Night Game Drives in Tanzania
A spotlit drive after dark for leopard, genet, civet, porcupine, bushbaby and other nocturnal species. Run in Tarangire and Lake Manyara on the northern circuit, in the southern and western parks, and from the private concessions bordering the Serengeti. Not offered inside the Serengeti itself, and not on the Ngorongoro Crater floor, where the gates close at six.
A night game drive in Tanzania is legal in ten national parks named on the TANAPA night drive tariff, among them Tarangire and Lake Manyara on the northern circuit and Ruaha, Mikumi and Nyerere in the south, and on community and private land bordering Tarangire and the Serengeti. Serengeti National Park itself and the Ngorongoro Crater floor do not allow them. Each drive leaves after dinner with a licensed guide, a spotter and a filtered spotlight.
Safaris That Include Night Game Drives
Night Game Drives Guide in Tanzania
Tanzania Night Game Drive Areas
Tanzania's parks, reserves and community areas by region, type of land and night drive status, showing where you can head out after dark and what it takes to get there.
| Place | Night drives | Type of land | Region | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Tarangire National ParkOn the TANAPA night drive tariff | Allowed | National park | Northern circuit | Sleep at a camp inside the park that runs night drives; they start from the camp, not the gate |
| 02Lake Manyara National ParkOn the TANAPA night drive tariff | Allowed | National park | Northern circuit | The easiest night drive to add to a standard northern route; book it for the night before the crater |
| 03Randilen Wildlife Management AreaCommunity land beside Tarangire | Allowed | Wildlife management area | Northern circuit | Stay at a camp in the WMA; a separate WMA night drive fee applies |
| 04Burunge Wildlife Management AreaLake Burunge, west of Tarangire | Allowed | Wildlife management area | Northern circuit | Camps here pair night drives with walking; you need to sleep in the WMA |
| 05Grumeti reservesWestern edge of the Serengeti | Allowed | Private reserve or concession | Northern circuit | Night drives come with a stay at a camp on the reserve; high end only |
| 06Loliondo concession areasNortheastern edge of the Serengeti | Allowed | Private reserve or concession | Northern circuit | The way to combine the northern Serengeti with a night drive; access is through a concession camp |
| 07Serengeti National ParkNot on the night drive tariff | Not allowed | National park | Northern circuit | Vehicles must be back at camp by dark; look to Grumeti or Loliondo instead |
| 08Ngorongoro CraterNgorongoro Conservation Area | Not allowed | Conservation area | Northern circuit | Gates close at 18:00 and every vehicle leaves the crater floor before then |
| 09Mkomazi National ParkNot named on the tariff | Not confirmed | National park | Northern circuit | Ask your operator to confirm in writing with the park before you plan around it |
| 10Ruaha National ParkOn the TANAPA night drive tariff | Allowed | National park | Southern circuit | Needs specific park permission, which camps arrange; strong for predators after dark |
| 11Nyerere National ParkHigher night drive rate on the tariff | Allowed | National park | Southern circuit | Camps along the Rufiji run them; hippo grazing on land is a regular sight |
| 12Mikumi National ParkOn the TANAPA night drive tariff | Allowed | National park | Southern circuit | The closest night drive park to Dar es Salaam by road; good for a short trip |
| 13Selous Game ReserveThe reserve south of Nyerere | Not confirmed | Game reserve | Southern circuit | Mostly hunting blocks; most photographic night drives in this area run inside Nyerere |
| 14Katavi National ParkOn the TANAPA night drive tariff | Allowed | National park | Western Tanzania | Remote and fly in; only a few camps, so check one offers it before booking |
| 15Burigi Chato National ParkOn the TANAPA night drive tariff | Allowed | National park | Western Tanzania | Allowed on paper; few visitor camps, so arrange it with the park through your operator |
| 16Ibanda Kyerwa National ParkOn the TANAPA night drive tariff | Allowed | National park | Western Tanzania | Rarely visited; plan it as part of a Kagera trip with a specialist operator |
| 17Ugalla River and Kigosi National ParksHigher night drive rate on the tariff | Allowed | National park | Western Tanzania | Very few tourist facilities; possible only on an expedition style trip |
Status: Allowed = listed on the TANAPA night drive tariff or offered on that land by camps permitted to run them. Not allowed = no night drives on that land. Not confirmed = no official confirmation found. Last checked November 2026. National park drives run only in zones each park sets, between 19:00 and 23:00. Sightings are never guaranteed. Sources: Tanzania National Parks tariff and park visitor pages, Ngorongoro gate regulations, published activity lists of camps in each WMA and concession.
