Tanzania Travel Guide | Tanzanian tour guides » Tanzania National Parks

Saadani National Park

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:02:48 +0000

Saadani National Park is geographically the closest wildlife reserve to both Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar and is unique in that it is Tanzania’s only coastal wildlife reserve thus offering the chance to see big game and birdlife interacting with the coast. Saadani Game Reserve was gazetted in 1964, covering an area of some 250 sq km from the Wami River in the south to the Mligaji River in the north, with the Moshi railway line as the western boundary. This park was recently upgraded from game reserve to become the 13th National park in 2003 under the direction of TANAPA in Tanzania and is one of Tanzania’s coastal wildlife sanctuary. Once Saadani became a Game Reserve new species of animal were introduced to compliment the existing diversity. Wildebeest, zebra and eland joined the resident populations including buffalo, elephant, giraffe, lion, and the extremely rare Roosevelt’s sable antelope.

The park is also one of the larger coastal forests in Tanzania, and part of the “Eastern Arc and Coastal Forest for Kenya and Tanzania Hotspot. The forest dominates the western part of Mkwaja Saadani National Park. This is park is a host new species of reptile (dwarf gecko), amphibian (Hyperolius parkeri), an endemic snail and many other species of invertebrates, 8 bird species, and large mammals. African buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, several antelopes species and lions are all found in the southern portion of the national park, which dominated by Wami river.

Activities of the park include: plenty of bush walks, camping, birding and visiting the local community in the village, canoeing in the Wami River, Game drives in the park can be arranged which allow great wildlife viewing.

Getting there: The Park is easily accessible by a 30 minute flight from Dar es Salaam or Zanzibar or a 3 hour drive from Dar.

Partners: Uganda national parks

Ruaha National Park Information

admin — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 08:01:54 +0000

Ruaha is one of the handpicked National Parks on the African continent as a year round destination and of course it has the most rewarding Tanzanian safari experience more especially when clients spend an overnight at one of the best park accommodation premises which are perfectly situated overlooking a sand river and prolific in wildlife. However, Ruaha National Park is Tanzania’s largest, a vast wilderness in the south-west of the country visited by only a handful of travellers each year. At the park’s heart is the aptly-named Great Ruaha River, a massive watercourse that dwindles to only a few pools in the dry season, but bursts its banks and roars over boulders at the height of the rains.
Converging with the Great Ruaha are hundreds of sand rivers, natural game corridors when dry and sparklingly clear streams when wet. 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, cheetah, jackal, hyena and the rare and endangered African wild dog. Thus elephants are recovering at a high rate from the 1980 poaching totaling up to some good number.

Location: The Park is sited in a unique transition zone where East and Southern African fauna and flora overlap and with its vast, unspoilt wilderness, protecting a variety of species virtually unequalled in East Africa, Ruaha’s diversity offers a richly rewarding wildlife experience.

Getting there: Always guests who feel traveling by road wastes time access the park by air using several air companies that provide services to Ruaha, however it is more expensive. There are two airstrips that are used in the park, Msembe the main one and Jongomero which is 5-10 minutes away.

By Road: Ruaha National Park is approximately 120km away from the nearest town Iringa along the ‘Neverending’ road (left). But year-round road access through Iringa from Dar es Salaam (about 10 hours) via Mikumi or from Arusha via Dodoma.

The Park Activities: Game drives, day walks or hiking safaris through untouched bush (Walking in the bush is one of the greatest thrills that Africa has to offer and is highly recommended. A couple of excellent Walking Safari options are much favoured in Ruaha but now need to be booked three days in advance to secure the services of a Parks) and Stone age ruins at Isimila, near Iringa.

Best time: For wildlife safari, visit the park from mid May to December since it’s the period when large mammals and predators are seen. Bird watching, luch scenery and flowers its best during wet season of January to April)

Accommodation:
The park has got a wide number of both lodges and camps and the include the following:

Mikumi National Park

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:20:34 +0000

This is the fourth largest national park in Tanzania, and is traversed through its middle by the Tanzam Highway that runs between Morogoro and Iringa. Mikumi National park is ore accessible compared to all in Tanzania’s parks since it’s just a few hours’ drive from Dar Es Salaam but it also tempers guests’ feelings of being immersed in wildest Africa, since the road is within earshot of the Mikumi’s camps. The park has rare seasons compared to others like it, it only has a single dry season (June-November) and a single wet season (December-May).While the great majority of Mikumi is southeast of the highway and almost inaccessible to guests, the main feature of the park for wildlife is the Mtaka river’s floodplain, to the highway’s northwest. A Serengeti of the south, it is impressively populated with wildlife of all kinds – including predators – and can be explored at your leisure in a five- to six-hour circular drive. Though the park is best known for wildlife, it is also an excellent birding destination with over 400 species having been recorded here.

Park location: Mikumi National Park is found astride the main Dar es Salaam to Mbeya highway, to the north of Selous Game Reserve, and only 285 kilometres west of Dar es Salaam making it one of the most popular Parks in Tanzania.

