Ngorongoro Crater is one of the world’s greatest spectacles, at least in terms of wildlife viewing. Its magical setting and abundance in African wildlife never fails to fascinate visitors. A tourist visiting the parks in the northern part of Tanzania would not want to leave the Ngorongoro area out of their travel plan.
However, the crater is just a small part of the larger Ngorongoro conservation area. For tourists and travelers, this larger wildlife conservation area offers a whole range of opportunities to see the African wildlife as well as other natural and historical attractions.
The area contains sites of international palaentological and archaeological importance. Ngorongoro area is a natural archive of human history. At least part of humanity’s biography, is written, and preserved here.
Over 25,000 animals live inside the crater throughout the year, whilst in the Ngorongoro Conservation area as a whole the number can swell to more than 2.5 million animals, depending on the season!
Set in the Northern Tanzania, sharing part of the Serengeti plains to the northwest of the Arusha and Moshi and mount Kilimanjaro, to the east, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area forms part of the large and unique Serengeti ecosystem. The area is administered by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority that was established in 1959 with the aim of experimenting multiple land use. On this experiment, pastoralism, conservation or nature and tourism could co-exist. At this very same time, the Serengeti National Park was also enlarged and extended northwards to the Kenyan border, where it borders Maasai Mara.
Subsequently, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area was awarded World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve Status. This area covers an area of 8292 square kilometres and ranges in altitude from 1020 metres to 3587 metres above sea level. The land terrain embraces several distinct habitants from open grasslands to mountain forests and from scrub bush land to highland heath.
The aim of Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority is to maintain the much-needed balance of the needs of human beings and that of the natural world. This kind of balance is not easy to achieve, and has not been easy in many parts of the world.
Besides the major palaentological and archaeological sites within the Serengeti and Ngorongoro highlands, there is a rich biodiversity and vital water catchments areas.
And within all this, man and wildlife have to live together, side by side without harm or destroying each other’s habitats
To maintain this balance, tourism has been encouraged. The revenue generated from tourism activities has encouraged and developed a culture that respects the natural, human and historical aspects of the environment.
The Ngorongoro Crater Area Authority provides an opportunity to learn about African contribution to global culture and to understand its values in today’s world. Man and his ancestors have lived in the Ngorongoro ecosystem for more than 3 million years. Evidence of regional hunters-gatherers cultures dates back 17,000 years and it is clear that various tribes have migrated in and out of the area, just as they have done in relatively recent times.
The Jewel of the Serengeti Ecosystem
The jewel in Ngorongoro's crown is the deep volcanic crater. The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest un-flooded and unbroken caldera in the whole world – at 19.2km in diameter, 610m deep and 304 square kilometers in area.
The rich pastures and permanent waters within the crater floor supports a large population of resident animals - up to 25000-predominantly grazing animals. These include wildebeests, zebra; gazelles buffalo eland kongoni, and warthogs.
The swamps and forests provide additional resources for hippo elephant waterbucks reedbuck bushbuck baboons and vervet monkeys. The steep inner slopes provide additional habitat for dik dik and rare mountain reedbuck. Jackals thrive in the crater and bat-eared foxes live in the short grass areas.
Predatory animals –lions, leopard, cheetah, and serval cat live off the abundant wildlife and large packs of hyena roam the crater, making their own kills and scavenging from others. The crater is dynamic and constantly changing ecosystem and the numbers and proportion of some animals has fluctuated considerably over the past 30years. The sheer number of animals and the drama of the landscape is what make this ancient wonder so unforgettable. The Ngorongoro Crater is also one of the few areas of the world where black rhino are still readily visible.
About the author
Solomon Okila is Editor African Voyages Ltd Africa Travel Guide and Tourist Information and African Hotels, Lodges and Tourist Information.
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Friday 2 January 2009
Wildlife in Tanzania main National parks – What wild animals to expect during your safari
Tanzania, as a wildlife safari destination, is known as the home of the famous Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. These two wildlife conservation areas together with many others in Tanzania, provide homes for the ever-threatened African wildlife. In fact, more than one-quarter of Tanzania is under some form of protection to preserve its biodiversity.
Some of the wildlife conservation parks in Tanzania and the animals that they provide a safe haven for, are given here:
Lake Manyara National park
The cleavage, known as the Great Rift Valley, can be identified from space as the most distinctive feature of the African continent. The seam of this cleavage has developed a series of fascinating and beautiful lakes. One of these lakes is called Manyara. Lake Manyara is also a national park. Manyara is a fantastic big game park. The variety of habitats parallels its exceptional scenery.
