Vantage World Travel

Tanzania National Parks

Arusha National Park - One of the most beautiful parks in Tanzania and located 32 KM from Arusha, Arusha National Park which is divided into three distinct areas: Ngurdoto crater; Momela lakes; and Mount Meru. Previously three separate game reserves, the different areas of the park allow the traveler to experience vastly differing terrain and habitats. All areas are terrific for birding. Ngurdoto crater is the caldera of an extinct volcano. Although there is a ring road that allows fabulous views down into the lush crater interior there is no access to the interior. You may, however, climb up to the crater rim through the misty forest inhabited by the nimble black and white colobus monkeys that are the mascot of the park. Leopards are the main predator in this area and, strangely, there are no lions apart from the odd visitor. Momela is a tranquil watery region with seven lakes, lying between Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro, where you may find the reedbuck, bushbuck and hippo. The dense wildlife population includes buffalo, elephant and giraffe and yet more of the chic colobus. The three or four day round trip up the fifteen thousand foot high Mount Meru is often treated as excellent acclimatization for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. A ranger must always accompany you because of the teeming wildlife and you will climb through outstanding landscape - a plain, forests, moorlands and a lava desert. The summit allows breathtaking views of the crater, the eruption cone and peerless views of Mount Kili in the distance.

Lake Manyara National Park - This unusual park lies in the shadow of the Great Rift Valley whose reddish brown escarpment wall looms 1,950 feet high (600 meters) on the eastern horizon. Waterfalls spill over the cliff and hot springs bubble to the surface in the south. The Park derives its name from the Maasai word “manyara,” which is the name for the plant Euphorbia tirucalli. The Maasai use this plant to grow livestock stockades. Eventually manyara will produce a stock proof hedge which is more durable than any made of cut thorn branches. Despite the fact Lake Manyara National Park is only 330 square kilometers (127 square miles) in area — of which about 230 square kilometers (89 square miles) are lake — it contains a large variety of habitats: the rift wall, the ground water forest, acacia woodland, areas of open grassland, the lake shore, swamp and the lake itself. Due to the variety of habitats the Park is able to support a large number of species. Over 380 species of birds, some migratory, have been recorded in the Park. Much of the park often appears to be in a heat haze created by the soda lake - Lake Manyara, attracting considerable birdlife. The park is particularly known for its tree-climbing lions, which may be seen sleeping off the heat of the day on a branch instead of a shady spot on the ground like most other lions. Lake Manyara National Park is an ideal size for a day trip. You can leave camp or the lodge early, picnic at one of the sites and then return towards evening.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area - In the Great Rift Valley, that great schism in the earth’s crust, lays the wonderful Ngorongoro Crater, one of the wonders of the natural world. It is an extinct volcano that collapsed in on itself around 25 million years ago thus forming a vast super-bowl where the largest permanent concentration of African game is on display. The central bowl, the caldera, has sides roughly 1,950 feet high and a flattish center with a diameter of about ten miles. The views from the top of the crater wall are absolutely breathtaking. The crater walls are forested but four wheel drive vehicles will take you down into this primeval paradise of woodland, lake, river, swamp and plain that shelters around 20,000 animals. Many of these are the large grazing animals such as wildebeest, buffalo, gazelle and zebra who depend on the open grasslands in the crater. These attract the attendant predators, the black-maned lion, the leopard and hyena. The elephant found within the caldera tend to be the lone males who have left the herds in the forested crater rim.

When the water stocks are low elsewhere the animals within this micro-world turn to the swamps for fresh water and food. Elephants feed on the giant sedges and hippo wallow in the pools. The Fever Tree forests shelter monkeys, bushbuck and waterbuck and the few black rhino that have taken refuge here. A soda lake, fed by the Munge river attracts water birds, including flamingos and is a favorite place for predators to make their kill. Wildly beautiful as it is, it is not surprising that Ngorongoro Crater has been called a Garden of Eden. The conservation area also encompasses several other volcanoes, one of which, Oldonyo Lengai, is still live. You may struggle to the top, if you wish, to gaze into its open and sulphurous maw but many prefer to admire from afar. One of the most fascinating attractions in the area is the Olduvai Gorge, where an old river has carved away the rock to expose layer upon layer of volcanic soil. This is where Dr Louis and Mary Leakey found the remains of hominids “Nutcracker Man” and “Toolmaking Man”. The “Cradle of Mankind” now has a visitor center where you may hear a short lecture on the work of the Leakeys and their successors and a small museum where you may see some of their finds, including a giant giraffe - it is hard to believe that they were once even taller!

