Tanzania Safaris

Tanzania is truly fascinating due to its outstanding diversity of great lakes, mountains and its enormous variety of animal and plant life. Indeed, the country boasts the largest population of wildlife on the continent. There are about 1,500 species of bird and 10,000 species of plant. The Selous Game Reserve has the biggest elephant population of the world. Two of the five highest mountains in the African continent are to be found in Tanzania.

The highest, Mount Kilimanjaro (the roof of Africa), peaks at 5,895 meters and is the highest detached mountain in the world. The second highest mountain in the country (which is only 1,300 meters lower than "Kili") is Mount Meru, which stands at 4,566 meters. "The floor of Africa" is the bottom of Lake Tanganyika (700 meters below sea level), and is the deepest, longest and second biggest lake in Africa. Together Lake Victoria (largest African lake), Lake Nyasa (2nd deepest lake and 3rd largest lake in Africa) and Lake Tanganyika combined, make the largest water area and volume on the continent.
The largest islands of East Africa (Zanzibar, Pemba, Mafia) are situated off the Tanzanian shore.

Tanzania has a tropical climate with a hot and humid coastline and a hot, dry, arid central plateau. The highland regions have a more temperate climate and it can get quite cool at night. The temperature falls about 1° C for every 150 meters rise in altitude. The eastern part of the country is influenced by monsoon winds. The kaskazi blows from Dec to March while the kusi from April to Nov. The long rains fall from March to May and the short lighter rains from Nov to Dec. Higher altitudes are less affected by the monsoons and it may rain at any time. Daytime temperatures in most places are between 22 to 30 °C. The hottest period is November to March and the coolest from May to November.

About 250,000km² of the state area is dedicated to the protection of nature and wildlife. About 40% of the country is protected as National Parks, Game and Forest Reserves, and Marine Parks. The National Parks and Game Reserves alone, take up 16% of the country's total land area; making Tanzania the leader in conservation on the entire African continent. The National Parks are financed by economic aid, donations and foreign support, like the successors of Bernhard Grzimek, the founding father of the Serengeti National Park. Since 1995, Tanzania established it's first maritime National Park with the Mafia Island Marine Park.

Regions like the Ngorongoro Crater are distinguished as Conservation Areas. The Maasai are allowed to live in these areas in harmony with the highly protected wild animals. Only game hunting is permitted in the Game Reserves where there is no human habitation. These areas are mostly reserved for hunting which brings in much-needed revenue to support the country's wildlife conservation policies. To hunt in the Game Controlled Areas it is necessary to buy a game licence. Forest Reserves are mountain forests that are protected against logging and are maintained for water conservation measures.
Tanzania Safaris and Tours. Adventure Holidays.