Tanzania African Safari 2026

Check back later after pictures are added... Today our flight paths crossed; Greg and I met up in the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia airport to take the remaining segment together. Well, kind of together. Greg continued his fancy business class flight while I continued in economy… but at least we were on the same plane. Although we landed at Kilimanjaro airport, we didn’t get to see the tallest mountain in Africa. At ~20,000 feet, Mount Kilimanjaro likes to be shy and hide in the clouds. As our massive Boeing 777 lands at a tiny airport that’s barely bigger than a small building, we quickly step into our surroundings. We’re given hand sanitizer, our temperature is taken, we learn our first word of Swahili— karibu (welcome!)—and we show our visas. Then our driver, Fabian, whisks us away—on the opposite side of the road from what we’re used to—toward the safari hub of Arusha. Immediately I spot an elephant and comment, “Wow, an elephant already!” Fabian laughed at my joke about the life-li...

  About a month ago, I discovered that the US had changed the Tanzania travel advisory to a Level 3 (of 4): Reconsider Travel - due to unrest and violent crime (and targeting of gay and lesbian individuals). When your own government says, “Have a plan to leave in an emergency that does not depend on U.S. government help,” it is a bit unnerving. This announcement, along with spreading Ebola on the African continent, could be a solid reason to cancel the trip. But travel comes with risks, and these were not enough to stop us. A safari has been on our bucket list for years!   After many years of losing out to active vacations and countries with incredible nature or man-made sights, a safari has finally risen to the top of our bucket list. Leading up to the trip, I kept wondering how exciting can a safari be? What if it is not any different than a zoo or the Disney Magic Kingdom Lodge? What if all we see are a bunch of birds and some wildebeest? Or what if it’s just over-explo...