Discovering The Tanzania Safari

Posted by Nick Niesen on October 29th, 2010

The Northern Game Parks in Tanzania are famous for the wildlife migration which continues its annual cycle through the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara in Kenya. This event is without doubt one of the most exhilarating natural spectacles on the planet. The awesome beauty of the Ngorongoro caldera literally takes your breath away and there can be no finer view to awake to than from one of the lodges on the crater rim. The wild landscapes of Tarangire with its huge baobab trees contrast with the wide open plains of Serengeti. Lake Manyara offers the rare chance to spot tree climbing lions and a variety of adventure activities from the escarpment overlooking the lake.

Tanzania is becoming increasingly visited and deservedly so, however there is so much more to Tanzania than the Northern Circuit of parks. Most safaris want to incorporate the Great Migration as it is so spectacular and is the world?s last surviving great migration. There is a problem that the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Kilimanjaro have become so popular that drastic steps are being taken to divert people elsewhere in Tanzania.

Tanzania has so much more to offer than just the Serenegei and Ngorongoro Crater. In the remote and almost inaccessible Western Tanzania is the fantastic Katavi National Park. There is only one lodge here at the moment and visitors experience one million hectares to themselves. This park is wonderful, remote and spectacular. There are huge herds of buffalo here ? up to three thousand strong and lions prefer to dine on buffalo, so there are lion here in abundance. If you really want to feel you are in Africa proper like the early explorers then this is the place to be.

There is the Selous Game reserve in the South and this reserve is huge and remote, although more accessible than Katavi. The game in this park is truly wild as they have not had chance to become habituated to humans and vehicles. The lodges here are few and very good quality and they offer a game safari along the majestic Rufiji River. From this park there is a short flight to Mafia Island which offers a secluded Island holiday with fantastic diving and secure white beaches.

For the energetic there is the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, this is a park that boasts no roads and pristine rain forests. This park was created primarily for the protection of flora rather than fauna.

There are West and East Usambara Mountains where the world?s favorite flower the African Violet was discovered. Saadani Bay is where the bush meets the sea, elephants and lions have been spotted on the beach, a truly unique experience along the East African Coast.

The list could go on. Tanzania offers so much you could spend a life time exploring this corner of East Africa. This country is mosaic of mysteries and contradictions. To discover it, to drink in the rich culture and diverse landscapes involves moving around the country, not racing from one location to the next. To do this will results in safari fatigue. Chose wisely and take your time to discover, slowly slowly is the only way to savor and come to know, just a little, the magic that is Tanzania.