As I want to solve this clue in the best places to see wildlife in Tanzania, I find myself lost reminiscing my younger beautiful years.
In my childhood, I did everything that most kids did. I played outside with friends, I watched a lot of TVs, I loved eating cakes for my breakfast, and like others, I also did go to school.
In that sense, my childhood wasn’t too much different than that of most kids from average African families.
However, I think there was one thing that was slightly unique.
I grew up watching ‘Animals are Beautiful People’ documentary at least twice a week!
Now, I don’t want you to think it was because I liked the documentary to the degree of watching it more than 100 times in my childhood.
The only reason I watched this ‘Animals are Beautiful People’ is that my dad liked it a lot.
He also wanted to shape me into a wildlife lover. In fact, he wanted me to become a safari guide for wildlife in Tanzania.
Plus, we only had one wildlife documentary… so I didn’t really have a choice.
But from all those years of watching the ever repeated documentary, it wasn’t hard for me to spot the beauty of wildlife. If there’s something that is mind-rewarding then it is that moment of seeing wildlife.
Now the world has evolved, curiosity has even taken the driving seat, and guess what?
People now want to see wildlife in the closest possible proximity.
In the past, we were just fine to watch wildlife on the television and enjoy it.
Now the trend is getting up for the wildlife lovers who just can’t stop themselves from finding and reaching the wildlife experience whenever the opportunity arrives.
Look for example the number of people who searched for Tanzania Wildlife in the last month.
About 170 people in the US alone were curious to know a thing or two about wildlife in Tanzania
It is uninspiring and totally disappointing when you have to plan a safari aiming to have a stunning view of wildlife in Tanzania and enjoy the experience only to end up picking the wrong destination for your interests.
Do you know Germany, the country? Well, can you imagine the whole of Germany filled with wildlife, yes with the wildlife only?
That is the best way to define wildlife in Tanzania
Tanzania has designated 25% of it’s land to wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. It is without a doubt among the highest in the world and in fact, the total area is greater than the size of the whole Germany as the country.
Despite that huge area full of wildlife in Tanzania, most of the people have a misconception that they can simply visit the country and boom! They then start seeing what they desire simply by driving North, South, and West or even Southern zones of the country.
Sorry, that is not how it works!
You may as well travel all the way from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia with a plan to see the beauty of wildlife in Tanzania only to be disappointed with an underwhelming safari experience.
The truth is, there are the best places to see wildlife in Tanzania
So with everyone now wanting to have the best out of their safaris in Tanzania to experience wildlife, why do you think of Wildlife in Tanzania from that perspective that they can be experienced without detailed knowledge and planning?
Don’t beat yourself up just yet, I also used to think about seeing wildlife in the same perspective that I can just pack my staffs one day and off I drive to the neighboring wildlife park to enjoy seeing wildlife until Earthlife expeditions’ safari specialist opened up my eyes.
“You are simply going to throw your money out of the windows if you think you can plan a safari adventure aiming to go and see Tanzania wildlife without having detailed information on where to go that will match your interest” Daniel, the safari specialist at Earthlife Expeditions murmured to me.
At the end of this post,
You are going to have fresh, detailed in-ground information about wildlife in Tanzania that whenever you think of planning a Tanzania adventure safari you will then be in a position to make some important decisions.
Let’s now dive deep without further ado.
Here are the best 7 places to view wildlife in Tanzania
1: Serengeti National Park
I am not in any way going to claim that Tanzania has all the best places to spotting wildlife but it’s hard to argue against the fact that Africa’s wildlife can be summarized in one nation.
And that is Tanzania.
Starting with this oldest national park in Tanzania that has been attracting at least 350,000 visitors every year, wildlife viewing here is as amazing and actually, the park was voted Africa’s best safari park by industry experts and safari-goers.
Some wildlife parks in Africa might seem look-alike.
But not this Serengeti, and this is simply due to the reason that the World’s largest annual migration of a certain 1.5 million white-bearded wildebeest occurs in this park.
The migration of this kind where wildebeests usually get a friendly company from a whopping 250 zebra has never been witnessed somewhere else in this world.
Apart from hooved animals in Serengeti (buffalo, elephants, giraffe, wildebeests, zebra, eland, gazelles) just to name a few, Serengeti is also the host for big cats where lions, cheetah, and leopard can be easily spotted.
The oldest national park Serengeti can be, its history isn’t something contemporary either.
