TANZANIA DESTINATIONS
NORTHERN CIRCUIT
ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK
With an area of 137 sq. km, Arusha National Park is one of the smallest and most beautiful National Parks in Tanzania. Situated only 37 km from Arusha town, the park is very popular for day trips. The Ngurdoto Crater, Momela Lakes, the highland montane forest, and the rugged Mount Meru (4575 m above sea level) are the four distinctive features of the park. Mt. Kilimanjaro, towering at 5895 m to the east, can be visible on clear days from many locations in the park. One of the unique attractions of the park is the opportunity to combine game drives and a nature walk in the many places where visitors can leave their safari vehicles and walk in the fresh air.
The most common animals found in this park are the Abyssinian black and white colobus monkeys, the Vervet monkeys, the red forest duikers, hippos, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, bushbucks, and sometimes the leopard. More than 400 species of birds have been recorded in the park including Eurasian migrants, which can be seen between October and April. Mount Meru 4575 m can be scaled in three to four days, with overnight accommodation in alpine huts on your way up and down.
TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
Tarangire National Park lies 120 km south of Arusha, along The Great North Road highway, and is very popular for day trips from the town. Tarangire offers a wide variety of wildlife in its area of 2,850 sq. km. As in all ecosystems, the vegetation and the types of animals you find are closely correlated. The principal features of the park are the flood plains and the grassland, mainly comprising various types of acacia trees, and a few scattered baobabs, tamarind, and sausage trees.
The Tarangire River, after which the park is named, provides the only permanent water for wildlife in the area. When the Maasai Steppes dry up with the end of the long rains in June, migratory animals return to the Tarangire River, making Tarangire National Park second only to Ngorongoro in the concentration of wildlife. This period stretches between June and October and it is the best season for game viewing in Tarangire. The most common animals found in the park include zebras, wildebeest, lions, leopards, waterbucks, giraffes, elephants, gazelles, impala, gerenuk, lesser kudu, and the beautiful fringe-eared oryx. You may be lucky to spot the tree-climbing python, for which the park is famous, or the greater kudu and the roan antelope which are rare species in Northern Tanzania. Over 550 bird species have been recorded in the Park.
SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
Covering an area of 14,763 sq. km, Serengeti National Park is the second largest National Park in Tanzania after Ruaha. The park is located some 320 km to the northwest of Arusha, lying in a high plateau between the Ngorongoro highlands and the Kenya/ Tanzania border, and extending almost to Lake Victoria to the west. Aptly named “endless plains” by the Maasai people, you immediately experience this vastness as you enter the southeastern plains of the park from Ngorongoro.
Declared a protected area in 1921 and gazetted as a National park in 1951, Serengeti is the oldest National Park in Tanzania and undoubtedly one of the most famous wildlife sanctuaries in the world. The principal features of the Serengeti are the short and long grass plains in the south and east, the acacia Savannah in the central areas, the hilly and densely wooded areas in the north, and the extensive woodland in the west.
There is a variety of scenery, which includes plains, lakes, hills, and rock outcrops called kopjes. The main game drive areas in the Serengeti are the Seronera Valley, the Western Corridor, and Lobo or northern Serengeti. The Seronera Valley in central Serengeti endowed with permanent surface water attracts a large concentration of wildlife throughout the year. Common animals that can be seen here are lions, buffaloes, impalas, hippos, waterbucks, elephants, cheetahs, and the leopard. From December, when the long rains start, to May, eastern Serengeti plains provide the best opportunities for game viewing as hundreds of thousands of migratory animals are concentrated in this part attracted by the short palatable grass.
Between May and July, when drought sets in, Serengeti is the site of one of the most breathtaking events in the animal kingdom – the migration of thousands of wildebeest heading southwest, north, or west in search of water and greener pastures. The Lobo area remains rich in wildlife during the dry months of August to November when most of the game has moved from the grass plains in the south. This is also true of the Western Corridor towards Lake Victoria when the migration usually lingers in the area between June and July. Serengeti provides sanctuary to the highest concentration of plains animals in the world. Survey estimates indicate an animal population of over 4 million including 3,000 lions, 1,600,000 wildebeest, 300,000 Thomson‘s and Grant‘s gazelle, and 500,000 zebras. There are over 400 species of birds in the Serengeti.