Every imaginable East African animal is found here in abundance. There are great herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and several varieties of gazelle. Mahogany, sausage tree and croton are alive with blue monkeys and vervet monkeys. Some of the most amazingly large pods of hippos congregate at the rivers emerging into the lake, and the birdlife is plentiful. Lake Manyara is also known for its “treeclimbing” lions.
Mikumi National Park
Mikumi National Park covers 3237 square kilometers and lies within the Mkata River plain bordered by the Uluguru Mountain range to the east and the Rubeho Mountains on the west, an area of lush vegetation which particularly attracts elephants and buffalos. Open grasslands dominate in the flood plain, eventually merging with the Miombo woodland covering the lower hills. Wildlife is abundant with giraffes, zebras, buffalos, hartebeests, wildebeests, elephants, wild dogs, and smaller mammals and reptiles. Mikumi’s vegetation includes woodland, swamp and grassland with two water holes, Mkata and Chamgore. Apart form the saddle-bill stork, hammer kop and malachite kingfisher, there are also monitor lizards and a deadly python inhabiting the pools.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Ngorongoro is quite unique as its physical protection from man natural beauty ranks it among the most pristine wildernesses on earth. It is regarded as a natural wonder of the world and has been declared a World Heritage Site. It is the largest intact crater in the world, being 610 meters deep, 16 kilometers across and covering an area of 540 square kilometers. On the crater floor, grassland blends into swamps, lakes, rivers, woodland and mountains – all a haven for wildlife, including the greatest predator population in Africa. The volcanic crater is packed with wildlife, including all the big game. Its pride and joy, however, is that it remains the last great wild refuge for the endangered black rhino.
Ruaha National Park
The Ruaha National Park is Tanzania’s second largest park and the world’s largest elephant sanctuary. Although set in spectacular scenery with an abundance of wildlife, the park is one of the lesser visited in the country, keeping it an isolated and peaceful wilderness. Amongst the game found at the park are elephants, buffalos, giraffes, cheetahs, lions, leopards, a wide variety of antelope and over 465 recorded species of birdlife.
Selous National Reserve
Selous is one of the most remote and least visited game park in Africa, but at 15,000 square miles, it is the world’s largest game reserve. The name derives from hunter-explorer Frederick Courtenay Selous, a keen naturalist and conservationist as well as a hunter. He was killed in the First World War in the Beho Beho region of the reserve. The defining feature of the Selous is the great Rufiji River, which naturally splits the ecosystem into two distinct parts.
Selous National reserve can be explored by boat, sailing through swamps and lagoons where elephant often come to bathe, or even by foot, as the Selous is one of few Tanzanian reserves to allow walking tours. It has the world’s largest number of big game, more than 120,000 elephants, 160,000 buffaloes and about 2,000 rhinoceros. In addition, the Selous contains Africa’s greatest concentration of hippopotamus, crocodiles and wild dogs.
The Serengeti National park
The name 'Serengeti' comes from the Maasai language and appropriately means an 'endless plains'. The National Park is as big as Northern Ireland, but its ecosystem, which includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve and the Maasai Mara Game reserve (in Kenya). It lies between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east. As such, it offers the most complex and least disturbed ecosystem on earth.
A unique combination of diverse habitats enables the Serengeti to support more than 30 species of large herbivores and nearly 500 species of birds. Its landscape, originally formed by volcanic activity, has been sculpted by the concerted action of wind, rain and sun. It now varies from open grass plains in the south, savanna with scattered acacia trees in the center, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Small rivers, lakes and swamps are scattered throughout. Rising in the southeast are the great volcanic massifs and craters of the Ngorongoro Highlands. The Serengeti plains are host to a dramatic annual migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and numerous other species of animals indigenous to the area.
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park covers 2,600 square kilometers and is on the traditional migration route of several species of the wildlife. At dry times, the concentration of animals in Tarangire rivals that of the much better known Serengeti. Herds of migratory wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and buffalo gather along the marshy shores of Lake Natron. These pools are shared by flocks of birds: green wood hoopoes, fisher lovebirds, tallish herons, white bellied goaway birds and giant kingfishers. Resident lion, giraffe, elephant, and black rhino are common at any season;
Tarangire is noted for its baobab trees and splendid vistas of rolling savannah and acacia woodland. The strange-looking, centuriesold baobab trees are believed by the Maasai to be the first tree in creation.