The famous local tribe of Tanzania, Maasai people had been grazing their uncountable livestock in this park for over 200 years. To the Maasai people, the number of livestock mattered most and the pride of a Maasai gentleman was derived from how many livestock he owned.
The higher number of livestock Maasai owned pushed them in all parts of this park ensuring their livestock get rewarded with fresh pasture.
Now guess what?
Maasai people were bemused with the size of this park. They could not figure out its end.
There they named it “Siringeti” meaning ‘the vast land that runs on forever’
That was just it, the legendary Serengeti was born and the rest is history.
I won’t advise anyone to miss visiting Serengeti national park as one of the best areas to see wildlife in Tanzania.
2: Ngorongoro Conservation Area
One thing I like in the Ngorongoro Conservation area isn’t its unique feature that this UNESCO world heritage site people and wild animals live together in harmony.
Can you guess what stuns me most about Ngorongoro?
Well, let you not scratch your head further because I am going to tell you just now.
Unlike many wildlife areas in Tanzania, Ngorongoro can be visited almost every month of the year.
So whenever the passion to see wildlife in Tanzania is high and you think like ‘ooh, I can’t go and enjoy wildlife In Tanzania because it is not summer’
Keep cool and rejoice yourself because you can pack your bag and book your trip off to Ngorongoro and enjoy viewing; Elephants, hippos, giraffes, buffalos, zebras, wildebeests and black rhinos among many.
With one of the densest known population of lions in Ngorongoro, your visit there won’t treat you bad and if you’re lucky, you will spot them kings of vast land in a kill.
This has led to the park attracting a significant amount of visitors every year exceeding 500,000 annual visitors.
But how this best area to see wildlife in Tanzania came into existence?
Well, about 200 years ago, a group of Maasai found the Ngorongoro land.
These people were tired of finding the best places to graze their livestock and at the same time establishing their settlement.
When they came across the stunning view of Ngorongoro and with the way necessities of life were so much concentrated in one land, Maasai couldn’t help themselves but naming the area El-Nkoronkoro meaning they had found their ‘gift of life’.
You can hardly argue with Maasai people on naming this land as in this single land they had just found foods for themselves, pasture for their livestock as well as enough water to drink, not to mention the uncountable number of small wild animals for hunting, uncountable species of fruits and vegetables.
As of today,
Ngorongoro Conservation area holds an important history of mankind as it is the home of Oldupai gorge where uncountable investigations has been conducted in and still the further investigations of the human species are still being conducted as I am writing.
3: Ruaha National Park
Ruaha national park is two in one.
The park itself hosts Usangu game reserve which is the beautiful mountainous wildlife area with an astonishing view of grasslands, woodlands, and miombo that happily act as a home for elephants, lions, leopards, and buffalos just to name a few.
Speaking of the park itself, Ruaha national park;
- It is the largest national park in Tanzania.
- It is one of Africa’s remaining most lions and elephants’ populated areas with more than 2,000 lions.
- It is home to the Great Ruaha River which is one of the main tributaries of Rufiji River, the largest in East Africa which provides life to thousands of elephants.
Now there is this one this feature that makes Ruaha national park my favorite.
It isn’t the truth that Ruaha is the best for viewing big pride of lion predating hence to enable the park to attract up to 21,000 visitors,
Not even the fact that it is among the best places to enjoy viewing big packs of wild dogs,
Ruaha national park is very exclusive.
Its unique feature of exclusivity. This park is always not crowded hence making it the best area for experiencing that feeling of adventure when encountering wildlife in Tanzania
4: Tarangire national park
If there is one memorable encounter that I have ever experienced then it was tree climbing pythons view.
That experience in Tarangire was just unmatched and will forever remain with me.
To see these tree-climbing pythons you need to be luckier though, they are not regularly spotted so not everyone sees them.
However, Tarangire is the best park for day tours, and when you visit this near to Arusha city national park be sure to enjoy spotting big herds of elephants. Sometimes up to 200+ elephants can be found in the park making it one of the best areas for Wildlife in Tanzania.
Tarangire is also the best place to view the stunning huge baobab trees spanning around the Tarangire River which provides life to a number of wildebeests, buffalo, gazelles, and zebra.
Tarangire isn’t short of predators either.
Lions, leopards, and cheetah can be spotted in their endless missions of chasing and killing wildebeests, gazelles, and dik-dik for their meal.
