Tanzania is famous for being one of the best wildlife destinations in the world, yet it has much else to offer. Bounded on the east by the lovely shores of the Indian Ocean where sapphire seas and coral sands provide idyllic beaches, the western boundary is Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s longest and deepest lake.
The biggest and best feature highly in Tanzanian geography – Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, lies on its border with Kenya and there is little to touch the thrill of observing the snow-capped peak revealing itself from behind the often heavy cloud-cover. What is more, the Selous, Tanzania’s unspoilt, and little visited wilderness is the largest game reserve in Africa.
The game viewing in Tanzania is quite outstanding, antelopes, zebra and wildebeest are found in quite astonishing abundance. In consequence their attendant predators, lion and cheetah, are also numerous. The country’s rivers and lakes contain high population of hippo and crocodile, lakes such as Lake Manyara are often tinged pink with hundreds of flamingos, and high concentrations of elephant and giraffe are found. Great wildernesses such as the Ruaha National Park and the Selous attract a fantastic variety of animals and birds.
Tanzania is also famous for sharing with Kenya the fabulous seasonal migration of game from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara, which is on the Kenya/Tanzania border. Fossils from the Olduvai Gorge, where paleontologists Luis and Mary Leaky found evidence of man’s ancestors, show that the wildebeest grazed the Serengeti over a million years ago. As you watch the endless streams of wildebeest and zebra pouring north towards the Masai Mara you are observing something that man has watched since time immemorial, and few are unmoved by the spectacle.
The Ngorongoro Crater is yet of another Tanzania’s natural wonders. Twenty-five million years ago the volcano collapsed to form a ‘caldera’ with sides over five hundred miters high and a base of about twenty kilometers wide. This natural area for wildlife is stunning when viewing from above, but possibly even more amazing from the crater floor.
Here you find thousands of wildebeest, gazelle, zebra and the prides of lion that prey on them. Rhino and elephant are here too, and buffalo are common. The lush vegetation in the woodland areas and on the crater walls contrasts with the wide open plains grazed by game, while flocks of flamingos turn the central soda lake pink. The caldera has been compared to both the Garden of Eden and Noah’s Ark – it is easy to see why! The crater is at the center of an eight thousand square kilometer conservation area of unparalleled magnificence which include the Olduvai Gorge, “The Cradle of mankind”.
It was here that the Leakeys found early human remains, those of “nutcracker man” and Homo Habilis, “tool making man”, the earliest of which were from about 1.75 million years ago. A small museum explains their finds, and regular lectures take place outside on an outside covered viewing deck so that you may see the site as it is explained. The strange rock formation and blazing sun make the gorge an inhospitable spot and one comes away with a great admiration for those whose passion for the origins of man made them carry out such arduous excavation work for long.
Tanzania has much than wildlife but there are few places where nature is so unbounded.
