Superlatives about this fantastic park flow regularly from the mouths of those that have had the fortune to be able to come and visit this, Tanzania's third biggest National Park...and for good reason. Featuring hippos pods of thousands, denning crocodile, super herds of buffalo and predators galore (we even had one client who had a leopard chased under their vehicle by a pride of lion!) Katavi is, without doubt, one of Africa's best-kept secrets.
As the fourth largest park in Tanzania, the Mikumi National Park is rarely included on a flying circuit to the southern parks, but is very accessible to those that are vehicle-bound. The main reason for this is the existence of the Tanzam highway that was opened in 1964 and runs from Dar es Salaam through to Lusaka in Zambia. While this has meant that it is rarely possible to get away from the noise, this is still a park worth mentioning.
Approximately an hour and a half flying time to the west of the Selous, Ruaha National Park is often paired with its neighbour and provides the perfect foil. Where the Selous is verdant and riverine, Ruaha is barren and sparse. Where the Selous has elephant, hippo and crocodile, Ruaha has lions, buffalo and leopard. In every sense, to step into Ruaha is to step into how Africa has existed forever.
One of the largest designated game areas in Africa, Nyerere National Park (formerly the Selous Game Reserve) is approximate two and a half times the size of Wales and is truly one of the last frontiers in Africa, with game roaming freely and unimpeded throughout. The main focus for the safari activities is around the mighty Rufiji River that flows west to east through the northern section of the park and, in the dry season, it becomes a Mecca for all types of game looking to replenish water supplies.
Once only a dusty town servicing the safari industry, Arusha has burgeoned into a thriving and energetic city and now holds the mantle of the second largest city in Tanzania, wrestled away from nearby Mwanza. What Arusha offers for many is as a stopping point to regroup either after a long international flight, in preparation or after a climb up Kilimanjaro, or as a “waiting room” before returning home…but this would be to miss out!
Mount Kilimanjaro, at around 6,000m towers over the plains of Eastern Africa and is one of the most iconic volcanoes in the world. As Africa's highest peak it is always on the lists of those visiting the continent that are keen on walking and mountaineering. The slopes themselves are fairly innocuous and so it is usually the altitude that is the issue for most with the starting point at around 1,400m and the average climbing time being around 3 days.
Again, one of the staple attractions on the northern “circuit”, Lake Manyara National Park adds something different again to the mix. Where the Serengeti is known for its huge skies and wildebeest, and the Ngorongoro is known for the views, Lake Manyara is a superb example of what the Rift valley has to offer. This is a park that sits at the bottom of the 600m high escarpment that is part of a tectonic crack that marks the entirety of East Africa, from Ethiopia to Malawi.
Lying to the east of the plains of the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater is arguably one of the locations to see in Africa, providing a unique opportunity to see world class game viewing in a spectacular setting. At approximately 19kms in diameter and around 600 meters in depth, the crater itself is the world’s largest, intact caldera. On top of this, it has resident game year round and some of Africa’s largest elephant.
Arguably the most famous destination for safari in Africa, the vast, open plains of the Serengeti epitomise, for many, what Africa is all about. In the Serengeti National Park the grasslands are roamed by millions of wildebeest, zebra and others, while being stalked by some of the continent’s fiercest predators; the mighty lion, the leopard, the cheetah, to name a few. To experience a Serengeti safari and witness the daily fight for survival is like nothing else in the world, where life seems so precious and yet so cheap…welcome to the Serengeti!
Well, what can we say? Beho Beho is certainly a camp that is in the top three in East Africa if not Africa at the moment...they have been leading the way for the last few years in the Selous. Great location, up in the Beho Beho hills, away from the relative "traffic" in the park's centre.