5: Lake Manyara National Park
Are you a day tours lover? Then this park might very well suit your Wildlife in Tanzania needs. You can simply reach it in under 2 hours, and enjoy your game drive right away.
This beautiful park which is famous for tree-climbing lions attracts over 161,000 visitors.
However, it isn’t these tree-climbing lions that may strike you most, but the way you can spot the relaxed elephants at very close proximity.
Along with wildlife viewing, Lake Manyara national park is one of the best parks for birding. The park is just incomparable when it comes to flocks of flamingos.
Manyara has thousands of flamingos along with other superb birds and if you are a water lover, the canoe safari in this park will treat you extremely well.
6: Arusha National Park
Arusha national park is just another best in Tanzania for day tours. The park doesn’t offer a chance of encountering the big 5 but hey, its birding experience is just out of this world.
A partial climb to Mount Meru, the second-highest in the country will also give you a good view of the beautiful forest with the black and white colobus.
Now, this doesn’t mean you are going to see only the mentioned above, a wide range of antelope species, giraffes and buffalo can be easily spotted.
If you need to experience your wildlife in Tanzania but you’re pressed with time, then Arusha national park can just be one of your top priorities.
7: Selous Game reserve
Hosting the greatest possible concentration of big game on the planet, Selous game reserve is among the best parks to enjoy wildlife in Tanzania.
The true African wilderness of this land is just fascinating.
This vast wildlife land known for hunting is also acknowledged for its more than 400 known species of birds which makes the destination the perfect for bird watching.
Rufiji River, largest in Tanzania which is the source of life in the reserve is the habitat for the crocodiles and uncountable hippos in the reserve.
A visit to this Africa’s largest unexploited wildlife area which is one of the largest faunal reserves of the world will leave you with lifetime memories.
A wildlife viewing in Selous which is one of the largest parks in Africa and UNESCO World Heritage Site is simply rewarding.
Conclusion.
Wildlife in Tanzania looks great and is amazing.
The wildlife for the whole African continent can just be summed up in one country and that is Tanzania.
It’s hard to think of important African wildlife that you won’t find in Tanzania. It is with this reason more than 1,700 votes from tourists and safari experts crowned Tanzania the best safari country in Africa.
So what destination are you going to pick in your next trip to enjoying wildlife in Tanzania?
As I want to solve this clue in the best places to see wildlife in Tanzania, I find myself lost reminiscing my younger beautiful years.
In my childhood, I did everything that most kids did. I played outside with friends, I watched a lot of TVs, I loved eating cakes for my breakfast, and like others, I also did go to school.
In that sense, my childhood wasn’t too much different than that of most kids from average African families.
However, I think there was one thing that was slightly unique.
I grew up watching ‘Animals are Beautiful People’ documentary at least twice a week!
Now, I don’t want you to think it was because I liked the documentary to the degree of watching it more than 100 times in my childhood.
The only reason I watched this ‘Animals are Beautiful People’ is that my dad liked it a lot.
He also wanted to shape me into a wildlife lover. In fact, he wanted me to become a safari guide for wildlife in Tanzania.
Plus, we only had one wildlife documentary… so I didn’t really have a choice.
But from all those years of watching the ever repeated documentary, it wasn’t hard for me to spot the beauty of wildlife. If there’s something that is mind-rewarding then it is that moment of seeing wildlife.
Now the world has evolved, curiosity has even taken the driving seat, and guess what?
People now want to see wildlife in the closest possible proximity.
In the past, we were just fine to watch wildlife on the television and enjoy it.
Now the trend is getting up for the wildlife lovers who just can’t stop themselves from finding and reaching the wildlife experience whenever the opportunity arrives.
Look for example the number of people who searched for Tanzania Wildlife in the last month.
About 170 people in the US alone were curious to know a thing or two about wildlife in Tanzania
It is uninspiring and totally disappointing when you have to plan a safari aiming to have a stunning view of wildlife in Tanzania and enjoy the experience only to end up picking the wrong destination for your interests.
Do you know Germany, the country? Well, can you imagine the whole of Germany filled with wildlife, yes with the wildlife only?
That is the best way to define wildlife in Tanzania
Tanzania has designated 25% of it’s land to wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. It is without a doubt among the highest in the world and in fact, the total area is greater than the size of the whole Germany as the country.
Despite that huge area full of wildlife in Tanzania, most of the people have a misconception that they can simply visit the country and boom! They then start seeing what they desire simply by driving North, South, and West or even Southern zones of the country.
Sorry, that is not how it works!
