Zan Maldive Tours and Safaris

Safari region: Southern circuit

  • Nyerere National Park

    Nyerere National Park was created in 2019 from the northern section of the former Selous Game Reserve, and at roughly 30,900 square kilometres it is one of the largest national parks on the continent. It sits in southern Tanzania, and it is a very different experience from the northern circuit.

    The park is built around the Rufiji River and its network of channels, lakes and sandbanks. That water changes what a safari here looks like. Alongside game drives you take boat safaris along the river, drifting past hippo pods, enormous crocodiles and elephant coming down to drink, and walking safaris with an armed ranger are permitted in ways they are not in the northern parks.

    Wildlife includes large elephant and buffalo herds, lion, hippo, crocodile, giraffe and one of the more significant remaining African wild dog populations. Visitor numbers are a fraction of the northern circuit, so sightings are often yours alone.

    Nyerere is reached by light aircraft from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar in under an hour, which makes it the natural safari choice for guests already on the coast.

  • Mikumi National Park

    Mikumi covers roughly 3,230 square kilometres in southern Tanzania and is the most accessible large park from Dar es Salaam, reachable by road in around four to five hours. That accessibility makes it the practical choice for a short safari added to a coastal holiday.

    The heart of the park is the Mkata floodplain, open grassland with scattered acacia and borassus palms, and the landscape has drawn comparisons with the Serengeti plains. The openness makes game spotting straightforward.

    Wildlife includes large buffalo and zebra herds, wildebeest, impala, giraffe, elephant, lion and hippo in the pools near the park entrance. Eland, greater kudu and sable antelope live in the wooded hills to the south. Over 400 bird species have been recorded.

    Mikumi borders Nyerere National Park, so the two combine well into a southern circuit trip of five or six nights without long transfers between them.

  • Ruaha National Park

    Ruaha is the largest national park in Tanzania, covering roughly 20,200 square kilometres in the centre of the country, and it receives a fraction of the visitors the northern circuit sees. For anyone who has already done the Serengeti, or who wants wilderness over convenience, it is the best park in the country.

    The Great Ruaha River runs through it, and in the dry season the sand rivers and remaining pools draw enormous concentrations of game. Ruaha holds one of the largest elephant populations in East Africa and some of the biggest lion prides recorded anywhere, prides of twenty and more being regular sightings.

    The park sits on a transition zone between eastern and southern African ecosystems, so species from both appear here. Greater and lesser kudu, sable and roan antelope live alongside the more familiar plains game, and African wild dog are seen with reasonable regularity.

    Ruaha is reached by light aircraft from Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar or Arusha. The distance keeps visitor numbers low, which is precisely what makes it worth the flight.

  • Tanzania Safari and Zanzibar Beach

    The most requested trip we build, and the reason a Zanzibar-based operator is the right company to build it. You see the wildlife first, while you have the energy for early starts, then fly to the coast and stop moving.

    Two routes work. The northern circuit runs Arusha, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, and then a flight from the Serengeti or Arusha to Zanzibar. It is the classic, and it is where the migration is. The southern circuit runs Nyerere and Ruaha, reached by light aircraft directly from Zanzibar, with boat safaris, walking safaris and almost no other vehicles.

    Most trips run seven to fourteen nights in total. A workable minimum is four nights on safari and four on the beach. Longer is better, particularly if you want more than one safari area.

    We handle the whole route: the safari, the internal flights, the Zanzibar hotel, every transfer, and the excursions once you are on the island. One company, one point of contact and one invoice.

    Note for the operator: the source material supplied no safari itineraries or prices. Add your day-by-day itineraries and rates here before this page goes live, or leave it as an enquiry page and quote each trip individually.