Travelogue from Tanzania: Serengeti fly-in safari

In October, our colleague Rikke, her husband and 2 children went on an autumn holiday to Tanzania on “Serengeti fly-in safari, Ngorongoro & beach holiday in Zanzibar” tour. Read Rikke’s journal from the first part of the tour – the fly-in part –below.

If you’re looking for a safari holiday with that extra wow factor and you want to save time, then a fly-in safari is highly recommended. You will fly right into the heart of Serengeti National Park and land in the middle of all the wildlife.

During the autumn half-term holiday, I took my family on our Serengeti fly-in safari, and we were all excited about the experiences that awaited us in Tanzania.

We were picked up at Kilimanjaro airport by a small Cessna Grand Caravan plane that seats 12. As luck would have it, no one else was flying on this plane, so we had it all to ourselves.

We said hello to the pilot, fastened our seat belts, and a few minutes later we could see the runway disappearing beneath us, and on the horizon, our safari adventure awaited.

With Mount Kilimanjaro on the right, we headed for the Serengeti Plain, and before long, we could see the beautiful landscape below us. As far as the eye could see, there was savannah, forests and small mountains.

After a good hour’s flight with our eyes glued to the window, we started the descent. On the way down, we saw a large herd of wildebeest grazing, and now we could see what was our runway: a dirt track of a few hundred metres! A herd of zebras galloped off, startled by the small plane landing in the middle of their habitat.

A few minutes later, we were able to climb out onto the gravel – we’d landed in the heart of Serengeti National Park. Now we just had to head over to our safari car and driver, which were waiting for us.

We began our first game drive, and our driver asked if lunch could wait a little, knowing that a leopard had settled in a tree not far from there. We thought that sounded like a great plan.

After a few minutes’ drive, we saw the first gazelles and lions, and the leopard was waiting a little further on. Wow! An amazing safari adventure lay ahead of us!

Rikke, TourCompass