The 2600 sq Km Tarangire National Park covers an area of open country dotted with the majestic baobab trees, acacias and palm trees. The orange- hued landscape alternates between scrub, open plains, swamps and rivers, crossed by the Tarangire River. During the hot dry season, the park is at its prettiest. Everything is coloured brown or orange; the baobabs, the massive elephants that cover themselves in the red earth to protect themselves from the flies and the heat. At this time, the concentration of animals in the park rivals that of the Ngorongoro Crater, as animals from as far away as Kenya travel to the Tarangire River’s cooling permanent waters. As characteristic of the park as are the baobabs, the local Elephant population, estimated to be at about 5000, is Tarangire’s pride and joy. Other animals include wildebeest, zebra, eland, oryx- all under the watchful eye of cheetahs, leopards and lions. The less visited southern part of the park is covered by swamps, teeming with hippos and birdlife and by savannah plains, in which walking safaris can be arranged.

14673sqKm of endless plains, the Serengeti National Park lies in north western Tanzania, straddling the border with Kenya. The Park encompasses half of the 30,000 sq Km Serengeti- Mara Ecosystem, a range of land defined by the limits of the Wildebeest movements throughout the year Tanzania’s oldest park, with its even more ancient landscape forged by the past volcanic activity of the several volcanoes in the nearby Ngorongoro Highlands; the rich grasses of the plains play host to the most spectacular numbers of wildlife in the world. Almost every African animal species is represented in the Serengeti, birthplace of the millions of plains game that continually circle the ecosystem. Huge granite boulders, known as kopjes, are characteristic of the park, and provide sanctuary for birds, colourful Agama lizards and sombre snakes, adorable rock hyraxes, as well as the big cats that seek shelter from the elements.

Although famed for its plains, the Serengeti encompasses woodland, thornbush, swamps and Lakes Lagaja and Magadi, supporting over 30 species of large herbivores and over 500 species of birds, including Eurasian migrants, with its diversity. The Gol and Moru Kopjes, the central Seronera area which is an oasis of springs, pools and surprisingly, palm trees, and the equally mysterious “Whistling Thorn” country- the Western Corridor which leads to the Grumeti River, home of Africa’s largest crocodiles, are some of the natural obstacles which the wildebeest and zebra encounter and must cross, during their annual migration up north towards the Masai Mara.

Part of the Serengeti- Mara Ecosystem, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area covers an area of 8, 280 sq Km. An area of outstanding natural beauty, indeed one of the most breathtaking in the whole of Africa, the Ngorongoro area embraces rolling fertile green hills covered with flowers during the rainy season, while in the sheltered valleys and plains, Clusters of villages that are the home of the red-robed Maasai herdsmen, fierce in the protection of their prized cattle and traditions, abound. Forests, rivers, lakes and swamps, the silent silhouettes of mountain and volcanic craters, including some of the oldest in AfricaThese extinct volcanoes, whose past activity contributed to the landscape and lush vegetation of Ngorongoro as well as that of the nearby Serengeti plains, include Lemagrut, Sadiman, Oldeani, Olmoti, Sirua, Lolmalasin and Empakaai, always a favourite with hikers, and last but not least, the Ngorongoro Crater- a World Heritage Site. Heading out of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and out towards the Serengeti, we find the Olduvai Gorge, an important archaeological site.

The Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera in the world measuring over 600m deep and some 8-19Km in diameter, is believed to be about 8 million years old. The steep descent into the crater is almost as exciting as the scene that awaits you within the crater; a fantastic showcase of nature’s best. The diverse landscape within the crater, in which the savannah blends in to swamps, rivers, marshes, forests and cliffs, provides sanctuary for the black-maned lions, cheetahs, buffalos, elephants, and leopards that live side by side with thousands of wildebeest, gazelles and zebras, both black-backed and golden jackals. The Crater is also home to some of Tanzania’s last remaining rhinos. Flamingos and hippos inhabit the alkaline lakes and fresh water pools; old elephants can be seen patiently wading through the papyrus ponds, while way up, on the slopes of the crater, unique and beautiful Afro-Alpine vegetation blankets the ground in a rich green cover, occasionally hidden by the mist and fog that occurs at the rim, which stands at over 2300m.