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Travel information focused on Tanzania with basic info on Tanzania National Parks including Mt. Kilimanjaro, Ruaha National Park and Serengeti National Park. We also offer online bookings for customized vacation tours to Tanzania National Parks. Contact us today |
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Country Info > Tanzania > Visa Info > Tourism > Govt & Economy >Human & Natural Resources > National Parks >History, People & Culture 5. SERENGETI
NATIONAL PARK Serengeti National Park (1,476,300ha) is contained by the biosphere reserve (2,305,100ha); contiguous to Ngorongoro Conservation Area (809,440ha) in the south east, Lolindo Game Controlled Area to the north east (400,000); Maswa Game Reserve (220,000ha; recently reduced) in the south, Maasai-Mara National Reserve (151,000ha) in Kenya to the north, and the Ikorongo-Grumeti Game Controlled Area (500,000) in the west. The plains of Serengeti are mainly crystalline rocks overlain by volcanic ash with numerous granitic rock outcrops (kopjes). In the north and along the western corridor are mountain ranges of mainly volcanic origin. Two rivers flowing west usually contain water and there are a number of lakes, marshes, and waterholes. *************** The park is best known for the now unrivalled herd sizes of 'plains game', which migrate between seasonal water supplies and grasslands. These include wildebeest, zebra , Thomson's gazelle, numerous prides of numbering up to 3,000 individuals, and spotted hyena. In May and June many game animals take part in a mass migration away from the central plains into the western corridor. Other characteristic mammals are leopards, cheetahs and elephant. The last packs of wild dog disappeared from the park in 1991. A rabies epidemic killed three of the packs, but there is no clear consensus on the full cause of the disappearance. Tourist facilities include lodges at Seronera and Lobo and four campsites near Seronera. Lodges were being built at, Klein's Camp, Turner Springs, Seronera and Nyaruboru. Six access routes exist, but usually access is by road from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are several airstrips and an aerodrome at Seronera. The reopening of the Tanzania-Kenya border in December 1983 resulted in increased visitor numbers. Serengeti Regional Conservation Strategy figures indicate that visitors to the park rose from 11,000 to 40,000 during the period 1985-1991 6. MOUNT KILIMANJARO NATIONAL PARK.
Kili - as the mountain is often referred to - rises to 19,336 feet (5,895 metres) in a land where no mountain seems fitting. If you arrive when this dormant volcano is obscured by cloud, you could miss it altogether, as there are no rugged foothills or plunging valleys to suggest its presence. Conquering this mountain is the dream of many visitors to Tanzania and about 20,000 hikers climb it every year. Mountaineering skills are not a pre-requisite but a reasonable level of fitness and a lot of determination is. Altitude sickness can set in above 9,900 ft (3,000m) and is often the reason for failing to make it to the top. In 1889 it took Hans Meyer six weeks to reach the summit. These days the treks last five or six days and porters are available to carry your load. The local Chagga guides and porters often climb the mountain once a week, while the visitor unused to such exertion, finds this once-in-a-lifetime trek a literally breathtaking, exhilarating challenge. The ascent takes you on a climatic journey from the tropics to the arctic. The grassy cultivated lower slopes soon turn into lush rainforest inhabited by elusive leopard, elephants, antelopes and buffalo. Above this is heath and moorland dotted with particularly impressive giant groundsel up to 16 feet (5 metres) high, along with huge lobelias and massive heathers. Iridescent blue-green sunbirds and drab brown but shrill-voiced alpine chats inhabit this strange world of giants. As the air grows dry and cold the terrain changes to Alpine desert, then finally ice, snow and cold rarefied air slow the pace to a dawdle. The crater rim at sunrise is the final achievement in this great African challenge. Seasons Dry Season: It is best to climb the mountain in
the dry months from late June to early October (which are cool and
dry) or late December to early March (which are hot and dry). Kilimanjaro Specialities
