Tanzania is an East African country known for its vast wilderness areas, great culture and one of the most sceneries in Africa. One if its iconic sites is the iconic Ngorongoro Crater which is commonly referred to as a wildlife Eden. The crater is the largest intact volcanic caldera in the world and happens to be the home of the highest density of large game in Africa.
Other tourist destination includes the plains of Serengeti National Park, a safari mecca populated by the “big five” game (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino), and Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Africa’s highest mountain. The Lion King made the Serengeti National Park famous and it also happens to be one of the best places where you can find an African Safari. The Serengeti tops most Tanzania safari journeys. A Masai word meaning “endless plains,” this protected ecology stretches across 10,000 square miles. With a system of rivers guaranteeing a consistent water flow all around the year, the region is incredibly rich in wildlife, though specific experiences, such as the Great Migration, vary with the seasons. Exceptional safari opportunities exist in the private reserves adjacent to Serengeti National Park, many of which are the exclusive domain of the camps we use. Tanzania is fairly renowned as one of the best safari destinations considering it houses some of the continent’s greatest concentrations of wild animals.
The things to do in Tanzania are very similar to those in Kenya with a special twist. For instance, the annual Great Migration where nearly two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle cross the savanna in pursuit of water and new grass. This is the largest mass movement of terrestrial animals in the entire planet. The entire Serengeti bionetwork is dependent on the migration, with felines, hyena and birds of prey feasting on the young and weak while crocodiles lie in wait at each river crossing for the Zebras and Wildebeests. Zebra graze on its rim, while plenty of lion, flamingos and the endangered black rhinoceros are found within. What you can find in Tanzania that you can’t find anywhere else in Eastern Africa is the beauty of Zanzibar.
Offshore lie the tropical islands of Zanzibar, with Arabic influences, and Mafia, with a marine park home to whale sharks and coral reefs. Farther south, in Tarangire National Park, massive herds of elephant are more than the locals there.
You can find unspoiled beaches along the mainland and even find incredible diving opportunities on the island of Zanzibar. Many people also don’t know that you can find two of the oldest stone age sites in the world right in Tanzania.
TANZANIA SITES
TOWNS
Dar es Salaam
This is the largest city and economic capital of Tanzania. Located in a quiet bay off the Indian Ocean coast, the city has developed into an economic importance to become a prosperous centre of the entire East African region. Its bustling harbor is the main port in Tanzania.
Its industrial area produces products for export and use throughout the country. Government offices all have their main base in Dar es Salaam, and diplomatic missions and non-governmental organizations in the country all have a presence in the bustling urban city.
Restaurants, shops, office buildings, and government buildings are all common features of Tanzania’s urban centre. During German occupation in the early 20th century, Dar es Salaam was the centre of colonial administration and the main contact point between the agricultural mainland and the world of trade and commerce in the Indian Ocean and the Swahili Coast. Remnants of colonial presence, both German and British, can still be seen in the landmarks and architecture around the city. The National Museum, the Village Museum, and many colourful markets are well worth a visit. Numerous historical landmarks, including St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the White Father’s Mission House, the Botanical Gardens, and the old State House make for an interesting walking tour around the waterfront and city centre.
Seven kilometres north of the city, is Bongoyo Island Marine Reserve which offers good snorkeling and diving sites for those who want to explore the water. The reserve boasts of its beautiful beaches, secluded islands and many varieties of marine species. Although the variety and population of coral and fish species are not as numerous as other sites on Zanzibar, Pemba, and Mafia Island, the Bongoyo Island Marine Reserve is well worth a visit and is a great way to spend a day out and see the coast. For other information about Dar-es-Salaam – see Dar-es-Salaam Tour.
Dodoma
Originally a small market town known as Idodomya, the modern Dodoma was founded in 1907 by German colonists during construction of the Tanzanian central railway. The layout followed the typical colonial planning of the time with a European quarter segregated from a native village.
In 1967, following independence, the government invited Canadian firm Project Planning Associates Ltd to draw up a master plan to help control and organize the then capital of the country Dar es Salaam that was undergoing rapid urbanization and population growth. The plan was cancelled in 1972 in part due to its failure to adequately address the historical and social problems associated with the city.
