Going on Safari in Tanzania

In August 2008, I went to Tanzania to visit a few of the legendary national parks: Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Lake Manyara and Tarangire.

Why Tanzania?

I can't speak from experience since this is the only place I went on Safari, but from my pre-trip research it seemed that Tanzania has some of the least spoiled national parks, as the Safari industry has developped later than in South Africa or Kenya. Not sure how true this is, but in any case we found the Parks to be immaculate and developed in a very respectful manner

When to go?

August is the middle of the dry season. This has a few advantages (no mosquitoes, no rain) but it also means you won't see the large herds of wilderbeest (=gnus) and zebras in the plains of the Serengeti. You will see these animals, just not the huge numbers you can see there in January.
From discussions with locals, it seems that February is an interesting time to go, as there are many calves and cubs, and the grass is green, so it is much easier to spot the animals that are optimized to blend in with the golden grass of the dry season (most big cats. gazelles, etc.)
If you want to experience the migrations of 1M+ wilderbeest, you should go to Serengeti in May when they start their movement northwards. You may be treated to a "river crossing" although there is a lot of luck involved there, as the crossing times are pretty random.

Medical considerations

Before you go to East Africa, you probably need to update your immunizations, and possibly take prophylactics while you are there. Check the CDC website for requirements and recommendations. We were there during the dry season so although I took Malarone (a no-side effect antimalarial drug), it was probably useless as there were barely any mosquitoes. We also brought DEET and stopped using it after the first two days. This may be different if you are going during the rainy season, however.
For personal comfort bring lots of sunscreen, and I wish I had brought saline solution for my eyes and nose. It is very dusty, and rather windy during the dry season, so your nose and eyes dry up badly.