Night Game Drives in Tanzania's National Parks: Where They Run
Permission for a night game drive inside a Tanzanian national park comes park by park, and the clearest record of it is the Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) tariff. Its night game drive line names Katavi, Ruaha, Mikumi, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Burigi Chato and Ibanda Kyerwa, adds "other applicable national parks", and then gives Nyerere, Ugalla River and Kigosi a line of their own at a higher rate. Every entry carries the same condition: specific guidelines apply.
Those guidelines are the part people miss. A park on the tariff does not open its whole road network after dark. Each park sets the zones where night driving may happen in its management plan, so a night safari covers a defined loop near a camp or gate, and the activity must run through a tour operator licensed by the Tanzania Tourism Licensing Board.
On the northern circuit, two parks qualify. Lake Manyara National Park lists night game drives among its visitor activities on TANAPA's own park page, and the usual route runs from the gate area through the groundwater forest to the hippo pools beside the lake and back. Drives tend to leave around 20:00 and last two to three hours. Because Manyara sits on the road between Arusha and the Ngorongoro highlands, it is the simplest night drive to fit into a standard northern itinerary.
Tarangire National Park works differently. Its night drives start from camps inside the park that hold permission to run them, with their own vehicles and spotters. A guest at a lodge outside the gate cannot usually drive in for one, so the choice of where you sleep decides whether you get the activity at all.
A small catch here: TANAPA's own Tarangire activity page lists day activities such as walking and balloon safaris and leaves night drives off, yet the park sits on the night drive tariff. The tariff is the document that governs what you pay for, and camps inside the park run the activity, but it is worth asking your operator to confirm that your camp has the permission in place.
The south is where night drives feel most at home. Ruaha National Park states on its TANAPA visitor page that night drives need specific permission, which camps in the park arrange for their guests. Nyerere National Park, the former northern Selous, sits on the higher tariff line, and camps along the Rufiji River run night drives through the riverine woodland. Mikumi National Park is the quickest of the three to reach from Dar es Salaam by road, which makes it the usual choice for a short southern trip with a night drive in it.
The western parks are permitted but thinly served. Katavi has only a handful of camps, and Burigi Chato, Ibanda Kyerwa, Ugalla River and Kigosi have very few tourist facilities, so a night drive there depends on an operator arranging it with the park in advance. For Mkomazi, one tour operator advertises night drives but the park does not appear by name on the tariff line, so treat it as unconfirmed until the park says otherwise in writing.
Night Drive Safaris in Wildlife Management Areas and Private Reserves
Outside the national parks, a night drive safari is often easier to arrange and less tightly zoned. Two kinds of land offer them.
Wildlife management areas are village land where communities have set aside wildlife habitat and lease tourism rights to camps. Two sit right against Tarangire. The Randilen Wildlife Management Area lies just outside the national park and its camps run night drives with a separate WMA night drive fee, charged by the WMA rather than TANAPA. The Burunge Wildlife Management Area, on Tarangire's northwestern boundary around Lake Burunge, has camps that list night drives beside walking safaris and cultural visits. Elephants and predators move freely between the WMAs and the park because no fence separates them.
Private reserves and concessions on the edge of the Serengeti fill the gap the park leaves. The Grumeti reserves on the western side are private land, and camps there offer night drives along with horse riding and walks. In the northeast, camps in the Loliondo concession areas run night drives and bush walks outside the park boundary, then use the park itself by day.
