The Big Five : Game Safari in Tanzania

Some journeys begin with meticulous planning, Others begin with chaos, delayed flights, sprinting through terminals, and a four-year-old asking, “Pappa… are we still going to see Samba?”
Our Big Five safari in Tanzania was exactly that: chaotic, magical, unpredictable, and deeply personal. A trip we took as a family—my wife, our 4 year old daughter and our friends Abhishek & Anushka. A trip where the wild wasn’t just outside the vehicle—it was also in the way events unfolded. We just didn’t go on a safari.
We lived through a story we’ll be telling for years.

Chapter 1: Misadventures: The Route That Chose Us

We were supposed to fly into Kenya (Bangalore>Mumbai>Nairobi) and enter Tanzania (Nairobi>Arusha) comfortably by road with our friends, who were flying from Europe and meeting us at Nairobi Airport. But travel, like the animals we were going to see, has a mind of its own.
A missed Kenya flight at the worst possible moment owing to Bangalore traffic at peak office hour and sudden rains. Long faces all around—especially our daughter, who had already planned conversations with giraffes. A frantic search at the airport, refreshing booking websites like stock traders and then, we found the Ethiopian Airlines flight via Addis Ababa → Dar es Salaam. From DAR, we booked a same-day domestic hop to Arusha, our safari base.
It wasn’t the plan. But looking back, it was perfect.Flying over the blue stretch of the Indian Ocean before entering Africa’s golden savannah felt like we were moving from one world into another.

Chapter 2: A Birthday in the Wild – The Most Heartfelt Surprise

Our daughter turned a year older right in the middle of the Tanzanian wilderness. We had planned a simple cake. What the hotel staff planned was something else entirely. A Cultural Celebration We’ll Never Forget As the sun dipped over the savannah, the lodge team walked toward us singing in Swahili—bringing drums, dancing rhythms, and a handmade cake. They made her the centre of everything: joyful tribal songs, rhythmic dancing and clapping that echoed through the dusk. Her eyes sparkled in a way no toy, no party hall, no theme cake could ever recreate. The staff went above and beyond—not because they had to, but because it’s who they are. Generous, joyful, and proud of their culture. It became the most beautiful birthday memory of her childhood. And ours.