Serengeti National Park - George Adamson, co-raiser of Elsa the lioness, and husband of “Born Free” author Joy Adamson, visited the Serengeti in the early sixties and describes the experience in “Pride and Joy”, his autobiography. At this time he considered it probably the greatest of all game reserves in Africa and one man was mainly responsible - Bernhardt Grzimek, Director of Frankfurt Zoo. The Serengeti had suffered terribly from over-zealous hunting in the 1930’s and from large-scale killing of game during the war. Grzimek applied himself to the tensions between Maasai need for grazing and the indigenous wildlife. He and his son carried out a massive survey, using planes to quantify the game, and identifying and logging the plant life. He used his best-seller “Serengeti Shall Not Die” to raise funds and publicize the exercise. Thanks to the Grzimeks, and to John Owen who established a renowned scientific research establishment there, the Serengeti still has an amazing concentration of wildlife.

The park covers 14,763 sq km of endless rolling plains, which reach up to the Kenyan border and extends almost to Lake Victoria. The park is teaming with stunning wildlife - it is thought that over 3 million large mammals roam the plains. In May or early June you can witness the annual migration of millions of zebra and wildebeest in search of water and forage as the seasons change. The Serengeti is probably most famous for being the southern end of the Great Migration. Every year over 1.5 million animals, mostly wildebeest but also zebra and Thompson’s gazelle, follow their instincts and move through the western corridor on their 1000 kilometer journey to the fresh grazing of the Masai Mara. Predators pick off the weak, the laggardly and the young and crocodiles feast as the vast herd crosses the rivers but they continue their trek, as they have done since time immemorial. This is one of the earth’s great sights - but it is by no means all the Serengeti has to offer. The vast, flat central plains, made fertile by the ashes of the none volcanoes of the Ngongoro highlands, are places of huge skies, of shimmering heat hazes, yet also of delicate wild flowers blooming after the rains.

The savannah, sprinkled with Acacia Tortilis, has majestic termite mounds and rock formations called kopjes which make great vantage points for predators. The lion are abundant, the leopard are plentiful (yet still secretive) and black rhino and cheetah both breed here. There are more than 500 species of bird and, interestingly, 100 sub-species of dung beetle - a sign of a varied animal population! Ndutu, in the south, has small lakes where you may see hippo and water birds. Perhaps one of the best ways to see the Serengeti is a hot air balloon ride when, in the cool of the early morning, you may admire the grandeur, the vastness and the stunning landscape.

Tarangire National Park - The park, located 120km from Arusha south east of Manyara, has a particularly dense wildlife population between June - October. This national park is home to thousands of elephant, and in the dry season game congregates along the river having migrated from the Masai Mara. This park is symbolized by the Baobab tree, growing in open acacia woodland. Tarangire is an ornithologists paradise rich in birds of prey and an incredible diversity of avifauna. Here you will find large herds of antelope of all sorts including eland, lesser kudu, Kongoni, impala, plus Zebra, gazelles, buffalo, wildebeest, leopard, elephant, rhino and lots of smaller mammals.

Selous Game Reserve - Remote and wild, the Selous is the largest game reserve in Africa, 4 times the size of the Serengeti, more than twice the size of Denmark and bigger than Switzerland. The Rufiji River flows through the reserve attracting great herds of Tanzania elephant and allowing the visitor to experience the reserve by boat. The reserve has the largest number of elephants out of all the reserved wildlife areas in the country. It also has a wide variety of other animals including lion, wild dog and crocodiles. Perhaps the most sublime way of exploring the reserve is by boat, meandering through channels and swamps, and exploring hidden lagoons where elephant often come to bathe. Angling in the river for tiger fish and the giant catfish (vundu), which can reach up to 50kg, can be an exciting way to pass an evening, keeping a wary eye open for crocodiles, hippo and lion.

