greystoke Mahale sits on a pristine, white sandy beach overlooking the turquoise water of Lake Tanganyika, with the forested slopes of the 8000 ft Mahale Mountains rising behind.

The main mess is the only structure on the beach and it's the focal point of camp. Here is where you can look out over the lake to the mountains of the Congo in the haze beyond.

The National Park is famous for the chimpanzees that can be visited in the mountains; clients are allowed to spend 1 hour a day with the chimps.  Depending on the season the chimps feed at different altitudes on the mountains, so at certain times of year the days can be quite long to reach the chimps. People come here to visit the chimpanzees, but by all means this is not the only activity you can do, the beautiful lake is great for exploring by Kayak, or following streams up into the hills to hidden waterfalls. The environment boasts excellent bird life and its well worth taking a walk with a guide through the network of jungle tracks.  The lake is incredible for swimming as well as snorkelling.

Your days can start in the main area, eating breakfast whilst waiting to hear news of the chimps and deciding what to do. Evenings end with sundowners on the rocks of the headland, where drinks are served around the lamp-lit bar whilst the mountains, rising behind camp, disappear into the darkness.

THE BANDAS: All are open-fronted, with heavy canvas curtains you can pull across if you choose. Made of old dhow wood, not one is the same, but all have a dressing room behind and then a short boardwalk to the bathroom with flush toilet, strong showers and hot and cold water on demand. There's a "chill-out" deck upstairs, accessible by a rather clever canoe-ladder around the side of the banda. This is the place to while away a long afternoon with a glass of wine and a good book.

HIGHLIGHTS: The magical forest of the Mahale Mountains and the chimps! Along with many other animals that include other primates, bushbuck, bush pig, leopard and a multitude of butterflies and amazing birds. Dinner on the beach under the stars and sundowners on the dhow; kayaking and fishing in the clear waters of the lake. This lodge doesn't drip with luxury [not surprisingly considering its remote location] but is super stylish and an exceptional experience.