In both cases the night drive is tied to the bed. You stay at a camp on that land and use its vehicle and spotter. There is no walk-up option for someone sleeping at a lodge inside the Serengeti. The remaining Selous Game Reserve, south of Nyerere, is mostly hunting blocks, and no photographic night drive there could be confirmed for this guide.
Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater: Why Night Game Drives Stop at the Gate
The two places most first-time visitors spend their nights are the two places a night drive is off the table.
Serengeti National Park does not appear on TANAPA's night game drive tariff, and camps on its edge make the point plainly when they sell their own night drives as something the park does not permit. Vehicles inside the park must be back at their lodge or campsite by dark. When a Serengeti itinerary promises a night game drive, it means one of three things: a camp in the Grumeti reserves, a camp in a Loliondo concession, or a lodge just outside the boundary running a short drive on village land. Ask which before you pay.
The Ngorongoro Crater answers to a different authority. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area sets its own rules, and its gates and barriers open at 06:00 and close at 18:00, with the Seneto descent road closing earlier at 16:00. Every vehicle has to be off the crater floor and out by closing. A crater night drive does not exist as a product.
On a northern route, put the night drive at the start, in Tarangire or Lake Manyara, before the Serengeti and crater days.
Nocturnal Wildlife on a Tanzania Night Safari
The species list is the reason to go. Much of what a spotter finds on a Tanzania night safari simply does not show itself in daylight, and the animals you have watched all day behave differently once the sun is down.
Each park tilts the list. Ruaha's camps talk up their big cats and hyena. Tarangire guests regularly see porcupine and genet, and Manyara's forest is good for civet. Even so, nothing is guaranteed. Some nights are slow, with twenty minutes of empty bush between sightings, and trip reports often mention a quiet first hour followed by a run of genets and a hyena.
Sound fills those gaps. Hyena whoop, a lion roars from a kilometre off, and a bushbaby lets out a call that sounds like a child crying. Several travellers rate the noise of the bush after dark as highly as anything they saw.
How a Night Game Drive Works, From Briefing to Bed
Most night game drives follow the same shape in a national park or on a concession.
The search runs on eyeshine. Most nocturnal mammals have a reflective layer behind the retina, the tapetum lucidum, which bounces light straight back toward the source. A pair of glowing points in the dark can be picked up at long range, and a good spotter reads the height and colour of those points to tell a genet from a hyena before the animal is properly in view.
Inside national parks, TANAPA's guidelines also cap the scale. Vehicles are open four-wheel-drives seating no more than sixteen, with no more than three on any one route. Each carries a first aid kit. Most camps use far smaller groups than the limit, often a single vehicle of guests from the same camp.
Spotlights and Red Filters on Night Game Drives
Lighting is the most regulated part of a night drive, and it decides how much the animals are disturbed.
The TANAPA rule for national parks sets spotlight strength between 200,000 and 800,000 candlepower, requires filters that cut the light's intensity, and allows a maximum of two spotlights per vehicle. The wording asks for filters; it does not name a colour. Many camps fit red or amber filters anyway, because red light disturbs the night vision of most mammals far less than a white beam. Others use a dimmed white light and rely on technique.
Technique matters more than the filter. A good spotter sweeps rather than holds, finds the animal with the edge of the beam, and moves the light off its face once everyone has seen it. A white beam held on a hunting cat or a fleeing antelope can leave it dazzled and change the outcome of a hunt, which is why responsible guides keep the light low and brief around predators and their prey.
Your own lights follow the same logic. Camera flash is not allowed, and phone torches should stay off once the vehicle is moving. A head torch with a red mode is worth packing for getting in and out of the vehicle without ruining anyone's night vision, yours included.
If you ask an operator one question about a night drive, ask what filter the spotter uses and whether guests are allowed their own lights. The answer tells you a lot about how the drive is run.