Getting there: This Park can be accessed by both roads and air means of transport and it has good surfaced road which connects Mikumi to Dar es Salaam via Morogoro around four hour drive. Also a road connection to Udzungwa, Ruaha and this is during dry season only. Besides, for Selous charter flight from Dar es Salaam, Arusha or Selous. Local buses run from Dar to park Head quarter where game drives can be arranged.

Activities of the park:
Birding, Game drives and guided walks are the main activities plus a visit to the nearby Udzungwa ,travel on to Selous or Ruaha.However,the park can be accessed any time of the year.

Accommodation of Mikumi National Park:

This park has a number of accommodation facilities which cater for all categories of travellers.They include: two safari lodges, three luxury tented camps, three campsites.
Guest houses in Mikumi town on the park border and one new lodge is proposed at Mahondo plus one permanent tented camp at Lumaaga.

World travel packages

Halong bay cruises-Vietnam Tour Operator offers private cruise travel, customized cruise tours, junk cruises, luxury cruise packages for family vacations in Halong Bay Vietnam.
Queen Elizabeth national park
Murchison falls national park
Uganda national parks
gorilla tour in Uganda

Mahale Mountains National Park

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:52:31 +0000

This park has several unusual characteristics and is very different from other national parks in Tanzania in that there are no roads or vehicles and it is covered in thick tropical forestland from Lake Tanganyika shoreline up to the mountain peaks which are often disappearing into the clouds. Besides, the park was named after the Mahale Mountains range that is within its borders. This park is also one of the only two protected areas for chimpanzees in the country and the clan of Chimps move over this whole area freely throughout the year depending on where the best feeding is. As a general trend the chimp’s main fruit they eat grows higher in the mountains in June through to August time. From September onwards the chimps tend to feed at a lower altitude making the chimp trek short and easier.

However, you can’t fail to appropriate its beautiful remote location though it sees very few tourists each year, but for those who make the journey to the park, they have the privileged opportunity to visit the wild‘M’ Clan of some 60 plus habitualised chimpanzees. The forest is also filled with an array of stunning birdlife and a number of other forest dwelling animals including leopard, lions, hunting dogs, Kudus, errands, roams and sable antelopes, giraffes, buffaloes and elephants.

Getting there: The Park can be reached by air with Charter flight from Arusha, Dar or Kigoma. On arrival there is a private park motorboats from Kigoma, to transfer you to the park .You will find more than one boat from Kigoma and one takes three to four hours.
(Weekly steamer from Kigoma) or seven hours, then hire a local fishing boat or arrange with park Head quarter for pickup in park boat, another one or two hours will be spend on the way to the park.

The park Rules and Regulations: Always go by the rules and regulations which govern the area visited and as for Mahale National parks visitors are expected to go by the following: the park permit for single entry is valid within 24hours,do not take any pets or guns into the park, no lighting any fire or discard any burning object, between 7pm and 6.00pm remain in the immediate vicinity of designated accommodation facilities(tents tourist bandas or campsites),Keep to the authorized trails, do not disturb wild animals in any way. do not make noise, Be considerate to fellow visitors – do not disturb them or the animals they are watching; do not take any pets or guns into the park, do not uproot, pick, cut or damage any plant or be in possession of any part of a plant indigenous to the park, do not light any fire or discard any burning object, do not discard any litter, Between 7.00p.m and 6.00a.m remain in the immediate vicinity of designated accommodation facilities (tented camps, tourist bandas, rest house or campsites),A permit is valid for single entry within 24 hours only.

Accommodation: Visitors who intend to spend more time at Mahale National park shouldn’t worry of where to stay. However; the park has three seasonal luxury tented camps, two small rest houses, and large campsite which provide quality comfortable services to visitors.

Gombe Stream National Park

admin — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 10:46:56 +0000

This is the smallest park in Tanzania named after Gombe River covering an area of about 52 square Kilometers and found in a 24 kilometer distance from Kigoma town and Mahale forest National Park. Besides,the Park can only be accessed by boat though its close to the town because it lies on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika where Road and Air means of transport are not possible. Gombe Stream is an untamed place of lush forests and clear lake views. Hiking and swimming are also popular activities here, once the day’s expedition to see the chimpanzees is over. It’s also a great place to see chimps up close and personal as many of the family groups are habituated to humans. With the possible exception of Mahale Mountains National Park, no other park in Africa can offer such a magnificent experience with chimpanzees.

For avian visitors, the place is an ideal being at the southern end of the Albertine Rift, which made the park to be referred to as a birding paradise for East African savannah birds and West African forest species.

Getting there:

Since visitors come from different directions, there are several means of transport to be used to get just close to the park but one has to use water means of transport to reach to the park due to its location.Kigoma is connected to Dar and Arusha by scheduled flights, to Dar and Mwanza by a slow rail service, to Mwanza, Dar and Mbeya by rough dirt roads, and to Mpulungu in Zambia by a weekly ferry. From Kigoma, local lake-taxis take up to three hours to reach Gombe, or motorboats can be chartered, taking less than one hour.

