National
Parks and Reserves
Tanzania is most famous for the vast Serengeti National Park, stretching out
for almost 13,00sq kms. But there is so much more to this most fascinating
country. The Ngorongoro Crater, a World Heritage Site, is home to a host of
wildlife that make the crater floor their habitat. Tanzania's Rift Valley
features the popular Lake Manyara and Tarangire National Parks. Ruaha and
the Selous in the southern part of Tanzania are spectacular, with abundant
game. To the coast, the ' spice island' of Zanzibar is well worth visiting.
Possibly the most well known sight is the snow capped tip of Mt Kilimanjaro
Lake
Manyara National Park
Set around the lake, this park lies at the foot of a dramatic escarpment and
offers a rich diversity of scenery and wildlife, including the famous tree
lions a very high density of elephant population and other big game. Its lake
is a haven for birdlife and hippo.
Ngorongoro
Crater
A wonder of the world set in the African Wild. Ngorongoro was an active volcano
some 8 million years ago whose cone collapsed leaving a sunken caldera of
311sq km, rendering it into one of the largest craters in the world. The magic
stems form its sheer physical beauty and stunning panoply of wildlife that
roam its floor. The 2000ft descent into the crater reveals a sight of unequalled
glamour.
Serengeti
National Park
This park contains the most spectacular wildlife sight in the annual migration
of the wildebeest from the north to the south. Amongst its 35 species of animal,
it is famous for the black maned lion, of which there are over 2000, and other
predators such as cheetah, hyena, and wild dogs.
Olduvai
Gorge
Between Ngororngoro
Crater and Serengeti national Park lies Olduvai Gorge,
"the cradle of mankind". Here, Dr Leakey and his wife discovered
one of the earliest fossils of man, some 1.7 million years old. Many of their
finds are now displayed in a museum overlooking the Gorge
Tarangire
National Park
The only place in Tanzania
where you can view fringe -eared Oryx easily, and during the dry season the
river attracts a large concentration of ungulates. Other big game are plentiful
and include elephant, buffalo, lion, and the rare Greater Kudu.
Selous
National Park
Selous is a bird watchers paradise with over 350 species of bird, walking
is permitted (with an armed ranger) and with 2,000 species of plants to see
makes this a most diverse sanctuary to explore. Bisected by the mysterious
Rufiji River,Selous is one of the most remote and least visited parks in Africa
and, at 55 000km², is the second biggest conservation area in Africa,
and the largest game reserve on the continent. To give scale to these figures,
the reserve covers an area more than twice that of Denmark, is bigger than
Switzerland and is nearly four times the size of the Serengeti. The Selous
is a grand African experience. Once home to the biggest concentration of elephant
on the continent (over 110 000) the 'Ivory Wars' of the late 70s and early
80s had a devastating effect on the herds, reducing numbers to an estimated
30 000 to 50 000 today.
Gombe
National Park
This
park is on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and chimpanzees are more easily seen
here in their natural habitat than anywhere else in the world. Gombe was created
to protect the chimpanzees and is set in the beautiful Mahale Mountains. It
is renowned for fantastic sunsets over Lake Tanganyika and Eastern Zaire,
which makes it an essential stop for the keen photographer. The habitats include
rain forests, grasslands, alpine bamboo and woodland.
The best time to visit is between May and October Selous
Game Reserve This is the ultimate African wilderness experience, a vast region
of largely unexplored bush, teeming with wildlife, and with almost no roads
into the hidden interior
.
