Skip to main content

Active Kilitop and Safaris

'
Aerial view of Mount Meru and Arusha National Park from a light aircraft
Experience · Bush airstrips

Fifteen kilograms, in a soft bag.

That is the rule that catches everybody, and it is not negotiable at a bush strip. Beyond that, flying in Tanzania is a piece of arithmetic: for the southern parks it is not a luxury but the only sensible option, and for one or two routes it is money wasted. Here is the sum, route by route.

Baggage15 kg, soft bags only
AircraftLight single & twin
Seat rateShared, several stops
CharterThe whole aircraft, direct
Three rulesThe arithmeticThe 15 kg bagWhat you give upQuestionsAdd it to a trip
01

Three things before you price anything.

Flying is the most misunderstood line on a Tanzanian itinerary, in both directions — people buy it when they should drive and refuse it when they should fly.

For the southern and western parks it is not optional.

Arusha to Ruaha or Nyerere by road is a very long day or two on hard roads, and nobody with a two-week trip should spend it that way. Mahale is not realistically reachable any other way at all. If your route goes south or west, flying is not an upgrade, it is the route.

Fifteen kilograms, soft bag, including your hand luggage.

That is the standard on light aircraft into bush strips, and it includes the camera bag. Hard-sided suitcases are refused at the strip because they will not go through the hold door, and there is no appealing it there.

A seat rate is not a charter, and the difference is enormous.

A seat rate puts you on a scheduled light aircraft that may make two to four stops before yours. A charter is the whole aeroplane, direct, at several times the price. Both get called “a flight” on an itinerary. Ask which one you are buying.

02

The arithmetic, route by route.

Road times are realistic ones including stops and the state of the road, not optimistic ones. Flight times are gate to gate on a direct sector; a seat rate with stops takes longer.

RouteBy roadBy airWhat we would do
Arusha → Central SerengetiA full dayAbout 1 hr 15Drive one way, fly the other
Arusha → Northern SerengetiNine hours plusAbout 1 hr 30Fly
Arusha → TarangireAround 2 hrsAbout 30 minDrive — flying saves nothing useful
Arusha → NgorongoroAround 3½ hrsNo crater airstripDrive, and enjoy the escarpment
Arusha → NyerereTwo days, hardAbout 2 hrsFly, always
Arusha → RuahaTwo days, hardAbout 2½ hrsFly, always
Serengeti → ZanzibarTwo days and a ferryAbout 2½ hrsFly — there is no argument
Anywhere → MahaleNot practicalVia KigomaFly. It is the only way in
03

What fifteen kilograms actually means.

People treat this as a suggestion and then repack on the tarmac in front of everybody. It is worth thinking about at home instead.

Soft-sided, genuinely

A duffel or a soft holdall that can be squashed into an odd-shaped hold. Wheels are usually fine if the bag still collapses. A rigid suitcase or an aluminium case will be turned away at the strip.

The camera bag counts

This is the one that hurts. Fifteen kilograms is the total, hand luggage included, and a long lens plus two bodies is a serious fraction of it. If you are travelling with real photographic kit, tell us early — sometimes the answer is buying an extra seat, and it is better to know in advance.

Camps do laundry, daily and included

Which is the answer to almost all of this. Four days of clothes covers two weeks. The one caveat is that many camps will not wash underwear for cultural reasons and leave you soap for it, so pack accordingly.

What you can leave behind

Most operators and Arusha hotels will store a bag for you at no cost while you are in the bush. Leave the town clothes, the hard case and the things you brought for the flight home.

Weights are collected, and it is not personal

You will be asked for your own weight when the flight is booked. That is a load sheet for a small aircraft with a real limit, exactly as it is for a balloon, and every passenger is asked.

Excess is sometimes possible, sometimes not

On some sectors you can buy an extra baggage allowance or a seat for kit. On a full aircraft in high season you cannot. Never assume it can be fixed on the day.

Seat rate or charter?

A seat rate is a scheduled light-aircraft service — usually a Cessna Caravan — that runs a circuit of airstrips picking up and dropping off. Yours might be the third stop. It is by far the cheaper option, the aircraft are the same aircraft, and the extra stops are frequently the most interesting part of the day. Most people should take this.

A charter is the whole aeroplane, direct, at a time you choose. It costs a multiple of the seat rate and is worth it when a group fills the aircraft anyway, when a connection is tight, or when a route simply is not on the scheduled circuit. It is not a private jet and nobody should sell it as one.

Neither is a scenic flight. You will see the Rift, the crater highlands and sometimes the migration from the air, and it is wonderful. But the aircraft flies a route at altitude; it does not sightsee, and asking the pilot to detour is not how it works.

04

What you give up by flying.

We sell the flights. We would still rather you drove at least one leg of a northern trip.

Yes, if
  • Fly if your route touches the southern or western parks. There is no honest argument for the road.
  • Fly if you are moving between the Serengeti and the coast, or between two distant parks mid-trip.
  • Fly if you have under ten days. Road transfers eat a short trip alive.
  • Fly the return leg from the Serengeti even if you drove up — the second long drive is the one nobody enjoys.
Probably not, if
  • Do not fly Arusha to Tarangire. Two hours on a good road against a strip transfer at both ends saves nothing.
  • Do not fly to Ngorongoro. There is no crater airstrip and the drive up the escarpment through Mto wa Mbu is one of the genuinely great half-days of a northern trip.
  • Do not fly every leg on a first trip. You end up with a set of parks and no sense of the country between them.
  • Do not fly if fifteen kilograms is genuinely impossible for you and buying a second seat is not on the table.
05

Questions we get asked.

What aircraft is it?

Usually a Cessna Caravan on the scheduled routes, and smaller singles or light twins on charters and shorter sectors. They are unpressurised, they fly low enough to see the ground properly, and the ride is bumpier in the middle of the day than early morning.

Is it safe?

The main operators fly these routes many times a day, every day, and are internationally audited. Weather delays and diversions do happen — strips are unpaved and afternoon storms close them — which is the argument for never booking an international connection on the same day as a bush flight.

Can I take a bag over 15 kg if I pay?

Sometimes, on some sectors, if the aircraft is not full. Never assume it. If you know you will be over, tell us when you book and we will find out for your specific flights rather than guess.

Will I get airsick?

Some people do, particularly on midday sectors when the thermals are up. Fly early where you can, sit forward, and bring something if you know you are prone. Pilots keep bags aboard and nobody minds.

Are the airstrips actually airstrips?

Graded dirt with a windsock, usually a shade structure, sometimes a bench, occasionally a giraffe that has to be moved before landing. There is no terminal. Your camp meets you at the strip and that is the whole process.

Can I fly with a scheduled airline instead?

Between the bigger points — Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Dar, Zanzibar — yes, and often you should. The light aircraft exist for the strips inside the parks, where nothing larger can land.

Let us do the sum for your route.

Send us the parks you want and how long you have, and we will show you which legs are worth flying, which are worth driving, and what each swap actually costs. We will tell you when flying is money wasted.

Or call +255 762 914 714
Plan your tripWhatsApp us
DestinationRuahaTwo days by road. Two and a half hours by air.DestinationMahaleThere is no road. That is the point.ExperienceHot air balloonThe other way to leave the ground.HubAll experiencesNine ways to spend a day.