Solomon Okila is Editor African Voyages Ltd, your guide to Africa Travel and Safari Information and African Hotels, Lodges and Tourist Information.
Some of the wildlife conservation parks in Tanzania and the animals that they provide a safe haven for, are given here:
Lake Manyara National park
The cleavage, known as the Great Rift Valley, can be identified from space as the most distinctive feature of the African continent. The seam of this cleavage has developed a series of fascinating and beautiful lakes. One of these lakes is called Manyara. Lake Manyara is also a national park. Manyara is a fantastic big game park. The variety of habitats parallels its exceptional scenery.
Every imaginable East African animal is found here in abundance. There are great herds of buffalo, zebra, wildebeest and several varieties of gazelle. Mahogany, sausage tree and croton are alive with blue monkeys and vervet monkeys. Some of the most amazingly large pods of hippos congregate at the rivers emerging into the lake, and the birdlife is plentiful. Lake Manyara is also known for its “treeclimbing” lions.
Mikumi National Park
Mikumi National Park covers 3237 square kilometers and lies within the Mkata River plain bordered by the Uluguru Mountain range to the east and the Rubeho Mountains on the west, an area of lush vegetation which particularly attracts elephants and buffalos. Open grasslands dominate in the flood plain, eventually merging with the Miombo woodland covering the lower hills. Wildlife is abundant with giraffes, zebras, buffalos, hartebeests, wildebeests, elephants, wild dogs, and smaller mammals and reptiles. Mikumi’s vegetation includes woodland, swamp and grassland with two water holes, Mkata and Chamgore. Apart form the saddle-bill stork, hammer kop and malachite kingfisher, there are also monitor lizards and a deadly python inhabiting the pools.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Ngorongoro is quite unique as its physical protection from man natural beauty ranks it among the most pristine wildernesses on earth. It is regarded as a natural wonder of the world and has been declared a World Heritage Site. It is the largest intact crater in the world, being 610 meters deep, 16 kilometers across and covering an area of 540 square kilometers. On the crater floor, grassland blends into swamps, lakes, rivers, woodland and mountains – all a haven for wildlife, including the greatest predator population in Africa. The volcanic crater is packed with wildlife, including all the big game. Its pride and joy, however, is that it remains the last great wild refuge for the endangered black rhino.
Ruaha National Park
The Ruaha National Park is Tanzania’s second largest park and the world’s largest elephant sanctuary. Although set in spectacular scenery with an abundance of wildlife, the park is one of the lesser visited in the country, keeping it an isolated and peaceful wilderness. Amongst the game found at the park are elephants, buffalos, giraffes, cheetahs, lions, leopards, a wide variety of antelope and over 465 recorded species of birdlife.
Selous National Reserve
Selous is one of the most remote and least visited game park in Africa, but at 15,000 square miles, it is the world’s largest game reserve. The name derives from hunter-explorer Frederick Courtenay Selous, a keen naturalist and conservationist as well as a hunter. He was killed in the First World War in the Beho Beho region of the reserve. The defining feature of the Selous is the great Rufiji River, which naturally splits the ecosystem into two distinct parts.
Selous National reserve can be explored by boat, sailing through swamps and lagoons where elephant often come to bathe, or even by foot, as the Selous is one of few Tanzanian reserves to allow walking tours. It has the world’s largest number of big game, more than 120,000 elephants, 160,000 buffaloes and about 2,000 rhinoceros. In addition, the Selous contains Africa’s greatest concentration of hippopotamus, crocodiles and wild dogs.
The Serengeti National park
The name 'Serengeti' comes from the Maasai language and appropriately means an 'endless plains'. The National Park is as big as Northern Ireland, but its ecosystem, which includes the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the Maswa Game Reserve and the Maasai Mara Game reserve (in Kenya). It lies between the shores of Lake Victoria in the west, Lake Eyasi in the south, and the Great Rift Valley to the east. As such, it offers the most complex and least disturbed ecosystem on earth.
A unique combination of diverse habitats enables the Serengeti to support more than 30 species of large herbivores and nearly 500 species of birds. Its landscape, originally formed by volcanic activity, has been sculpted by the concerted action of wind, rain and sun. It now varies from open grass plains in the south, savanna with scattered acacia trees in the center, hilly, wooded grassland in the north, to extensive woodland and black clay plains to the west. Small rivers, lakes and swamps are scattered throughout. Rising in the southeast are the great volcanic massifs and craters of the Ngorongoro Highlands. The Serengeti plains are host to a dramatic annual migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and numerous other species of animals indigenous to the area.
