Together all the way
The classic northern route · Seven to ten nights
The classic route, with everyone in the same camps and the vehicles moving as one. It suits groups that like to compare notes over every meal.
Tanzania Safari for Friends and Small Private Groups
You have been saying “we should go” for years.
A private safari for your own people: your dates, your own vehicles and guides, and nobody you have not invited.
- Who comes
- Friends, two or three couples, a birthday party, a reunion. You choose the people and the dates.
- When to go
- The dry season runs from June to October. January to March is calving season in the south.
- In the vehicles
- A vehicle seats six and we usually suggest four or five, so a group of eight travels in two, each with its own guide.
- Rooms
- Twin or double, arranged around who is sharing with whom.
- Worked around
- Your dates, the mix of tastes in the group and the budgets in it.
The first conversation
Planning a trip for a group is a negotiation
Somebody has a spreadsheet. Somebody else cannot do those dates. One of you wants to walk, one wants a pool, and the group chat has gone quiet since the last time anyone suggested a month. A safari is far easier to enjoy together than to organise together.
Four questions settle most of it. Take them in this order, and we will help the group agree.
Two ways to travel in a group
Your own group, or one we put together?
A small private group and a group departure sound alike, and they are different trips.
A small private group
You bring the people: friends, two or three couples, a birthday party. The dates are yours and the route is built around your group. Nobody joins unless you have invited them, and we add vehicles and guides as the numbers grow.
A group departure
We set the dates and the route, and guests join: groups of eight to twelve, four guests to a vehicle and a window seat for each. A good fit if you would like to meet people, or you are travelling on your own.
Not sure which suits you? Tell us who you are travelling with, and we will say.
Why Tanzania
What Tanzania offers a group
A group needs more variety than a couple does. Someone wants birds, someone wants a lion, someone wants a long lunch. Tanzania has room for all of that: the plains of the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, elephants at Tarangire, the wilder south and a coast to end on. It is all planned by one team in Arusha, which matters more the more people there are.
If you are lucky enough to see a pack of African wild dogs wake from an afternoon rest, you may watch them gather in a noisy greeting and then, apparently, take a vote. Researchers in Botswana found that the more dogs sneezed during the gathering, the more likely the pack was to set off hunting. A few sneezes from the dominant pair were enough. Without them, it took about ten. Nobody can yet say whether it is a true vote, but it is a fair picture of a group deciding where to go next: loud, not entirely equal, and settled quickly.
Wild dogs live in the south, in Ruaha and Nyerere. They roam widely and are never guaranteed.
When tastes differ
When the group wants different things
It will. The trick is to plan for it in advance, so that nobody has to give way on the day.
Two vehicles, one plan
Each vehicle has its own guide. They can go to the same sightings together, or split up when tastes differ.
A day apart
Some people rest at camp while others walk or fly. Nobody has to pretend to want the same day.
Different rooms, different budgets
The route stays the same while rooms and some activities can differ. Tell us the range and we will see what works.
The shape of it
Three shapes for a group trip
Groups tend to land on one of these, with the number of nights set by whoever has the least leave.
A week, then a beach
Safari first, then the coast · Nine to twelve days
Bush first, then three or four nights on Zanzibar or Pemba, where the group can scatter for the day and meet again for dinner.
Somewhere quieter
The southern parks · Seven to ten nights
The south is quieter, with walks, boats and fly-camping at some camps. Mostly fly-in, and best in the dry months.
Look at the Northern Circuit →Look at the Southern Circuit →
A day, usually
One day with friends
The animals will not follow the group’s plan, which is half the fun. This is how the days tend to run.
At the table
Everyone together, settling the day over coffee.
Out in the vehicles
Each vehicle heads out with its own guide. Stay together or wander apart, as the group likes.
Midday
Lunch at camp, a rest for some and a walk for others.
Late afternoon
A second drive, in the best light of the day, and the first telling of the stories.
Evening
Dinner at a long table, and the argument about whose sighting was the best.
Seats and distances
Flying or driving, with a group
The question changes with numbers: seats on a plane are fewer than seats in a vehicle.
| Factor | Fly in, by light aircraft | Overland, in your own vehicles |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Around an hour in the air to the Serengeti, so everyone arrives fresh. | A long day on the road to the central Serengeti. |
| Keeping together | A scheduled flight is shared with other passengers, and seats can be limited. A group can charter an aircraft, which keeps everyone together on your timetable. | Your own vehicles, travelling together or apart as you like. |
| Luggage | Most light aircraft cap each traveller at around 15 kg, in soft bags, hand luggage included. | Soft bags are still easiest, but nobody is weighed. |
| Paying for it | Flights are charged per person, or per aircraft if you charter. | No flights to pay for. The vehicles and guides are already part of the plan. |
| Suits | Longer trips, the Serengeti, the south and the coast. | The short first leg, and groups who like to see the country. |
A common pattern: drive the short first leg together, then fly on. With a larger group, ask about a charter, since the seats add up.
Where you sleep
Rooms for everyone, camps for the group
The hardest part of a group booking is finding a camp with room for all of you at once. This is what we check before we suggest one.
Enough rooms at once
Many small camps have only a handful of tents, so we check that the whole group can stay together.
Who shares
Twin, double or single, arranged around who is sharing with whom.
Rooms close together
Whether the group can sleep near each other, or would prefer a little distance.
A table for all
Whether the camp can seat the whole group together for dinner, and how it handles it.
A second vehicle
Whether the camp can provide one when you are more than five or six.
Safety and medical cover
How the camp keeps guests safe at night, and how far the nearest medical help is.
