Roam Serengeti Safaris

FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Roam Serengeti Safaris takes great pride and care to ensure the health and safety of our clients, especially during these times of COVID-19. We deep clean and sanitize our vehicles between clients, guides will obtain COVID testing 72 hours in advance of arrival of all clients, and wear protective masks at all times. All guides will carry hand sanitizer in the vehicle. Hand washing stations are prevalent throughout the national parks and conservation areas. 

Roam Serengeti Safaris can arrange for clients to obtain a COVID test at a local hospital or clinic upon request for travel purposes. Current testing through licensed facilities takes between 48-72 hours to receive results. The results are emailed directly to the client.  Currently, the cost of the COVID test ranges from $115-125 USD per person. Roam Serengeti Safaris can assist clients with registration or a COVID test on the Tanzanian government website and can arrange the processing of the payment. 

It’s easy! All you have to do is use our contact form to reach out and let us know what safari you’d like to book and when, and our guides will work with you to get everything in place to reserve your preferred dates.

No problem. Our expert guides are more than happy to help walk you through the options, answer all your questions, and help you figure out your timeline, preferences, and what you’d like to see and experience.

We offer a few options in terms of payment: bank transfers, credit/debit card (through Direct Pay Online), and cash.

Generally speaking, we start most of our safaris out of the city of Arusha. The area has two small airports, Kilimanjaro Airport (KIA) and Arusha Airport (ARK). We are able to pick you up from either of these locations if you’re flying into your safari directly without an overnight stay elsewhere. Otherwise, we’re also able to pick you up from any local hotels, Airbnbs, etc, all you have to let us know is where you’re staying and we’ll make it happen.

Additionally, there are other smaller airports scattered throughout the northern circuit, and while more expensive, do offer a more direct route into the parks, if you prefer. We’re happy to help you arrange charter flights or provide additional information to help you book them yourself directly, then pick you up from your desired location within the parks.

Absolutely! In fact, safaris can be a truly special and life-changing event for families of all shapes and sizes. We have experience accommodating the young, elderly, and everything in between and we’ll do our best to make sure everyone has the best possible trip, no matter what age, experience, or comfort.

To put it simply… yes! Like any other industry that deals with the general public, we’ve gone to great lengths to make sure every guest is safe and feels safe in every environment they’ll be immersed in. 

Our guides know animal behavior exceptionally well and are always respectful and mindful of what the animals and safari-goers need to enjoy a safe yet exciting interaction. Plus, the animals are used to seeing people, vehicles, and established camps nearly year-round and have grown used to their presence. 

While there’s never any guarantee with wild animals, incidents are exceptionally rare, and guides take all necessary precautions to ensure you and your party have a truly wonderful, life-changing experience.

Let’s put it this way: If it were up to us, we’d still share the wonders of Tanzania’s wildlife without using any gas, driving through their habitats, or having them endure our presence if we could. But the fact is, those elements are required to bring about what we feel to be a greater good: inspiring the awe and wonder of nature and funding its protection. 

Despite its few shortcomings, the safari tourism industry not only boosts the local economies, but largely helps fund the preservation of the parks and animals. It also generates significant awareness of the wildlife and their environments, promotes reverence for the animals, and even helps to discourage illegal poaching. 

While nothing about it is perfect, all of our guides pursued this work to help share their country’s natural gifts with others from around the world, and you’ll need no further proof than hearing the wonder and excitement they still possess when they talk about the wildlife or how much they love their jobs—a sentiment for many that truly deepens over time and becomes infectious to every visitor they meet.

While Swahili is the official language of Tanzania and there are several dialects spoken, the use of English is more common than you might think, especially in areas that are frequently visited by tourists. All of our guides speak both languages fluently and several speak other common languages, such as Spanish, Mandarin, etc.

While you can easily get away without knowing a word of Swahili, we recommend you learn some from your guide as you travel or even just learn a few commonly used words in advance—there is nothing like seeing a local light up when you speak in their language, even if minimally.

While we don’t plan or lead them ourselves, we’re familiar with plenty of expedition experts in the area we can connect you with if you’d like to make that part of your experience either before or after your safari.

Nope! If there’s something you’d like to see, do, or experience that’s in the area, we’ll do our best to help find a way to include it in your safari. We’re familiar with and often partner with many of the local businesses and people, so just ask and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.

Generally speaking, most vaccinations needed to travel to Tanzania are covered by those that are considered routine (chicken pox, tetanus, flu, MMR, polio). However, depending on your age, where you’re going specifically, and what activities you’ll be involved in, there are other vaccines that are recommended. 

It’s always best to refer to the current CDC recommendations to ensure you have everything covered. Most health centers and travel clinics will also have up-to-date information on what’s best to get before departing.

Outside of the local populations, most people haven’t built up a tolerance to the bacteria in the local water enough to drink it. However, your guides, camps, and lodges will have plenty—and we mean plenty—of water on hand for drinking, making coffee and tea, washing up, etc.

While many visitors are happy to gain their safari experience, thank their guide, and be on their way, plenty of others are so blown away by the safari experience, Tanzanian people, and the outright passion of the guides, many of them form long-standing relationships and keep in touch—and this is exactly where many of the pictures of animals used on the site came from. 

If you click on many of the pop-up photos of the wildlife, you’ll see “Courtesy of Tom Nicholson.” Tom and his wife Edith, who have been on several safaris with Mussa, has been incredibly gracious in sharing their images with us in an effort to help highlight the wonders of Tanzania’s wildlife with future safari-goers—and we’re super thankful for it. 

Otherwise, since we’re a small and growing Tanzanian-based company, we do use some stock photography (all from Tanzania, mind you), to help give visitors to the site an accurate picture of what they can expect out of their experience. Our long term goal is to have each and every one an original photo so like our safaris, our site is as genuine as possible.

Travelers arriving from all countries except for India do not have to quarantine. However, Tanzania requires those entering the country to present a negative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out within 72 hours before arrival. Additionally, all travelers will be subjected to enhanced screening for COVID-19 infection including a Rapid Test, and must also complete a Traveler Surveillance Form via afyamsafiri.moh.go.tz within 24 hours before arrival in Tanzania.

No, Tanzania does not require Covid vaccination. Travelers are required to present a negative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out within 72 hours before arrival.

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