Facts 7. RUAHA NATIONAL PARK Ruaha is one of Tanzania's best kept secrets! It's previous inaccessibility means that this park has remained unchanged for centuries and offers the type of wild safari that early explorers were privy to. Bordered on the east by the Great Ruaha River and the west by Mzombe River, visitors are struck its the beauty and vast expanse of wilderness stretching down towards the hazy blue hills of the Southern Highlands. The terrain is varied and fascinating with wild fig trees, rare baobab forests and gorges of glowing orange sandstone. The rivers contain swirling rapids and deep pools inhabited by crocodiles and hippos Chief Mkwawa of the Hehe tribe used Ruaha's rocky outcrops as hiding places, when German troops were hunting him in 1895 for killing a German Captain. They finally found him in a cave weak from malaria, but rather than give himself up, he shot his faithful bodyguard and then himself. Ruaha is a permanent hunting ground for lions, jackals, hyenas and the rare and beautifully marked wild dogs. They prey on zebras and numerous antelopes, with both the stunning roan and sable antelope found here as well as greater and lesser kudu. There are also thousands of elephants and buffalo. Eurasian migrating birds flock to Ruaha twice a year (March/April and October/November) to join the already high number of resident species like kingfishers, hornbills, egrets, shimmering sunbirds and plovers. Seasons Dry Season: Mid May to December is the best time
to see predators and large mammals as the bush has died down from
lack of rain, and they concentrate at the sparse water courses. Ruaha Specialties
Facts *************** 8. TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
This is a year-round park with distinct seasons offering different experiences, from dusty, dry and baking with animals clustered around the rapidly reducing river, to the green season full of new-born animals and chattering birds. The only months to avoid are during the heavy rainfalls of April and May. Tarangire is a dry season refuge for many migratory
animals (elephants, wildebeest, zebra, gazelles, eland and buffalo),
that spend many months of the year outside the park on traditional
grazing corridors linking Tarangire with other protected areas.
Elephants can be seen in herds of up to 600 at a time, along with masses of wildebeest, zebra, eland, hartebeest, buffalo and oryx, who, migrate from the dry Maasai steppe to the gleaming Tarangire River in search of water during the dry season. The river may reduce in size, but always provides some water for these animals who gather in great numbers along its banks. Predators never go hungry here. Although uncommonly seen, pythons have taken to climbing trees in Tarangire, but as with all snakes they avoid contact with humans. November to February is the time of plenty with succulent green shoots appearing just in time for the newborn wildebeest and zebra. By March everything is lush and wild flowers and butterflies are out in force. Birds are at their busiest and more than 550 species have been recorded. Some of the Serengeti's largest buffalo herds are to be found in the pristine woodlands to the north and elephants abound in this area too. For excellent year round game viewing the Seronera valley in the centre of the park has abundant grazing and considerable numbers of animals including giraffes, warthogs, reedbucks and many other species that sustain resident leopards and large prides of lions.In the south is the saline Lake Ndutu which attracts throngs of flamingoes and in the west the Grumeti River contains some of the largest Nile crocodiles you will ever see. Seasons Tarangire specialities
Facts *************** |
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Protected
area since 1940. In 1929, 228,600ha of central Serengeti was declared
a game reserve. Afforded national park status in 1951 with extensive
boundary modifications in 1959. Internationally recognized as part
of Serengeti-Ngorongoro Biosphere Reserve (with the adjoining Maswa
Game Reserve) under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme in
1981 and inscribed on the World Heritage List in the same year.
Mount
Kilimanjaro is the Everest of Africa, with its summit close to the
altitude of Mt. Everest's base camp. Yet Kilimanjaro does not stand
out as the highest peak in a snow-capped mountain range. It rises
in complete isolation in a land of flat plains grazed by elephants,
zebras and other African animals. 
Tarangire
lies to the south of the large open grass plains of southern Maasailand
and is the best-kept secret on the northern safari circuit. It offers
wonderful panoramas of wide savannah grasslands dotted with open
acacia woodland studded with large Baobab trees. The density of
game is second only to the crowded Ngorongoro Crater.