Minimum tour numbers/Photography Hosts:
This safari will run with a minimum of 3-guests. For groups of four or less your tour will be hosted by one photography guide.
Pre-Trip advice:
2-3 months prior to travel you will receive a comprehensive document that provides packing advice. Alongside plenty of other useful information for our Tanzania Serengeti photo safari. The below provides some key additional information that you may find useful ahead of booking your safari with us.
Tour language:
This tour is an English speaking tour. All guides and all lodge staff have a good understanding and use of understanding the English language.
Final Itinerary:
Upon booking you will receive a basic itinerary and 2-4 weeks prior to your departure you will receive an updated itinerary, with local flight timings and also local contact information for your airport pick up’s etc.
Visas:
Obtaining your visa is the responsibly of each traveler. Visas are required for entry into Tanzania by citizens of most countries so please check well in advance with the Tanzanian Embassy or consulate in your country. A new visa-on-arrival handling process was introduced in August 2019 at Kilimanjaro Airport which has had an immediate impact on the arrival and visa procedure. The change has added a significant amount of time to arrivals, with some travelers taking in excess of 2 hours to process visa’s that were not obtained in advance. With this change in place, we strongly suggest to all clients to please obtain their visa online well in advance at https://visa.immigration.go.tz/
E-visas can take up to 2 – 3 weeks to be issued so please do ensure you apply in advance with this time frame in mind.
Vaccinations:
Below is a rough guide to what vaccinations you may require. However, we prefer you to confirm the recommended ‘jabs’ and pills with your medically qualified travel doctor who should have up to date information from a specialist tropical medicine organisation. We suggest visiting your travel clinic at least 6-8 weeks prior to departure.
Yellow Fever is generally required for all of East & Central Africa and must be done no later than 10 days prior to your departure. If you have a history of liver disorders (hepatitis etc.) you must consult your physician first. See below for more detail here on yellow fever.
yellow fever:
Tanzania states that visitors from some countries, where there is thought to be a risk of Yellow Fever are to be vaccinated against the disease and MUST have proof of vaccination. From 2008 Tanzania immigration officials at Kilimanjaro International Airport & Namanga border crossing required visitors arriving from Kenya to be vaccinated against Yellow Fever although the disease is not present in Kenya. Certificates are checked on arrival. Although Tanzanian government regulation is still not clear on this and advice on different Tanzanian Embassy and Consulate websites varies or is absent better to be safe/covered than have entry refused.
This means if you are from the States, Europe, Australia or any other country in the so called “developed” world, and you are going straight from your country into Tanzania, and you haven’t travelled in a country where Yellow Fever is present within 12 months of arriving in Tanzania, then you would likely not need a YF vaccination certificate. BUT if you are travelling in Kenya before-hand (even if in transit) or have been to Kenya within the last 12-months before going to Tanzania it’s better to be safe than sorry on this issue and have a YF vaccination done in your country of origin before arrival.
other vaccinations
Other likely vaccinations to be required. Diphtheria, Typhoid, Tetanus, Hepatitis A, and Polio are generally the recommended vaccines. You may also need to consider Hepatitis B, Cholera and Meningococcal Meningitis. These are usually at the discretion of the traveler and can be discussed with your doctor.
Malaria prophylaxes are recommended and can be sometimes purchased from your local pharmacy. However, most generally require a doctor’s prescription. Please consult your pharmacist/doctor for the most appropriate prophylaxis for the area you are travelling to.
Diarrhea / Giardia etc. – good personal hygiene and control over the quality of your drinking water should avoid this. Bottled water is readily available throughout the country, but take along some medicine in case.
Fitness Level Required:
This tour does not require a high level of fitness. However, guests should be able to get in/out of a game vehicle (a step up/down of around 2 feet) with little or no assistance. You should also be capable of walking up to 300 metres to and from their tent at the lodges/camps. If tents or hotel rooms are required close to the main camp mess or reception areas please advise at the time of booking. Guests should also be fit enough for long days out on the plains and early starts.
Weather & environmental conditions:
June is one of the cooler months to visit Tanzania and during this time temperatures are generally in the region of around 23°- 26 °C/73-78°F (at the hottest part of the day). However, occasionally temperatures can peak above and below this. During the late evening and first thing in the morning the temperature range drops to a very cool and pleasant 8-12°C/46-53°F.
