Every safari quote has a line in it that has nothing to do with the operator who sold it to you. Park fees are set by the government body that manages the land, published on a public tariff, and paid whether you book with a large company, a small one, or arrange your own vehicle at the gate.
This article sets out what those fees actually are at the time of writing, who has the authority to set them, what they are supposed to fund, and why a lower quote never comes from a discount on this part of the bill. The figures below are dated deliberately, because tariffs are revised and this page will need revisiting.
The short answer
Tanzania’s park fees are set by TANAPA and, for Ngorongoro, by the NCAA — not by any tour operator. At the time of writing (September 2026), Serengeti costs USD 82.60 per adult per day at peak, Ngorongoro adds a USD 295 crater vehicle fee, and every price already includes 18% VAT.
2025/26 non-resident park fees (per person per 24 hours, VAT included)| Park / area | Adult | Child (5–15) | Notes |
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| Serengeti National Park (peak) | USD 82.60 | USD 23.60 | — |
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| Serengeti National Park (15 Mar – 15 May) | USD 70.80 | USD 23.60 | Low season rate |
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| Tarangire / Lake Manyara National Parks | USD 59.00 | USD 17.70 | — |
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| Ngorongoro Conservation Area | USD 70.80 | USD 23.60 | Plus USD 295 per vehicle to descend into the crater |
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What the fees are: the 2025/26 tariff
At the time of writing (September 2026), Serengeti National Park charges a non-resident adult USD 82.60 per 24 hours in peak season, dropping to USD 70.80 between 15 March and 15 May, its quietest stretch. A child aged 5 to 15 pays USD 23.60 at either rate, and under-5s are not charged.
Tarangire and Lake Manyara run on a single tariff: USD 59.00 for an adult, USD 17.70 for a child. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area charges USD 70.80 per adult, USD 23.60 per child, and if your route takes you down into the crater itself there is a separate service fee of USD 295 per vehicle, split between however many people are riding in it.
Every one of those figures already includes 18% VAT — it is not added afterwards. Source: the published TANAPA tariff and the NCAA’s own tariff page, ncaa.go.tz/tariffs. Tariffs are reviewed periodically, so treat this table as a snapshot rather than a permanent price.
Who sets them: TANAPA and the NCAA
TANAPA, the Tanzania National Parks Authority, manages Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the rest of the national park system, and sets the entry tariff for all of them on one published schedule. No individual park charges its own rate outside that schedule.
Ngorongoro is a separate case. It is not a national park but a Conservation Area, governed by the NCAA — the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority — under a multiple-land-use mandate that also covers the Maasai communities who live and graze livestock inside its boundary. That is why its tariff is published separately from TANAPA’s, and why the crater descent carries its own fee on top.
Neither authority answers to a tour operator, and neither publishes a wholesale rate for operators that differs from the public tariff. What you see on the published tariff is what every vehicle at the gate is charged, ours included.
What they fund
TANAPA and the NCAA both describe the same broad purpose for the money: park management, ranger salaries and anti-poaching patrols, and the upkeep of roads, airstrips and visitor infrastructure inside the parks — the graded tracks your vehicle drives on and the gate you check in at are part of what the fee pays for.
Neither authority publishes a detailed public breakdown of exactly how each dollar splits between patrols, roads, staffing and central government revenue, and we do not hold that breakdown either — it is not information a tour operator is given access to. What is documented is the purpose, not the arithmetic.
What we can say plainly is what the fee is not: it is not a service charge for anything the operator provides. The vehicle, the guide, the fuel and the camp are priced separately, and the park fee passes through to the authority in full. If you want to see the money’s purpose in the ground rather than on a tariff page, the graded roads, the ranger posts at junctions and the gate infrastructure at every entrance are the visible end of it.
Why no operator can discount them
A published, government-set tariff leaves no room to negotiate. Every operator — us included — pays the same fee for the same park on the same day, whether the booking is for one vehicle or twenty. There is no operator rate, no loyalty discount and no off-season deal on the fee itself, even when the accommodation around it is discounted heavily.
That matters when you compare quotes. If two itineraries cover the same parks for the same number of days and one is markedly cheaper, the difference is not coming from the park fees — it has to be coming from the vehicle, the guide, the camp, or the group size. Park fees are the one line every honest quote has in common.
It also means we cannot waive them as a gesture of goodwill, however much we might want to on a guest’s last morning in the Serengeti. The fee belongs to TANAPA or the NCAA before it belongs to anyone else, and it is paid to them directly, not kept as part of what we charge for the trip.
Where the rest of your money goes
On a mid-range itinerary, park and conservation fees can add up to a meaningful share of what you pay for each day in the bush — sometimes close to a third of the daily cost, depending on the park and the level of camp around it. On a lower-cost camp the share is proportionally larger; on an ultra-luxury lodge it shrinks, because the accommodation itself costs more while the fee stays fixed.
The rest goes where you would expect: the vehicle and fuel, a guide’s wages, the camp or lodge, meals, and — for us — the margin that keeps an operator running. None of that is set by government tariff, so it is the part of a quote worth comparing between operators.
If you want the exact split for your own itinerary rather than a general rule, ask. A quote that cannot show you roughly how much of it is park fees, and how much is everything else, is not being fully transparent with you, and the split changes meaningfully between a five-day Tarangire trip and a longer route through several parks.
Find a journey and we will break down a real quote the same way.
Questions people ask
How much are Serengeti National Park fees for tourists?
At the time of writing (September 2026), USD 82.60 per adult per 24 hours in peak season, and USD 70.80 between 15 March and 15 May. Children aged 5–15 pay USD 23.60; under-5s enter free. All figures include 18% VAT.
How much does it cost to visit the Ngorongoro Crater?
The conservation area fee is USD 70.80 per adult per 24 hours, the same as the wider Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Descending into the crater itself adds a separate service fee of USD 295 per vehicle, regardless of how many people are in it.
How much are Tarangire and Lake Manyara park fees?
USD 59.00 per adult per 24 hours, USD 17.70 for a child aged 5–15, at the time of writing (September 2026). Both parks are set by TANAPA on the same tariff.
Do children pay park entry fees in Tanzania?
Children under 5 enter free at TANAPA parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Children aged 5 to 15 pay a reduced child rate, roughly a third of the adult fee depending on the park.
Are park fees included in the price of a Tanzania safari?
Almost always, yes. An operator pays the fee to TANAPA or the NCAA on your behalf and includes it in your quoted price; it is a pass-through cost, not something added to cover the operator’s own margin.
Who sets Tanzania's national park entry fees?
TANAPA, the Tanzania National Parks Authority, sets fees for Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the country’s other national parks. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is governed separately by the NCAA, which sets its own tariff.
Can a safari operator discount Tanzania's park fees?
No. The fees are set by government authority and published on the same tariff for every operator and every independent traveller. A quote that looks cheaper on park fees specifically is either miscounting days, or cutting the cost somewhere else.
What do Tanzania's park fees pay for?
Park management, ranger patrols and anti-poaching work, and the maintenance of roads, airstrips and visitor infrastructure inside the parks, according to TANAPA and NCAA’s own published purpose for the tariff.
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Last updated 13 September 2026
