ENCOUNTERSAFRICA
7-Day Walking Safari

Tanzania - Fly-in safari

7-Day Walking Safari

Duration
7 days
Countries
Tanzania
Suited to
2-6 guests
Pricing
From USD 11,680

The journey

Updated on 23 August 2026

Southern Tanzania is where walking safaris are genuinely good, and it is empty in a way the northern circuit no longer is. Nyerere National Park, the former Selous, covers around 30,000 square kilometres and takes a fraction of the visitors that go to the Serengeti. Ruaha, further west, is larger still. Both permit guided walking, and the camps here have built their guiding around it rather than treating it as a novelty offered once a stay. The programme runs Sand Rivers Selous first, three nights on the Rufiji, one of them fly-camping on a sandbank with an armed ranger sitting up through the night. Sand Rivers is also the base for the other thing the south does better than anywhere, which is boating. You cover the Rufiji and the Stiegler's Gorge stretch by boat, drifting up on hippo pods and elephant crossings from water level. Then a light aircraft west to Ruaha and three nights at Jabali Ridge, walking the dry Mwagusi and Mdonya sand rivers among baobab and greater kudu. Come between June and October, when the ground is hard, the grass is short and the walking is at its best.

Your camps, day by day

Stay 1

West to the Rufiji

You clear Dar es Salaam and board a light aircraft for the 45-minute hop west to Kiba airstrip, then drive 15 minutes to Sand Rivers Selous. The camp sits open-fronted above a bend in the Rufiji, eight rooms with no front walls at all. The first afternoon goes on the water, drifting down on hippo pods and the crocodiles hauled out on the sandbanks.

Stay 2

On Foot at First Light

Out of camp at six with your walking guide and an armed TANAPA ranger, single file, into the miombo and the open ground behind the river. Three to four hours and perhaps eight kilometres, most of it spent reading tracks and dung rather than covering distance. Breakfast is carried out and laid on a groundsheet. The afternoon runs by boat towards Stiegler's Gorge.

Stay 3

A Night on the Sand

You drive out mid-afternoon, leave the vehicle and walk the last stretch to a fly-camp already pitched on a dry riverbed. Nothing but lightweight tents, mosquito-net frames, bedrolls and a bucket shower. Dinner is cooked on the fire and eaten under the open sky, and the armed ranger sits up through the night a few metres away. Minimum age here is twelve.

Stay 4

Hot Springs, Then Ruaha

You walk out at dawn and finish at the Maji Moto hot springs, where the water runs warm through fig roots and you can get in. Back to Sand Rivers for breakfast, then the light aircraft west to Msembe airstrip in Ruaha and a 45-minute drive to Jabali Ridge, eight suites built into a granite kopje above the Mwagusi.

Stay 5

The Mwagusi Sand River

Ruaha walks differently to the Rufiji. You are on hard ground among baobab, walking the dry Mwagusi sand river where elephant dig for water with their feet and greater kudu come down to the edges. Three to four hours with your guide and ranger, arranged the night before because the ranger has to be booked. A game drive follows in the late afternoon.

Stay 6

Lion Country on Foot

A last full day. Ruaha holds one of the largest lion populations left in Africa and prides here run big, which is exactly why you do not approach them on foot. Your guide works the Mdonya sand river on foot in the morning for tracks and smaller things, then takes the vehicle out after tea to find what the tracks belonged to.

Stay 7

Out Through Msembe

Breakfast on the rock with the Mwagusi below, then the 45-minute drive to Msembe airstrip and the light aircraft back to Dar es Salaam, roughly two hours with one stop. You are at the coast by early afternoon. Zanzibar, Mafia or Ruaha's Usangu wetlands all add on cleanly from here if you have a few more days.

