Foot Travel & Tours Tanzania Ltd

 

Saadani National Park

Size: 1,062 sq km (415 miles)

Location: On the north coast, roughly 100km (60 miles) Northwest of Dar es salaam as the crow flies, and a similar distance southwest of the port of Tanga.

 

Saadani National park is the perfect union of beach and bush. Located just 70km north of Bagamoyo and immediately accessible by paved road from Dar es salaam, Saadani has recently become a fully protected national park and is a popular day-trip from beach resorts scattered along Tanzania’s northern coast. The Wami River, which passes through Saadani National Park and empties into the Indian Ocean, hosts large population of hippos, crocodiles, flamingos, and many large bird bird species. Elephants have been rumoured to be seen bathing and playing on Saadani’s beach, especially in the early hours of the morning. A good choice for the visitors in Dar es salaam or Zanzibar who don’t have time for longer safaris to visit more remote parks around the country, Saadani is easily visited for a day trip or over a weekend.

 

Rubondo Island National Park

Size: 258 sq km (93 sq miles).

Location: Northwest Tanzania, 150 km (95 miles) west of Mwanza.

 

Rubondo Island is tucked into a corner of Lake Victoria, the world’s second largest lake, an inland sea sprawling between three countries. Rubondo provides protection for fish breeding grounds, while tilapia and the rapacious Nile perch, some weighing more than 100kg, tempt recreational fishers with challenging sports fishing and world record catches. But Rubondo is more than a water wonderland. Deserted sandy beaches nestle against a cloak of virgin forest. Papyrus swamps host the secretive Sitatunga, a shaggy aquatic antelope, and the dappled bushbuck. Rubondo is birder’s paradise, with the malachite kingfisher’s azure brilliance competing with the paradise flycatcher’s glamorous flowing tail. Rubondo is home to fish eagles and as a global stopover for hundreds of migratory birds, as well as a sanctuary for sweet smelling wild jasmine and 40 different species of orchard. Ninety percent of island is covered with humid forest, the remainder ranges from coastal grassland to lakeside papyrus beds. A number of indigenous mammal species hippo, bushbuck, genet, and mongoose share their protected habitat with introduced species such as chimpanzee, elephant, and giraffe. Rubondo’s wild flowers are at their best from November to March. For migratory birds, visit December to February. The island’s climate is at its most pleasant from June to August.

 

Ruaha National Park

Size: 10,300 sq km (3,980 sq miles), Tanzania’s 2nd biggest park.

Location: central Tanzania, 128km (80 miles) west of Iringa.

 

Ruaha is a park where game viewing can begin the moment the plane touches down. A pair of giraffe may race beside the airstrip, with a line of zebra parading across the runway in their wake nearby protective elephant mothers guard their young under the shade of a baobab tree. Wildlife in Ruaha is concentrated along the great Ruaha River that is the park’s lifeblood. The river is a flooded torrent after the rains, dwindling to a few precious pools of water surrounded by a sweep of sand in the dry season. Waterbuck, Impala and the world’s most southerly Grant’s gazelle risk their lives for a sip of water-the shores of the Ruaha are a permanent hunting ground for lion, leopard, jackal hyena and the rare and endangered African Wild Dog. Ruaha’s 8,000 elephants are recovering strongly from ivory poaching during the 1980s and remain the largest population in East Africa. Ruaha is the only protected area in which the flora and fauna of eastern and southern Africa overlap, leading to fascinating combinations of wildlife-both greater and lesser kudu live here, as do sable and roan antelopes

 

 

Mahale Mountains National park

Size: 1,613 sq km (623 sq miles)

Location: Western Tanzania, bordering Lake Tanganyika.

 

Like its northerly neighbour Gombe, Mahale Mountains National Park is home to some of the last remaining wild chimpanzees in Africa. Around 1,000 of these fascinating animals roam the isolated rainforest of Mahale, a chain of dramatic peaks draped in lush vegetation falling to lake Tanganyika’s beaches far below. Visitors are led on guided walks in searching of the chimpanzees, following clues such as the previous night’s nests, shadowy clumps high in the trees or scraps of half-eaten fruit and fresh dung. Once found, the chimpanzees preen each other’s glossy coats in concentrated huddles, squabble noisily or bound effortlessly into the trees, swinging nonchalantly through the vines. In addition to a hike on the trail of the chimpanzees, visitors can trace the Tongwe people’s ancient pilgrimage to the mountain spirits, trekking through enclaves of rainforest to grassy ridges chequered with alpine bamboo. After a hot walk in the forest, the clear waters of the lake, home to 250 species 0f fish, beckon for a refreshing swim. The best time for forest walks in Mahale is during the dry season, from May to October. The light rains of October and November present no real obstacle to visitors.

