Have you ever pictured yourself going on a safari?

That was our first one, and we have a lot to share about that magnificent experience.

We were very anxious to go on that safari, since the beginning of our trip, as it was possible to be done in South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi. Yet, as we like to research, we saw that there are a lot of more affordable options in Tanzania, and as we were going to drop by there, we decided to wait a little. We stayed in the city of Arusha, ideal base for travelers who want to take the many kinds of tours nearby, such as safaris and Kilimanjaro.

Tarangire National Park

We decided to do the safari at Tarangire National Park, considering the paradise of elephants. There are a lot of other parks, such as Serengeti and Ngorongoro, which are amazing too. There are a lot of parks all around Africa.

In our hostel, we were also suggested a cool option, with attractive prices, done with a staff registered in the parks, such as our guide Kepha (here’s his number: +255 785 011 120 What’s App), part of the company www.jektourandsafari.com with Mr. Bruno.

The price of the tour was 400 reais per person, but if you have a bigger group, it may decrease, you just have to deal! Our tour included: a special open roof car, a driver guide, water, lunch, tickets to the park, and lent binoculars. You’ll be less than 2 meters far from the animals. It’s too delightful to see them all in their natural habitat, free and walking through the nature. The animals we saw were elephants, buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, baboons, deer and many others, we could feel the real sensation of the word ‘Africa’, in an amazing continent.

You think I forgot about the lions?

Not at all! The thing is, our experience with them was mind-blowing, as we went through the park all day long and we couldn’t see any one. We were already getting ready to go home when we came across 12 lionesses (You read right!), and it was amazing that 03 of them were getting ready to attack a zebra, in an exceptional tactic of closing in on their prey, but they stopped the attack at the eleventh hour (it was amazing)!

As it was getting dark, we had to go, but we almost freaked from so much emotion!

And, much to our surprise, some meters far from there, a lioness decided to pose exclusively for our cameras, on an indicative totem of the park (Can you believe it?? Neither can we, it was unexpected!).

And for that, it’s called ‘game safari’, as in some days you can see amazing animals, but in other ones you may not be able to see any one.

In the world of safaris, there’s the expression “BIG FIVE”, which refers to the five hardest animals to be seen and hunted, such as: rhinoceroses, lions, buffaloes, elephants and leopards. We could see 03 of them: lions, buffaloes and elephants.

Safari! We super recommend it, but research a lot about the park you’ll visit, as not all of them have all of the kinds of animals, such as Tarangire, which didn’t have rhinoceroses.

It’s always important to do it with an authorized staff, which have the necessary registrations to get into the park, so the tour gets safe. Another important point: it’s forbidden to hunt inside the parks.

Get the tip.

The city of Arusha

It’s a small city, which receives a lot of tourists searching for adventure, such as hiking the volcano Kilimanjaro, going of safaris around the innumerous parks nearby, visiting the thermal waters of HotSpring, and many other possibilities.

It has an infrastructure with markets, banks, hotels, restaurants, drugstores, snack bars, malls, and street stores. You can enjoy it and try the typical local food, and drink some beer.

Where to stay in Arusha

We chose to lodge by Airbnb, and it was wonderful, we got a great place, Siret Hostel, and our hostess, besides welcoming us super well, helped us with tips.

The place is nice and we had the opportunity to meet people from other countries, to exchange experiences and have that nice chat.

Here is our Airbnb link, where you can have a discount too!

Link: https://abnb.me/e/goNilApbcU

Means of Transportation

To get to the city of Arusha, we got a cheap flight, by the airline FlightLink (it was a real find), they take the route from Zanzibar to Arusha by single-engine airplane (a small plane). You can check out, on our YouTube channel, the video of that flight, here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaGYYyt47Uc&t=21s

But it’s also possible to go there by bus and car. By the way, our return to the city of Dar es Salaam was done by bus, in a 10-hour trip.

The prices – for planes, we paid an average of $40 dollars per person (130 reais), for bus, it was $15 dollars per person (60 reais) and for cars, it depends on the car rental shop hired.

Safety of the city

We thought it’s very safe during the time we stayed there, we saw some cops in the streets. We walked a lot through all over the city and it was very peaceful, the people are super friendly and helpful. We greeted each other in the streets, and we were always well served in the places.

Kind of currency

The local currency of Tanzania is the Shilling, and the exchange in dollar for March/2019 is $1.00 to 2,308.65 shillings. We recommend to exchange the currency in a safe place such as an airport or at Exchange, a bank in the city. It’s always good to have the local currency, because they may accept dollar, but you lose in change or conversion. And it also assures that the coin is not counterfeit.

Espenses in Arusha

Our expenses in currency (REAIS) in Arusha during 6 days for the couple were the following:

Feeding: R$200.00 (market, snacks and drinks)

Tours: R$1,876.00 (safari, Kilimanjaro, HotSpring)

Transportation: R$585.00 (flight, bus, dala dala)

Lodging: R$252.00 (airbnb)

It was one of the most amazing experiences ever, and see we still have lots of places to visit around this world. But that one will absolutely stick to our minds and hearts, as being close to those wild animals is a unique sensation. You really need to go on a safari like that at least once in your life.