Safari highlights

  • Three nights walking from Sand Rivers on the Rufiji
  • A fly-camp night on a sandbank under mosquito nets
  • Boat safaris on the Rufiji and up towards Stiegler's Gorge
  • Hot springs at Maji Moto reached on foot
  • Walking the dry Mwagusi sand river in Ruaha
  • Two parks, no convoys, and almost no other vehicles

What is included

Included

  • 6 nights accommodation, per person sharing
  • Light-aircraft sectors by route: Dar es Salaam to Kiba airstrip in Nyerere, Nyerere to Msembe airstrip in Ruaha, and Ruaha to Dar es Salaam
  • Road transfers between airstrips and camp at both ends of each flight
  • Full board with house drinks at Sand Rivers Selous and Jabali Ridge, and all camp activities
  • One night fly-camping from Sand Rivers, including the fly-camping supplement and the TANAPA special campsite fee
  • Nyerere National Park entry at USD 75 per person per 24 hours, and Ruaha National Park entry at USD 59 per person per 24 hours
  • TANAPA guided walking safari fees and the armed ranger fee for every walk in both parks
  • Rufiji boat concession fee for two boat safaris
  • AMREF Flying Doctors evacuation cover and the Tanzania tourism development levy

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa
  • Tanzania visa, currently USD 50 for most nationalities and USD 100 for United States passport holders
  • Travel and medical insurance, which is compulsory on this programme
  • Champagne, premium wines and imported spirits
  • Gratuities for your guides, the armed ranger and camp staff
  • Items of a personal nature, including curios and spa treatments
  • Additional nights in Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar either side of the safari

Frequently asked questions

How much does a 7-day walking safari in Tanzania cost?

This programme starts at USD 11,680 per person sharing in shoulder season and runs to about USD 13,680 in peak months. That covers six nights at Sand Rivers Selous and Jabali Ridge on full board with house drinks, all three light-aircraft sectors from Dar es Salaam, the fly-camp night, every Nyerere and Ruaha park fee, the walking safari and armed ranger fees, and the Rufiji boat concession.

Can you walk on safari in Tanzania?

Yes, in most national parks, but not everywhere and not without a permit. Nyerere and Ruaha both allow guided walking and are where it is done best. Walking is not permitted inside the Ngorongoro Crater floor or on most of the central Serengeti plains. TANAPA charges a walking safari fee of roughly USD 25 per person per walk on top of park entry, which is included here.

What is the minimum age for a walking safari?

Twelve at both camps on this programme. Sand Rivers accepts children from eight in camp but sets twelve as the floor for walking and fly-camping. Jabali Ridge accepts children from five and also holds walking to twelve and over. Siwandu, another Nyerere option, sets sixteen for both walking and fly-camping. Camps enforce this strictly and there is no discretion at the gate.

Is a walking safari dangerous?

It carries real risk, which is why it is regulated. Every walk in a Tanzanian national park is led by a qualified walking guide and accompanied by an armed TANAPA ranger, and the ranger is compulsory rather than optional. You walk in single file, in groups capped at six or eight, upwind where possible. You do not approach buffalo, elephant with calves, or lion on foot. Incidents are rare.

How far do you actually walk on a walking safari?

Between five and twelve kilometres, over three to four hours, almost always starting at first light and finishing before the heat. It is not a route march. Much of the time goes on tracks, dung, bark rubbings and birds, so the pace is slow and the distance is not the point. Sand Rivers can extend a morning walk to lunchtime with a bush breakfast carried out.

Are international flights included in the price?

No. International flights to and from Africa are excluded, so you book your own long-haul into Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. Everything inside Tanzania is included, including all three light-aircraft sectors: Dar es Salaam to Kiba airstrip at about 45 minutes, Nyerere to Msembe in Ruaha, and Ruaha back to Dar es Salaam at the end.

When is the best time for a walking safari in southern Tanzania?

June to October. The ground is dry and firm, the grass is short enough to see through, and game concentrates on the Rufiji and the Ruaha sand rivers. Both camps close from mid-March to the end of May for the long rains. Asilia runs walking at Roho ya Selous from 1 June to 15 January and at Jabali Ridge from 1 June to 15 February, so late-season walking is not guaranteed.