SARENGETI NATIONAL PARK
Size
14,763 sq km (about 9,000 sq miles)
Location
335km (about 208 miles) from Arusha Stretching north to Kenya and bordering Lake Victoria to the west.
Getting there
Charter flights from Arusha, Lake Manyara,and Mwanza. Drive from Arusha, Lake Manyara, Tarangire or Ngorongoro Crater.
To Do
Hot air balloon safaris, Maasai rock paintings and musical rocks. Visit Neighbouring Ngorongoro crater, Olduvai Gorge, Doinyo Lengai volcano and Lake Natron’s flamingos.
Best Time
For wildebeest migration, December-July. To see predators, June-October.
A million wildebeest … each driven by the same ancient rhythm, fulfilling their instinctive role in the inescapable cycle of life: a frenzied 3 week bout of territorial conquests and mating; survival of the fittest as 40 kilometer long columns plunge through crocodile infested waters on the annual exodus north, replenishing the species in a brief population explosion that produces more than 8000 calves a day before the 1000 kilometer pilgrimage begins again.

More than 6 million hooves pound the legendary plains of the Serengeti. Every year, triggered by the rains, more than a million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle gather to undertake the long trek to new grazing lands. Tanzania’s first and most famous park, the Serengeti is renowned for its wealth of leopard and lion. The vast reaches of the park help the black rhino to fight extinction and provide a protected breeding ground for the vulnerable cheetah. Witness predator versus pry and the fundamental independence of the Serengeti’s abundant species, from more than 500 varieties of bird to 100 types of dung beetle.

The Serengeti is a sense of seeing to the ends of the earth, the sun burnt savannah shimmering to the horizon. Yet, after the rains this golden horizon is magically transformed into an endless green carpet flecked with wildflowers. But there are also wooded hill, towering termite mound and rocky kopjes, rivers, lined with elegant stands of fig trees, ebony and acacia, stained orange by dust. It is so vast you may be the only human audience when a pride of lions masterminds a siege, focused unswervingly on their next meal.

NOTE: The route and timing of the wildebeest Migration is unpredictable. Allow at least 3 days to be assured of seeing them on your visit, longer if you want to see the main predators as well. :: BACK TO TOP

LAKE MANYARA NATIONAL PARK
Size
330 sq km (about 205 sq miles), of which about 200 sq km (about 125 sq miles) is lake.
Location
In northern Tanzania, 126 km (about 80 miles) west of Arusha
Getting there
By road, charter or scheduled flight from Arusha. It is enrout to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater.
To Do
Canoeing with plains for forest walks on the Escarpment. Cultural tours, bike tours and abseiling outside the park.
Best Time
Dry season (July – October) for large mammals; wet season (November – June) forBird watching, the waterfalls and canoeing.

Cradled in the glory of its surroundings below the sheer majesty of the Rift valley wall, Lake Manyara lies serene, spreading in a heat haze backed by a thin green band of forest and the sheer 600 metres :: BACK TO TOP

ARUSHA NATIONAL PARK
Size
137 sq km
Location
Northern Tanzania, northeast of Arusha
Getting there
An easy 40 minute drive from Arusha. Approximately 60 km (about 35 miles)
To Do
Forest walks, numerous picnic sties; 3 or 4 day Mt. Meru climb – good acclimatization for Kilimanjaro
Best Time
To climb Mt. Meru, June-February although it may rain in November. Best views of Mt Kilimanjaro, December–February.
Arusha National Park is a secret jewel of may facets. It is not only the closest national park to Arusha town, but also one f the most beguiling. This is a treasure, a rich tapestry of habitats, teeming with animal and birds. The park has three distinct zones that contribute to its variety and beauty: the lush swamps of Ngurdoto Crater; the tranquil beauty of the Momella lakes, each a different hue; and the chill rocky alpine heights of Mount Meru rising to 4,566 meters (14,990 feet). Zebra graze on red grasslands, wide-eyed dik dik dart into scrubby bush like overgrown hares on spindly legs. Leopards lurk shadowy forests that are draped with waterfalls. Reedbuck pick through marshy pools. There are more than 400 species of birds. Fluffy-tailed black and white Colobus monkeys riot in the damp forest mists. Giraffes glide across the grassy hills.

