Going to Tanzania in September with my wife and three year old for three weeks. Would like to spend a day or two in Dar Es Salaam, head to Zanzibar for a few days to check out Stone Town and enjoy the beach, and then spend a week or two in the North (the crater, Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Oldevai gorge etc.) and South (Selous Game Reserve).
Any recommendations for family friendly safari hotels, places I’ve not mentioned above that I should visit, souvenirs/arts/crafts I should buy, safety tips etc.
We’re having a day layover on the way back in Amsterdam. I haven’t been there since my “Flying Pig” hostel days in my early 20s 
. Any recommendations on a nice, central four or five star hotel ?
Don’t bother with Dar Es Salaam, go straight to Zanzibar. East coast of Zanzibar is great for open and remote beaches, etc.
Zanzibar town itself has heaps of history and culture (Arabs, slavers, spice merchants, etc).
And use Arusha as a starting point for safari tours through Ngorogoro and the Masaai highlands including Serengeti. Arusha itself is a bit of a dump, and can be dangerous after dark.
Small vehicle safari tours (4-6 people in a landrover, especially an open sided landrover), are better for game viewing than a big bus.
never been to Selous so I can’t say, but I heartily recommend Malawi as an added side trip, especially Cape McClear and other parts around the rocky coast of Lake Malawi. Much of the main part of Tanzania is so absolutely miserably poor in comparison to both Zanzibar and Malawi that it’s heart wrenching.
Money is hard to withdraw from banks almost anywhere: take sufficient cash with you. Don’t give anything to beggars and street urchins, or you will immediately be surrounded by thousands of the fuckers.
have fun!
Totally agree with Urodacus! Avoid Dar Es Salaam altogether and be VERY careful in Arusha. It is quite a dangerous place and people even get physically attacked sometimes for their money wallets they wear under their clothing.
I would make sure to stay in top notch hotels throughout your trip (even in Zanzibar) for safety reasons.
And I second that about Malawi as well. I lived there for a couple of years and it is a very beautiful place. However, it can also be fairly dangerous as times and there is very little infrastructure, so keep your wits about you if you go and put safety first ALWAYS. Again, it is another place that I would shell out for nice hotels.
Yeah we’ll be staying in top notch places for the trip and plan to stay at game lodges such as Serena Lodge for some of the trip -They are georgous but at 1K a night quite expensive. Are there cheaper alternatives at like 300 or 400 a night in the north? Is it better to wait til I get to Arusha to find a safari camp at a cheaper price? A friend of mine did that for sabi sands in South Africa (waited til he was in country) and it was half the price. It seems like the game lodges in the south are cheaper at like 300 or 400 a night for some cool bush lodges. In zanzibar, there are lots of nice places for a few hundred a night. Out of 21 days, how many days should I be safari lodging it?
I haven’t been to Tanzania and Zanzibar since the late 90’s so I’m not sure about what’s available now in terms of lodging, but I can tell you from experience that you probably want to spend about 5 days (or more) doing a safari. We did a 5-day safari, it was perfect. We hit all of the places that you mentioned in your first post.
We arranged our safari in Arusha. In 1999, it cost us $85 per person per night for the full thing, food and all, sleeping in tents (the hardcore days!). I can imagine it would be significantly more nowadays and for nice digs.
Africa can be very, very expensive when it’s not on a shoestring! But totally worth it. 
Are you referring to Taiwan dollars? If you are, that’s extremely cheap!!!
Are you referring to Taiwan dollars? If you are, that’s extremely cheap!!![/quote]
Yankee greenbacks. For some, it’s like 800 us each (2400). Might book my one night in DES online, as well as 3 or 4 in Zanzibar and then shop around in Arusha for a good 5 day one as you suggest.
Ok, that price makes far more sense, ha!
You will get a safari significantly cheaper if you book in Arusha. Your plan sounds good.
Also, wherever you go, it is a good idea to arrange for your hotel to pick you up / drop you off to avoid problems. In other words, I would avoid airport taxis or just about any public taxi if possible. Lots of people have horrid experiences with them. I have had a few bad experiences myself where I feared for my personal safety and thought my bags were going to get stolen by the driver (in Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia).