NORTHERN CIRCUIT - TANZANIA
Destinations map
Arusha National Park
Arusha National Park has a rich variety of wildlife, but visitors shouldn’t expect the same game-viewing experience they find in other national parks of Tanzania’s northern circuit.
It is a great place for walking; one can enjoy natural forest in comfort because of the cool climate. The walking activity has to be arranged in advance and must be accompanied by armed ranger. Canoeing on a small Momela lake is also available by prior arrangements withbushbuck, Buffalo, Giraffe and hippos often seen during this excursion.
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park,The open grasslands, acacia trees and the Tarangire River paint the wild landscape.The main activities are game drives, walking safari with armed guides (rangers) and night game drives. During game drives, you will spend yourdays on searching of eland, oryx, wildebeests, zebras and a large elephant population. Keep your eyes trained for hartebeests, gazelles and exotic birds like the bateleur and martial eagle.
Lake Manyara National Park
Lake ManyaraNational Park lies up against the steep western wall of rift valley. It is directly en route to Ngorongoro from Arusha and Tarangire therefore this makes it very popular for either day trip or overnight. Most of the characteristic east African mammals are found in Manyara including cheetahs, leopard, buffalo, hippos, elephants, giraffe, thousands flamingos that feed along the edge of the lake in the wet season and the largest baboon troops in Africa.
It is in Manyara where some lions opted to rest up in the trees during the heat of midday, giving rise to the mistaken belief that the Manyara lions are somehow different .Lions in many part of Africa spend time in the lower broad limbed branches of trees probably to escape flies.
Ngorongoro Crater
Another most popular Northern Circuit Destinations is the area named after Ngorongoro Crater, a large volcanic caldera within the area. The Ngorongoro crater formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed two to three million years ago. The volcanic eruptions like that of Ngorongoro, which resulted in the formation of Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, were very common.Similar collapses occurred in the case of Olmoti and Empakaai, but they were much smaller in magnitude and impact.
Main activity is game drives in the Ngorongoro Crater floor, a vast expanse where animal activity is common place Approximately 25,000 large animals, mostly ungulates, live in the crater. Wildlife in the crater include the black rhino, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, the common eland, Grant’s, Thomson’s gazelles, Waterbucks, lions, hippos, crocodiles.
Serengeti National Park
The Serengeti National Park is the most popular Northern Circuit destinations , in Serengeti ecosystem in the Mara and Simiyu regions. It is now both a world biosphere reserve and a world heritage site. The Park if famous for its annual wildebeest migration .The migratory – and some resident – wildebeest, which number over 1.5 million individuals, constitute the largest population of big mammals that still roam the planet.
They are joined in their journey through the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem by 200,000 plains zebras, 300,000 Thomson’s gazelle sand Grant’s gazelle, and tens of thousands of topi and Coke’s hartebeest. Masai giraffe, waterbuck, impala, common warthogs and hippopotamus are also abundant.
