.. Arusha National Park is one of our favorite parks and consists of four distinct features; Mount Meru, the Momela Lakes, Ngurdoto Crater and an area called 'Serengeti Ndogo'... For a small park, Arusha contains a wide array of animals, including, Sykes monkey, black and white colobus monkey, baboon, elephant, buffalo, hippo, leopard, hyena, wart hog and a wide range of antelope species, including waterbuck, bush buck, reed buck and red forest duiker... It also has one of the highest densities of giraffe of any park in Africa.

.. Dominating over the park is 14,979 ft.Mount Meru, Tanzania's second highest mountain which forms the western boundary and can be climbed in 2-3 days (see our Mountaineering page)...To the east are the Momella Lakes, each a different color due to variations in depth, algae and salinity...They attract a multitude of bird life which vary with the time of year...Flamingoes are a common site here and between October and April the lakes are the winter home for migrating European waterfowl...Forming a reserve within a reserve in effect is Ngurdoto Crater, a sanctuary where no humans are allowed, although there are several viewpoints along its rim where the animals on the crater floor can be observed...The fourth feature; Serengeti Ndogo means 'little Serengeti' and describes an open grassland area where Burchell's zebra can be seen...Zebras are usually associated with open plains country, but this area is large enough to support a small population.

.. Arusha is one of the few parks that permit foot safaris and they are easily arranged...One of our favorites is a hike that encompasses the lower slopes of Mt. Meru...While getting an intimate glimpse of the resident giraffe, buffalo and forest animals, it also provides views of the entire park.

.. Located between the town of Arusha and Kilimanjaro International airport, the park makes an ideal beginning or end to your trip...Being a couple hours from Arusha, a visit to the park could also be made into a day trip if your schedule is tight, but the park is certainly worth more time than that...The best time to visit is December through February and June to September.


.. Gombe and Mahale Mountains parks are both located on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika and serve primarily to protect some of the last remaining wild chimpanzees in Africa...Gombe Park is the smaller of the two and one of the smallest of Tanzania's national parks, but thanks to Dr. Jane Goodall, it is probably the best known after the Serengeti...The chimps at Gombe have become completely habituated to human observers and it's possible to watch them for hours!

.. Both parks rise from Lake Tanganyika to form a highland forest with small areas of open woodlands and grassland, but Mahale is much larger with a more complex landscape and more variety of animals...Along with the famous chimpanzee, Gombe park is home to olive baboons, red colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, vervet monkeys and the colorful red-tail monkeys...You can also spot buffalo, Defassa waterbuck, bushbuck, leopard, and grey duiker and over 200 species of bird, including, kingfishers, the crowned eagle, the African broadbill, Ross's turaco and the trumpeter hornbill...Mahale Mountains is inhabited by similar animals as Gombe, plus elephant, giraffe, roan and sable antelope, kudu, eland and lion.

.. There are no roads in either park so we will do our observing of the animals on foot, but what better way to meet chimpanzees face to face in their natural habitat!..Trips can be made to this park year round but the best time is May to October.


. Katavi National Park lies on the western side of Tanzania, near Lake Tanganyika and north of Mahale Mountains Park, on a high flood plain...It is one of the most difficult parks to reach and is strictly for the the more adventurous!..Major features of the park are the vast, short-grass flood plains in the north, palm-fringed Lake Chada in the southeast and the Katuma River...Lake Chada has one of the highest densities of crocodiles in the country and coupled with the diverse Miombo woodland, acacia bush and swamps, the park contains over 400 species of birds...Other animals found here are zebra, sable and roan antelope, southern reedbuck, topi, eland, leopard, elephant, and lion...Kitavi is also home to one of the largest herds of buffalo in Tanzania.

.. This park has excellent game viewing with a real wilderness atmosphere due to its isolation...The best time to visit is from July to October when the flood plains and swampy areas are dry making the park more accessible.


. Along Lake Manyara Park's western border lie the cliffs of the Great Rift Valley escarpment, and on its eastern side, the shores of Lake Manyara...Within this long and narrow corridor is a wide variety of game due to the distinct eco-zones of ground water forest, Acacia woodland and open grassland...The park is also dotted with groves of doum palm, baobob, mahogany and sausage tree making it truly distinctive.

.. Lake Manyara has been a mecca for early safaris since safari travel began...In fact, Ernest Hemingway described this park and its magnificent country in The Green Hills of Africa...As the road enters the park it passes through a thick forest inhabited by Sykes, Blue and Vervet monkeys and Baboons...The road then traverses into more open areas containing elephant, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, impala, bushbuck, waterbuck, civet and the shy pangolin...If we're lucky, we may spot a leopard, or a pride of the famous tree-climbing lions which spend most of their day spread out along the branches of acacia trees.

