Game drives in Nyerere National park

Game drives in Nyerere National park : Nyerere national park now the largest wildlife sanctuary and national park in Africa is ranked among the best destinations to do game drives in Africa, the park is located in Southern Tanzania in Northern part of Selous Game Reserve.

Nyerere national park was named after the first president of Tanzania – the Late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.

Game drives are a must do activity during an African Safari, a game drive means an adventure excursion done by a vehicle into a wildlife area such as a national park or a reserve with purpose of exploring its various areas and seeing a variety of wild animals in their natural habitat.

Typically, Safari game drives in Tanzania last for 2 to 3 hours and offered as morning and afternoon game drives, morning game drives are usually scheduled from 06.30 am to 9 am and afternoon game drives are scheduled 3.30 pm to 6.30pm. However many travelers sometimes opt for a full day game drives which generally run from 10 am to 4 pm, in this case of game drive, the excursion will included a packed picnic lunch which you are to have inside the national park at a designated picnic spot at lunch hours any time from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm.

In Nyerere national park, morning, afternoon and night game drives are offered, night game drives are organized for visitors with a curious adventure wishing to spot the animals in the dark. Nights game drives are done with a help of a spotlight which helps you spot animals most especially predators such as lions, leopards, African wild dogs among others.

Unfortunately, night game drives are not permitted inside the main Nyerere national park. They only happen on the bordering Selous Game Reserve, timings for the night game drives range from 7 pm to 9 pm varying depending on which camp or lodge offering these night excursions to their guides.

In Nyerere national park, most road safari packages include private safari game drives and the Fly-in tour packages – game drives are offered by the camp a guest is staying at. Fly – in tour packages are usually non-private game drives meaning travelers join other guests in the same vehicle for excursion exploring the savannah plains of Nyerere national park.

Safari vehicles in Tanzania and in Nyerere national park as well have a seating capacity of 8 people maximum, this is more so on fly-in safaris offered by the lodges or camps or group game drives. However private game drives have their advantages as guests/ travelers have and enjoy a higher level of personal freedom and flexibility in terms of timing and convenience.

Visitors/tourists with special interests such as photography or bird watching are advised to opt for private drives.

Costs for Game Drives in Nyerere National Park

Cost for game drives in Nyerere national park differ depending on the type of game drive you are interested in, group game drives are cheaper than private game drives. Normally private safaris are all inclusive safari packages including several game drives, accommodation, meals and transportation with by road or flights from Dar es Salaam.

Types of safari vehicles used for game drives in Nyerere national park

 Vehicles generally used for game drives in Tanzania as well as Nyerere national park are safari vans or non 4X4 Tour Vans also known as Mini buses and Land cruisers or Toyota Land Cruisers Jeeps.

Safari vehicles are normally offered by Safari operators as part of safari packages, certain tour van also come with 4WD and both of the two kinds of the vehicles have game viewing roofs and are safari customized.

 However, if you fly into Nyerere National Park on a fly-in safari. Book game drives with the Lodge or Camp, then you may find some of these camps offering game drives in open sided 4×4 safari jeeps. These vehicles are not suitable for highway travel thus they are restricted to ferrying tourists only in the reserve.

4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser Safari Jeeps

Safari Jeeps are universally used for safaris / game drives in Tanzania and by most camps and lodges in Nyerere national park, these vehicles are commonly used as they tend to perform best in all weather and all – terrain conditions. The land cruiser vehicles have an optimally seat 6 passengers but can accommodate 8 people with an extra seat included with one person sitting beside the driver.

Land cruisers have multiple game viewing roofs, they are reliable, robust and spacious enough while also being marginally more comfortable than the only other option of a vehicle, the tour van or mini bus.

Note: Land cruisers come in stretched and normal versions with the latter seating only 4 to 5 passengers, the open – sided versions of the land cruisers are used exclusively inside the park due to not fully being suited for highway travel.

Safari Tour Minibus / Van

Safari vans also known as Minibus are the best alternative vehicle offering the best value for tourists on a budget safari, these vehicles are less costly.

Minibuses have a seating capacity of 6 people in comfort each with their own window seat, though some are configured to carry upto 9 passengers.

Though vans are not usually 4×4 wheel, they are agile, reliable and are perfectly capable of handling almost all road safaris available in Tanzania.

Note: only a few selected locations in Tanzania and Nyerere national park as well can necessitate using a 4X4 Safari jeep and this is due to road conditions.

Best time for a game drive in Nyerere national park

The best time to visit Nyerere national park for a game drive is during the dry season from June to October, the roads in this period of the year are passable and it is also the best time to see the animals as the congregate at watering holes to quench their thirst.