Skip to content 
DISCOVER TANZANIA
5 Facts to know about the Tanzania Southern safari circuit
The Southern Tanzania safari circuit is the definition of a wilderness adventure; it is home to some of the last undeveloped swaths of African bush as well as a few exclusive national parks and reserves.
The northern safari circuit, the southern safari circuit, the eastern safari circuit, and the western safari circuit are the four safari circuits in Tanzania. The Serengeti, Arusha, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara, and Tarangire national parks are just a few of the well-known and regularly visited safari areas found in the Northern safari circuit. In contrast to other circuits like the southern safari circuit, which is less congested and offers a more secluded safari experience, the Northern Safari Park constantly has a lot of safari vehicles, which is the main problem with it. The Southern Tanzania safari circuit is the definition of a wilderness adventure; it is home to some of the last undeveloped swaths of African bush as well as a few exclusive national parks and reserves.
Tanzania’s southern parks offer an authentic bush safari experience because there aren’t as many safari tourist vans there as in the northern Serengeti national park and Ngorongoro crater parks. Safari parks in southern Tanzania once more the majority of the accommodations are more expensive because of their intimacy and emphasis on catering to small groups. A variety of possibilities to view wildlife are offered by lodges in Southern Tanzania, including boat safaris, walking safaris, and camping out under the stars.
Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are two well-liked destinations on Tanzania’s Northern Safari Circuit for first-time visitors. However, when planning a safari vacation to Tanzania and Africa, it is important to keep in mind that the lesser-known (and less-visited) Southern safari Circuit has its own beauties. With their remote settings, astonishing wildlife diversity, and substantially less crowding, the parks and reserves of Tanzania’s Southern Safari Circuit are the stuff that adventures are built of. Think of embarking on a monkey hike through pristine jungle or a solo safari drive over the savannah.
The Southern Circuit has all of these and more, making it one of the top safaris in Africa. So, in this guide, we’ll go over some of the parks you might visit on the Southern Circuit, along with the best time to go. Where should you travel when on your southern Tanzanian safari? The following is a list of Tanzania’s Top Places to Visit on the Southern Safari Circuit/5 facts about the Tanzania southern safari circuit.
Destinations in Tanzania's southern safari circuit
Selous Game Reserve
With a land area of over 30,000 square kilometres and recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Selous Game Reserve is one of Africa’s largest of its kind. Numerous lions, hippos, wildebeest, zebra, and giraffes, as well as sizable populations of buffalo, hippos, and hippos are among the incredible diversity of animals that can be found there. Around 440 different bird species can be seen in the Selous Game Reserve, including trumpeter hornbills, enormous kingfishers, migrating Malagasy squacco herons, and African skimmers.
The majority of wildlife and bird observations are concentrated around the Rufiji River, but the reserve also includes Acacia savannah, wetlands, and huge Miombo woodlands, most of which are undeveloped. Investigate the southern safari circuit in Tanzania. While walking safaris are permitted in the Selous Game Reserve, night game drive safaris are forbidden. This allows you to get closer to animals that would ordinarily be spooked by jeep’s engine. You can go fly camping, where you spend the night in an improvised camp amidst the breathtaking Selous environment, in addition to going on daytime game drives.
Ruaha National Park
Ruaha, one of Tanzania’s largest national parks, is situated in the nation’s geographic centre and spans more than 20,000 square km. It includes the Great Ruaha River and the wetlands of the Usanga Game Reserve, which are home to a variety of species. It was established in 1910 while Germany held power. Despite having a much greater variety of animals and plants than the Selous Game Reserve, Ruaha National Park receives significantly less tourism than it does. However, those who do visit will be rewarded with breathtaking safari escarpments and a landscape filled with baobab trees.
Ruaha National Park is home to huge numbers of predators including lions, leopards, and cheetahs in addition to having one of the largest concentrations of elephants in all of East Africa. The park is also home to buffalo, giraffes, and sable antelope in addition to hippos, wild dogs, and Grant’s gazelles. The Usanga Basin is an Important Birding Area, according to Birdlife International, with more than 570 species now known to exist there.
Red-billed hornbills from Ruaha are native to the park, but migratory birds from as far away as Australia and Asia often stop by to rest and replenish here. Early morning or late afternoon viewings of Ruaha’s superb wildlife are possible, however night safaris are prohibited and only a few lodges offer walking safaris. However, it offers a large selection of luxurious campgrounds and lodges with all the amenities you may need for a pleasant getaway.
Mahale Mountains National Park
On the shores of Lake Tanganyika, there is a park called Mahale Mountains National Park. It gets its name from the Mahale Mountains, which are inside its boundaries and famous for their chimpanzee population. It is considered as one of Tanzania’s most beautiful parks and the only place in Africa where lions and chimps are known to coexist.
Due to the lack of roads leading in or out of the park, which adds to its sense of remoteness and lack of crowds, the park can only be entered by boat. Investigate the southern safari circuit in Tanzania. Among the many primates that may be spotted in Mahale Mountains National Park are vervet monkeys, red colobus monkeys, and yellow baboons. However, the about 1,000 chimpanzees-especially the Mimikere clan, which has grown acclimated to the presence of scientists since 1965-are what attract travelers.
