SOUTHERN CIRCUIT
MIKUMI NATINOAL PARK
Mikumi National Park covers 5,209 kilometers square miles and lies within the Mkata River plain bordered by the Uluguru Mountain range to the east and the Rubeho Mountains on the west, an area of lush vegetation which particularly attracts elephant and buffalo. Open grasslands dominate in the flood plain, eventually merging with the miombo woodland covering the lower hills. Wildlife is abundant with giraffe, zebra, buffalo, hartebeest, wildebeest, elephant, wild dog, and smaller mammals and reptiles. Mikumi’s vegetation includes woodland, swamp and grassland with two water holes, Mkata and Chamgore. Apart from the saddle-bill stork, hammerkop and malachite kingfisher, there is also monitor lizard and a deadly python inhabiting the pools.
RUAHA NATIONAL PARK
The Ruaha National Park is Tanzania’s second largest park and the world’s largest elephant sanctuary. Although set in spectacular scenery with an abundance of wildlife, the park is one of the lesser visited in the country, keeping it an isolated and peaceful wilderness. Amongst the game found at the park are elephant, buffalo, giraffe, cheetah, lion, leopard, a wide variety of antelope, and over 465 recorded species of birdlife.
SELOUS GAME RESERVE
Selous is one of the most remote and least visited game parks in Africa, but at 24,120 square kilometers, it is theworld’s largest game reserve. The name derives from hunter-explorer Frederick Courtenay Selous, a keen naturalist and conservationist as well as a hunter. He was killed in the First World War in the Beho Beho region of the reserve. The defining feature of the Selous is the great Rufiji River, which naturally splits the ecosystem into two distinct parts. The area can be explored by boat, sailing through swamps and lagoons where elephant often come to bathe, or even by foot, as the Selous is one of few Tanzanian reserves to allow walking tours. It has the world’s largest number of big game, more than 120,000 elephants, 160,000 buffaloes and about 2,000 rhinoceros. In addition, the Selous contains Africa’s greatest concentration of hippopotamus, crocodile and wild dog.
UDZUNGWA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK
The park features scenic mountains and forests that are home to animals found nowhere else on earth, and lies in an area that is one of the few places in Africa to be covered by continuous rainforest. Six species of primates, including the rare Iringa red colobus and the Sanje crested mangabey monkey can be found here.
NORTHERN CIRCUIT
ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK
This mini park with its 137 sq km lies between the peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru in Tanzania’s north-east, near Arusha town. The Park is known for its rich flora and fauna and walking safaris; it is the only park where you can have a walking safari in the Northern Circuit of Tanzania. It consists of three impressive features: the shallow alkaline Momela Lakes where thousands of Lesser and Greater Flamingos as well as migratory birds can be seen (roughly 400 species including Crowned Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Silvery-Cheeked Hornbill, Egyptian Vulture, and Hammerhead Stork); the volcanic Ngurdoto Crater (3km wide, 400m deep) known also as »Little Ngorongoro« with rich wildlife on the crater floor including Buffalos, Elephants, Baboons and occasionally Black Rhinoceros; and the second highest peak in Tanzania, Mt. Meru (4.566m). The different habitats of the Park are home also to Giraffes, Zebras, Hippos, various antelopes, Warthogs, Hyenas, and Leopards. It is a rare place where you can spot fluffy-tailed Black and White Colobus Monkeys (Guereza).
KILIMANJARO NATIONAL PARK
Mt Kilimanjaro or Kilemakyaro, as it is called by the local Chagga people, is with its 5,895m the highest mountain in Africa and the highest freestanding mountain in the world! An almost perfectly shaped volcano which rises from the plains, Mt. Kilimanjaro is one of the Africa’s most breathtaking sights. It is unique in being so close to the equator (3 degrees South or 330km) and yet having a snow-capped summit. Mt. Kilimanjaro is located in the northeast of Tanzania, near the border with Kenya, as a part of the Mt. Kilimanjaro National Park, which is protecting an area of 756 sq km. Although appearing flat topped from a distance, Mt. Kilimanjaro actually consists of three volcanoes: Shira (3.962m) is the oldest and already extinct, whilst Mawenzi (5.149m) and Kibo (5.895m) are dormant; the last activity was registered in the 1940's. The Uhuru Peak (5.895m) is in fact the summit of Kibo and the highest point on the continent! There are six corridors or climbing routes to reach theUhuru Peak which differ in popularity and degree of difficulty and can be done within 5 to 7 days.
LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK
Be prepared for some long rides on rough roads, but for some of the most exciting moments of your life. About three million years ago, Africa was torn apart. The cleavage, known as the Great Rift Valley, can be identified from the space shuttle as the most distinctive feature of the continent. The seam of this cleavage has developed a series of fascinating and beautiful lakes. Manyara is a fantastic big game park. The variety of habitats parallels its exceptional scenery. Every imaginable East African animal is found here in abundance. There are great herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and several varieties of gazelle. Mahogany, sausage trees and croton are alive with blue monkeys and vervets. Some of the most amazingly large families of hippos congregate at the rivers emerging into the lake, and the birdlife is plentiful. Manyara is also known for its "tree-climbing" lions.
NGORONGORO CRATER AREA
Ngorongoro is quite unique as its physical protection from man and natural beauty ranks it among the most pristine wildernesses on earth. It is regarded as a natural wonder of the world and has been declared a World Heritage Site. It is the largest intact crater in the world, being 610 meters deep, 16 kilometers across and covering an area of 540 square kilometers. On the crater floor, grassland blends into swamps, lakes, rivers, woodland and mountains – all a heaven for wildlife, including the densest predator population in Africa. The volcanic crater is jam-packed with wildlife, including all the big game. Its pride and joy, however, is that it remains the last great wild refuge for black rhino.
SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK
Serengeti, the Grande Dame of African game parks, is flat with characteristic rocky outcrops (kopjes) that provide important lookouts for lion and cheetah and habitats for klipspringer and duiker. “Serengeti” is a Maasai word meaning “endless plain”, which is apt, as the park consists of flat, treeless plains stretching as far as the eye can see. The millions of animals that have migrated to the Serengeti from Maasai Mara (Masai Mara) are in the Ndutu plains area during March. The veld is filled with the "blarting" of the wildebeest, and the night is chilled with the constant moaning and calling of the lions, the siren screams of the jackal and the blood-tingling laugh of the hyena. The vegetation in the Serengeti ranges from the short and long grass plains in the south, to the acacia savannah in the center and the wooded grassland concentrated around tributaries of the Grumeti and Mara rivers.
TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
Tarangire National Park covers 2,600 square kilometers and is on the traditional migration route of several species of wildlife. At dry times, the concentration of animals in Tarangire rivals that of the much better known Serengeti. Herds of migratory wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and buffalo gather along the marshy shores of Lake Natron. These pools are shared by flocks of birds: green wood hoopoes, fisher’s lovebirds, tallith herons, white-bellied go-away birds and giant kingfishers. Resident lion, giraffe, elephant, and black rhino are common at any season. The grasslands support a wide variety of animals, including leopard and hyena. A wild and unspoiled region, Tarangire is noted for its baobab trees and splendid vistas of rolling savannah and acacia woodland. The strange-looking, centuries-old baobab trees are believed by the Maasai to be the first tree in creation.
