Southern Circuit Destinations
Southern Circuit National Parks
- Mikumi National Park
- Selous Game Reserves
- Ruaha National Park
- Udzungwa Mountains National Park
- Saadani National Park
Swirls of opaque mist hide the advancing dawn. The first shafts of sun colour the fluffy grass heads rippling across the plain in a russet halo. A herd of zebras, confident in their camouflage at this predatory hour, pose like ballerinas, heads aligned and stripes merging in flowing motion.
Mikumi National Park abuts the northern border of Africa’s biggest game reserve – the Selous – and is transected by the surfaced road between Dar es Salaam and Iringa. It is thus the most accessible part of a 75,000 square kilometre (47,000 square mile) tract of wilderness that stretches east almost as far as the Indian Ocean. The open horizons and abundant wildlife of the Mkata Floodplain, the popular centrepiece of Mikumi, draw frequent comparisons to the more famous Serengeti Plains.
Lions survey their grassy kingdom – and the zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo herds that migrate across it – from the flattened tops of termite mounds, or sometimes, during the rains, from perches high in the trees. Giraffes forage in the isolated acacia stands that fringe the Mkata River, islets of shade favoured also by Mikumi’s elephants.
Criss-crossed by a good circuit of game-viewing roads, the Mkata Floodplain is perhaps the most reliable place in Tanzania for sightings of the powerful eland, the world’s largest antelope. The equally impressive greater kudu and sable antelope haunt the miombo-covered foothills of the mountains that rise from the park’s borders.
More than 400 bird species have been recorded, with such colourful common residents as the lilac-breasted roller, yellow-throated longclaw and bateleur eagle joined by a host of European migrants during the rainy season. Hippos are the star attraction of the pair of pools situated 5km north of the main entrance gate, supported by an ever-changing cast of waterbirds.
About Mikumi National Park
Size: 3,230 sq km (1,250 sq miles), the fourth-largest park in Tanzania, and part of a much larger ecosystem centred on the uniquely vast Selous Game Reserve.
Location: 283 km (175 miles) west of Dar es Salaam, north of Selous, and en route to Ruaha, Udzungwa and (for the intrepid) Katavi. .
What to do
Game drives and guided walks. Visit nearby Udzungwa or travel on to Selous or Ruaha.
When to go
Accessible year round.
At around 50,000 sq km, the Selous is Africa’s largest game reserve, a wilderness area bigger than Denmark or Switzerland. The Reserve covers more than 5% of Tanzania’s total land area, and is three times larger than the Serengeti. Although slightly off the beaten track of the more well – worn safari circuits, a visit to the Selous offers unforgettable game viewing in almost completely isolated surroundings.
The park supports enormous numbers of wild animals: 200,000 buffalo, 30,000 elephant (more than half the country’s population), and 80,000 wildebeest, as well as one of the healthiest populations of the endangered African Wild Dog. A successful project is underway to nurture the Reserve’s population of black rhino back to health following their depletion by poachers in the 1970s and 80s, and sightings are now possible in the tourist area.
A part of the Reserve’s modern-day area was set aside as a game conservancy as far back as 1905, an area which was expanded and named (after Frederick Courtenay Selous, a 19th century hunter and soldier) in the 1920s. Repeated sleeping sickness epidemics during the 1930s and 1940s meant that the area’s human inhabitants moved out, leaving the Selous to the animals. Today, sleeping sickness is a thing of the distant past, but the Selous is still an uninhabited, untamed slice of ‘Old Africa’. In 1982, the Reserve’s unique ecosystem was recognised internationally and the area designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.
The greater part of the northern sector of the Selous is earmarked for photographic tourism, and it is one of the most beautiful and game-rich areas in the whole ecosystem. Three-quarters of the Reserve is woodland of various types, short grassy plains, and seasonally flooded pans. Impressive riverine forests and dense impenetrable thickets are important habitats within the Selous. The wide, meandering Rufiji River is one of the largest water systems in East Africa. With its associated wetlands, lakes and swamps, it is one of the most outstanding ecological systems in the whole of East Africa.
Walking and boat safaris, as well as traditional game drives, are on offer to visitors to the Selous’ small and remote camps and lodges, with little chance of bumping into any sign of human life. Fly camping, or mobile walking safaris, are becoming a popular option for intrepid visitors intent on seeing the best of Africa on foot, unhampered by the closed-in atmosphere of a safari van. Boat trips and longer safaris down the spectacular Rufiji River offer visitors a chance to see hippos, bird life and crocodiles up close. During a game drive or walk one might be lucky enough to see a pack of African wild dogs, disappearing throughout Africa but thriving in the Selous. These complex and fascinating mammals show little fear of vehicles, and it is often possible to observe their intense social life from close proximity. In the tourist area the density of dogs is higher than anywhere else in Africa.
Although the Selous is best known for its spectacular large mammals, it is equally celebrated for its abundant and varied birds. The most conspicuous bird life is to be found around the constantly changing pattern of sandbanks, oxbow lakes, lagoons and channels along the Rufiji River.