.. Lake Manyara itself, which is alkaline, varies tremendously in size, almost disappearing at the height of the dry season and overtaking large areas of the park in a particularly wet season...The lake is a magnet for birdlife and many different species can be found along its shores including huge flocks of flamingo.

.. The Park is a few hours drive from the town of Arusha which makes it an ideal day trip; but typically we visit it on the way to, or coming back from Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti...Due to the lake and seasonal rivers the best time to visit is during the dry season, June to September and December to February.


.. Mikumi National Park is located in central Tanzania some 300km south-west of Dar es Salaam...The Uluguru range of mountains which rise to nearly nine thousand feet border one side of the park and provide the source for the Mkata flood plain which is the park's main feature...While the northern portion of the floodplain remains swampy throughout the year, the southern portion drains to the Mkata River providing a habitat for buffalo, wild dog, eland, elephant, giraffe, hartebeest, zebra, leopard, lion, impala, sable antelope, warthog, waterbuck, wildebeest, and greater kudu.

.. Two well-known water holes, Mkata and Chamgore, are home to many reptiles including crocodile, monitor lizard, python plus birdlife like the saddle-bill stock, hammerkop and malachite kingfisher...The best time to go is between June and October.


.. Designated a World Heritage Site, Ngorongoro Crater is a huge and stunningly beautiful caldera full of wildlife...The crater offers some of the best game viewing in Africa and one of the last places to see Black Rhino in their natural habitat...The views from the rim looking down to the crater floor, where grassland blends into swamps, soda lakes, freshwater pools and woodland, are sensational.

.. The crater is actually a small portion of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area which lies between Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks and makes up one of three components of the Serengeti ecosystem...The conservation area contains a wide variety of habitats, highland forest, woodlands and grasslands and is home to many Maasai...Cultural day hikes are easily arranged to the Crater Highlands and to Lake Eyasi. (See our Trekking section).

.. The crater itself contains over 20,000 mammals and the densest predator population in Africa...Due to the plentiful water and food available throughout the year the crater is able to support such a high concentration of mammals year-round...While you won't see giraffe and large herds of elephant, you will see wildebeest, gazelle, hyena, zebra, ostrich and several prides of lions...The birdlife is largely seasonal and also affected by the ratio of soda to fresh water in Lake Magadi, but it isn't unusual to see a thousand flamingoes at this pool of water on the crater floor.


.. The special attraction of Ruaha Park, aside from the spectacular scenery, is the fact that it's comparatively unknown and the visitor numbers reflect that...In an average year Ruaha receives less than 5% of the visitors that the Serengeti sees though its only 15% smaller...It's the location of the park, and not a lack of game that is the cause of this...From a wildlife enthusiasts point of view Ruaha is a paradise.

.. Along the park's eastern side, lies the Ruaha River and other sand river valleys which intersect dry bush country and rolling savannah dotted with Baobobs...Farther west, an escarpment cuts through the park and beyond that, upland country covered in a colorful miombo woodland.

.. The dry bush country is home to greater and lesser kudu, giraffe, eland, impala, waterbuck, reedbuck, warthog, wild cat and the shy civet...Where the bush intermingles with open savannahs is where you'll encounter lion, hyena, zebra and herds of buffalo while Grant's gazelle, ostrich and cheetah live in the open grasslands...Also found in Ruaha are leopard and wild dog, plus the Roan and Sable antelope which do not exist in the Northern parks.

.. The Ruaha River features large numbers of hippo and crocodile while the sand river valleys lined with acacia, figs and tamarind are where elephants will dug wells during the dry season...Over 465 birds species have been sighted within the Park, including plenty of Eurasian migrant birds on their outward and return journeys...Resident birds include kingfishers, plovers, hornbills, green wood hoopoes, bee-eaters, sunbirds and egrets.

.. The best time for game viewing is between June and December...During the wet months of January to April some roads become impassable and the animal density, especially along the rivers, thins out...Ruaha is a special place and one of our favorites, and after lying in bed at night and listening to the chorus of hyenas and lions, we think it will be one of your favorites too!





.. Located just north of Dar-es-Saleem, Sadani Game Reserve is one of the least visited in Tanzania...It is often overlooked because of its small size and lack of proximity to the other parks, but that shouldn't keep you from visiting the only place where the African elephant can still be seen bathing in the Indian Ocean!

.. For a small park Sadani harbors a large range of mammals, and it's the only East African coastal reserve where you will find together lion, leopard, zebra, water buck, eland, roan antelope, giraffe, oryx, buffalo and the rare Roosevelt sable...On our drives along the river you'll see hippo, crocodile, and a variety of bird life, including flamingo and kingfisher.