You may as well travel all the way from Europe, America, Asia, and Australia with a plan to see the beauty of wildlife in Tanzania only to be disappointed with an underwhelming safari experience.
The truth is, there are the best places to see wildlife in Tanzania
So with everyone now wanting to have the best out of their safaris in Tanzania to experience wildlife, why do you think of Wildlife in Tanzania from that perspective that they can be experienced without detailed knowledge and planning?
Don’t beat yourself up just yet, I also used to think about seeing wildlife in the same perspective that I can just pack my staffs one day and off I drive to the neighboring wildlife park to enjoy seeing wildlife until Earthlife expeditions’ safari specialist opened up my eyes.
“You are simply going to throw your money out of the windows if you think you can plan a safari adventure aiming to go and see Tanzania wildlife without having detailed information on where to go that will match your interest” Daniel, the safari specialist at Earthlife Expeditions murmured to me.
At the end of this post,
You are going to have fresh, detailed in-ground information about wildlife in Tanzania that whenever you think of planning a Tanzania adventure safari you will then be in a position to make some important decisions.
Let’s now dive deep without further ado.
Here are the best 7 places to view wildlife in Tanzania
1: Serengeti National Park
I am not in any way going to claim that Tanzania has all the best places to spotting wildlife but it’s hard to argue against the fact that Africa’s wildlife can be summarized in one nation.
And that is Tanzania.
Starting with this oldest national park in Tanzania that has been attracting at least 350,000 visitors every year, wildlife viewing here is as amazing and actually, the park was voted Africa’s best safari park by industry experts and safari-goers.
Some wildlife parks in Africa might seem look-alike.
But not this Serengeti, and this is simply due to the reason that the World’s largest annual migration of a certain 1.5 million white-bearded wildebeest occurs in this park.
The migration of this kind where wildebeests usually get a friendly company from a whopping 250 zebra has never been witnessed somewhere else in this world.
Apart from hooved animals in Serengeti (buffalo, elephants, giraffe, wildebeests, zebra, eland, gazelles) just to name a few, Serengeti is also the host for big cats where lions, cheetah, and leopard can be easily spotted.
The oldest national park Serengeti can be, its history isn’t something contemporary either.
The famous local tribe of Tanzania, Maasai people had been grazing their uncountable livestock in this park for over 200 years. To the Maasai people, the number of livestock mattered most and the pride of a Maasai gentleman was derived from how many livestock he owned.
The higher number of livestock Maasai owned pushed them in all parts of this park ensuring their livestock get rewarded with fresh pasture.
Now guess what?
Maasai people were bemused with the size of this park. They could not figure out its end.
There they named it “Siringeti” meaning ‘the vast land that runs on forever’
That was just it, the legendary Serengeti was born and the rest is history.
I won’t advise anyone to miss visiting Serengeti national park as one of the best areas to see wildlife in Tanzania.
2: Ngorongoro Conservation Area
One thing I like in the Ngorongoro Conservation area isn’t its unique feature that this UNESCO world heritage site people and wild animals live together in harmony.
Can you guess what stuns me most about Ngorongoro?
Well, let you not scratch your head further because I am going to tell you just now.
Unlike many wildlife areas in Tanzania, Ngorongoro can be visited almost every month of the year.
So whenever the passion to see wildlife in Tanzania is high and you think like ‘ooh, I can’t go and enjoy wildlife In Tanzania because it is not summer’
Keep cool and rejoice yourself because you can pack your bag and book your trip off to Ngorongoro and enjoy viewing; Elephants, hippos, giraffes, buffalos, zebras, wildebeests and black rhinos among many.
With one of the densest known population of lions in Ngorongoro, your visit there won’t treat you bad and if you’re lucky, you will spot them kings of vast land in a kill.
This has led to the park attracting a significant amount of visitors every year exceeding 500,000 annual visitors.
But how this best area to see wildlife in Tanzania came into existence?
Well, about 200 years ago, a group of Maasai found the Ngorongoro land.
These people were tired of finding the best places to graze their livestock and at the same time establishing their settlement.
When they came across the stunning view of Ngorongoro and with the way necessities of life were so much concentrated in one land, Maasai couldn’t help themselves but naming the area El-Nkoronkoro meaning they had found their ‘gift of life’.
You can hardly argue with Maasai people on naming this land as in this single land they had just found foods for themselves, pasture for their livestock as well as enough water to drink, not to mention the uncountable number of small wild animals for hunting, uncountable species of fruits and vegetables.