June it is generally one of the drier months of the year and the start of the dry season, however, rain can sometimes be experienced. Once we leave Arusha the road conditions during our Tanzania Serengeti photo safari will be game tracks, which can be both dusty, muddy and bumpy. For both locations featured on this tour off-roading is not permitted.
Internal (Bush) flight luggage limits:
Please ensure you pack your luggage in a soft-sided case and that your hand luggage and checked luggage combined does not exceed the weight limit of 30kg. This weight limits includes your extra 10kg luggage allowance.
Camera Equipment:
For game viewing during our Tanzania Serengeti photo safari we would recommend bringing a camera/lenses that can cater for a range of distances, A good starting point is to have a camera/lens that can accommodate focal lengths of between 100 – 400mm (or for prime lenses 300mm – 600mm). In general, you will be using longer lenses/focal length for the majority of the time and especially with the big cats. Generally, for birds you will need a longer reach of 500mm and above. This advice above is based on full frame cameras.
A wider angle lens would also be highly recommended. You may find this comes in useful in photographing landscapes and sunsets at both locations. For example lenses such as 24-70mm, 24-120mm or their approximate equivalents.
Often on safari you will be photographing in the early morning and early evening and therefore sometimes in low light. So, for those more serious photographers we therefore recommend faster lenses, for example F4 or below.
It can sometimes be quite dusty on safari. So, we recommend bringing a dust bag or light cover for cameras. Often an old pillowcase is perfect for protecting your camera in the vehicle from the dust when it is sitting on your lap for times when not in your camera bag. A basic lens wipe and lens duster is also recommended.
Further assistance on cameras and lenses can be provided by contacting us direct.
Gratuities:
Gratuities are not included in the cost of your Tanzania Serengeti photo safari. What you provide as a gratuity is very much up to the individual traveler. However, below is a guideline of what is generally recommended to budget for. Tips can be provided in both $USD or Kenyan Shillings. The below provides amounts using $USD. Your hosts will be responsible for the collection of gratuities and will ensure that these are fairly distributed.
Main Safari Driver/Guides: (based on 3 x guests per vehicle) Please allow for approx. USD $16 – $20 per guest per day. Please note that for group photo tours and basing on groups of 6-guests we will have 2 x safari guides. The amount suggested above is the total suggested amount per person, per day. The total gratuities collected from the group will then be divided between the 2 x guides used at each camp. Therefore, for the 8-days at the tented camps please allow for approx. $128-$160 per guest (approx. £100 – £130 GBP)
All other camp staff: Camps provide an opportunity for each person to provide a camp tip covering all other camp staff, which can range from a recommended $5-$10 per person per night that is equally distributed to those staff behind the scenes (waiting staff, security staff, reception, chefs etc.) Your gratuities for the ‘back of house’ camp staff will be collected from each guest on the last evening at each camp and provided in the tip box/camp manager at the time of farewells.
Baggage porters (Arusha). Approx. $3-$5 USD for up to three bags
Photographic hosts: Tipping of any hosts on your trip is optional and purely at the discretion of each guest.
International Flights:
for the Tanzania Serengeti photo safari guests will need to arrange their own international flights that arrive into Kilimanjaro International airport (Airport Code: JRO) for the start of the safari on Day 1. Should you wish to arrive a night earlier we are able to quote for extra nights at the African Tulip. Guests should not book any international flights leaving Kilimanjaro leaving any earlier than 18:00 on day 9 to allow for any delays that may be experienced on internal flights. Your airport transfers will be arranged in accordance with your flight arrivals and departures.
WiFi/Phone Network Access:
At most of the lodges or hotels there is a degree of Wi-Fi access. However, please be aware that the speed of these networks may be slower than normal broadband speeds. There is generally good access to cellular networks in the all Tanzanian cities and sometimes within some of the national parks and game reserves that we visit.
Dietary:
Most dietary requests, therefore, can be catered for with advance notice, provided to us at least two months prior to departure.
Travel Insurance:
We strongly recommend purchasing your own travel insurance at the time of booking to cover any eventualities should you need to cancel your tour due to unforeseen circumstances as both the deposit and final balances are non-refundable. Guests travelling without their own travel insurance do so at their own risk.
How to Book:
If you wish to reserve a space/s please do email us using the contact Forman this page or directly at info@imagesofwildlife.co.uk. We will then reserve a space/s for you and request a deposit payment to be received by us within 7-days to formally secure. Payment can be taken by either bank transfer or credit/debit card.
