Northern Circuit

Lake Manyara National Park

Lake Manyara is a scenic gem, stretching for 50km along the base of the rusty-gold 600 -metre high Rift Valley escarpment, with a setting extolled by Ernest Hemingway as “the loveliest I had seen in Africa”. The compact game-viewing circuit through Manyara offers unforgettable Tanzanian safari experience. What to see includes the following:-

• Hundreds strong baboon troops
• Blue monkeys scamper
• Dainty bushbuck tread
• The endless Maasai Steppes across alkaline lake to the jagged blue volcanic peaks
• Large buffalo, wildebeest and zebra herds on the grassy plains
• Giraffes, the ones appear to be black from a distance
• Manyara’s legendary tree-climbing lions
• Impressively tusked elephants
• Perfect Tanzania’s birdlife with more than 400 species
• Pink-hued flamingos

Size

330 sq Km [127 sq miles]
Up to 200 sq Km [77 sq miles] is Lake Manyara

Location & Getting There

Located on the Northern Circuit of Tanzania about 126 Km [80 miles], about 1.5 hours drive west of Arusha Town. Getting there can be by Road, Charter or Scheduled flight from Arusha Airport en route Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.

What to do

• Game drive
• Night Game Drive
• Canoeing during high water level
• Cultural tours
• Bush luncheon and dinner
• Mountain bike tours
• Abseiling & Forest walks outside park
• Picnic sites

When to go

• Dry season [July – October] for large mammals
• Wet season [November – June] for bird
  watching, waterfalls and Canoeing

Please check for available tour packages here

Mkomazi National Park

Mkomazi National Park, termed as “scoop of water” by Pare tribe people, is a “virgin breathtaking beauty” set below the verdant slopes of the spectacular Usambara and Pare Eastern Arc Mountain ranges and overseen by iconic snow – capped peak of Kilimanjaro. Mkomazi which is along northern circuit exhibiting its unique natural treasures to the fulfillment of visitor enjoyment expectations.
Mkomazi National Park is a discovery of treasures of hilly semi – arid savannah and a home of:-

• Large herds of giraffe, eland, hartebeest, zebra, buffalo and elephant
• fenced sanctuary black rhino
• Sociable African wild dog
• Spectacular oryx
• The gerenuk, a gazelle distinguished by its slender neck, bizarre alien – like head, and habit of standing tall on its hind legs stretch for acacia leaves that other browsers cannot reach
• More than 450 avian birds species recorded to include the cobalt [chested vulturine guineafowl], Ostrich, Kori bustard, Secretary bird, Ground hornbill and Eurasian roller

Size

3,245 sq km [1,240 sq miles]

Location & Getting There

The Island is Located on the Northern Circuit of Tanzania between Kilimanjaro and Tanga regions. The Zange entrance gate lies 112 km (69 miles) from Moshi, 550 km (341 miles) from Mwalimu J. K. Nyerere International Airport – Dar es Salaam, 142 km (88.7 miles) from Kilimanjaro International Airport.
Getting there can be by Road, Charter or Scheduled flight from Kisima airstrip.

What to do

• Game drive
• Camping
• Site seeing
• Bird watching
• Walking safairs
• Hiking

When to go

• Late June – Early September for large mammals and bird watching
• March – June] for site seeing

Please check for available tour packages here

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is considered the flagship of Tanzania’s tourism industry. It is the Tanzania’s greatest wildlife showpiece and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Ngorongoro Crater has breath-taking views, phenomenal game and a lot of visitors. Ngorongor eencompasses:-

• three spectacular volcanic craters, the Olduvai Gorge, huge expanses of savannah, and the forest and bush land
• The Main Crater, is a large, unbroken, un-flooded caldera, formed when a giant volcano exploded and collapsed some three million years ago. Sinks to a depth of 610 metres, with a base area covering 260 square kilometres, the height of the original volcano must have ranged between 4,500 to 5,800 metres high
• The area contains over 25,000 large animals including black rhinoceros, wildebeests, zebras, eland, grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, lions, leopards, elephants, mountain reedbuck and more than 4,000 buffalos, spotted hyenas, jackals, rare wild dogs, cheetahs, and other felines.
• Over 500 species of bird to include ostrich, white pelican, and greater and lesser flamingo on Lake Magadi within the crater, Lake Ndutu, and in the Empakaai Crater Lake, where a vast bird population can be observed.
• Ngorongoro is home to lush green, rain-watered vegetation, and desert plants
• Oldupai Gorge & Laetoli – The first skull of Zinjanthropus, commonly known as ‘Nutcracker Man’ who lived about 1.75 millions years ago, was found here.