As of today,
Ngorongoro Conservation area holds an important history of mankind as it is the home of Oldupai gorge where uncountable investigations has been conducted in and still the further investigations of the human species are still being conducted as I am writing.
3: Ruaha National Park
Ruaha national park is two in one.
The park itself hosts Usangu game reserve which is the beautiful mountainous wildlife area with an astonishing view of grasslands, woodlands, and miombo that happily act as a home for elephants, lions, leopards, and buffalos just to name a few.
Speaking of the park itself, Ruaha national park;
- It is the largest national park in Tanzania.
- It is one of Africa’s remaining most lions and elephants’ populated areas with more than 2,000 lions.
- It is home to the Great Ruaha River which is one of the main tributaries of Rufiji River, the largest in East Africa which provides life to thousands of elephants.
Now there is this one this feature that makes Ruaha national park my favorite.
It isn’t the truth that Ruaha is the best for viewing big pride of lion predating hence to enable the park to attract up to 21,000 visitors,
Not even the fact that it is among the best places to enjoy viewing big packs of wild dogs,
Ruaha national park is very exclusive.
Its unique feature of exclusivity. This park is always not crowded hence making it the best area for experiencing that feeling of adventure when encountering wildlife in Tanzania
4: Tarangire national park
If there is one memorable encounter that I have ever experienced then it was tree climbing pythons view.
That experience in Tarangire was just unmatched and will forever remain with me.
To see these tree-climbing pythons you need to be luckier though, they are not regularly spotted so not everyone sees them.
However, Tarangire is the best park for day tours, and when you visit this near to Arusha city national park be sure to enjoy spotting big herds of elephants. Sometimes up to 200+ elephants can be found in the park making it one of the best areas for Wildlife in Tanzania.
Tarangire is also the best place to view the stunning huge baobab trees spanning around the Tarangire River which provides life to a number of wildebeests, buffalo, gazelles, and zebra.
Tarangire isn’t short of predators either.
Lions, leopards, and cheetah can be spotted in their endless missions of chasing and killing wildebeests, gazelles, and dik-dik for their meal.
5: Lake Manyara National Park
Are you a day tours lover? Then this park might very well suit your Wildlife in Tanzania needs. You can simply reach it in under 2 hours, and enjoy your game drive right away.
This beautiful park which is famous for tree-climbing lions attracts over 161,000 visitors.
However, it isn’t these tree-climbing lions that may strike you most, but the way you can spot the relaxed elephants at very close proximity.
Along with wildlife viewing, Lake Manyara national park is one of the best parks for birding. The park is just incomparable when it comes to flocks of flamingos.
Manyara has thousands of flamingos along with other superb birds and if you are a water lover, the canoe safari in this park will treat you extremely well.
6: Arusha National Park
Arusha national park is just another best in Tanzania for day tours. The park doesn’t offer a chance of encountering the big 5 but hey, its birding experience is just out of this world.
A partial climb to Mount Meru, the second-highest in the country will also give you a good view of the beautiful forest with the black and white colobus.
Now, this doesn’t mean you are going to see only the mentioned above, a wide range of antelope species, giraffes and buffalo can be easily spotted.
If you need to experience your wildlife in Tanzania but you’re pressed with time, then Arusha national park can just be one of your top priorities.
7: Selous Game reserve
Hosting the greatest possible concentration of big game on the planet, Selous game reserve is among the best parks to enjoy wildlife in Tanzania.
The true African wilderness of this land is just fascinating.
This vast wildlife land known for hunting is also acknowledged for its more than 400 known species of birds which makes the destination the perfect for bird watching.
Rufiji River, largest in Tanzania which is the source of life in the reserve is the habitat for the crocodiles and uncountable hippos in the reserve.
A visit to this Africa’s largest unexploited wildlife area which is one of the largest faunal reserves of the world will leave you with lifetime memories.
A wildlife viewing in Selous which is one of the largest parks in Africa and UNESCO World Heritage Site is simply rewarding.
Conclusion.
Wildlife in Tanzania looks great and is amazing.
The wildlife for the whole African continent can just be summed up in one country and that is Tanzania.
It’s hard to think of important African wildlife that you won’t find in Tanzania. It is with this reason more than 1,700 votes from tourists and safari experts crowned Tanzania the best safari country in Africa.
So what destination are you going to pick in your next trip to enjoying wildlife in Tanzania?