Profile of Tanzania
Tanzania is the most visited country in East Africa and with good reason. It has it all; white sand beaches with powder soft sand, lush forests with over 10 species of primates, enormous mountains, stunning islands….the list is endless. Most importantly, it is a safe destination to visit with family and hasn’t had any war since attaining it’s Independence from Britain in 1961.
Located in the Africa’s Great Lakes region, Tanzania is home to 50 million people who can’t wait to welcome you to their inner circles and treat you to unforgettable adventures.
Glorified as the “Land of the Endless Plains” it occupies 947,303 km2 between the shores of Lake Victoria and the shimmering silver-blue strand of the Indian Ocean. Tanzania is the home to the exotic spice isle of Zanzibar and the magnificent snow-capped dome of Mount Kilimanjaro. Standing at an elevation of 5,895 m (19,341 ft) above sea level, it is Africa’s highest Mountain and the most visited free standing mountain in the world, attracting over 50,000 tourists annually.
Tanzanian major attractions include the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’ one of the largest volcanic craters in the world, sheltering a magical ‘land that time forgot’ the Ngorongoro Crater. This 3.5 Million year old gem is a microcosm of Africa with a concentration of wildlife and close-range viewing opportunities that is unrivaled.
Unlike most parks where you have to wait for three days to see all the Big 5 animals, at Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park you can see them all them in one hour. Covering 14,750 km2 (5,700 sq mi), it is an endless flat plain with short grass that makes it very easy to view wildlife. In their midst are rocks where lions hide while waiting for their prey. In the rainy season, the grass is green. In the dry season, it turns golden brown. Here, the annual wildebeest migration roars to like as over 3 million animals cross over to Kenya’s Masai Mara Reserve in search for fresh food/grass.
Unforgettably beautiful, the pristine Beaches off the coast of Tanzania floats the fabulous Spice Islands of Zanzibar and Pemba where the ancient Swahili culture flourishes almost unchanged. Here, you will find silver beaches and clear blue sea. There are spice gardens and sultan’s palaces. During a city tour, you can wander through the ancient lanes of stone town with its antique emporium, ‘House of Wonders’, Dr Livingstone’s house, old slave market and Arab Fort.
Best time to visit
The dry season from late June to October is worth a star recommendation for wildlife viewing for parks in the Western and Southern circuits. Parks in the other regions can be visited any time of the year.
If you particularly want to witness the wildebeest migration in Serengeti National Park, June and July won’t disappoint you. The best time to see wildebeest calving is late January to end of February.
TANZANIA NATIONAL PARKS.
LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK
Stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty-gold 600-metre high Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”.
The compact game-viewing circuit through Manyara offers a virtual microcosm of the Tanzanian safari experience.
From the entrance gate, the road winds through an expanse of lush jungle-like groundwater forest where hundred-strong baboon troops lounge nonchalantly along the roadside, blue monkeys scamper nimbly between the ancient mahogany trees, dainty bushbuck tread warily through the shadows, and outsized forest hornbills honk cacophonously in the high canopy.
Contrasting with the intimacy of the forest is the grassy floodplain and its expansive views eastward, across the alkaline lake, to the jagged blue volcanic peaks that rise from the endless Maasai Steppes. Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds congregate on these grassy plains, as do giraffes – some so dark in coloration that they appear to be black from a distance.
Inland of the floodplain, a narrow belt of acacia woodland is the favoured haunt of Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions and impressively tusked elephants. Squadrons of banded mongoose dart between the acacias, while the diminutive Kirk’s dik-dik forages in their shade. Pairs of klipspringer are often seen silhouetted on the rocks above a field of searing hot springs that steams and bubbles adjacent to the lakeshore in the far south of the park.
Manyara provides the perfect introduction to Tanzania’s birdlife. More than 400 species have been recorded, and even a first-time visitor to Africa might reasonably expect to observe 100 of these in one day. Highlights include thousands of pink-hued flamingos on their perpetual migration, as well as other large waterbirds such as pelicans, cormorants and storks.
ACTIVITIES.
- Game drives
- Night game drives
- canoeing when the water levels is sufficiently high
- Cultural tours,
- Picnicking
- bush lunch/dinner
- mountain bike tours
- abseiling and forest walks on the escarpment outside the park
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park has some of the highest population density of elephants as compared to anywhere in Tanzania, and its sparse vegetation, strewn with baobab and acacia trees, makes it a beautiful and distinctive location to visit.
Located just a few hours drive from the town of Arusha, Tarangire is a popular stop for people travelling through the northern safari circuit on their way to Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. The park extends into two game controlled areas and the wildlife is allowed to move freely throughout.
Before the rains, droves of gazelles, wildebeests, zebras, and giraffes migrate to Tarangire National Park’s scrub plains where the last grazing land still remains. Tarangire offers an unparalleled game viewing, and during the dry season elephants abound. Families of the pachyderms play around the ancient trunks of baobab trees and strip acacia bark from the thorn trees for their afternoon meal. Breathtaking views of the Maasai Steppe and the mountains in the south make a stopover at Tarangire a memorable experience.
Herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the dry river bed for underground streams, while migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons. It’s the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem – a smorgasbord for predators – and the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately fringe-eared oryx and peculiar long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed.
ACTI VITIES;
Things to Do
- Balloon Safaris
- Birding Safaris
- Wildlife Safaris
- Camping Safaris
- Luxury Safaris
- Wedding Safaris
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park is undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and scientific value. With more than two million wildebeest, half a million Thomson’s gazelle, and a quarter of a million zebra, it has the greatest concentration of plains game in Africa. The wildebeest and zebra moreover form the star cast of a unique spectacular – the annual Serengeti migration.
The name ‘Serengeti’ comes from the Maasai language and appropriately means an ‘extended place’. The National Park, with an area of 12,950 square kilometres, is as big as Northern Ireland, but its ecosystem, which includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve and the Maasai Mara Game reserve (in Kenya), is roughly the size of Kuwait. It lies between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east. As such, it offers the most complex and least disturbed ecosystem on earth.
A unique combination of diverse habitats enables it to support more than 30 species of large harbivores and nearly 500 species of birds. Its landscape, originally formed by volcanic activity, has been sculptured by the concerted action of wind, rain and sun. It now varies from open grass plains in the south, savannah with scattered acacia trees in the centre, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Small rivers, lakes and swamps are scattered throughout. In the south-east rise the great volcanic massifs and craters of the Ngorongoro Highlands. Each area has its own particular atmosphere and wildlife.
ACTIVITIES.
- Wildlife viewing
- Birdwatching
- Visit the Maasai villages
- Night Game drives
- Visit theMoru Kopjes
- Wildebeest Migration
- Visit the Oldupai Gorge
- Camping
- Nature walks