Tanzania – wildlife

Savannah Game - a Tanzania wildlife safari to see the Big Five is hard to beat anywhere else in Africa. Divided into two distinct circuits comprising of the north and the south, the traveller has a huge choice of destinations all of which have a variety of things to offer. Even though the southern circuits are slightly more expensive than the northern circuits they also remain more untouched and less busy due to the fact that they are harder to access.

Northern circuit includes such National Parks as the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Tarangire National Park - all of these have their unique selling points and one is likely to see the Big Five and also giraffe, zebra, hippo, crocodiles etc. The Serengeti being ideal for the first time visitor to Africa guarantees that quintessential wildlife safari and also African landscape which has been immortalised in films over the years; Ngorongoro Crater is a unique ecosystem (the collapsed upper cone of a volcano) with forests, lakes and savannah supporting a staggering variety of wildlife; Tarangire (best game viewing between June - Nov) offers an excellent opportunity for the budget traveller, located not far from Arusha it has an abundance of wildlife and is famous for its huge herds of elephants!

Southern Circuit includes such parks/reserves as Selous Game Reserve and Katavi National Park

. The Selous one of the few wildlife reserves of Africa you can explore on foot, offers the chance to view wildebeest, hippos, elephants and zebra in abundance alongside predators such as lion. Katavi is one of the least visited of Tanzania'a parks yet boasts some of the largest populations of crocodiles and hippos while lion and leopard feed from the huge herds of herbivores.  An excellent park to visit if one is wanting to get away from the crowds.

Chimpanzees - Tracking the chimpanzee through the rainforest covered slopes of Africa is an experience one must not miss! Trekking through the forests is sweaty and tiring, ranging from anything between 1-4 hrs, but spending an hour or two

watching these scarily familiar primates awaiting the sudden upshot of a monkey hunt or the pant hoots of their frenetic communication is worth it. The two principle areas of habituated chimpanzees in Tanzania are Mahale and Gombe, stunning locations which are home to some of the longest standing habituated troops of chimpanzees in Africa.