.. The Selous Game Reserve, occupying an area the size of Vermont and New Hampshire combined (or if you prefer, Switzerland), is the largest area set aside for animals in Africa, and the second largest in the world...The reserve is one of Africa's greatest wildernesses, where the forest and bush are untamed...The scenery of Selous is unlike that of the parks in Northern Tanzania...Instead of open plains, miombo woodland dominates the landscape and much of this woodland lacks roads and in the wet season is completely inaccessible due to the flooding of the Rufiji River system which flows through the reserve...Coming from the south, several rivers join to create the Ulanga which meets the Ruaha to create the Rufiji...The water from this huge catchment is forced through the spectacular Stiegler's Gorge, named after a German explorer who was killed there by an elephant in 1907...Beyond this narrow gorge the river widens again and splits creating a number of lakes where animals congregate during the dry season.

.. You can take a game drive along the lakes which attract diverse birds, herbivore and predators like lion, buffalo and impala. Walking safaris can also be taken in the company of an armed ranger, or you can enjoy trips along the river where you'll can see hippos, crocodiles and aquatic birds.

.. The Selous is inaccessible during the rainy season, March to May, due to floods so the best time to visit the reserve is from June to October.


.. At the entrance to the Serengeti National Park is a sign that states, "This is the world as it was in the beginning", and since the beginning large herds of animals have roamed vast plains all over the world...In just the last few hundred years, though, these rolling plains and the animals themselves have all but been eliminated. ..Serengeti National Park, together with other protected areas adjoining this eco-system, now compose the greatest concentration of wildlife left on earth.

.. The Serengeti plains are shared by a portion of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the 5,600-square-mile Serengeti National Park and the 540-square-mile Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya...Serengeti Park itself is roughly the size of the state of Connecticut and encompasses the bulk of the annual migration range of nearly 1.5 million wildebeest and zebra...From December to April, herds of animals concentrate on the short grass plains in the southern region of the park...After calving in February, they begin the trek north to Kenya's Masai Mara, arriving by late July and remaining until late September when rains resume in the south...Not all the animals migrate though, the permanent waters of the Seronera and Grumeti Rivers in the central and western areas help maintain a varied animal populations throughout the year...Most notable are territorial lion, leopard, cheetah, hyena and the endangered wild dog.

.. Nearly every African game animal can be seen in the Serengeti, including, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, jackal, ratel, hippo, crocodile, wart hog, rhino, mongoose, spring hare, porcupine, waterbuck, baboon, dik-dik and colubus monkey...Three of the most poisonous snakes on earth also live here: the puff adder, spitting cobra and the mamba...The animals are more dispersed between July and November and you should give yourself plenty of time to track them down.

.. From June through October, the southern plains are dry, bare and dusty. Lacking surface water, they only support small herds of territorial animals...But when it rains, normally in November through May, the plains turn green and attractive...From their dry season range in the North and West Serengeti, millions of animals flood into this rich pasture...The best time to view this is from January through February when wildebeest calves are born on the open plains.


.. Named after the Tarangire River, Tarangire is the quintessential African park...The rolling savannah, dotted with splendid baobab and acacia trees provide a beautiful backdrop for herds of wildebeest, buffalo, elephant, impala and zebra...Also found within its boundaries are lion, leopard, warthog, eland, ostriches, gazelles, giraffe, hartebeast, tree climbing pythons and abundant birdlife...Some herbivore that are rarely seen in Northern Tanzania inhabit this park too, oryx, Lesser kudu and in the southernmost areas, gerenuk and Greater kudu.

.. The park is part of a larger ecosystem that extends as far as Lake Manyara and Lake Natron and includes many game controlled areas in the surrounding Maasai Steppe...The animals migrate out of the park during the wet season, but concentrate in large numbers along the permanent Tarangire River during the dry season, June to September, making it the best time to visit.

.. The Udzungwa Mountains National Park is in south-central Tanzania and the newest of East Africa's parks...The park, commissioned in 1992, harbors plant species found nowhere else in the world, including the tiny African violet...The forest covers a substantial range in altitude creating quite a diversity of vegetation...This is how several species of primates, including the Iringa Colobus monkey and Sanje mangabey, are able to coexist here...The forest also harbors an amazing array of birdlife, including three just discovered in the 1980's; a new species of cisticola, a new weaver, and the rufous-winged sunbird.

.. The park's plateau is bordered on the north by the Great Ruaha River and contains populations of elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard and wild dog...The best time to visit is September to December.