Northern circuit in Tanzania safari, is the best place to go for wildlife viewing in Africa. It has many national parks differ in the animals found! Serengeti national park and Ngorongoro crater is one of best parks in Tanzania you must visit. Ngorongoro Crater, a World Heritage Site, has one of the greatest concentrations of wildlife in the world. The vast plains of Serengeti National Park also host a myriad of wildlife, especially during the wildebeest migration.
Serengeti, Lake Manyara, Tarangire National Parks and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are world class assets that are featured by most Tanzanian tour operators as the best parks for wildlife viewing during safari.
In Tanzania safari,this Park covers 5,700sq miles, (14,763sq km), it's undoubtedly the best-known wildlife sanctuary in the world, unequalled for its natural beauty and scientific value, it has the greatest concentration of plains game drive in Africa. The Serengeti National Park is not only the most famous national park in Tanzania safari but also the oldest national park in Tanzania. The area was declared a protected area since the year 1921, and later as a national park in the year 1951 being the first gazetted national park in the Country.
It is home to the greatest wildlife spectacle on earth; the great migration of wildebeest and zebra. The resident population of lion, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, and birds is also impressive. There’s a wide variety of accommodation available, from luxury lodges to mobile camps. Apart from hoofed animals in Serengeti, (buffalo, elephants, giraffe, wildebeests, zebra, eland, gazelles) just to name a few, Serengeti is also the host for big cats where lions, cheetah, and leopard can be easily spotted.
The park divided into three parts which are Southern or central Serengeti (Seronera valley-the land of endless plains. Northern Serengeti marked by lobo area and is least visited located near Kenya's Maasai Mara and lastly is western corridor marked with Grumeti river has more forests and dense bush.
Highlights
• Home to the Great Migration
• Authentic game viewing opportunities
• Hot air balloon safaris
• One of the best destinations to spot African predators
• Excellent accommodation options
• One of the cheapest national parks in Tanzania
Ngorongoro crater is the largest broken caldera in the world that was formed after a giant volcanic mountain collapsed inside. The Ngorongoro Crater is a highly-esteemed wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania safari. Ngorongoro crater is well-known for its high concentration of wildlife worldwide with its per capita being the highest compared to Serengeti national park.
The crater is a home of over 25,000 large animals with 26 black Rhinos, over 7,000 wildebeest, 4,000 zebras, 3,000 elands over 4,00 buffalos, Hyenas, cheetahs, jackals, wild dogs and many more.
It’s nominated by UNESCO World Heritage Site, as the 8th Wonder of the World and Africa's Garden of Eden because it the home to over 25,000 large mammals, thereby making it the dense concentration of wildlife on the continent including big five.
Ngorongoro crater is 610 meters deep and cover a total area of 260 square kilometers. Ngorongoro crater is one of the most beautiful natural wildlife safari sites in the world and an exceptional place to see all the big 5 animals; rhino, elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo.
Ngorongoro crater floor is mainly occupied by short grass plains with some swampy vegetation cover, Lerai Forest. The short grass is the reason that attracts more grazers like wildebeest, Zebras and many more. The walls of the crater rim are covered by the montane forests with the most common ones are the Peacock flowers and highland trees.
The Crater is the home to a healthy population of all members of the big 5 animals; rhino, elephant, lion, leopard and buffalo. Other wildlife to sport inside the park include cheetah, jackal, gazelle, hyena, foxes, flamingo and large herds of wildebeest. The wildlife stays in the crater year-round so there’s really no bad time to visit, but it’s a popular site and may therefore be more pleasant to visit during the low seasons.
On the other hand, the African most famous national park is a home of over 1 million wildebeest, 8000 hyenas, more than 1000 leopards, and 3,000 lions. Other animals include hippos, crocodiles, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, topis mention but a few.
The Ngorongoro conservation area has a mild, temperate climate. Due to the altitude, it’s possible for night-time temperatures to drop below freezing. Even during the day, the crater never gets very hot, so make sure to bring layers.
