The Nomad Journey

We’ve spent many years moving through northern Tanzania, following the quiet roads and the back ways, the edges of the national parks. It’s like a compass of how and where we want to operate. We do our utmost to stay away from the crowds, the cars, the choke points where our type of safari, and our wilderness, can feel suffocated. We prefer to move outwards to the peripheries and into places where we things can be done right. 

We think a lot about our presence here and how we can try to keep as light a footprint as possible, not adding to the pressure in the more crowded areas. 

If you’re wondering what makes a Nomad safari different, and how to experience the Serengeti without the crowds, this is where it begins. This approach shapes how we design every Tanzania safari, especially in places like the Serengeti.

Despite how well known it has become, and how busy it can be at certain times of the year, our type of Serengeti safari can still be extraordinary and feel like it did 20 years ago. You can still be entirely alone in the middle of a huge landscape; it just comes down to travelling a little differently. It’s this difference in approach that allows a Tanzania safari to still feel wild and uncrowded.

We get it, it’s busy out there and, at certain times, the park gates can look more like a parking lot rather than the start of something wild and wonderful. There is a familiar and well-trodden way to do the north: a procession out of Arusha, a queue at the gates, a cluster of vehicles at the first lion sighting, airstrips busy with planes and waiting cars. This is often the reality of a traditional Serengeti safari.

Of course, some things have to be seen, no matter how and where, and we’re not purists just for the sake of it. But our instinct is always to keep looking, to see if there another way, another angle, somewhere else someplace quieter. More often than not, there is. 

Timing, more often than not, completely changes the feel of a safari, especially in the Serengeti, where a shift of half an hour can mean the difference between a convoy of vehicles and having the road entirely to yourself. 

So we try not to move when everyone else moves. We leave earlier, sometimes much earlier. Or we wait things out and travel later, once the rush has passed and the dust has settled again. Being on the road at the same time as everyone else rarely rewards you. Shift the day slightly, and everything changes.

Good timing, and a deep understanding of how safari once was, remain some of the most effective ways we know to keep it feeling as it should, grounded in genuine, first-hand experience. It’s one of the simplest ways to avoid crowds on a Serengeti safari.

But what does all this actually mean? In practical terms, it's about how a Tanzania safari is planned and experienced on the ground. We prefer to loop around the edges of the park, striking out into equally beautiful and rewarding areas where you’re less likely to be part of a convoy of cars, but no less surrounded by wildlife.

Our routes are deliberate. We don’t follow straight lines if a more considered path offers a better safari and a more interesting story.

Nomad has always been known for being a bit ‘out there’. It’s the way we’ve preferred to operate since our early days in the 80s and 90s. Then, travelling between two points on the map meant acres and acres of glorious space. Now, finding that same feeling of enormity, without compromise, takes more thought and dedication.

It’s cliché, but true, that how you get there is as important as actually arriving. Long stretches on the road don’t have to be arduous or dull. They can add to the sense of being on a proper journey, covering ground mile by mile and remaining open to whatever comes your way.

A welcome stop in Mugumu, on the western edge of the Serengeti, for an ice-cold beer at a dusty bar after a long drive. A conversation with your guide about where you are — perhaps an area he grew up in — stories from his childhood, another layer, another story to take home.

For the curious traveller, these moments matter. They are as much a part of a luxury Tanzania safari as the first sighting of elephant in the woodlands, and often, they are what stay with you the longest. It’s a different approach to a luxury Tanzania safari, shaped by decades of experience in the field.

If we had to simplify it, it always comes down to this:

Routes - Routes that avoid the busiest areas.We don’t do a straight line if a curved one will tell a more unusual story and offer a better safari. 

Timing - Timing that shifts you away from the crowds. Leave a little earlier, or later, and the road ahead is far more likely to be empty. 

Pace - A slower pace that allows each place to be properly experienced. We allow time to stop, to look and to learn something new. If it’s a piece of obsidian underfoot, we’ll stop. If the guide sees or hears something unusual, we’ll pause. There is always time for a detour. 

How do you avoid crowds in the Serengeti?
By adjusting timing, choosing quieter routes, and travelling away from the main concentrations of vehicles.

Is it still possible to have a quiet safari in Tanzania?
Yes, with the right approach, it’s still possible to experience space, privacy and a true sense of wilderness.

What makes a Nomad safari different?
Our focus on routes, timing and pace creates a more considered, private and immersive Serengeti safari experience.

If you’re looking for a Tanzania safari that feels quieter, more considered, and far removed from the crowds, this is where it begins.