The river scenery is made all the more spectacular by the groves of Borassus palms, an indigenous species with tall fronds that sway majestically in the African breeze. Ancient baobabs, a tree held sacred by many tribal groups, stand majestically against the far-reaching horizon. Their dead, hollow, leafless trunks provide vantage points for Fish Eagles and nest sites for Egyptian Geese and Dickinson’s Kestrels.
Ruaha national park is one of the few Tanzania’s famous wilderness area where one can have a rare experience of game viewing spiced up by the fascinating landscape. The park is rich of plants and animals such as Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) which can not be found in any other national park. The park boasts of her almost untouched and unexplored ecosystem, making visitors’ safari experience very unique.
The Great Ruaha River as other rivers like Mwagusi, Jongomero and Mzombe save as the life line of the park. During dry season, these rivers become mostly the main source of water for wildlife. There are few natural springs saving the same purpose. In the pick of dry season, elephants obtain water from dry sand rivers using their front feet and trunks. The remaining water falls along the Great Ruaha
Ruaha National Park has a bimodal pattern of rain forest; the short rainfall season begins November to February, while the long season is between March and April. The annual mean rainfall ranges between 500mm-800mm with the average annual temperature of about 280c. The park experiences its dry season between June and October when the temperature at Msembe headquarter reaches 350c.
The park history dates back to 1910 when it was gazetted Saba Game Reserve by the Germany then the name was changed by British to Rungwa Game reseve in 1946. In 1964 the southern portion of the Game was gazetted as Ruaha national park and in 1974 a small section of South Eastern part of the Great Ruaha River was incorporated into the park. The name “Ruaha” originates from the Hehe word “Ruvaha”, which means “river”. Ruaha National Park is part of Rungwa-Kizigo –Muhesi ecosystem which covers more than 45000km2. In 2008 Usangu game Reserve and other important wetlands in Usangu basin have been annexed into the park, making it the largest park in Tanzania and East Africa with an area of about 20226km2.
Ruaha National Park has a wide range of physical features from the Great Rift Valley, river systems, natural springs, wetlands, hot water springs, and kopjes to the beautiful rolling hills and mountains.
Tourism activities
in the park include Game viewing, long and short wilderness walking safari, bird watching, picnic, bush meals (break-fast, lunch, dinner) in the untouched bushes.
Best time
to see predators and large mammals is during the dry season (mid May-December).
The wet season (January –April) is best for bird watching, lush scenery and wildflowers. The male Greater kudu is most visible in June which is their breeding season.
Brooding and primeval, the forests of Udzungwa seem positively enchanted: a verdant refuge of sunshine-dappled glades enclosed by 30-metre (100 foot) high trees, their buttresses layered with fungi, lichens, mosses and ferns.
Udzungwa is the largest and most biodiverse of a chain of a dozen large forest-swathed mountains that rise majestically from the flat coastal scrub of eastern Tanzania. Known collectively as the Eastern Arc Mountains, this archipelago of isolated massifs has also been dubbed the African Galapagos for its treasure-trove of endemic plants and animals, most familiarly the delicate African violet.
Udzungwa alone among the ancient ranges of the Eastern Arc has been accorded national park status. It is also unique within Tanzania in that its closed-canopy forest spans altitudes of 250 metres (820 feet) to above 2,000 metres (6,560 ft) without interruption. Not a conventional game viewing destination, Udzungwa is a magnet for hikers. An excellent network of forest trails includes the popular half-day ramble to Sanje Waterfall, which plunges 170 metres (550 feet) through a misty spray into the forested valley below.
The more challenging two-night Mwanihana Trail leads to the high plateau, with its panoramic views over surrounding sugar plantations, before ascending to Mwanihana peak, the second-highest point in the range.
Ornithologists are attracted to Udzungwa for an avian wealth embracing more than 400 species, from the lovely and readily-located green-headed oriole to more than a dozen secretive Eastern Arc endemics. Four bird species are peculiar to Udzungwa, including a forest partridge first discovered in 1991 and more closely related to an Asian genus than to any other African fowl.
Of six primate species recorded, the Iringa red colobus and Sanje Crested Mangabey both occur nowhere else in the world – the latter, remarkably, remained undetected by biologists prior to 1979. Undoubtedly, this great forest has yet to reveal all its treasures: ongoing scientific exploration will surely add to its diverse catalogue of endemics.
About Udzungwa Mountains National Park
Size: 1,990 sq km (770 sq miles).
Location: Five hours (350 km/215 miles) from Dar es Salaam; 65 kms (40 miles) southwest of Mikumi.
What to do
From a two-hour hike to the waterfall to camping safaris.
Combine with nearby Mikumi or en route to Ruaha.
When to go
Possible year round although slippery in the rains.
The dry season is June-October before the short rains but be prepared for rain anytime.
