The Ngorongoro Crater, at 2,286m above the sea level, and is the largest
unbroken caldera in the world. Ngorongoro is 199km away from Arusha town,
which is surrounded by very steep walls rising at 600 meters from the
crater floor. The crater as been declared a world Heritage Site. Ngorongoro
Crater lies within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which covers by Lake
Eyasi in southwest and the Gol Mountains in north. Olduvai Gorge is located
within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, it here that Dr Louis Leakey
discovered the remains of Homo habilis or "handy Man" regarded
as mankind's first step on the ladder of human evolution. The gorge is
about 50km long, and at its deepest, close to where the main archaeological
sites, visitors viewing platform and museum are located. It is about 90km
deep. To the north of this, the gorge becomes shallower. The best time
to visit the crater is throughout the year.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a huge area containing active volcanoes,
mountains, archeological sites, rolling plains, forests, lakes, dunes
and of course, Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge.
The views at the rim of Ngorongoro Crater are sensational. On the crater
floor, grassland blends into swamps, lakes, rivers, woodland and mountains
- all a heaven for wildlife, including the densest predator population
in Africa. The crater is home to up to 25,000 large mammals, mainly grazers
- gazelle, buffalo, eland, hartebeest and warthog. You will not find giraffe
as there is not much to eat at tree level, or topi, because the competition
with wildebeest is too fierce, nor will you find impala. The crater elephants
are strangely, mainly bulls. There are a small number of black rhinos
here too. The birdlife is largely seasonal and is also affected by the
ratio of soda to fresh water in Lake Magadi on the crater floor.
In the northern, remote part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, you
will find Olmoti and Empakaai Craters, Lake Natron and Oldoinyo Lengai,
Mountain of God, as named by the Maasai. Lake Natron is the only known
breeding ground for East Africa's flamingoes.
The ruins of a terraced stone city and complex irrigation system lie
on the eastern side of Empakaai - the Engakura Ruins. Their origins are
a mystery as there is no tradition of stone building in this part of Africa
Serengeti National Park is 335km from Arusha town, and is one of the best-known
wildlife sanctuary in the world, it covers about 14763sq km terrain includes
various types of vegetation: grassy plains, savannah with acacias, wooded
hills and mountains are the backdrop for an extraordinary concentration
of animals which reaches its peak during the wildebeest migration. There
are said to be 2 million wildebeest on the Serengeti - Mara plains and
every year they migrate in search of grazing within an area of about 26,000sq
miles. The best time to see the wildebeest migration is from December-July,
and the best time to see predators is from June-October
The Serengeti is on of the world's last great wildlife refuges. This
vast area of land supports the greatest remaining concentration of plain
game in Africa, on a scale unparalleled anywhere else in the world. The
name comes from the Maasai 'Siringet', meaning endless plains. Equal in
size to Northern Ireland, the Park contains an estimated three million
large animals, most of which take part in a seasonal migration that is
one of nature's wonders.
The annual migration of more than 1.5 million wildebeests as well as
hundreds of thousands of zebras and gazelles is triggered by the rains.
The wet season starts in November and lasts until about May. Generally
the herds congregate and move out at the end of May. Their movement is
a continual search for grass and water - the moving mass of animals requiring
over 4,000 tons of grass each day. The exodus coincides with the breeding
season which causes fights among the males. As the dry season sets in
the herds drift out of the West, one group to the North, the other north-east
heading for the permanent waters of the northern rivers and the Mara.
The immigration instinct is so strong that animals die in the rivers as
they dive from the banks into the raging waters, to be dispatched by crocodiles.
The survivors concentrate in Kenya's Maasai Mara National reserve until
the grazing there is exhausted, when they turn south along the eastern
and final stage of the migration route. Before the main exodus, the herds
are a spectacular sight, massed in huge numbers with the weak and crippled
at the tail end of the procession, followed by the patient, vigilent predators.
The vegetation in the Serengeti ranges from the short and long grass
plains in the south, to the acacia savannah in the centre and the wooded
grassland concentrated around tributaries of the Grumeti and Mara rivers.
The western corridor is a region of wooded highland and extensive plains
reaching to the edge of Lake Victoria.
The Seronera Valley in the Serengeti is famous for the abundance lion
and leopard that can usually be seen quite easily. The adult male lions
of the Serengeti have characteristic black manes
Lake Manyara National Park is 126km away from Arusha town, which covers
an area of 330sq km (about 205sq miles), of which about 200sq km is the
lake and is very famous for its tree-climbing pythons and tree-climbing
lions, which spend most of the day, spread out along the branches of Acacia
trees six to seven meters above the ground. The park is also particularly
noted for its huge herds of buffalo and elephants, as well as giraffe,
impala, hippo and a great variety of smaller animals and birds. The best
time to visit Lake Manyara National Park is in the dry season from July-October
for large mammals
This National Park, gazetted in 1970, is 118km away from Arusha town,
which covers an area off 2600sq km that's about 1600 miles and derivers
its name from the Tarangire River that flows through the center of the
park. The river flows from south to north/northwest and empties its water
in Lake Burungi. An exceptional collection of "Acacia tortilis"
and baobab trees ahs become synonymous with the name Tarangire National
Park. The best time to visit Tarangire National Park to view the wildlife
is in dry season, from June-October.
The permanent water supply of the Park means that during the summer, the
animal population here rivals that of the Serengeti with wildebeest, zebra,
eland, elephant, hartebeest, buffalo, gerenuk, fringe eared Oryx and flocks
of birds of many different species. Prime game viewing months are between
September and December
This National Park is 32km away from Arusha town, which as an area of
137sq kms and was described by Sir Julian Huxley as " a game amongst
parks". Arusha National Park, often overlooked, is in fat a treasure,
a rich tapestry of habitats, teeming with animals and birds. It consists
of three spectacular features - the Ngurdoto Crater, the tranquil beauty
of the Momela Lakes, and the rocky alpine height of Mount Meru, where
the terrain of the peak is as varied as it is interesting.
The best time
to visit Arusha National Park is during the dry season from July-November,
or after the short rains from December-March. The best time to climb Mount
Meru is from June-February, and the best views of Mount Kilimanjaro seen
from December-February. Mount Meru, is 4566 meters high scaling can be
made through a variety of landscapes, plains, forest moorland, and a lava
desert, it is compulsory to be accompanied by am armed game warden because
if wild animals. The best month to climb Mount Meru is from July-February
