Tarangire National Park ~ Day 1. We arrive from Dar es Salaam to Arusha early in the morning and the travel agent proposed us to do Tarangire Park to kill the time and of course we agreed. When we reached to the park there were a lots of people already.
About Tarangire National Park.
Tarangire is a beautiful area stretching south-east of Lake Manyara around the Tarangire River. During the dry season, particularly between August and October, it has one of the highest concentrations of wildlife of any of the country's park. Large herds of zebra, wildebeest and elephant can be found here until October when the short wet season allows them to move on to lush new grasslands. Eland, lesser kudu, gazelle, giraffe, water buck, impala, and the occassional leopard or rhino can be seen at Tarangire year-around. The park is also very good for bird watching, with over three hundred different species recorded. For ornithologists and birdwatchers, the best time to visit is between October and May.
Bordering Tarangire to the north-east is the Tarangire Wildlife Conservation Area, which was created to address the varying needs of local conservation projects in the area. Visitors can enjoy walking safaris here while local villagers - who have set aside some of their land for the project - benefit directly from tourist revenue and remain involved in management of the conservation area.
NGORONGORO CRATER ~ Day 2 and 3 We arrive at Ngorongoro Crater late in the afternoon and we have the view like in picture above in front of us while we are on the way to hotel. It is just so beautiful and the weather is cold. We stay 2 nights in Ngorongoro but in two different hotels.
About Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa's best known wildlife-viewing areas and one of Tanzania's most visited. At about 20 km wide it is also one of the largest calderas in the world. Within its walls are a variety of animals and vegetation, including grasslands, swamps, forests, salt pans and a freshwater lake. You are likely to see lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo and many of the plains herbivores such as wildebeest, Thomson's gazelle, zebra and reed buck, as well as thousands of flamingos wading in the shallows of Lake Magadi, the soda lake at crater's base.
Despite its steep walls, there's considerable movement animals in and out of the crater - mostly to the Serengeti, since the land between the crater and Lake Manyara is intensively famed. Yet it remains a favored spot for wildlife because there's permanent water and grassland on the crater floor.
The animals don't have the crater to themselves. Local Maasai tribes have grazing rights and you may come across them tending their cattle. During the German Colonial era there were two settler' farms in the crater; you can still see one of the huts.
SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK ~ Day 4
It has been the whole day we are in the park. Kind of a tired a little by counting the gazelles, they are all along the way that we take. From time to time, I fall to sleep; I am not counting the mutton but the gazelle.
About Serengeti National Park.
Serengeti, which covers 14,763sq km and is contiguous with the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, is Tanzania's largest and most famous national park. On its vast treeless plains are several million hoofed animals, constantly on the move in search of fresh grassland. The wildebeest, of which there are up to two million, is the chief herbivore and also the main prey of large carnivores such as lion and hyena.
One of the Serengeti's biggest attractions is the annual migration of wildebeest herds in search of better grazing. During the rainy season between March and May, the herds are widely scattered over the southern section of the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. As these areas have few large rivers and streams, they dry out quickly when the rains cease. When this happens, the wildebeest concentrate on the few remaining green areas, forming large herds which more north and west in search of food. The wildebeest spend the dry season in these parts of the Serengeti, only moving back east in anticipation of the rains.
The best time to see the wildebeest migration in the Western Corridor of the Serengeti is between May and July, although the actual viewing window can be short. The Serengeti is also famous for its lions, many of which have collars fitted with transmitters so their movements can be studied and their location tracked. It's also known for its cheetah and large herds of giraffe.
Lake Manyara National Park ~ (Day 5).
We end up our safaris here at Lake Manyara. What a nice trip and we really had fun.
About Lake Manyara National Park.
The serene and beautiful Lake Manyara National Park is often underrated in tourist literature; many visitors are surprised by how nice the park really is. in addition to its peaceful setting, Manyara's main attractions are its rich bird life, its tree climbing lions and its hippos, which you can see at closer range here than at most other places. There are also a fair number of elephants although the population has been declining in recent years. The park, which lies between 900m and 1800m above the sea level, is bordered to the west by dramatic western escarpment of the Rift valley. To the east is the alkaline Lake Manyara which at certain times of year hosts thousands of flamingos, as well as a diversity of other bird life and a substantial hippo population. Depending on the season, about two-thirds of the park's total 330sq km area is covered by the lake. Although Manyara is one of the smallest parks, its vegetation is diverse, ranging from savanna to marshes and acacia woodland, enabling it to support a variety of wildlife habitats.
Arusha.There we are enjoying our local food; Ugali which made from maizes flour, served with a local spinach and lamb brochettes. Just love it....
About Arusha.
Arusha is a northern city Tanzania surrounded by some of Africa's most famous landscapes and national parks. Beautifully situated below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern branch of the Great Rift Valley, it has a pleasant climate and is close to Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, Lake Manyara, Oldurai Gorge, Tarangire National Park, and Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as having its own Arusha National Park on Mount Meru.
Big kiss from NDH/Gros becs de NDH
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