In the Beho Beho section of the reserve, the hot springs at Maji Moto (said to be the source of the water used in the Maji Maji Rebellion) is a great place to soak away the dust and bruises of overland safari travel, but immersing yourself in the waters of nearby Lake Tagalala is verboten – here be big crocodiles. Also in the Beho Beho area is the simple grave of Captain Frederick Courtenay Selous, the British hunter, soldier, naturalist and great eccentric who gave the reserve its name. When World War I broke out, he came out of retirement at the age of 63, left his native Surrey, and went back to his beloved Africa to command one of the most extraordinary units of that war – a ragtag guerrilla unit of French Legionnaires, cowboys from Texas, tough southern African hunters, Russian émigrés, acrobats and a Honduran general. Here he waged war against the equally legendary Colonel Lettow von Vorbeck, enduring incredible privations during the campaign. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet in 1917, an event later mourned by Von Vorbeck as being an “ungentlemanly way” to end Selous’ life.

Ruaha National Park - Due to its relative inaccessibility Ruaha is Africa as it once was yet with all the comforts that today’s traveler expects. The name derives from the great Ruaha River which flows along its entire border creating spectacular gorges. The Ruaha protects a wide variety of habitats including evergreen forest and swamp and contains the largest elephant population of Tanzania. Ruaha National Park in southern Tanzania is the second largest national park in the country covering an area of about 10,300 km2. It was established in 1910 as part of the Saba Game Reserve and was gazetted as a National Park in 1964. The area was previously inhabited by small groups of the Wahehe people.

The Park is part of the Ruaha ecosystem which also includes Rungwa-Kisigo Game Reserve to the northwest. The ecosystem, which covers an area of approximately 45,000 km2, protects a large part of the catchment for the Great Ruaha and Mzombe rivers. Ruaha is interesting as it represents a transition zone where eastern and southern African species of fauna and flora overlap. Miombo woodland with its attendant fauna is common in central Africa but not four further north in Tanzania. The Park is the most southerly-protected area where Grants gazelle, lesser kudu and striped hyena are found. A small portion (about 20%) of the Park is along the Great Ruaha river in the Rift Valley comprising mainly combretum / commiphora woodland with many baobabs. This is the part most visited by tourists due to the good game viewing, its scenic attraction and the well-developed road network. A plateau 100m higher, to the north and west of the Rift Valley forms the majority of the Park. Here miombo woodland forms the dominant vegetation changing to combretum / commiphora to the east. In the west, hills rising to about 1800m-form part of the Isunkavyola plateau - at present inaccessible.

Surface water is available year round in many parts of the Park, especially in the west thus allowing animals to remain widely distributed. However the Great Ruaha and Mzombe Rivers are important water sources. To be able to see both greater and lesser kudu and roan and sable antelope in the same Park is one of the special attractions of Ruaha. Visitors often see lions, leopards, and cheetahs as well as wild dogs and smaller predators. Groups of elephants frequent many areas of the Park, crocodiles and hippos are numerous in the Great Ruaha River. More than 400 species of birds have been recorded in Ruaha, more than any other East African park. Its geographical location means that both northern and southern migrants visit it. Ruaha also has a great variety of resident species due to the diversity of habitats in the transition zone. The best time for keen bird watchers to visit is between January to April.

• About Vantage
• View all countries
• Help
• Site map
• Employment Opportunities
• Contact

• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• orangecoat design
• xhtml 1.0

Vantage Inc. ~ 1324 East North Street ~ Greenville, SC. 29607

This web site includes images from Corel CD's. Used under license. Additional images have been provided by each country's tourism offices or directly from suppliers, and are subject to their restrictions. (view photo credits)