Overview
Tanzania is a country in Eastern part of Africa. It shares borders with Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, DRC, Comoros Islands and Indian ocean. The highest point in this country is at Mount Kilimanjaro. Tanzania is a home to some of the oldest inhabited areas on the planet.
Tanzania offers amazing cultural experiences, beautiful landscape, beaches and wildlife encounters that are second to none. From breathtaking wildebeest migration from Serengeti to the exotic beaches of Zanzibar, Tanzania has it all and more. Tanzania also secured the 10th position and 3rd position in Africa in terms of tourism sector revenue growth, recording an outstanding 26% increase since 2019.
Tanzania now has a population of about 56 million people and 120 ethnic groups. These ethnic groups each speak their own language, they are united by their knowledge Swahili. Swahili is used as the language of communication in the lower courts, primary schools and during parliamentary debates. English is mainly used for diplomacy, foreign trade, higher courts and in secondary/ higher institution of learning. The capital is Dodoma but Dar es Salama is far the largest city and it is the country’s commercial and cultural hub with most of the government offices. Tanzania’s economy depends on agriculture and tourism.
Attractions in Tanzania
Ruaha National Park- Tanzania’s Famous wilderness area.
Ruaha National Park is found in western part of Iringa and the largest National Park in Tanzania covering an area of about 13,000 square kilometers. Ruaha national park is part of wider ecosystem that also includes Usangu Game Reserve, Rungwa Game reserve and other smaller protected reserves.
Ruaha National Park gets its name from River Ruaha which very important to ecosystem as it helps in supporting the wildlife and plant life particularly during long dry season. Ruaha also supplies most of the electricity in the country.
The Key attractions in Ruaha national park are large prides of Lions, elephants, wild dogs, jackals, leopards, zebras, cheetahs, giraffes, impalas and bat eared foxes. The park is not crowded as Serengeti national park and it offers excellent exclusive safaris and a unique wilderness experience.
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s most popular tourist attraction and among the best destinations to see the wildlife in Africa. It is part of wider ecosystem which also includes the Simiyu and Mara regions in Kenya. The park consists of acacia trees, savanna grasslands, woodlands and small forests plus the annual great migration.
Outside Serengeti there is one of the world’s greatest wildlife spectacles. During the great migration, over one million wildebeest and 250,000 zebras move around the park and cross to Mara River to Kenya. They undergo great challenges and have to cross crocodile infested rivers and lion territories.
You can be able to spot elephants, Buffaloes, cheetahs, giraffe, impalas, hyenas, gazelle, eland, ostriches and wild dogs. You can also have a hot air-balloon experience.
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park is the sixth largest in Tanzania that covers an area of about 2850 square kilometers. The park gets its name from River Tarangire which crosses the park and it’s a major source of water for the animals especially during dry season.
Though it is smaller than Ruaha, the park receives a quite number of visitors because it is closer to Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro National Park and the Masai Mara in Kenya. Tarangire National Park has the largest population of elephants in Africa and is a home of tree climbing lions. You can also spot giraffe, impalas, zebras and wildebeest and it is also a birders paradise with over 550 species of birds
Nyerere (Selous) National Park- Africa’s Largest Wildlife Reserve
Bisected by the crocodile-infested Rufiji River and home to world-renowned stiegler’s Gorge, the 30,893 square kilo-meters. Nyerere National Park is an iconic East African Safari destination. It remains a long-standing tourist attraction in southern Tanzania though illegal hunting ravaged the enormous elephant herds of years gone by. Nyerere still supports around 16,000 of these grey giants as well as a thriving population of wild dogs.
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The great rift valley
The East Africa rift valley passes through Tanzania leaving behind amazing features like rivers, lakes, hot springs, volcanoes and geysers. Some of the lakes found I Tanzania’s part of the rift valley are; Lake Tanganyika, lake Natron, Lake Manyara, Lake Eyasi, Lake Victoria and Lake Makati and most of the are shallow and are blessed with amazing biodiversity.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Ngorongoro Conservation Area is located next to Serengeti and about 180km away from the city of Arusha and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is considered as one of the top 10 natural wonders of the world.
The key features of this reserve are a large volcanic caldera which acts as a natural enclosure that keeps most of Africa’s famous wildlife together because of this protective shield and constant water throughout the year, the animals here do not migrate as those of Serengeti.
You can expect to spot lions, Black Rhinos, leopard, buffaloes, elephants and flamingos. The varied landscape which includes forests, bushes, Savannah grasslands, volcanic features and saline lakes. The Government allowed the Masai tribesmen to continue living and take care of their domestic within the conservation area hence allowing tourists chance to encounter them.
