Safari flights from Zanzibar

Safari flights are scheduled services, but they work differently from an airline you have flown before. They call at bush airstrips according to who is booked that day, and they are affected by weather. Delays happen.

Rather than let you find that out at an airstrip, this page sets out how the flying works and exactly what we do when it does not go to plan.

Flight times and how they are set

Our fly-in safaris depart Zanzibar at 07:00 and return from the Serengeti at 10:00. The one-day fly-in returns at 14:30 the same afternoon.

Exact times are firmed up roughly 24 hours before you travel and we pass them to you as soon as we have them. Because aircraft stop at airstrips according to the day's manifest, the times on your itinerary are indicative and do not form part of the contract. This is normal for bush aviation and it is not a sign anything has gone wrong.

Luggage: 15kg, soft bags only

Fifteen kilograms per person, in a soft-sided bag. This is a light aircraft weight and hold restriction, not a guideline we can bend — hard-shell suitcases will not physically fit. Leave the rest at your Zanzibar hotel or with our office. Most camps do same-day laundry, so you need less than you think.

The aircraft and the airstrips

Routes are flown by regional carriers, principally Flightlink, on light turboprops — typically Cessna Grand Caravans or similar, seating around 12 to 14. They are built for short unpaved runways.

Serengeti airstrips such as Seronera and Kogatende are natural-surface runways with basic infrastructure. There is no terminal, no jet bridge and no baggage belt. Your guide meets you beside the aircraft.

Your flight may stop on the way. Safari aircraft work a circuit, dropping and collecting passengers across several camps, so total flying time varies with how many strips the aircraft touches. Expect the possibility of an intermediate stop rather than being surprised by one.

The northern routing, July to October

On the northern 4-day during the crossing season, you fly into Kogatende in the far north rather than Seronera. Departure from Zanzibar is around 07:00, with arrival in the northern sector generally late morning — commonly between 10:00 and 11:00, depending on the manifest and any intermediate stops. Return flights from the north leave around 10:00.

Kogatende is a busy bush strip in migration season and aircraft run a rolling circuit between camps, so boarding times are confirmed about 24 hours ahead. We would rather quote you a window than a time we cannot hold to.

Arusha and Zanzibar

Our Serengeti and Ngorongoro trips fly out of the Serengeti and return from Arusha, because there is no airstrip at the crater. Flightlink and other regional carriers — Precision Air, Air Tanzania, Auric Air, Coastal Aviation — run daily services between Arusha and Zanzibar, taking roughly an hour to an hour and a quarter.

Departures are spread through the day, generally mid-morning, early afternoon and mid-afternoon. On a crater day only the later service is usable, and we book accordingly. If a tailor-made itinerary needs to start or finish in Arusha instead of Zanzibar, we arrange that by hand.

If your outbound flight is delayed but still runs that day

Your safari goes ahead and your guide restructures the day around your arrival.

We cannot refund the lost time. TANAPA charges entry and concession fees per 24-hour period from the moment you enter the park, whether you are game viewing or sitting at an airport, and nobody can recover them. Better said here than on the day.

If your outbound flight is cancelled and nothing else runs

We rebook you on the next available service at no cost and rebuild the itinerary around the time you have left. Any night, park day or meal that goes unused is refunded at what we paid for it, and you are not charged for the vehicle and guide day you lost. If the trip can no longer be delivered in any recognisable form, you may cancel and be refunded everything we can recover.

Air tickets sit under the airline's own conditions of carriage. We will pursue them on your behalf, but we can only pass back what they release, and we will not promise you a refund that depends on someone else's decision.

If your return flight is delayed or cancelled

If you are held in the Serengeti we arrange your accommodation, meals and transfers and stay in contact until you are on your way. You will not be left to sort it out yourself.

Outside anyone's control — weather, airspace, airstrip conditions, an airline technical fault — we cover your first additional night in full: room, meals, park fees, vehicle and guide. Nothing to pay and nothing to claim. Nights beyond the first are at your cost, arranged by us at what they cost us, and normally recoverable on your insurance. We provide the documentation.

If the delay is ours — a late pickup, the wrong service booked — we cover every cost that follows, for as long as it takes, without a limit and without an argument.

The one-day fly-in has its own rule

On schedule it gives about four and a quarter hours on the ground. There is no slack, so a delay eats straight into it.

Under three hours on the ground, we cancel and refund in full, less any air fare the airline will not release. We will not sell you a token visit.

Between three and four hours, you decide. We telephone you before you board, tell you exactly how long you will have, and you choose: fly, or take the same full refund. We will not make that call for you and we will not talk you into flying.

Onward flights, and two things we ask

We do not accept liability for onward flights not booked through us. If a safari delay causes you to miss an international departure, that is what insurance is for.

Travel insurance covering trip interruption, missed departure and cancellation is a condition of booking. We will issue whatever your insurer asks for.

Leave one full night in Zanzibar between your safari return and any international flight. It is a recommendation, not a rule, and it is the single thing most likely to turn a bad day into an inconvenience.

Common questions

What time we collect you

The flight leaves Zanzibar at 07:00, so pickups are early. These are the times we plan around, worked back from being at the airport 45 minutes before departure.

Planning times, not promises. Your actual pickup is confirmed the day before along with the flight time, and it can move if the aircraft's routing changes. Ask your hotel for an early breakfast box or a packed one — most will do it if you ask the night before.

If you are staying somewhere else

Tell us the hotel when you book and we will give you a time. The island is small but the roads to the north and the south-east are slow, and we would rather collect you fifteen minutes early than have you watch the aircraft leave.