Located in the centre of the historic triangle of Bagamoyo, Pangani and Zanzibar, Saadani National Park covers 1100km square. It is the only wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania bordering the sea. The climate is coastal, hot and humid. It offers a unique combination of both marine and mainland flora and fauna in a culturally fascinating setting. About 30 species of larger mammals are present as well as numerous reptiles and birds. Besides many species of fish (over 40), green turtles, humpback whales and dolphins occur in the ocean nearby
Gazetted in 2005, it encompasses a preserved ecosystem including the former Saadani game reserve, the former Mkwaja ranch area, the Wami River as well as the Zaraninge Forest. Many villages exist around the boundaries of the park. Before being included in the national park, the Zaraninge forest was managed by the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) whose goal was to preserve the extremely high botanical diversity of one of the last coastal rain forests remaining in Tanzania.
Saadani`s and Bagamoyo`s caravan trade declined at the end of the 19th century while Dar-es-salaam rose to be the most important trading centre of the coastal region. Commercial production along the coast, such as rice, sugar and copra, which were exported to Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean, disappeared after the German invasion. These were replaced by cash crops such as coffee, cotton and sisal for the European market. Following the transfer of the protectorate to the British after the First World War sisal, kapok, cashew estates and cattle ranches were established in the Saadani area. Ruins of stone houses still bear testimony to the former flourishing condition.
An old German boma (government house) and several graves can still be found in Saadani.
History and culture of Saadani
Saadani village once was an important harbour-town and slave trading centre in east Africa. Now it is a small Swahili fishing village with about 800 inhabitants whose livelihood is mostly fishing. Other villages adjacent to the park make their living through farming, especially coconut growing.
After periods of Portuguese and Arab domination, the region gained importance in 18th and 19th centuries following a rising international demand for ivory and slaves. The actual Saadani village emerged with towns like Bagamoyo and Pangani as new trading centers connecting Zanzibar with long-distance trade routes from Tabora. At the end of the 19th century, Bwana Heri bin Juma was ruling Saadani. In oral tradition he is the mythological founder-hero of the village as he resisted all Zanzibari attempts to occupy the town and defeated the sultan`s troops in 1882. In 1886 the German protectorate`s borders were established. Two years later, the coastal people organized resistance against the Germans under the joint leadership of Abushiri bin Salim al Harth and Bwana Heri. On 6th June 1889 Saadani was bombarded and taken by Germans. Bwana Heri being considered by the Germans as an honourable enemy, he was told to rebuild Saadani.
Savannah
The humid savannah of Saadani National Park can be divided into three easily distinguishable types: tall grass savanna with herbaceous cover growing up to 2m and scattered palms, short grass grazing land mostly situated on former sisal plantation and black cotton plains where the clay soil creates particularly harsh conditions.
Different degrees of tree cover can be distinguished: typical for Saadani is Acacia Zanzibarica with its long spines, which cover large areas of the park. Inhabitants of the tall grass savannas are the buffalo which weigh up to 850kg and several herds of hartebeests can be observed grazing in Saadan National Park.
The common waterbuck occurs all over the park area. Weighing up to 270kg these grazers can be easily recognized by the white ring around their tails. The density of reedbucks is especially high in Saadani National Park, although this medium-sized antelope (45kg) might be difficult to spot in tall grasses where they lie down for shelter. Warthogs are omnipresent and even come into Saadani village. As most of the villagers are Muslims, warthogs have learned that they will not be harmed.
The tallest animals in the world and the national symbol of Tanzania, giraffes, are numerous in Saadani National Park .Their tongues have special callus plates which make them particularly well adapted to browse on spiny acacia trees. Large herds of white-bearded wildebeest graze in the short grass savannas. They were released in the area in the 1970’s. Other introduced species are plains zebra and eland.
The lion, the largest of the African carnivores, is also found in Saadani although it is rarely seen. At night you may hear the hyenas and encounter genets, porcupines and civets. Other species which can be observed within the perimeter of the park are bushbucks, bush pigs, yellow baboons and vervet monkeys.
Tourism Activities
- Boat safari at the delta of Wami River and the ocean, mangrove vegetation, water loving birds, Hippos and Nile crocodile.
- Visit Green turtle Breeding site at Madete area.
- Visit to Mafui sand bank Island that opens during the day and closes in the evening, a sand bank where you snorkel in the caves with colorful fish and green turtles. A place where lunch and sun bathing can give maximum relaxation.
- Walking safari on natural trails of Saadani gets you close to nature.
- Day game drive.
- Night game drive for sighting nocturnal animals
- Relax on the cleanest beach on the coasts of Bagamoyo and Tanga, where one gets to see the sunrise.
Tourist Attractions
- Clean beach and the Indian Ocean.
- Abundance of wild mammals like waterbuck, giraffe, warthog, yellow baboon, hartebeest, wildebeest, zebra, elephant and lion.
- Green turtles breeding site.
- Wami River.
- Zaraninge coastal forest.
- Over 220 species of birds including migratory birds.
- Historical remains.