The Park activities:

Chimpanzee trekking; hiking, swimming and snorkelling;
visit the site of Henry Stanley’s famous “Dr Livingstone I presume” at Ujiji near Kigoma, and watch the renowned dhow builders at work. .

Best time to visit:

The chimps don’t roam as far in the wet season (February-June, November-mid December) so may be easier to find; better picture opportunities in the dry (July-October and late December).

Where to stay (Accommodation)

The Park has a solitary luxury tented camp situated on Mitumba Beach in the north of the park. However, more basic accommodation and a camping site can be found at Kasekela Research Centre on the lakeshore and one can still use a selection of hotels and guest housed in Kigoma.

Tanzania tour guide and Tanzania hotels

Mkomazi National Park

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 09:36:38 +0000

TANZANIA’S NEW PARK

The number of national parks managed by Tanzania National Parks has increased to fifteen with the recent additional of Mkomazi National Park.

Comprising 3,234sq km in northern Tanzania, Mkomazi is a spectacular wilderness of dry bush, ancient baobab tress, isolated rocky hills, open savannah, acacias and grassy valleys. To the northwest is Mount Kilimanjaro; to the south the Pare and Usumbara Mountains; and to the north Kenya’s Tsavo National Park.

Mkamazi actually shares a border 1,000 elephant, including females and their calves, to range freely between the two parks.

Buffalo, eland, gerenuk, giraffe, grant’s gazelle, hartebeest, impala, lesser kudu, Oryx, steinbak, waterbuck and zebra share the park with the elephant while predators include numerous lion, leopard, cheetah and jackal. In all, 78 species of mammals have been recorded while a reptile population includes crocodile and python.

The birds of Mkomazi are even more numerous with some 450 recorded species. Bee eaters, hornbills, guinea fowl, starlings and weaver-birds are seen in large numbers but less well known species include tawny eagles, secretary birds and violent wood-hoopoes, while the plant and insect life is probably the most diversified in Tanzania.

Mkomazi is also home to both the Mkomazi Rhino Sanctuary and the Breeding Program for the African Wild Dog. Both projects forming part of the Tanzanian Government’s policy on endangered species. The 28 square mile Mkomazi Rhino sanctuary, which will eventually hold up to 20 Rhino pending their transfer to other sage and secure areas of the country, offers limitless viewing and educational opportunities.

For tourists, Mkomazi offers abundant game viewing, scenic beauty and a quality wilderness experience ideal for game drives, walking safaris and hiking. It is an ornithologist’s and photographer’s paradise.

Lake Manyara National Park

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:40:42 +0000

Stretching for 50 km along the base of the 600 meter high escarpment of the African Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park offers visitors a microcosm of the Tanzania safari experience. Though it is not as big as the other renowned national parks of Tanzania, the park contains wide variety of animals per square kilometer. The park has an area of 330 sq km of which two-thirds of it is the lake and the rest is mainly ground water forests and bush plains.

The other big animals found in the park include zebras, giraffes, buffalo, wildebeest, impala and waterbuck. The primates include baboons and vervet monkey. More than 380 species of birds have been identified in the park and this include flamingo, pelican, stilt, duck, heron, egret, spoonbill, ibis, hamerkop, hornbill and fish eagle. Lucky travelers may catch sight of the park’s famous tree climbing lions, which make their home in mahogany and acacia trees during the rainy season.

The park has been a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve since 1981.

Selous Game Reserve

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:01:04 +0000

Covering an area of around 50,000sqkm, the Selous Game Reserve is the largest protected wildlife are in the world. Despite this great size, the reserve is as yet uninhabited by man and could therefore qualify as the world’s largest unspoiled wilderness. Because of the unique ecological importance of the reserve, it is a Worl Heritage Site, so designated by the United Nations in 1982. Little development has taken place in the Selous, and perhaps this makes it the most natural wilderness remaining in Africa today.

Lying in the south-eastern part of Tanzania, Selous was first mentioned by 19^th Century European explorers. The name Selous is in memory of the naturalist, hunter, and author Frederic Courteney Selous, who died fighting in World War 1 and was buried near where he fell in the reserve.

The reserve contains a wide variety of wildlife habitats, which include open grasslands, acacia and miombo woodlands, riverine forests, and swamps. It is home to thousands of the big mammals, hundreds of species of birds, countless small animals, and many reptiles.

The River Rufiji is the main feature in the Selous Game Reserve, and gives opportunities for boat safaris. The river’s delta contains the largest mangrove forest in the world. Boast safaris on the river and on the adjacent lakes are a special way to observe wildlife and to see some of the best scenery in the reserve. Hippos, crocodiles, waterbucks, buffaloes, and a large variety of water birds such as herons, kingfishers, and geese are abundant in and around the river. Fishing with a line is permitted provided a permit is obtained. Most camps in the reserve organize these boat safaris.

Game drives are also attractive, especially along the shores of the lakes an the rivers. Evening drives provide a great experience of seeing the sun going down the over the lakes. The adventure-seeking traveler can also explore this reserve or the camps organizing the tour will provide a ranger for this.