In 1974, after a nationwide party referendum, the Tanzanian government announced that the capital would be moved from Dar es Salaam to a more central location to create significant social and economic improvements for the central region and to centralize the capital within the country. The cost was estimated at £186 million and envisaged to take 10 years. The site, the Dodoma region, had been looked at as a potential new capital as early as 1915 by the then colonial power Germany, in 1932 by the British as a League of Nations mandate and again in the post-independence National Assembly in 1961 and 1966.
With an already established town at a major crossroads, the Dodoma region had an agreeable climate, room for development and was located in the geographic centre of the nation. Its location in a rural environment was seen as the ujamaa heartland and therefore appropriate for a ujamaa capital that could see and learn from neighbouring villages and maintain a close relationship to the land
Moshi
Moshi is a town in northern Tanzania, near the Kenyan border. It’s known as a gateway to Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. Trails run up the mountain’s cloud-ringed, snow-capped dome, through alpine forests and meadows home to elephants and leopards. One of Tanzania’s major coffee-producing hubs, Moshi is known for its coffee farms and auctions.
Moshi is one of tourism centers in the northern safari circuit of Tanzania. The closest tourism spots include Kilimanjaro National Park, Mkomazi National Park, Lake Jipe, and Lake Chala. There are also several waterfalls, natural springs, and tropical forests. Tours can also be arranged from Moshi to other areas such as Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Arusha National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, and Tarangire National Park. The city has several hotels and recreation centers.
There is annual fair, KiliFair, organized to be an international tourism & industry fair, promoting and presenting companies based in the Kilimanjaro region. The fair has the character of a business networking event for the tourism industry, in combination with a community fair to attract local people, families & expats. Recently, Karibu Fair (TATO) and Kilifair, both well-known tourism fairs decided to join into one and create by far the largest and most important Tourism Trade Fair in East Africa. The newly formed “Karibu/KiliFair” is expecting to host 350+ exhibitors from East and Central Africa, 300+ international hosted and semi-hosted buyers, as well as approximately 4000 trade visitors during the days of the fair.
Mwanza
This is one of Tanzania’s 31 administrative regions with a postcode number 33000. The regional capital is Mwanza.
The neighbouring regions are Geita to the west, Shinyanga to the south, and Simiyu to the east. Furthermore, Lake Victoria borders the region’s north frontier.
Tanzania’s second-largest city, and the lake region’s economic heart, Mwanza is set on Lake Victoria’s shore, surrounded by hills strewn with enormous boulders. It is notable for its strong Indian influences, as well as for being a major industrial centre and a busy port. Yet despite its rapidly rising skyline, Mwanza manages to retain a casual feel. In addition to being a stop on the way to Rubondo Island National Park, Mwanza is a great starting or finishing point for safaris through Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, ideally as a loop by adding in Lake Natron.
Arusha
Arusha is a city in East Africa’s Tanzania, located at the base of volcanic Mt. Meru. It’s a gateway to safari destinations and to Africa’s highest peak, 5,895m Mt. Kilimanjaro, lying some 100 kilometers northeast. To the west lies Serengeti National Park, home to wildlife including lions, rhinoceros, giraffes and leopards. Annual migrations feature huge herds of wildebeests crossing its plains. Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, Arusha has a temperate climate. Other Parks close to Arusha are, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Lake Manyara National Park, Olduvai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Arusha National Park on Mount Meru.
Arusha is a major international diplomatic hub. It hosts the East African Community. From 1994 to 2015, the city also hosted the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, but that entity has ceased operations. It is a multicultural city with a majority Tanzanian population of mixed backgrounds: indigenous African, Arab-Tanzanian and Indian-Tanzanian population, plus a small European and an American minority population.
NATIONAL PARKS
There are tons of parks in the country to visit. You can ride a bicycle in a park near the city of Arusha with wild buffaloes and elephants just walking beside/around you. After you go on an official safari in the Serengeti definitely check out the other national parks.
Tarangire National Park
This is a national park in Tanzania’s Manyara Region. The name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses the park. The Tarangire River is the primary source of fresh water for wild animals in the Tarangire Ecosystemduring the annual dry season. The Tarangire Ecosystem is defined by the long-distance migration of wildebeest and zebras. During the dry season thousands of animals concentrate in Tarangire National Park from the surrounding wet-season dispersal and calving areas.
The park is famous for its high density of elephants and baobab trees. Visitors to the park in the June to November dry season can expect to see large herds of thousands of zebra, wildebeest and cape buffalo. Other common resident animals include waterbuck, giraffe, dik dik, impala, eland, Grant’s gazelle, ververy monkey, banded mongoose, and olive baboon. Predators in Tarangire include lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, honey badger and African wild dog.