When to go

• Dry season [July – October] for large mammals
Wet season [November – June]
Please check for available tour packages here

Saadani National Park

Saadani is the only wildlife sanctuary bordering the sea. Saadani National Park covers 1100km square including the former Saadani game reserve, the former Mkwaja ranch area, the Wami River and the Zaraninge Forest, is located in the centre of the historic triangle of Bagamoyo, Pangani and Zanzibar. Saadani village was once upon a time an important harbour-town and slave trading center in east Africa, now it is a Swahili fishing village with about 800 inhabitants whose livelihood is mostly fishing.
It offers a unique combination of both marine and mainland flora and fauna in a culturally fascinating setting to include the following:-

• 30 species of larger mammals as well as numerous reptiles and birds
• Over 40 species of fish, green turtle, humpback whale and dolphins in the ocean nearby
• Buffalo, Hartebeests, Waterbucks all over the park area, Warthogs, Reedbucks, Numerous giraffes, White-bearded wildebeests in the short grass savannas, Plains zebra and Eland, The rarely seen lion and leopards, Hyenas and encounter genets, porcupines and civets, Bushbucks, Bush pigs yellow baboons or velvet monkeys
• Open ocean with coral reefs
• Wami River beside numerous temporary rivers and dams
• Sea turtles on beaches [North of Dar-es-salaam]
• Evergreen mangrove trees

Size

1100 sq km [420.33 sq miles]

Location & Getting There

Located roughly 45km North of Bagamoyo. The park is accessible from Dar es Salaam via Bagamoyo. From the north, one can reach the park from Tanga city by crossing Pangani River with a ferry (75km /3hours drive). Zanzibar Island is about 40km away from the park. Transfer by air can be arranged to Mkwaja or Saadani airstrip.

What to do

• Game drive
• Camping
• Site seeing
• Bird watching
• Picnic & Beaches

When to go

• All time except March – April muddy roads
  can make travelling very difficult.

Serengeti National Park

Serengeti is Tanzania’s oldest and most popular national park, a world heritage site famed for its annual migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle join the wildebeest’s trek for fresh grazing. Serengeti offers the most attracting game-viewing in Africa to a:-

• Great herds of buffalo
• Groups of elephant and giraffe
• Thousands of Eland, Topi, Kongoni, Impala and Grant’s gazelle
• Million of wildebeest
• Spectacle of predator versus prey, lion, solitary leopards in the Seronera River, and a high density of cheetahs on the southeastern plains
• 100 varieties of dung beetle
• 500-plus bird species, ranging from the outsized ostrich and bizarre secretary bird, to the black eagles
• Serengeti Plains, stretching across sunburnt savannah to a shimmering golden horizon at the end of the earth

Size

14,763 sq km [5,700 sq miles]

Location & Getting There

Located about 335km [208 miles] from Arusha, stretching north to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the west.
Drive from Arusha, Lake Manyara, Tarangire or Ngorongoro Crater, or Scheduled a charter flights from Arusha, Lake Manyara and Mwanza.

What to do

• Game drive
• Hot air balloon safaris
• Walking safari
• Picnicking
• Bush lunch/Dinner
• Maasai rock paintings and musical rocks
• Visit neighbouring Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano and Lake Natron’s flamingos.

When to go

• December – July to follow the wildebeest migration
• June – October to see predators

Tarangire National Park

Tarangire national park was named after the Tarangire River in which thirsty nomads have wandered hundreds of parched kilometers knowing that here, always, there is water. It’s the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem and the one place in Tanzania where:-

• Dry-country antelope such as the stately fringe-eared oryx and peculiar long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed
• groups of elephant are easily encountered whether wet or dry
• Migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland
• 550 bird varieties, the most breeding species in the world
• Kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world’s largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills blustering like turkeys are found on drier ground
• Tarangire’s pythons climb trees
• Lions and leopards lounging in the tree branches

Size

2850 sq km [1,096 sq miles]

Location & Getting There

Located about 118 km [75 miles] southwest of Arusha.Drive from Arusha or Lake Manyara within 7km [4 miles] or continue on to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti.Charter flights from Arusha and Serengeti.

What to do

• Game drive
• Guided walking safaris
• Day trips to Maasai and Barabaig villages, hundreds of ancient rock paintings in Kolo on the Dodoma Road
• Picnicking

When to go

• All time yearly, June – September
  for sheer number of animals