Tanzania Roadside Expeditions provide more than high quality accommodations and services. They also need high quality safari guides who are knowledgeable in multiple disciplines, speak clear English, are excellent teachers and communicators, experienced and professionally trained in all safety related matters, and have a high degree of integrity. All Tanzania Roadside Expeditions guides embody these various criteria and are creative, flexible, know how to quickly adapt and tweak itineraries to best meet a specific group’s needs and interests, are tuned into group dynamics, make customer service a high priority, and understand its guests physical, emotional and intellectual needs. Tanzania Roadside Expeditions guides meet all of these professional standards and expectations and adhere to the highest professional standards.
Tanzania Roadside Expeditions Guide Credentials, Certification, and Training
All Tanzania Roadside Expeditions guides meet the stringent guidelines set by the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (TATO) that require tour guide certification and professional training. The accreditation process requires a compulsory certificate to be a registered Tanzanian tour guide with special training from one of the tour guide training colleges in Tanzania. TATO requires tour guides to have experience in the field, a valid drivers license, and a first-aid certificate. Tanzania Roadside Expeditions guides exceed these expectations by employing safari guides with 10-20 years of experience and requires its guides to participate in on-going training in all safety procedures. These requirements and guidelines are necessary to promote the professionalism of Tanzania Roadside Expeditions guides, meet customer service expectations, and adhere to a professional code of ethics.
Specialists in the Serengeti
All Tanzania Roadside Expeditions guides have a depth of knowledge of the Serengeti’s diverse physical, cultural and naturalistic features. They must be experts in its physical geographical, geological, ecological, and topographical features. In addition, they must understand how human and wildlife cultures have adapted to live and survive in its remote region. Through Tanzania Roadside Expeditions cultural immersion and cultural studies program, people of all ages can become familiar with the diverse ethnic communities living throughout the African bush.
They also need a depth and breadth of knowledge about the indigenous flora and fauna, the hunting, living patterns and habits of the Serengeti’s diverse range of animal species and their predators including: The Big Five ( rhino, elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard), hippopotamus, wildebeest, gazelle, zebra, hyena, jackal, hare, dik-dik , mongoose, warthog, hedgehog, cheetah, waterbuck, hartebeest, impala, giraffe, marabou stork, hornbill, bustard, crowned crane, vulture, flamingo, ostrich, crocodile, aquatic species, primates including the vervet and colobus monkey, blue monkey, baboon, and chimpanzee all of whose natural habitats are in the Serengeti and throughout Tanzania.
Tanzania Roadside Expeditions guides must also be highly knowledgeable about various aspects of the Great Migration in which 2.5 million wildebeest, zebra and antelope follow the water and rainfall cycle over their 600 mile treacherous annual journey which mysteriously and instinctually moves in-mass in a circular clockwise motion through the Serengeti throughout the year. At any given time of the year, the guides knows exactly where the migration is located. The Great Migration ensures that every season is “high season” for travelers in the Serengeti as this scenic spectacle of life unfolds continuously as the migration predictably relocates and rotates to specific locations.
Specialists in Specific Locations Throughout Tanzania
In addition to knowledge about the Serengeti, Tanzania Roadside Expeditions eclectic guide team also specialize in other areas of the Tanzanian landscape, its wildlife preserves, and its other National Parks and Game Reserves. This diverse landscape includes extinct and live volcano’s, numerous mountains, lakes, beaches, and plantations. Tanzania Roadside Expeditions also employs gorilla trackers and some of the most highly skilled mountain climbers in Tanzania as safari guides.