Your days
What to do with the days
Things to do together, apart or in shifts.
A dawn balloon flight
The balloon flights start before sunrise at launch sites that include Seronera, last about an hour and end with breakfast in the bush. A basket usually carries several guests, which suits a group.
Walking together
Group walks with an armed ranger, at camps and reserves that allow them. The south suits this best, since the Serengeti permits walking only in a few wilderness areas.
A boat for the group
At Nyerere, a boat takes you along the lakes and the Rufiji, with hippo and crocodile in the water and elephant coming down to drink.
Evenings out
After dark, night drives are possible only in private reserves, because the national park does not allow them.
Celebrations
Tell us the occasion: a birthday, a reunion, an anniversary. We plan around it, from the camp to the evening.
A late start
Nobody is dragged out at dawn. A first-light start and a full day out only happen if the group asks for them.
The animals will not take a group vote. We choose the right place and the right hour, and leave the rest to the day.
Group safari questions, answered
How is a small private group different from a group departure?
On a private trip you bring the people and choose the dates, and nobody joins unless you invite them. A group departure is the opposite: we set the dates and the route, and guests join, in groups of eight to twelve with four to a vehicle and a window seat for each. If you want to travel with strangers, choose a departure. If you want your own people, this page is the one.
How many people can we be?
There is no fixed number. A vehicle seats six and we usually suggest four or five, so a group of eight travels in two vehicles, each with its own guide, and larger groups need more. We also check that the camps can take everyone at once.
What if we do not all want to do the same things?
Plan for it early. With two vehicles and two guides, the group can visit the same sightings or split up. Some people can rest at camp while others walk or fly. Tell us who likes what and we will build the days around it.
Do we all have to share rooms?
No. Rooms are arranged around who is sharing with whom: twin, double or single, wherever a camp offers them.
Can friends on different budgets travel together?
Often, yes. The route stays the same while the rooms and some activities differ. Tell us the range and we will see what works.
Is a group trip cheaper per person?
Usually. The guide and vehicle are shared by four or five of you instead of two. Flights and rooms are still charged per person, so how much you save depends on the route.
Can we celebrate a birthday or a reunion?
Yes. Tell us the occasion and who is coming, and we will plan around it, from the camp to the evening.
When should the group start planning?
Start early, because camps need enough rooms free at once. Nine to twelve months ahead suits July to October, six to eight months can work, and we plan trips at short notice too, with fewer camps to choose from.
When is the best time for a group?
Pick the month with the most dates the whole group can make, and we will choose the place to suit it. July to October is dry, with the herds in the northern Serengeti. The southern plains hold the calving from January to March. April and May are green and quiet, with some camps closed.
What does everyone need to arrange before travelling?
Each person on the trip must hold premium travel insurance before travelling. For malaria and vaccinations, everyone should see a doctor or a travel clinic well ahead of the trip.
Getting started
From the group chat to a plan
You do not need to know the camps, or to have the group agreed. Tell us who might come and when, and we will build from there. Booking close to the date? Ask us what is open.
Tell us about the group
How many of you, roughly what ages, which months could work, and what the budget looks like.
Get a route and the reasons
The camps, the vehicles and who goes where, with the thinking behind each choice.
Let the group argue
Swap camps, move nights, adjust rooms. We keep track of the changes.
We do the booking
Camps, flights and transfers for everyone, and a plan for each day.
Your planners
Who you will be planning with
East Africa Safari Guides is Tanzanian owned, with its office in Arusha. The people who answer your questions live here and know the camps, the roads and the seasons from experience.
Based in Arusha
Tanzanian owned, and working from Arusha since December 2021.
A local team
Nine out of ten people who work with us live here.
Schooling
Ten girls go to school each year on our funding.
5.0 on Tripadvisor · 30 reviewsRead our reviews →
What it costs
Group safari costs, and how a group shares them
Travelling in a group usually brings the cost per person down, because the guide and vehicle are shared by four or five of you instead of two. What moves it: the season, the camps, the mix of rooms, flights (charged per person, or per aircraft if you charter), how many vehicles the group needs, and how long you stay.
Why we plan around your group
No two groups are alike, so we do not sell fixed group packages or publish a price list. Tell us what the group can comfortably spend, and we will show what it buys, where the group could save, and what is worth paying extra for.
Every quote lists what is included and what is extra, so the group can compare it fairly with any other.
When to go
Picking a month the whole group can make
The animals follow the rain, so the best month for your group is partly a matter of diaries.
| Months | On safari | On the coast | For a group |
|---|---|---|---|
| January to March | The calving season on the southern plains, busiest around February, with green grass and passing showers. | Hot and mostly dry, though a north-east wind can bring seaweed ashore on the east coast. | A strong choice if the group wants young animals, with warm evenings. |
| April and May | The long rains bring green country, empty roads and some closed camps. | The wettest stretch, worst in April, and many east-coast hotels close. | Only for a group with flexible dates. |
| June to October | Dry weather and the biggest crowds, with the herds in the northern Serengeti from July. | Dry and settled, with the south-east wind blowing steadily on the east coast. | For July to October the camps fill first, so start planning nine to twelve months out. |
| November and December | The short rains arrive and the herds begin heading south. | Warm and humid, with the festive weeks the busiest. | Quieter bush, then a crowded coast at Christmas. |
Check the herds’ movements month by month →.
Tell us who is coming, and roughly when.
Numbers, a possible month and the mood of the group are enough for a first reply.
Begin the conversation+255 753 744 283 · hello@easguides.travel