NGORONGORO CRATER & NDUTU AREA
A UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area is situated some 190 km. west of Arusha, between Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks. Covering approximately 8,292 square km, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area consists of the Ngorongoro Crater itself, the Olduvai Gorge and Ndutu, the Empakai Crater, and the Oldonyo Lengai Mountain. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a pioneering experiment in multi-purpose land use where people (the Maasai), their livestock, and wildlife coexist and share the same protected habitat. Wild animals are protected in the National Parks. The craters of Ngorongoro and Empakai are reserved exclusively for wildlife, while the rest of the Conservation Area is shared by wildlife, people, and livestock. The Maasai, the main residents of Ngorongoro, are pastoralists who move widely with their herds of cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys in search of pasture and water. In recent years the Maasai have been encouraged to work on the land and supplement their traditional diet of milk and meat.
The Ngorongoro Crater, which is the central attraction in the area, is the largest Caldera in the world that has its walls intact. The Ngorongoro Crater floor, a sheer drop of 610 meters below the crater rim, has an area of 304 sq. km, with a diameter of 19 km. The sight of the Ngorongoro Crater is simply stunning. “It is impossible to give a fair description of the size and beauty of the Crater, for there is nothing with which one can compare it. It is one of the Wonders of the World…” once wrote Professor Bernhard Grzimek. The crater floor is home to tens of thousands of plains animals, including wildebeest, zebra, gazelles, elands, and a large predator population of lions, hyenas,s, and jackals which can all be viewed at close quarters. The rare black rhino can be viewed here, and if you are lucky you can see cheetah and leopard. The rainy season is between November and May. The altitude at the crater rim is about 2286 meters above sea level, and temperatures can get quite chilly in the evening, especially between May to September.
NDUTU
Ndutu is located in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, in the southeastern plains of the Serengeti ecosystem. The plains around Ndutu are the main holding ground for migratory animals where vast herds congregate and linger for more than four months, from December to April, before they start moving across the Serengeti in search of greener pastures and water. Ndutu area forms an important part of the Serengeti ecosystem, in particular the short grass plains which provide calving grounds for wildebeest and other migratory animals.
LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK
Located 125 km west of Arusha town, nestling by the wall of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the oldest and most popular sanctuaries in East Africa. The park has a large variety of habitats, making it possible to support a wealth of wildlife in its small area. The main habitats include the shallow soda lake itself which occupies 77% of the National Park's total area of 330 sq. km, the ground water forest, open grassland, acacia woodland, and the rift wall.
The most famous spectacle in the park is the tree-climbing lions, which are occasionally seen along branches of acacia trees. Other animals found in the park include buffalo, elephants, leopards, baboons, impala, giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich, and hippos. Popularly referred to as an ornithologist’s paradise, Lake Manyara National Park contains over 400 bird species found in most savanna and river habitats in East Africa. Common water birds to be seen here are pelicans, spoonbills, Egyptian geese, hammerkops, and the migratory flamingoes, which arrive in hundreds of thousands creating one of Africa’s great natural sights over the soda lake.
SOUTHERN CIRCUIT
MIKUMI NATIONAL PARK
Sharing a common border and ecosystem with Selous Game Reserve to the south, Mikumi National Park is only a three to four hours drive from Dar es Salaam, lying astride the main highway to Zambia, and en route to the National Parks of the Udzungwa Mountains, Ruaha, and Kitulo. The main feature of the park is the Mikumi flood plain, along with the mountain ranges that border the park on two sides. Open grasslands dominate in the flood plain, eventually merging with the miombo woodland covering the lower hills.
Mikumi National Park covers an area of 3,230 sq km and is rich in wildlife including buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, lion, elephant, impala, hippos, baboon, giraffe, warthog, waterbuck, and eland which can be viewed throughout the year. Reptiles including crocodiles, monitor lizards and pythons are also resident in the park. Other animals that can be sighted although rare are the Sable Antelope resident in the southern part of the park bordering the Selous, the Greater Kudu, leopard, and the wild dog also known as the African Hunting Dog. More than 400 bird species have been recorded, including European migrants during the rainy season.
Mikumi National Park is one the most popular visitor points sold from our Dar es Salaam branch office. Being close to Dar es Salaam on a good road, day trips are popular, especially for those who have little time to spend an overnight there. But it is recommended to spend at least a night in Mikumi to enjoy a fulfilling game drive in this beautiful park. Several accommodation facilities are available in Mikumi.
SELOUS / NYERERE NATIONAL PARK
Nyerere National Park is the northeastern part of the huge Selous Game Reserve set aside for photographic safaris, which was upgraded to national park status in November 2019. The park was named after the first president of Tanzania, Mr Julius Nyerere (late), in recognition for championing the conservation and protection of wildlife in the country. Nyerere National Park is one of the most beautiful and game-rich areas in the ecosystem of Selous Game Reserve, spanning the Rufiji River basin in southeastern Tanzania.
