Lake Manyara | Serengeti | Nogorongoro | Tarangire

Lake Manyara is a shallow fresh water lake and it is also home of a diverse set of landscapes and wild life. Of the 127 square miles of Lake Manyara National Park, the lake's alkaline waters cover approximately 89 square miles.While most known for baboons, the lake and its environs is also home to herbivores such as hippos, impalas, elephants, wildebeests, buffalo, warthogs and giraffes. Giant fig trees and mahogany seen in the groundwater forest immediately around the park gates draw nourishment from the underground springs replenished continuously from crater highlands directly above the Manyara basin. Leading away from the forest to the fringes of Lake Manyara are the flood plains. To the south are visible the acacia woodlands. Leopards, although in abundance, are hard to get a glimpse of, just like the other elusive carnivores - the lions - of this park. Lake Manyara provides opportunities for ornithologists keen on viewing and observing over 300 migratory birds, including flamingo, Long-crested Eagle and Grey-headed Kingfisher.

Serengeti is the largest national park and is most famous for its annual migration over one million wildebeest and over 200,000 zebras. The park covers 14,763 kmē (5,700 square miles) of grassland plains and savanna as well as riverine forest and woodlands. The park lies in the north of the country, bordered to the north by the national Tanzania and Kenyan border, where it is continuous with the Masai Mara National Reserve. To the south-east of the park is Ngorongoro Conservation Area, to the south-west lies Maswa Game Reserve, and to the western borders are Ikorongo and Grumeti Game Reserves, finally to the north-east lies Loliondo Game Control Area. As well as the migration of ungulates, the park is well known for its healthy stock of other resident wildlife, particularly the "Big Five", named for the five most prized trophies taken by hunters: the lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo. These species remain the key attractions to tourists, but the park also supports many further species, including the cheetah, gazelle and giraffe, as well as a large and varied bird population.

Nogorongoro is a conservation area situated 180 Kms west of Arusha in the Crater Highlands area of Tanzania. The area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. A population of approximately 25,000 large animals, largely ungulates along with reputedly the highest density of mammalian predators in Africa, lives in the crater. These include the black rhinoceros and the hippopotamus, which is very uncommon in the area. There also are many other ungulates: the wildebeest the eland, and Grant's and Thomson's gazelles. The crater has the densest known population of lions. On the crater rim are leopards, elephants mountain reedbuck, and buffalo. The main feature of the NCA is the Ngorongoro Crater, which is the world's largest unbroken, unflooded volcanic caldera. the crater is home to the "big five" of rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant, and buffalo. The crater plays host to almost every individual species of wildlife in East Africa.

Tarangire National Park is probably one of the least visited of the northern Tanzanian game parks, and retains a real air of undiscovered Africa, particularly in the south of the park. This park has some of the highest population of density of elephants anywhere in Tanzania and its sparse vegetation makes it a beautiful and special location. Animals spotted are gazelles, oryx, tree climbing pythons and lions, wildebeest, zebras and giraffes.

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