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Country Info > Tanzania >
Visa Info > Tourism
> Govt & Economy >Human
& Natural Resources > National
Parks >History, People
& Culture
Tanzania:
Country Info
Tanzania is one of the unique destinations on the
African continent that has yet to be discovered by many. It is a
land of many wonders hubbing an un-paralleled diversity of fauna
and flora. Kilimanjaro, the highest permanently snow-capped free
standing mountain in Africa, the exotic Islands of Zanzibar, the
finest game sanctuaries of Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Ngorongoro
Crater, Ruaha, Selous and the Marine Park of Mafia Island are only
but a few of the living examples.
The scenery, topography and very friendly people
harbour the growth of excellent cultural tourism beach holidays,
game hunting, historical and archaeological ventures - and certainly
the best wildlife photographic safaris on the continent.
The tourism industry provides excellent investment
opportunities in construction and management of hotels, lodges and
restaurants, infrastructure ventures, aviation projects, training
institutions, tour operations, travel agencies and marketing
organizations.
The industry's mission statement that forms the basis of the tourism
policy is to develop sustainable quality tourism that is ecologically
friendly to the conservation and restoration of the environment
and its people's culture. In so doing the industry seeks to
maximize
the net gains that emanate from the various tourism activities.
It is for this reason that the Government is now
highly concerned with the improvement of the infrastructure quality
and diversity, ease of destination entry formalities, relaxation
of foreign exchange regulations and controls, revision of applicable
taxes and maintenance of peace, stability and security. As a stimulant,
the private sector is increasingly investing in the various tourist
plants, improvement of destination access from major sources and
within marketing promotion and training of the human resource.
Tourist Attractions
Besides cultural attributes, the other tourism attractions
in the country include the rich game to view in National Parks,
Game Controlled Areas and Games Reserves.
Just imagine viewing the famous tree climbing lions in the country's
northern parks!
The Kilimanjaro National Park does feature the great
ice-caped Equatorial mountain, the Kilimanjaro. The mountain invites
challenge to conquer it up its peak that skyscrapers at almost 6km
high to mountain climbers.
The Arusha National Park offers everything one wants
to see regarding volcanic features and lakes, the flamingoes; buffaloes,
the mountain vegetation and the general scenic view of the magnificent
Mount Meru.
The Tarangire and Lake Manyara National Parks, though
relatively smaller parks; located south west of Arusha town do offer
plenty to see. Black rhinos; over 380 species of birds; the worlds
largest bird the ostrich; the Kori bustard the only world heaviest
bird that can fly, elephants; wart hogs, baboons, zebra, the tree-climbing
lions, hot springs, and the rising steep escarpment of the Tanzania
Great rift Valley are only a selection of what these areas can offer.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA) about 828 Sq.
Km. is a perfect caldera of the world, 18km across, often with nothing
we can compare, this is one of the wonders of the world! You will
be attracted by the relief, its mountains, drifting sand dunes and
the diverse wildlife and the Maasai people. The NCA, due to these
and more qualities including its being nearer the cradle of mankind,
the Olduvai Gorge, it was declared a World Heritage Site in 1978.
The only place on the planet where a human being
is living in harmony with wildlife without harming one another to date
the only place to go is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It is culture
and ecotourism smoothly nurtured in the environment.
To the north west of NCA, spreads endless plain
of the Serengeti National Park (14,763Sq. Km). With over 3 million
large animals, involved in seasonal migration the Serengeti has
the greatest concentration wildlife unparalleled in the world. The
ecological rules regarding who eats who, or lonely death while swimming
across rivers during migration and how it is important to be in
groups for survival can be observed clearly here.
In southern Tanzania, there lies the greatest wild
reserve and second only to Serengeti in wildlife concentration,
this is the Selous National Park. Elephants, crocodiles and hippos
in rivers; buffaloes, and baobab trees dominate.
Other National Parks include Mahale (the haven of
the chimpanzees and baboons); Mikumi, Mkomazi, rubondo, Katavi and
Juvenile Udzungwa rich in plant diversity and in colobus monkeys.
Again, going around and across Tanzania, one finds
more interesting things. The remains from the oriental architecture
found along the coast and Zanzibar, the coral reefs such as those
at the Wambe Shando and Mwamba Wamba area; the sulphur springs in
Tanga, the Mbozi meteorite remains. The National Museum and other
heritage sites add on more interesting sites to visit.
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