With an area of about 30,893sqkm, Nyerere National Park is the largest national park in Africa. It is perhaps one of the most pristine wildernesses remaining in Africa, with a wide variety of wildlife habitats, including open grasslands, Miombo woodlands, swamps, and riverine forests in the many tributaries of the mighty Rufiji River which flows through the National Park to the Indian Ocean.
Its wildlife is spectacular, with some of the largest populations of mammals and reptiles in Africa, including buffaloes, elephants, hippos, and crocodiles which can be seen here. Nyerere National Park, together with the remaining part of Selous Game Reserve, is considered to be the last stronghold of the African wild dog. Other common wildlife includes the wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, eland, the greater kudu, sable antelopes, black rhino, waterbuck, impala, lion, leopard, spotted hyena, cheetah, baboon, vervet and blue monkey, and the black and white colobus monkey which can be viewed in riverine forests. About 440 species of birds both resident and migratory have been observed in the national park.
Nyerere National Park is located in southeastern Tanzania, bordered by Mikumi National Park to the northwest and Udzungwa Mountains National Park to the west.
The park offers a wide variety of game viewing opportunities including the thrilling experience of a walking safari in the company of an armed ranger. The many waterways in the park provide an excellent natural setting for boat safaris, both for big game viewing and bird watching. This is in addition to the game drives in specially designed safari vehicles which, combined with boat and walking safaris, offer an exciting and rich game viewing itinerary unique to Nyerere National Park. The best time to visit is from June to October. During the long rains, between March and May, some parts of the park are temporarily closed for game drives due to poor accessibility.
RUAHA NATIONAL PARK
Ruaha National Park takes its name from the Ruaha River, which flows along its southeastern border. The river provides permanent water in the park, and during the dry season animal concentration along its banks is spectacular. Ruaha National Park is about two to three hours' drive from Iringa, a famous town on the Dar es Salaam to Zambia highway. Covering an area of 20,226 square kilometers, Ruaha is the largest National Park in Tanzania. Its borders were extended in 2008 to include the Usangu Game Reserve to protect the Ihefu wetlands and the Great Ruaha River catchment areas and biodiversity.
This unspoiled wilderness is rich in flora and fauna and contains a wide variety of animals including Greater and Lesser Kudu, roan, and sable antelopes, which are rarely seen in most other game parks, especially in Northern Tanzania. Ruaha National Park is famous for its herds of elephants and buffaloes. The Ruaha River, which plays an important role in the ecosystem of the park, provides sanctuary to a large number of hippos and crocodiles. During the dry season, the river attracts great quantities of game including lions, leopards, hunting or wild dogs, impala, waterbuck, warthog, giraffe, and elands. In the plains ostriches, cheetahs and Grants Gazelles can be seen. The park is rich in bird life throughout the year, with over 450 bird species recorded. The best time for game viewing is during the dry season, from May to December. During the wet months from January to April some tracks become impassable.
UDZUNGWA MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK
Harboring one of East Africa’s great forests, Udzungwa Mountain National Park has an area of 1990 sq km, bordered by the Great Ruaha River to the north, with Mikumi National Park and Selous Game Reserve located further to the north and east. Protected as a national forest reserve until 1992 when it was commissioned as National Park, Udzungwa Mountains is undoubtedly one of the few true virgin and unique forested lands remaining in the world. The major attractions include its biologically diverse forest, harboring some plant species found nowhere else in the world, from a tiny African violet to 30-meter-high trees.
Apart from the forest, which acts as a water catchment area and has a large number of endemic species of both animals and plants, the park has spectacular mountain scenery, grasslands, rocks, rivers, and waterfalls. One of the most interesting sights is the presence of two indigenous species of primates, the Iringa red colobus monkey and the Sanje Crested Mangabey, not known until 1979. Apart from providing habitat to about six species of primates, its plateau contains populations of elephants, buffalos, lions, leopards, African hunting dogs, and several forest bird species.
Walking safaris to the Sanje River waterfalls (170 meters) is one of the popular activities in this park. The Udzungwa Mountains can conveniently be combined with game drives in nearby Mikumi National Park, an hour's drive to the north, or be included in the Ruaha National Park (4-5 hours drive) and Selous Game Reserve itineraries. The park can be visited throughout the year although it is a bit slippery during the wet rainy season. The dry season extends from June to October.