Note: March to May there is long rains and during October to December there is short rains. Dry season start from June to October and December to January
During the dry season, you’ll find the vegetation in the crater to be less dense, making wildlife spotting much easier — especially when it comes to big cats. At this time, a lot of the animals clustered around permanent water sources, again resulting in more frequent sightings.
The days are usually sunny without being too hot; the crater floor only reaches a high of 20˚C (68˚F). The afternoons tend to be quite dusty, which results in a soft light that can make for beautiful photographs
Tarangire National Park in Tanzania safari covers an area of 2850 square kilometers, Tarangire derives its name from Tarangire River that flows through the center of the park from South to Northwest towards Lake Burunge and thereafter to Lake Manyara. Tarangire Is a combination of two words originated from Mbugwe tribe whereby “Tara” means river, and “ngire” means warthog. Hence Tarangire it means the “river of warthog”.
Tarangire national park is characterized by skyline, large elephant herds and framed by the stubby branches of fat baobab trees, the backdrop for superb game viewing, especially during the winter seasons.
Lions and other predators are frequently spotted. Elephant, buffalo, antelope and other plains game. The park boasts over 500 species of birds, including some species available to Tanzania.
For Birds watchers, Tarangire National Park is known as a wonderful birding destination and also features large numbers of game, particularly during the dry season, when the Tarangire River is the only source of water supply in the area. The landscape is of particular interest too, due to the high number of scenic baobab trees.
The park is the dry season refuge of wildlife. It is a dry season refuge in the ecosystem due to abundant water supply from Tarangire River which runs through the park for about 120 km from south east to the North West and extensive swamps
This area was first a famous hunting area, and then a Game Reserve in 1957. Research in the late 1950s and early 1960s showed the importance of the area for wildlife during the dry season.
Tarangire National Park in Tanzania safari is Situated in a semi-arid area characterized by prolonged dry season lasting up to 7months. It lies in a typical bimodal rainfall region of north Tanzania. The annual rainfall pattern consists of the short rains between November and December, and long rains occur between February and March to May and June. Annual average rainfall is about 650mm. Average temperature range is from 20centigrade to 30centrigrade.
• Walking safaris (both long and short) and Fly camping.
• Game viewing. This is done daily morning to evening
• Night game drive. This is also done by most tourists who are much interested to nocturnal and these are only animals that can be seen at this time.
• Filming and photographic safaris.
• Bush Meals
• Camping (special, Seasonal and public)
• Picnicking
• Balloon safaris. This is done every day during morning time because it is much dependent to wind.
• Visible of almost all mammals of East African plains including large population of elephants.
• Spectacular natural beauty of Savanna landscape, majestic Baobabs, Tarangire river valley
• Birdlife (>550 different bird species)
• Tree climbing pythons
• Swamp:- Silale, Gurusi and Larmakau
Lake Manyara is a shallow alkaline lake at an altitude of 96meter formed in a depression in the rift Valley system. When full the lake is maximum of 1ft deep and covers two-thirds of the park. Lake Manyara national park is comprised of woodland, rainforests, marshlands, savannah vegetation, Marang forest reserve, Maji Moto springs, ground water forest, Lake Manyara itself which is a shallow alkaline lake that covers two-thirds of the park wildlife species among others.
Lake Manyara famous for tree climbing lions, the vast elephant herds, astonishing variety of birds, and wallowing hippos, and Ngorongoro crater consist of high population of predators as well as Cape buffalo and black rhinoceros. The shores of the lake enrusted with Pink flamingos estimated 1.9million flamingo that leverages the shallow alkaline lake for feeding on algae, attract more than 400 species of birds many of them waterfowl or migrants. The park is also a best park for birdwatchers.
• Tree climbing lions and good elephants sightings and many baboons
• Incredible birdlife with over 300migratory bird species including pink flamingos
• Alkaline lake itself
• Night safari within the park/ sunset game drive
• Walking hiking, and mountain biking
• Village trip
• Giraffe peeking over the tree tops