The optimum time to go trekking is often towards the end of the dry season (between August and October), when the trails are the driest and least slick. Guided excursions are the main way to explore the Mahale Mountains National Park. Chimpanzee trekking safari in the wild might range from a 20-minute stroll to a longer, harder walk lasting several hours, depending on where they are that day. Sightings are never certain because wild animals are unpredictable. On the majority of days, though, you may see chimpanzee clans foraging, caring for, and grooming their young. This is an exceptionally memorable animal encounter.
Udzungwa Mountains National Park
The 1,900 square kilometre Udzungwa Mountains National Park, which abuts Mikumi National Park, is home to tropical rainforest, miombo woodland, grassland, and steppe. It’s astonishing variety includes more than 2,500 plant species, 400 different bird species, and six different primates. Along with red colobus from Iringa and Sanje crested mangabey, the plateau is also home to elephants, buffalo, lions, and leopards.
Only guided hikes are available for entering or leaving the park, and these can take anywhere between an hour (the Sonjo trip) to six days (the Lumemo Trail). Most visitors opt to climb for six hours at the 170-meter-high Sanje Waterfalls, which also have a plunge pool where they may chill off. The sole housing option inside the park is camping, while nearby Mang’ula village has a number of regional guesthouses. Most visitors opt to combine a safari to the Udzungwa Mountains with a trip to the nearby Mikumi National Park, which is approximately an hour’s drive to the north.
Mikumi National Park
The “Big Five” can be found at the Mikumi National Park, which is one of the simplest to reach from Dar es Salaam and covers 3,230 square metres between the Selous Game Reserve and the Udzungwa Mountains. Because of the vast grassland and distinctive palms, baobabs, and acacias that dot it, its landscape is usually compared to the Serengeti National Park.
Discover the animals of Tanzania’s Southern Safari Circuit in Mikumi National Park. It is home to elephants, zebras, wildebeest, baboons, and a rare subspecies of giraffe. Mikumi is renowned for its lions and hippo pools, where visitors can get up close to these animals. It also has more than 400 different species of birds. Due to its accessibility and superb wildlife viewing, it is the ideal Tanzania safari trip option for individuals with a limited amount of time. There are a few hotels and camps there where you can stay the night, and there is a decent network of game-viewing roads for early morning and late afternoon safaris.
Activities to add on your Tanzania southern safari circuit
A magnificent combination of beaches and forest may be found in Saadani National Park. It is possible to go by car or charter jet from Dar es Salaam to Saadani, which is situated on the Indian Ocean. On walking and boat safaris, which are both quite popular, you can see lions, elephants, giraffes, buffalo, warthogs, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, greater kudus, elands, sable antelope, yellow baboons, and vervet monkeys.
The most well-known of the more than 50 islands that make up the Zanzibar Archipelago is Unguja, usually referred to as Zanzibar. After a wildlife safari, trips to one of the islands are pretty frequent. Stone Town, a labyrinth of narrow streets lined with palaces, mosques, and shops, has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The beaches on the islands have pure white sand and are lined with palm trees. The sea is shallow and tropical, and the reefs are good for diving and snorkeling. Investigate the southern safari circuit in Tanzania.
Why Should You Visit The Southern Tanzania Safari Circuit?
Safari enthusiasts strongly value Southern Tanzania safaris for a number of reasons. The wildlife is rather diverse and dense in these areas, and there is a unique fusion of species from eastern and southern Africa. Additionally, there is a lot of predator activity, making these locations excellent for game viewing. Additionally, open-sided safari vehicles enhance the viewing experience in comparison to the closed-sided vehicles used in the north. Second, in contrast to the more crowded northern parks, the large parks and reserves provide visitors a better sense of the scale of the African wilderness and an uncluttered, more intimate wildlife viewing safari experience with fewer other cars and tourists. The south and west of Tanzania provide a wider range of safari activities than the closely restricted national parks in the north, in addition to the regular afternoon game drives.
These include safaris that involve walking, kayaking, fly camping, and even mountaineering to locate wild chimpanzees. Serengeti and Ngorongoro Craters in Tanzania’s north, which are more well-known and renowned, frequently cast a shadow over the nation’s south and west. We would, however, disagree with certain travel professionals who claim that the south and west are better suited to the seasoned safari traveler and shouldn’t be suggested for a beginner. Many first-timers who travelled to southern Tanzania enjoyed their safari trips very much.
How to Get Around On a Tanzania Southern Safari Circuit?
Due to Selous Game Reserve and Ruaha National Park’s daily scheduled light aircraft flights from Dar es Salaam, it is comparatively easy to plan safaris of any duration in these parks and to combine them with a beach element on either the mainland coast or Zanzibar.
The west of Tanzania is farther away geographically and logistically; there are only two costly flights per week from the northern cities of Ruaha and Arusha. Going to the far west can cost more than $1,000 per person. Parks like Katavi and Mahale exist here. The southern and western camps are less expensive than the northern parks, with rates ranging from around $450 per person per night to $1,000 per person per night.
Best Time to Travel
Since wildlife congregates around the few available water sources in the parks and reserves, the dry season, which lasts from June to October, is often the best time to visit the Southern Tanzania safari Circuit. The bright, sunny sky make it a perfect time to go on game drives, and there are normally fewer insects at night than during the rainy season. Explore the Tanzania Southern safari circuit.
Consider going during the wet season, which lasts from November through May, when migratory birds from all over the world swarm to the wetlands, if you have a particular interest in birdwatching. Even while most parks will have brief rains that shouldn’t severely affect tourism activities, it is important to be advised that trekking paths in the Mahale Mountains and Udzungwa Mountains National Park can become quite muddy and treacherous.
