Top 5: Safaris in Tanzania

Black rhinoceros of Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania © Moizhusein | Dreamstime

Last year SafariBookings.com conducted a poll to find out the best safari country in Africa. After polling 1,000 safari tourists and 700 experts, Africa’s top safari destination is Tanzania, home to the Serengeti and numerous other parks.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro Crater is a large volcanic caldera that is home to approximately 30,000 large safari animals. The collapsed volcano contains a high density of animals including lions, elephants, hippos and endangered black rhinos. The crater’s ability to collect rainwater has given it a lush environment, providing food year-round for the animals, leaving little need to migrate out of the caldera.

Tarangire National Park

Tarangire National Park is located in the Manyara Region, just southeast of Lake Manyara. The park is known for its diverse landscape and plant life, home to a large number of baobab trees, elephants and tree climbing lions. Bird enthusiasts hailed the swamp regions for having the largest collection of breeding birds in the world.

Ruaha National Park

Tanzania’s largest national park is a little off-the-beaten-path, having a low number of visitors and giving people a strong sense of wilderness. The Great Ruaha River is a great site for bird watching, with more than 400 species identified in the area. There is also a population of 10,000 elephants that roam the park, which can best be seen in the dry season from May to December.

Selous Game Reserve

Named after big game hunter and early conservationist, Sir Frederick Selous, this game reserve is one of the biggest in Tanzania. No permanent human habitation or structures are allowed within the grounds, and the country’s Wildlife Division closely monitors visitors going in and out of the reserve. Much of the lands are set aside for game hunting, but the northern region along the Rufiji River is designated as a photographic zone and is popular with tourists.

Serengeti National Park

The Serengeti is world-famous for its annual migration of 250,000 zebras and more than 1.5 million white-bearded wildebeest. The park is also home to large populations of the “Big Five” game animals, which includes African buffalo, black rhinoceroses, African elephants, African leopards and lions. At 3,000, this is the largest population of lions in Africa.