Katavi National Park
Katavi National Park is relatively untouched wildlife paradise and one of the country’s most unspoiled and untouched bush settings with amazing landscapes and rich wildlife.
This is wild Africa at its very best and if you have the time and budget, it’s a park that’s absolutely worth exploring. There are only a few small, rustic safari camps. In Katavi National Park you will often come across more prides of lion than tourists on game drives in one of the Tanzania’s largest national parks.
Olduvai Gorge
The Olduvai Gorge is found within the wider Ngorongoro conservation Area where some of the first fossils of the earliest humans were found and sometimes known as the cradle of mankind. The site sits on a collection of fault lines which got exposed due to erosion.
The first fossil was discovered in 1911 by a German professor while looking for butterflies in the area and later the Leakey family carried out more advanced explorations in the area where they unearthed bones and fragments of skulls believed to be about million years old.
The Leakey’s also unearthed hunting weapons and other tools which are believed to be 1-1.5 million years old, the greatest discovery where the footprints of a woman, man and child that are believed to be over one million years old. The bones and tools are enough evidence to show that some of the oldest humans lived in Olduvai Gorge and Tanzania.
Mahale Mountains
Mahale mountains is a spectacular scenery and habituated chimps nestled on Lake Tanganyika with its forested mountains rising up from the shoreline, mesmerizing Mahale Mountains National Park boasts stunning scenery and offers close encounters with habituated chimpanzees.
The mist-covered peak of Mount Nkungwe stands sentinel in the background and the crystal-clear waters of Lake Tanganyika lap against white sand beaches. Mahale is Tanzania’s most remote park but also one of its most enthralling.
Be prepared for sweaty, steep climbs through dense vegetation but the final reward as well worth the trials and tribulation of getting there.
Tanzanite
Tanzanite is a rare and precious gemstone only found in Tanzania and mined from deep inside Mount Kilimanjaro. Tanzanite has striking shining blue color and not expensive as diamonds which are equally stunning.
They are greatest gifts for friends, lovers and those you cherish and can be bought from Jewelry shops in major cities like Dar es Salaam and Arusha but it is important to be careful so as not buying fake ones. You can only buy from authorized dealers and in well-known artisan shop.
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam is also Tanzania’s commercial hub and busiest port and it is far largest metropolitan area in Tanzania though its not the capital city.
Pemba
Pemba is the Green Island of East Africa. If Zanzibar’s hundreds of hotels and thousands of tourists is not your cup of tea and then a trip to neighboring Pemba is the way to go. Zanzibar’s big brother island has remained a thriving fishing community and is surprisingly free of tourism development.
Zanzibar
This is an Indian Island Rich in Culture and History; a beautiful tropical island dotted with aromatic spice plantations and bustling fishing villages and has reinvented itself as a tourism hot spot.
Its history in store town that is seemingly at odds with its idyllic geography of white-sand beaches and coconut palms swaying lazily in the sea breeze but it is precisely this diversity that makes Zanzibar such as an attractive and varied island to explore above and below the water as well as dream destination for simply relaxing and recharging.
Zanzibar is not a place you should visit if you don’t want to see other tourists.
Mafia Island
Mafia island is a beach Paradise with superb Diving. Lodges here tend to be a touch more exclusive than their counterparts on Zanzibar but without the price tag. The beaches are superb and its mangroves and marine park ensure that the marine life is bountiful and the underwater safari experience far superior to Zanzibar or Pemba
Kilimanjaro’s- Africa’s highest peak
The origin of Kilimanjaro’s name is a mystery. Kilima means mountain in Swahili, but njaro might derive from either the Maasai ngare(water). Kilimanjaro is Africa’s highest peak (5,895m) and the tallest freestanding mountain on earth.
It is located virtually on the equator; this dormant volcano seems so out of place with its snowcapped peak dwarfing the surrounding lowlands. You can climb it legendary slopes in the hope of standing a top Uhuru Peak, the highest point on the African continent or simply gaze and photograph its majesty as it presides over the plain and parks below.
It would be wrong to come to Tanzania and not spend some time appreciating this grand mountain that forms the roof of Africa.
Mwanza and Lake Victoria
I would recommend you a visit to Mwanza and Lake Victoria spans across multiple African countries and it is a very popular destination for tourists. However, the banks of Lake Victoria in Tanzania are some of the most sparsely visited, it is the same lake that you see in Kenya and Uganda, it is simply less busy, peace and explore Mwanza.
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In short, in this we have taken a look at the best tourist attractions in Tanzania