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park covers 2,600 square kilometers and is on the traditional migration route of several species of the wildlife. At dry times, the concentration of animals in Tarangire rivals that of the much better known Serengeti. Herds of migratory wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and buffalo gather along the marshy shores of Lake Natron. These pools are shared by flocks of birds: green wood hoopoes, fisher lovebirds, tallish herons, white bellied goaway birds and giant kingfishers. Resident lion, giraffe, elephant, and black rhino are common at any season;
Tarangire is noted for its baobab trees and splendid vistas of rolling savannah and acacia woodland. The strange-looking, centuriesold baobab trees are believed by the Maasai to be the first tree in creation.
Solomon Okila is Editor African Voyages Ltd, your guide to Africa Travel and Safari Information and African Hotels, Lodges and Tourist Information.
Tuesday 10 June 2008
Sample Tanzania Safari Itinerary: 1
Day 1: Arusha – Lake Manyara
After lunch at the hotel in Arusha, depart for Lake Manyara. Enjoy an evening game drive in the Lake National Park whose inhabitants include hippos, monkeys, tree climbing lions, flamingos and other variety of birdlife. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 2: Lake Manyara - Serengeti
After an early breakfast, drive to Serengeti National Park. Lunch at the lodge. Spend the afternoon game viewing in the endless plains of the Serengeti for a chance to see the great herds of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles or a pride of lions lounging in the shade. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Serengeti
All day game viewing in the Serengeti National park. All meals at your lodge.
Day 4: Serengeti - Ngorongoro
Depart for an early morning game drive around your lodge, return to the lodge for breakfast. Mid morning, depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Lunch at the lodge. This afternoon, you will descend 2000 feet (over 600 metres) to the floor of the crater for a half day crater tour. Explore the forest areas that are inhabited by monkey and elephant, the lake area, where you may see the flamingos and the open savannah where the lions hunt for food. Dinner and overnight at the lodge
Day 5: Ngorongoro
After breakfast, descend again into the Crater for further game viewing till lunch. Return to your lodge for lunch. Afternoon free at the lodge. Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
Day 6: Ngorongoro - Tarangire
After breakfast, depart for Tarangire National Park arriving in time for lunch and an afternoon of game viewing. Lesser kudu, eland, lion and gerenuk can be found in this beautiful park, noted for its multitude of baobab trees and its tree-climbing lions. Dinner and overnight at the lodge
Day 7: Tarangire – Arusha - Depart
Enjoy an early morning game drive in the Tarangire National Park. Breakfast at the lodge, followed by the drive back to Arusha with a game viewing en route. Lunch in Arusha town.
Tanzania Safari Specials
After lunch at the hotel in Arusha, depart for Lake Manyara. Enjoy an evening game drive in the Lake National Park whose inhabitants include hippos, monkeys, tree climbing lions, flamingos and other variety of birdlife. Dinner and overnight at the lodge.
Day 2: Lake Manyara - Serengeti
After an early breakfast, drive to Serengeti National Park. Lunch at the lodge. Spend the afternoon game viewing in the endless plains of the Serengeti for a chance to see the great herds of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles or a pride of lions lounging in the shade. Return to your lodge for dinner and overnight.
Day 3: Serengeti
All day game viewing in the Serengeti National park. All meals at your lodge.
Day 4: Serengeti - Ngorongoro
Depart for an early morning game drive around your lodge, return to the lodge for breakfast. Mid morning, depart for Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Lunch at the lodge. This afternoon, you will descend 2000 feet (over 600 metres) to the floor of the crater for a half day crater tour. Explore the forest areas that are inhabited by monkey and elephant, the lake area, where you may see the flamingos and the open savannah where the lions hunt for food. Dinner and overnight at the lodge
Day 5: Ngorongoro
After breakfast, descend again into the Crater for further game viewing till lunch. Return to your lodge for lunch. Afternoon free at the lodge. Dinner and overnight at your lodge.
Day 6: Ngorongoro - Tarangire
After breakfast, depart for Tarangire National Park arriving in time for lunch and an afternoon of game viewing. Lesser kudu, eland, lion and gerenuk can be found in this beautiful park, noted for its multitude of baobab trees and its tree-climbing lions. Dinner and overnight at the lodge
Day 7: Tarangire – Arusha - Depart
Enjoy an early morning game drive in the Tarangire National Park. Breakfast at the lodge, followed by the drive back to Arusha with a game viewing en route. Lunch in Arusha town.
Tanzania Safari Specials
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