The oldest known elephant to give birth to twins is found in Tarangire. A recent birth of elephant twins in the Tarangire National Park of Tanzania is a great example of how the birth of these two healthy and thriving twins can beat the odds.
Home to more than 550 bird species, the park is a haven for bird enthusiasts. The park is also famous for the termite mounds that dot the landscape. Those that have been abandoned are often home to dwarf mongoose. In 2015, a giraffe that is white due to leucism was spotted in the park. Wildlife research is focused on African bush elephant and Masai giraffe.
Since 2005, the protected area is considered a Lion Conservation Unit.
Lake Manyara National Park
Located beneath the cliffs of the Manyara Escarpment, on the edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park offers varied ecosystems, incredible bird life, and breathtaking views.
Located on the way to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, Lake Manyara National Park is worth a stop in its own right. Its ground water forests, bush plains, baobab strewn cliffs, and algae-streaked hot springs offer incredible ecological variety in a small area, rich in wildlife and incredible numbers of birds.
The alkaline soda of Lake Manyara is home to an incredible array of bird life that thrives on its brackish waters. Pink flamingo stoop and graze by the thousands colourful specks against the grey minerals of the lake shore. Yellow-billed storks swoop and corkscrew on thermal winds rising up from the escarpment, and herons flap their wings against the sun-drenched sky. Even reluctant bird-watchers will find something to watch and marvel at within the national park.
Lake Manyara’s famous tree-climbing lions are another reason to pay a visit to this park. The only kind of their species in the world, they make the ancient mahogany and elegant acacias their home during the rainy season, and are a well-known but rather rare feature of the northern park. In addition to the lions, the national park is also home to the largest concentration of baboons anywhere in the world — a fact that accounts for interesting game viewing of large families of the primates.
Selous National Park
Standing as the largest game reserve in Africa, Selous is also the second largest conservation area in Africa sized at 50,000 square kilometers with lots of attractions. It is definitely noted as even four times bigger than the Serengeti. While in Tanzania, it is very special to take a safari to Selous as it is one of the most remote game reserves hence least visited parks in Africa. Because of it elaborate and unique beauty, the Selous has so many safari animals and thus has it in history that UNESCO declared it a world heritage in 1982. To visit Selous, you have a choice of 3 transport options, flight, road and rail. A complete guide and advise on how to choose any. The best time to visit Selous is June to October which also ranks as the highest season. Are you looking for Selous game reserve holiday accommodation? Consider a selection of safari lodge tented camps, lodge holiday accommodation within the game reserve itself and the areas around it.
Olduvai Gorge
The Olduvai Gorge or Oldupai Gorge in Tanzania is one of the most important paleoanthropological sites in the world; it has proven invaluable in furthering understanding of early human evolution. A steep-sided ravine in the Great Rift Valley that stretches across East Africa, it is about 48 km (30 mi) long, and is located in the eastern Serengeti Plains in the Arusha Region about 45 kilometres (28 miles) from Laetoli, another important archaeological site of early human occupation. The British/Kenyan paleoanthropologist-archeologist team Mary and Louis Leakey established and developed the excavation and research programs at Olduvai Gorge which achieved great advances of human knowledge and world-renowned status.
Homo habilis, probably the first early human species, occupied Olduvai Gorge approximately 1.9 million years ago (mya); then came a contemporary australopithecine, Paranthropus boisei, 1.8 mya, followed by Homo erectus, 1.2 mya. Our species Homo sapiens, which is estimated to have emerged roughly 300,000 years ago, is dated to have occupied the site 17,000 years ago.
The site is significant in showing the increasing developmental and social complexities in the earliest humans, or hominins, largely revealed in the production and use of stone tools. Prior to tools, evidence of scavenging and hunting can be noted—highlighted by the presence of gnaw marks that predate cut marks—and of the ratio of meat versus plant material in the early hominin diet. The collecting of tools and animal remains in a centralized area is evidence of developing social interaction and communal activity. All these factors indicate an increase in cognitive capacities at the beginning of the period of hominids transitioning to hominin—that is, to human—form and behavior.
