DOROBO
Safaris · Est. 1982
Guests on a Dorobo Safaris experience in Tanzania

Experience & Safaris

This is how we believe East Africa should be experienced.

No set itineraries, no catalogue. If this philosophy resonates, we'll create the best-suited safari together, shaped by the season, the duration, and most importantly, your interests.

Wildlife

Reading behaviour, not just spotting species.

More than two million wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and eland migrate through the Serengeti every year, and yet this just scratches the surface: the big five, endangered wild dog, roughly 1,140 bird species and 20 primates.

Travel with Jason Edwards (National Geographic) →

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Our guides are trackers and naturalists first: they read the landscape, interpret behaviour, and position you for encounters that feel earned rather than staged, whether on foot or from a vehicle based out of a lodge, tented camp or private mobile camp.

Walking

More a part of the wildlife than apart from it.

Thirty-plus years ago, one thing we all agreed on was that visitors deserved the chance to walk: to experience nature on foot and away from vehicles. Our walks are for those who like the private intimacy of wilderness, from insect tracks in the sand to an unsuspecting animal coming down to drink.

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Few if any other companies in Tanzania can break camp in the morning and have it set up again and waiting at a new location when one walks in for lunch. Our fly-camp operation offers flexibility and mobility while still providing the basic comforts, without civilizing the very wilderness one has come to experience. We walk in community wilderness areas and in the Serengeti, Tarangire, Ruaha and Katavi National Parks.

A walking safari group in Katavi National Park

Culture

Structured, but never staged.

Built on decades of shared history and mutual trust, our deep relationships with local communities allow for un-staged, socially responsible cultural encounters across Tanzania's 120+ ethnic groups.

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The Hadzabe: Step back in time as you join the Hadzabe, one of the world's last hunter-gatherer tribes. Participate in their daily life, from foraging for wild honey to crafting handmade bows, and learn invaluable lessons from their harmonious relationship with the environment.

The Maasai: Hosted by Maasai team members who know this land intimately, you'll gain an insider's look into traditional pastoralist life. Step into their local homesteads to participate in daily boma life, hear centuries-old stories around the fire, and experience the savannah through the eyes of its original guardians.

The Iraqw: Connect with the Iraqw, known for their rich agricultural heritage and historic underground dwellings. Welcomed into local homesteads, you'll share in daily farm life, traditional cooking, and a deep culture tied to the highlands.

The full Hadza story, and the film →

Hadza community members gathering honey

Intimate & Exclusive

Access unavailable through mass tourism.

Every safari is tailor-made: private vehicles, private fly camps, small groups, and long-standing community relationships that open doors no booking platform can.

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We design each journey directly with you, around the season and your interests: your own stretch of the Great Ruaha River, a private mobile camp beneath the baobabs, evenings with Hadza hunters that no staged “cultural village” can imitate. Expert planning from the first conversation to the last campfire.

Experience the wild on your own terms. Our private, mobile camps are built exclusively for your group, allowing us to position you in the absolute best locations based on the season and wildlife movements. When it's time to move on, the camp is packed away without a trace.

A dedicated Dorobo team handles all the setup and daily management, meaning your only job is to enjoy the journey. Both of our camp options include incredible chef-prepared meals, private hot showers, and unlimited daily beverages (tea, coffee, juice, sodas, beer, and wine, with the option to add a custom spirits bar).

  • Dorobo Pioneer Camp: Our most popular option, offering a highly comfortable, safe, and authentic classic canvas safari.
  • Dorobo Legacy Camp: Our luxury upgrade. Enjoy an expansive tent with a proper hotel bed, built-in storage, and a fully en-suite bathroom and shower, complemented by extra camp services and enhanced communal spaces.

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Professional Guides

It's not about where you go. It's about who leads the way.

After four decades, we believe we have some of the best guides in the business. Read the letters our guests send home and a pattern emerges: it is the guides they remember by name. Our guides decide when to drive, when to walk, and when to sit still and let the bush come to you.

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Our guides have spent patient years building bush knowledge, immersing themselves in the wild and staying current with recent research: Simon's patience, Douglas's thousand birds by sight, sound, or silhouette, and Killerai's boundless energy.

Meet the team →

A Dorobo guide showing guests a chameleon in the bush

Adventure

The far side of the map.

Multi-day treks along remote stretches of the Great Ruaha River, mountain biking, rock climbing and canoeing down the rapids of the Ruhuhu river that flows into lake Nyasa.

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As the next generation at Dorobo becomes involved, we are developing the adventure side of tourism: organized as the main focus of your trip, or woven into a traditional wildlife safari. Mountain biking through wilderness areas, motorbike safaris, kid-friendly top-roping to multi-pitch trad climbing, offshore game fishing for tuna and billfish.

Ask about adventure options →

Guests canoeing a quiet stretch of the Ruvuma River

Active & Engaged

Participation, not observation.

A Dorobo safari asks something of you, and gives more back because of it. Sometimes it is better to walk rather than drive. Learn to read tracks, make an arrow, bead with hadza women, paddle a quiet stretch of coast.

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Days can include hiking with Maasai guides, canoeing and kayaking along the coast, cycling the little trails between farms and homesteads, or joining the day's real work in camp and community. The point is not adrenaline; it is engagement.

Guests taking part in digging tubers with the Hadza

Coastal

Beaches, reefs & Swahili culture.

Tanzania offers a vast array of beaches along the mainland and several larger Islands. Being by the equator one gets some of the best snorkeling and diving in the world with rich and diverse reef systems. The coast is full of Swahili Arab culture that is still rich and vibrant with a lot of history one can learn about.

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The Coast, where the bush meets the sea. Our private beach set-up near the fishing village of Ushongo is rustic, simple and comfortable: A-frame bandas around a great baobab, fish bought straight off the beach, snorkeling at Maziwe Island Marine Park, green turtle hatchlings, kayaks on the “windy-pop” stream.

A beach along the Tanzanian coast near Ushongo

Classic Journeys

Starting points, not set packages. Tanzania reads differently depending on when you go; browse a season below, then use its sample itineraries as a sketch and we'll draw the rest together.

June – October · Northern Circuit

Dry Season

As the landscape fades to brown, the Great Migration moves north through the central Serengeti and into the northern reaches, braving the dramatic Grumeti and Mara River crossings. Shrinking water sources force wildlife to concentrate around permanent rivers, delivering unmatched game viewing.

While popular routes become busy with tourists during this peak travel window, it is the ideal time to incorporate our exclusive, active walking safaris to escape the crowds.

Sample itineraries
November – May · Northern Circuit

Green Season

Despite popular belief, the Green Season is an extraordinary time to visit Tanzania. Rains transform the sun-baked earth into a lush green landscape in just days, drawing returning migratory birds to the vibrant growth. During this time, the Great Migration pours into the short-grass plains of the Southern Serengeti and Ngorongoro regions.

Explore our sample itineraries to experience the very best of Northern Tanzania during this magical season.

Sample itineraries
Mount Nyiragongo volcano landscape

Intimate & exclusive

No two Dorobo safaris are ever the same.