Elephant enjoying the lush bush in green season in Tanzania

Elephant safaris in Tanzania

Experience elephants on your safari in Tanzania, where Wilderness Usawa moves seasonally on the plains of the Serengeti, to offer fantastic year-round wildlife sightings.

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Experience elephants on your safari in Tanzania, where Wilderness Usawa moves seasonally on the plains of the Serengeti, to offer fantastic year-round wildlife sightings.

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Tailor-made

Personalised safaris including Wilderness camps, partner properties, city stays, transfers, activities and experiences to suit your dates and interests.

Award-winning

193 awards since 2020, with our safari lodges consistently voted among the top in the world, as well as recognition for our positive Impact initiatives.

Exclusive

With small guest numbers, we provide access to remote concessions in some of Africa’s wildest safari destinations, with the option of private vehicles and guides for additional flexibility.

Diverse

We operate in eight African countries, with 55+ camps promising a range of activities from boating, to walking, game drives and more, for a full immersion in nature and local culture.

The best places to see elephants on safari in Tanzania

Wilderness Usawa Seregenti offers sightings of elepants set within the vast, wildlife-rich plains of the Serengeti. This remote mobile camp moves seasonally along key wildlife corridors, placing you in prime position to witness an abundance of animals, including elephants, as they move across open grasslands.

A stay at Wilderness Usawa Serengeti, which features just six tented canvas suites, combines the intimacy of a small, exclusive camp with the scale of one of Africa’s greatest wilderness areas. Whether part of a broader Tanzania safari tour or a standalone holiday, it offers an amazing opportunity for seeing elephants on safari.

Wilderness' guide to elephants

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

The Serengeti ecosystem supports substantial elephant populations, with some 7,000 individuals found here. Some of the best places to see them include the Northern Serengeti and the Western corridor around the Grumeti River. From Wilderness Usawa Serengeti, a range of safari activities allow you to encounter elephants from multiple perspectives. Daily game drives form the heart of the experience, while guided walking safaris, bush picnics and hot air balloon safaris allow for unique ways to see wildlife, including elephants, at a safe distance.

Northern Tanzania safari circuit

The Serengeti can also be combined with some of Tanzania’s other iconic elephant safari destinations and some of our carefully curated partner properties, in one, seamless tour. From the Serengeti, Tarangire is another easily accessible elephant safari destination and one of Tanzania’s most important elephant strongholds. During the dry season, large breeding herds, often numbering close to 200 individuals, gather here, with multi-generational family groups moving through baobab-studded landscapes that feel almost untouched by time.

Another place to visit is the nearby Ngorongoro Crater, where elephants can be seen against its striking caldera backdrop. This is also one of the best places in Tanzania for seeing tuskers, massive, older elephant bulls known for their impressive ivory tusks.

Discover Serengeti National Park

Elephant safari tours & packages in Tanzania

Be inspired by these safaris in Botswana and get in touch to create a private tour tailored to your interests. Your itinerary can be elevated with a range of exclusive, privately arranged experiences, while you may even decide to book out one of our smaller safari camps for the exclusive use of your group. Speak to your Travel Designer to arrange your personalised safari.

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Elephants crossing the floodplains Wilderness Serengeti

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Frequently asked questions

When is the best time to see elephants in Tanzania?

The best time to see elephants in Tanzania is during the dry season, typically from June to October, when wildlife concentrates around shrinking water sources and rivers. This is when elephant sightings are at their most reliable, particularly in key ecosystems such as the Serengeti and Tarangire. Elephants tend to disperse more in the green season (November to May) but sightings are still possible and with fewer visitors, lush scenery and dramatic skies this is actually often a favoured time for those wanting to photograph elephants.

What type of elephant safaris can you do in Tanzania?

In Tanzania, Wilderness offers a wide variety of elephant safari experiences, each designed to bring you closer to these remarkable animals. Traditional 4x4 game drives are a constant in mornings and afternoons, with full day game drives also a possibility. Guided walking safaris offer the chance to track signs of elephant movement on foot, from fresh footprints to evidence of feeding on trees, deepening understanding of their behaviour and the wider ecosystem. Hot air balloon trips at sunrise can also offer sweeping views of elephant herds moving silently across the landscape below, and can be one of the most memorable experiences of your holiday in Tanzania.

What type of elephants do you see in Tanzania?

Tanzania is home to African savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana), the largest land mammals on Earth. These elephants are known for their impressive size, complex social structures and highly intelligent behaviour.

On a safari in Tanzania, you can encounter breeding herds of elephants, made up of related females and their young, as well as impressively large, solitary bulls that roam independently or in loose bachelor groups. Some bulls in regions like Ngorongoro are particularly famous for their large tusks.

Are elephant sightings guaranteed in Tanzania?

Elephant sightings in Tanzania can never be fully guaranteed, as these are free-ranging wild animals. That said, when you combine your safari in the Serengeti with regions like Tarangire and Ngorongoro, your chances of seeing elephants in Tanzania are highly likely, especially in the dry season. With expertly guides, access to remote, protected areas, carefully positioned safari camps, and personalised tours, we are able to offer you some of the best opportunities for seeing elephants in the wild.