Our Safari Vehicles
Built for Tanzania and designed for your safari. A great safari starts with the right vehicle.
At RedSoil Safaris we use specially equipped 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser safari vehicles. They are built to handle Tanzania's varied terrain while keeping you comfortable, safe and close to everything around you.
From the open plains of the Serengeti to the rough tracks of the Ngorongoro highlands, our vehicles are prepared for the conditions of a real African safari.
Your window into the wild
Our safari vehicles are designed to give you excellent visibility throughout your journey.
Pop-up safari roof
The raised pop-up roof gives you a clear view of wildlife and the landscape around you. Stand up safely when watching animals and enjoy excellent chances for photography.
Large sliding windows
Large windows give clear views from your seat and let fresh air into the vehicle when conditions allow.
Guaranteed window seat
We believe everyone should have a good view. Our seating is arranged to give each guest a comfortable individual seat with excellent access to the windows.
Safari fridge
A built-in fridge keeps drinking water and refreshments cool throughout your safari.
Charging points
Keep your phone, camera and other essential devices charged while travelling between Tanzania's parks.
4x4 capability
Our Land Cruisers are built for Tanzania's demanding safari roads. Their powerful 4x4 systems let us reach remote areas and cope with rough tracks, muddy roads and uneven ground.
Comfortable interior
Safari days can be long, so comfort matters. Our vehicles have spacious seating, good visibility and practical storage for the things you need during the day.
Your guide, your vehicle, your safari
On a private safari, your professional safari guide is also your driver. Your guide gets to know you, understands what interests you and can shape the experience around your preferences.
Whether you love photography, wildlife, birds, landscapes or simply being in the African wilderness, the vehicle becomes your base for exploring Tanzania.
Safety comes first
Our vehicles are inspected and maintained regularly so they are ready for the conditions in Tanzania's national parks and remote safari areas. We take maintenance seriously, because reliability and safety are essential when you are far from the towns.
Ready for the wild
Tanzania is not a place you simply drive through. It is a place to explore. Our safari vehicles are built to take you deeper into the wilderness, comfortably and safely, so you can focus on what matters most: experiencing Tanzania.
Your adventure starts when you climb into the Land Cruiser.
How a day in the vehicle works
A safari day has a rhythm, and the vehicle is built around it.
You leave camp at first light. The roof goes up as soon as you are inside the park and stays up while you watch animals. When your guide finds something, the engine goes off, and you can stand, sit or lean on the roof edge for as long as the sighting lasts.
Between areas the roof comes down and everyone sits. That is a park rule, not a preference, and it matters most with children. The drives between parks are on rough roads, and seated is the safe way to travel them.
The middle of the day is hot and the animals rest. Most days you return to camp for lunch and a break, then go out again in the late afternoon when the light softens and the cats start to move. On days when the herds are far away, you take a packed lunch and stay out.
The fridge is stocked with water before you leave each morning. Drink more than you think you need. The sun through the open roof is strong, even when the air feels cool.
Photography from the vehicle
The pop-up roof gives you a high, wide angle, which is good for landscapes and for herds. The window gives you a lower angle, which is often better for a single animal, because you are closer to its eye level.
Use both. Tell your guide which you prefer and they will place the vehicle so the light falls where you want it. On a private safari that is easy, because there is nobody else in the vehicle with a different plan.
A beanbag on the window sill or the roof edge steadies a long lens better than a tripod, which does not fit in a vehicle. Bring the cover empty and fill it locally with rice or beans.
Dust is the enemy of a camera sensor. Change lenses inside the vehicle with the windows closed, or bring two bodies and avoid changing at all. A simple dust cover for the camera pays for itself on one dry-season drive.
Charge batteries in the vehicle while you drive. On summit nights and cold crater mornings, batteries drain fast, so keep a spare in an inside pocket.
Dust, heat and cold
Tanzania's parks are dusty in the dry season and muddy in the wet one, and the vehicle deals with both.
On a dusty road your guide will ask you to close the sliding windows when another vehicle passes. Open them again once the dust settles. A light scarf or buff over your nose and mouth helps on the worst stretches.
The open roof lets in sun as well as views. A hat with a brim, sunglasses and sunscreen matter more inside a safari vehicle than most people expect, because a moving vehicle feels cooler than it is.
Mornings can be cold. On the Ngorongoro Crater rim and in the Serengeti between June and August, a dawn drive in an open vehicle needs a fleece and a windproof layer. You will take them off by mid-morning. Keep them in the vehicle rather than in your main bag.
Rules inside the parks
- Stay in the vehicle
- Except at the picnic sites, viewpoints and walking areas your guide points out. Buffalo and lion on open ground are dangerous.
- Roof down when moving
- Between areas of a park and between parks, the roof is closed and everyone is seated.
- Stay on the tracks
- Off-road driving is not allowed in the national parks. It is allowed in parts of the Ndutu area, which sits inside the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
- No feeding, no calling
- Animals are never fed or called closer. Your guide will not do it and will ask you not to.
- Keep your voice down
- Close to a sighting, quiet voices keep the animals relaxed and the sighting longer.
- Night driving
- Not allowed in the parks between seven in the evening and six in the morning, except where night drives are specifically arranged. Lake Manyara is the main one on this circuit.
Luggage and space
The vehicle carries your main bags in the back and your daypack with you. Soft bags fit far better than hard cases, and if any leg of your trip is by light aircraft a soft bag is required anyway.
Keep the things you use during the day in the vehicle, not in your main bag. That means a camera, binoculars, sunscreen, a hat, a warm layer for the morning, and any medication you take during the day.
There is room for the small purchases people make on the way, such as a carving from Mto wa Mbu or a kanga from a market. Very large items are best sent home separately.
If you are travelling with children, tell us their ages when you enquire. It changes how we arrange the seating.
Vehicle and guide on a private safari
Every RedSoil safari runs in its own vehicle with its own guide. You do not share with other guests, and the day is shaped around you.
That changes more than it sounds. You decide when to leave in the morning. You decide how long to stay at a sighting. If the light is good and the cheetah is patient, you stay. If a road is slow and everyone is tired, you turn back early. Nobody else in the vehicle is waiting for a different plan.
The same guide drives you from the first morning to the last. By the third day they know whether you want birds or big cats, whether you prefer to be out at dawn or to have a slower breakfast, and which seat you like.
If you would like a particular set-up, such as a vehicle with the front seat free for photography, say so when you enquire and we will tell you what is possible.