Planning a Night Drive Safari Around Your Route
The first decision is where you sleep, because a night drive safari almost always starts from your camp. On a northern route that means a camp inside Tarangire, a camp in Randilen or Burunge, an evening at Lake Manyara, or a stay in the Grumeti or Loliondo areas. On a southern route, any of the main camps in Ruaha or Nyerere can usually arrange one.
Book it early in the stay rather than on the last night. Rain or a missing ranger can cancel a drive, and a spare evening gives you a second chance. Dry season nights from June to October are the most reliable, since heavy rain closes night routes and long wet-season grass hides small animals.
Expect a short night. A drive that ends near 23:00 followed by a 06:00 game drive is hard going, so many travellers ask for a later start the next morning. Dress for real cold in an open vehicle, with a fleece under a windproof layer. Camps often hand out blankets. Evenings near water bring mosquitoes, and night drives fall in the hours malaria mosquitoes bite, so cover up and use repellent.
Families should check ages before booking. TANAPA charges a child rate for ages 5 to 15, so the parks themselves accept children from 5, but individual camps set their own minimum, and some take children only from 12. Ask the camp directly.
Binoculars are more useful than a long lens. Photography is hard on a night drive: the light is dim on purpose and the animal is often leaving. A camera that copes with high ISO and a fast lens give the best chance, though many people end up putting the camera away and simply watching. If photography is the main goal of the trip, daylight drives deserve more of the plan.
Night Game Drive Questions
Can you do a night game drive in the Serengeti?
Not inside Serengeti National Park. Night drives near the Serengeti run on private and community land outside the boundary, mainly the Grumeti reserves in the west and the Loliondo concession areas in the northeast, and you need to stay at a camp there to join one.
Which northern circuit parks allow night game drives?
Tarangire and Lake Manyara. Both sit on TANAPA's night game drive tariff. In Tarangire the drives start from camps inside the park; at Lake Manyara the route runs from the gate area to the hippo pools. The Randilen and Burunge WMAs beside Tarangire also offer them.
How much does a night game drive cost in Tanzania?
In most national parks on the tariff, the TANAPA night game drive fee is US$50 per adult plus 18% VAT, about US$59, and US$25 plus VAT for children aged 5 to 15. Nyerere, Ugalla River and Kigosi charge double: US$100 plus VAT per adult. That fee sits on top of the normal daily park entry fee, and the camp or operator adds its own charge for the vehicle and crew, which varies widely. WMAs charge their own night drive fee instead of the TANAPA one. Always check the quote says which fees it includes.
Is a night game drive safe?
National park night drives run with an armed ranger on board, in open vehicles carrying a first aid kit, on routes the park has approved. You stay seated, keep arms inside the vehicle and follow the guide. Serious incidents on organised night drives are rare.
Do spotlights hurt the animals?
Used badly, a strong white beam can dazzle animals for a while and affect a hunt. The national park rules limit spotlight strength, require filters and allow no more than two lights per vehicle, and good spotters keep the beam off animals' eyes. Red filters reduce disturbance further.
Can children go on a night game drive?
The TANAPA tariff has a child rate from age 5, so parks allow young children, but many camps set a higher minimum age, sometimes 12. The cold and the late finish are the real tests for a child.
Will I see a leopard on a night drive?
Your odds are better than by day because leopard are mostly nocturnal, but nobody can promise one. Small carnivores such as genets and civets are the more dependable sightings, with hippo out of the water near rivers.
Do I need to book a night game drive in advance?
Book it before the day. In national parks the ranger has to be allocated, indemnity forms signed and fees paid before the vehicle leaves, so it is arranged through your operator or camp ahead of the evening, not at dinner.
A night drive works best when the route is built around it, which mostly comes down to choosing the right camps. Tanzania Safari.travel is a marketplace for safaris run by independent tour operators: you can compare the safaris that include a night game drive, along with the site's own guide to the activity on that page, then send your enquiry straight to the operator running the trip you like, with no booking fee added. Tell them in your first message which park or concession you want the night drive in, so they can choose the camps to match.