 

Gombe Stream National Park

Size: 52sq km (20 sq miles).

Location: 16 km (10miles) North of Kigoma on the shore of Lake Tanganyika in Western Tanzania

 

Gombe stream is the smallest of Tanzania’s National Parks a thin strip of ancient forest set amidst mountains and steep valleys on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Chimpanzees are Gombe stream’s main attraction; they are the stars of the world’s most famous chimpanzee community, made famous by the pioneering British researcher whose years of constant observation since 1960 have brought to light starling new facts about mankind’s closest cousins. Chimps are as individually unique as humans and no scientific expertise is needed to distinguish the different characters in the cast. The majority of the park mammals are primates, most of them forest species and in addition to the famous chimpanzees, visitors could be lucky enough to see blue or red-tail monkeys. Carnivores are rare in the forest, making Gombe the ideal place for a walking safari, or a swim in one of the streams. The best time to find chimpanzees at Gombe is during the wet season from February to June and November to December. The dry months of July to October and December to January are better for photo opportunities.

 

Katavi National Park

Size: 4,471 sq km (1,727 sq km miles)

Location: Southwest Tanzania, East of Lake Tanganyika. The headquarters at sitalike lie 40 km (25 miles) south of Mpanda town.

 

Katavi National Park in western Tanzania is remote and wild, a destination for the true safari aficionado. The name of the park immortalizes a legendary hunter, Katabi, whose spirit is believed to possess a tamarind tree ringed with offerings from locals begging his blessings. Despite being Tanzania’s third-largest park, Katavi sees relatively few visitors, meaning that those guests who arrive here can look forward to having this huge untouched wildness to themselves. The park’s main features are the watery grass plains to the north the palm fringed lake Chada in the south-east, and the Katuma River. Katavi boasts Tanzania’s greatest populations of both crocodile and hippopotamus. Lion and leopard find prey among the huge populations of herbivores at Katavi impala, eland, topi,zebra, and herds of up to 1,600 buffalo wander the short grass plains. The rare, honey-coloured puku antelope is one of the park’s richest wildlife viewing rewards. A kaleidoscope of birds flit across the riverbanks, swamps and palm groves while flotillas of pelican cruise the lakes and elephant graze waist-deep in the marshlands. Katavi is best visited in the dry season between May and October, December and February.

 

Manyara National Park

Size: 330 sq km (127 sq miles), of which up to 200 sq km (77 sq miles) is Lake when water levels are high.

Location: In Northern Tanzania. The entrance gate lies 1.5 hours (126km/80 miles) West of Arusha along a newly surfaced road, close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu.

 

Tucked below the majesty of the Rift Valley wall, Lake Manyara National Par consists of a thin green band of forest, flanked by the sheer 600 m high red and brown cliffs of the escarpment on one side and by the white-hot shores of an ancient soda lake on the other. This wedge of surprisingly varied vegetation supports wealth of wildlife, nourished by the streams flowing out of the escarpment base and waterfalls spilling over the cliffs. Acacia woodland shelters the park’s famous tree-climbing lions, lying languidly among the braches in the heat of the day. Feeding in the undergrowth or dozing in the dry riverbeds are the country’s densest populations of buffalo and elephant. Deep in the south of the park, hot springs bubble to the surface as hippo wallow near the lake’s sedge-lined borders. The park’s dazzling variety of birds including thousands of red-billed quelea flitting over the water, pelicans, cormorants and the pink streaks of thousands of flamingos. Manyara is the perfect location for an active safari-canoeing the lake or mountain biking and abseiling outside the park’s borders. The dry season July to December is the best for large mammals, while the wet season November to June is the best for bird watching, waterfalls and canoeing.