Arusha National Park
This Park covers Mount Meru, a prominent volcano with an elevation of 4566 m, in the Arusha Region of north eastern Tanzania. The park is small but varied with spectacular landscapes in three distinct areas. In the west, the Meru Crater funnels the Jekukumia River; the peak of Mount Meru lies on its rim. Ngurdoto Crater in the south-east is grassland. The shallow alkaline Momella Lakes in the north-east have varying algal colours and are known for their wading birds.
Mount Meru is the second highest peak in Tanzania after Mount Kilimanjaro, which is just 60 km away and forms a backdrop to views from the park to the east. Arusha National Park lies on a 300-kilometre axis of Africa’s most famous national parks, running from Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater in the west to Kilimanjaro National Park in the east.
The park is just a few kilometres north east of Arusha, though the main gate is 25 km east of the city. It is also 58 km from Moshiand 35 km from Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA).
Arusha National Park has a rich variety of wildlife, but visitors shouldn’t expect the same game-viewing experience they find in other national parks of Tanzania’s northern circuit. Despite the small size of the park, common animals include giraffe, Cape buffalo, zebra, warthog, the black-and-white colobus monkey, the blue monkey, flamingo, elephant, lion and many other African animals. Leopard populations are present, but rarely seen. Birdlife in the forest is prolific, with many forest species more easily seen here than elsewhere on the tourist route – Narina trogon and bar-tailed trogon are both possible highlights for visiting birders, whilst the range of starling species provide somewhat less gaudy interest.
STONE AGE SITE IN TANZANIA
Stone Age Sites
Most people think that Africa is only about seeing animals and Tanzania surely breaks that notion by having two of these sites available. There are stone age sites in Tanzania that are up tp 30,000 years old.
Lake Victoria
The gorgeous region of Lake Victoria is not only accessible via Uganda. Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa and the 2nd freshwater lake in the world. It holds unique ecosystem where many different types of animals can be seen and you can even swim and have a relaxing weekend here as well.
Tanzania – Serengeti National Park
The name ‘Serengeti’ is derived from the Maasai language, in particular the word, ‘Siringitu’, meaning ‘the place where the land moves on forever’. Endless plains are what confront the human eye, dotted with acacia woodlands and riverine forests, with these varied habitats hosting an incredibly diverse range of birds and animals.
The Serengeti is a world heritage site, rated among the top 10 natural wonders of the world and is Tanzania’s oldest and most popular national park. Famous for its annual migration of mostly wildebeest, accompanied by zebras and Thomson’s gazelles, the Serengeti is also famous for the prides of lions it has, the herds of elephants and giraffes, amongst an incredibly wide range of birds, insects and other creatures.
With the option of lodges, tented camps and campsites, visitors can prepare themselves for a spectacular safari experience. Let us be the Catalyst to your Safari in the Serengeti.
Tanzania – Ngorongoro Crater
A part of the Serengeti ecosystem, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Ngorongoro Crater is the world’s largest inactive, unfilled and intact caldera, about 20kms across, 600metres deep and 300 sq. kms in area. With vegetation ranging from lush grasslands, to savannah plains, the Ngorongoro Crater is home to a rich diversity of birds and animals. The wildebeest and zebras on their famous annual migration also pass through Ngorongoro. The Ngorongoro Conservancy Area (‘NCA’) also has some lakes where a large bird population can be seen. The NCA is also home to the Olduvai Gorge, considered the cradle of civilization, as this is where some of the earliest known specimens of human beings have been found.
Ngorongoro boasts some fantastic luxury lodges on the crater rim as well as several campsites, from which wildlife can be observed in their natural habitat – truly an experience not to be missed!
Tanzania – Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park
Mt. Kilimanjaro – the majestic mountain that sits in glorious isolation amidst the savannah plains of Tanzania, is also host to a wide range of flora and fauna. The mountain has 5 vegetation zones, sub-montane agroforest, a montane forest belt, sub-alpine moorland and alpine bogs and desert.
Kilimanjaro National Park is near the town of Moshi in Tanzania and includes the whole of Mount Kilimanjaro above the tree line and the surrounding montane forest belt above 1,820 metres. It covers and area of 1,688 square kilometers. The Park was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. The Park is host to a variety of animals, including Elephants, Cape Buffalo, Leopards, the black & white Colobus Monkeys, Blue Monkeys, Bushbucks, other primates, bats and a varied birdlife.
While climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is the aim of most visitors to this area, visiting the National Park is a great experience too.