In the distance Mount Kilimanjaro watches over all. But it is her unassuming cousin, Mount Meru that dominates, offering unparalleled views of the famous neighbor. The regarding climb up Meru pegs through forests aflame with red-hot pokers dripping Spanish moss (Usnea), carpeted with clover rising to open heath, spiked with giant lobelias. Everlasting flowers cling to the alpine desert, as delicately hooves klipspringers mark your progress. Astride the craggy summit, Kilimanjaro stands before you, breathtaking, blushing in the sunrise. :: BACK TO TOP

NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA
Size
260 sq km (about 100 sq miles)
Location
180 kms (about 113 miles) northwest of Arusha
Getting there
Drive from Arusha; Lake Manyara is on the way and between Arusha and Ngorongoro. It is also possible to fly to the rim of the crater.
To Do
Guided driving safaris; picnic sites available for meals.
Best Time
There is ample game year around, but during the rainy season (Nov-May), movement throughout the crater may be restricted.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area which lies between the Serengeti and the Lake Manyara National Parks boasts the largest unbroken, inactive, and unfolded caldera in the world. Perhaps having once been about the same size as Mount Kilimanjaro, when the volcanic activity subsided, it collapsed inward resulting in a crater 18 kilometers (11 miles) across.
Surrounded by very steep walls 610 meters (2000 feet) deep, this natural amphitheatre covers an area of about 260 square kilometers (100 square miles) and is home for up to 25,000 larger mammals. Nearly half of those being zebra and wildebeest while other species found are buffalo, gazelle, eland, hartebeest, warthog, and the elusive black rhino. Lion, hyena, cheetah, and leopard are among the predators within the crater.

Lake Magadi, a soda lake centralized on the crater floor, is prolific with flocks of flamingoes in such great quantities, they may even be visible as a pink-colored mass from vantage points on the crater rim. Ostrich and kori bustard are the distinctive grasslands birds although the swamps, ponds, and rivers support an ever present population of water birds. The conservation area includes a wide variety of habitats such as highland forest, swamps, lakes, rivers, woodlands, and extensive grasslands. It is quite common to see Masai grazing their herds of cattle throughout the region.
Due to the extremely steep and scarce roads traversing in and out of the crater, only 4-wheel-drive vehicles are allowed onto the crater floor.

Ngorongoro Crater Highlands
The crater highlands are part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. This is a reserve where the local communities live alongside the wildlife. The highlands consist of a range of volcanoes - not all extinct - rising steeply from the side of the Great Rift Valley in Northern Tanzania. Hence, along with the Ngorongoro Crater, the highlands encompass a number of impressive peaks with steep escarpments, crater lakes, dense forest and grassy ridges, streams and waterfalls. One particular volcano, the Ol-Doinyo Lengai (2878meters / 9440 feet) is even active! This vicinity is also home to many Masai people who have grazed cattle on the grasslands here for hundreds of years. Most walking is done around the 3000 meters (9840 feet) mark. :: BACK TO TOP

TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK
Size
2600 sq km (about 1600 sq miles)
Location
118 kms (about 75 miles) southwest of Arusha
Getting there
Easy drive from Arusha or Lake Manyara; can continue on to Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. Charter flights from Arusha and the Serengeti.
To Do
Guided walking safaris; day trip to the Barabaig tribe’s ancient Kolo rock.
Best Time
Year around except dry season (June – September) for sheer numbers of animals. Day after day of cloudless skies. The fierce sun sucks the moisture from the landscape, baking the earth a dusty red, the withered grass as brittle as straw. The Tarangire river has shriveled to a shadow of its wet season self. But it is chocked with wildlife. Thirsty nomads have wandered hundreds of parched kilometers knowing that here there, is always water.

Herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the parched riverbed for underground streams while migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo gazelle, hart bees, eland and Oryx crowd the shrinking lagoons. It a smorgasbord for predators the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem.
The rains scatter the seasonal visitors over a 20,000 square kilometer (about 12,500 sq miles) range until they exhaust the green plains and the river calls once more. But Tarangire mobs of elephant are easily encountered, wet or dry. The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 50 bird varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world. On drier ground you find Koori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking sighed ostrich, the world largest bird; and ground hornbills that bluster like turkeys. Tarangire pythons climb trees, as do this lions and leopards, lounging in the branches where the fruit of the sausage tree disguises the twitch of a tail.  :: BACK TO TOP