| Udzungwa Mountains National Park |
Area: 1,990 km²
Udzungwa Mountains National park has no tourist accommodation. It is a camping and hiking wilderness retreat with few defined trails, extremely beautiful scenery including endemic trees, shrubs and herbs, and precious few visitors.
The mountain range makes up only 2% of Tanzania's land area, but the forests contain 30% - 40% of the country's plant and mammal species. They also have the secound highest bird diversity in Africa behind the less accessible ituri forest in the DRC.
Flora / Fauna
Tropical rainforest, mountain forest, miombo woodland, grassland, steppe
Habitat
Rufous-winged Sunbird, Udzungwa Partridge; Sanje crested Mangabey. Iringa red colobus, Rungwecerbus kipunji, Matundu dwarf Galago, Mountain dwarf Galago; reptiles and amphibians; Hyrax, Squirrel; also big mammals
more than 400 bird species, 2500 plant species; many endemics (25 % of plant species, 5 primates) |
Area: 44,800 km²
The Selous is known in swahili as Shamba ya Bibi - literally translated as "women's garden". It has the largest number of several species of animals found in a single reserve anywhere in the world:
* elephant - 65,000
* Bufalo - 110,000
* Hipopotamus - 40,000
* Lion - 3,000
* The endangered African Hunting Dog - 1,300
The Selous ecosystem encompasses a wide spectrum of wildlife habitats including open grasslands, miombo woodlands that cover three quarters of the reserve, and riverine forests. As a result of its unique ecological importance, the Selous was declared a World Heritage Site in 1982.
Selous was the son of a chairman of the London Stock Exchange, Born in England in 1851, he bacame a noted naturalist, conservationist and big game hunter. He was killed in 1917 while a Captain leading a detachment against a German position.
Flora / Fauna
Miombo woodland, open wooded grassland, riverine swamps
Habitat
African Wild Dog, Elephant, Cheetah, Giraffe, Hippopotamus, Buffalo, Crocodile, White Rhinoceros
largest game reserve in Africa; 350 bird species. |
| Area: 10,300 km²
In terms of its size, remotness, wilderness quality, austere baobab trees, large concetrations of rare species and few visitors, Ruaha is unrivalled.
A most memorable sighting at Ruaha is of a mature, spiral-horned male greater Kudu. Greater Kudu males are solitary or found in bachelor herds exept during mating. In contrast, females may be seen throughout the year, usually in dense bush country in groups of 6 to 10 including their offspring.
Elephants are in abudance and Ruaha has been nicknamed "Giraffic Park" because of its 8,000 Maasai giraffe.
Lying in the rain shadow of the Udzungwa Mountains, the park is bisected by the great Ruaha river. It is the moust southern extension of the Maasai steppes and is among the most arid of Tanzania's 14 national parks.
Ruaha is a transition zone where much of the flora and fauna that distinguishes east and southern Africa meets and overlaps.
Flora / Fauna
Miombo woodland, savanna
Habitat
Elephant; hornbill, kingfisher, sunbird, white stork; African Wild Dog, Sable Antelope, Greater Kudu; Crested Barbet, Yellow-collared Lovebird
more than 400 bird species, high diversity of antelope. |
Area: 3,230 km²
Mikumi is the access point for the southern Tanzania tourist circuit. A tented camp lies to the south of the main road at Vuma hill and there's another campsite just north of the road.
Trees and other plants distinguish Mikumi. Marula trees (Mng'ongo in Swahilli) are common.
This tree occurs in Deciduous, wooded grassland from south Africa to Ethiopia and the fruit is used to make the Amarula wild fruit cream drink that is indigenous to Africa.
Elephants regard the Marula as a delicacy, vigorously shaking the tree to dislodge the fruit. Tamarind with its many medicinal uses, grotesque but distinctive baobabs, sausage, cassia, black thorn and African blackwood trees exist in Mikumi as do a profusion of flowers.
Flora / Fauna
Floodplain, grassland, wooded savanna, miombo covered hills.
Habitat
Eland, Greater kudu, Yellow Baboon, Vervet Monkey, Serval, sable antelope, hippopotamus, zebra, lion, wildebeest, impala, buffalo, giraffe, elephant; Lilac-breasted roller, Yellow-throated longclaw, Bateleur Eagle, waterbirds,more than 400 bird species. |
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Southern Circuit
Rubondo Island National Park
Mahale National Park