A Tanzanian safari company near Arusha, planning private safaris and Kilimanjaro climbs with Tanzanian guides.
Carnivores Safaris is a Tanzanian safari company based near Arusha, formerly known as Carnival Safaris. We plan private safaris in Tanzania's northern parks, Kilimanjaro climbs and beach days on Zanzibar, and we cross into Kenya for travellers who want both countries.
Lucas John Mhina was born and raised in Arusha, and he has been leading trips in East Africa since 1999.
He studied hospitality and tourism at the University of East London and tourism and tour guiding at Strathmore College in Nairobi, and trained in tour leading and first aid in South Africa. He has also guided groups for international travel companies, among them Road Scholar's Tanzania and Great East African Migration programme, run by Holbrook Travel.
On safari his first interest is ecology: the birds and wildlife of East Africa, and sharing what he knows about them with the people he travels with.
English, Swahili
Our guides are Tanzanian. They know these parks, the animals and the people who live around them, and they share what no guidebook tells you: where the herds were last week, why a lion is resting on that kopje, how a Maasai family starts its day.
Each safari is built for the people travelling. If you already know where you want to go, we will suggest how best to combine those places. If you don't, tell us what you hope to see and how you like to travel, and we will suggest where to start. We look after the details: activities, lodges and camps, transfers.
Game drives are in customised 4x4 Land Cruisers with a pop-up roof you can stand up under, large sliding windows and a window seat for everyone. We keep our own vehicles rather than hiring them in, so the standard stays the same from one safari to the next.
Someone is on call 24 hours a day while you are with us, and we are there before you travel and after you get home.
The company was founded by Lucas J. Mhina and Edith Mhina, and a small team in Arusha handles operations, reservations and accounts. Meet our guides on the guides page.
Tell us your dates and what you hope to see, and we will reply with ideas for your trip.