Tourism in Tanzania
Tourism in Tanzania : Tanzania is a beautiful country endowed with both natural, man-made and cultural resources. The unique resources, climatic condition and amazing people of different cultures have made Tanzania to be one of the unique and unforgettable tourist destination. Being a peaceful destination in Sub Saharan Africa, Tanzania can be visited throughout the year depending on the visitor preference.
Tourism in Tanzania has been growing pretty fast where the dominating type of tourism is nature based tourism. Tourism in Tanzania has been a source of employment to both individuals and companies but also it has been a source of revenue to the country. Tourism is the leading source of foreign exchange compared to other sectors like agriculture and mining since international visitors are the ones visiting Tanzania mostly. Any kind of visitor whether domestic tourist or international tourist are all handled professionally when doing different tourism activities such as game drive, bird watching, star gazing, film and photographing, spot fishing and among others in order to enhance their experience and satisfaction.
Tourism in Tanzania offers bush to bush experience as well as bush to beach experience to visitors from all angles of the world. Presence of eye catching attractions such as Ngorongoro crater, the free standing Mountain Kilimanjaro, endless plain in Serengeti National Park, the big five, different islands such as Mafia, Unguja and Pemba, Olduvai Gorge, waterfalls and different bird species just to mention a few have always triggered tourists desire to visit Tanzania.
TOURISM TREND IN TANZANIA
Tourism sector in Tanzania has been doing well in the previous years until it was severely affected in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic. The disease caused death of millions of people and fear of travel was instilled to people all around the world. The number of International tourists in Tanzania dropped from 1.5 million in 2019 to 616, 491 in 2020.However Tanzania has been very keen in observing and following rules and regulation of preventing COVID-19 pandemic spread until it was declared as a safe travel destination in 2021. Despite the storm that hit the World Tanzania is ready to receive visitors from all places around the world while following the safety protocols for preventing the spread of Covid 19.This led to regaining the number of tourists from 2021.
The government of Tanzania has been on the front line in supporting tourism including provision of funds for awareness and rehabilitation of infrastructure as well as parks. Tanzania Tourist Board has been working hard in promoting different attractions. On the other hand the president herself Samia Suluhu has shown a great honor to this sector by preparing a documentary called Royal Tour with different ambassadors as a way to promote attractions found in Tanzania .All this is to welcome tourists and assuring that Tanzania is really a safe destination.
STUNNING NATIONAL PARKS THAT SHOULD BE VISITED IN TANZANIA
Currently Tanzania has a total of 22 National Parks situated in different circuits such as Northern, Southern, Western and the like. Those National Parks are Kilimanjaro National Park, Serengeti National Park, Lake Manyara National Park, Arusha National Park, Burigi Chato National Park, Tarangire National Park, Gombe National Park, Udzungwa National Park, Mahale National Park, Mikumi National Park, J. K. Nyerere National Park, Katavi National Park, Ibanda kyerwa National
Park, Rumanyika-karagwe National Park, Kitulo National Park, Saanane National Park, Saadani
National Park, Mkomazi National Park, Rubondo Island National Park, Ruaha National Park, Kigosi National Park and Ugalla River National Park. Each National Park is unique on its own though some of the attractions might be similar but surely the experience and services will always be different and outstanding. Below is the list of some of National Parks to not be missed when one visits Tanzania for Tanzania Safari Tours
Kilimanjaro National Park
Kilimanjaro National Park is one among the Northern circuit park located at Moshi Town in the
Region called Kilimanjaro. This Park is worldwide known for hosting the highest mountain in Africa which is free standing with height of 5895 meters above the sea level .Kilimanjaro Mountain has three volcanic cones which are Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira.
Presence of 5 different kind of zonations with different climate from the cultivation zone at the base, forest zone, heather- moorland zone, Alpine desert zone and Icy zone at the top gives a complete adventure to the hikers or climbers. All these kind of zonations have their uniqueness and different type of animals for example in forest zone expect to see animals such as black and white colobus monkeys, blue monkeys, antelopes, elephants, leopards if lucky and bird species such as silvery cheeked hornbills and Turacos. Presence of six different kind of routes such as Machame, Marangu, Rongai, Lemosho, Umbwe and Shira will help you ascend to the summit which is Uhuru peak at Kibo though the mostly used routes are Machame and Marangu as they are considered to be easy. Mweka route is the only descending route however Rongai and Marangu can also be used for descending. Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro is the perfect activity to be done in this National Park because summiting this highest mountain is changing life experience and therefore one must be well prepared physically and mentally before hiking.
Arusha National Park
Arusha National Park covering an area of 137 square kilometers is a home for different wild animals such as giraffes, elephants, blue monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, vervet monkeys, spotted hyenas, leopards, buffalos, small antelopes as well as interesting physical features such as Mount Meru, Tululusila waterfalls and Momella lakes where one is a saline lake with lesser flamingos. Mount Meru is used for hiking and is sometimes used as a trial mountain for acclimatization if a guest wishes to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
A large natural glade serves as a feeding ground for grazers and the small Serengeti in this park is occupied with different animals especially zebras. Game driving, game viewing, walking safari and bird watching can be done in this Park under the guidance of a professional tour guides and sometimes a game ranger in walking safaris.
Lake Manyara National Park
Lake Manyara is a famous National Park for hosting tree climbing lions in Northern circuit. This Park covers an area of 470 square kilometers and there a lot of fascinating tourist’s attractions that can be explored. Variety of animals such as elephants, lions, baboons and others can be seen during game driving. Furthermore there is a canopy walking which helps a visitor to get a good scenery of the park. The Lake Manyara itself is filled with a lot of lesser flamingos makes it very beautiful and furthermore there are other bird species that are found in this park.
Tarangire National Park
A home of giants is a name given to this park in Northern circuit due to high concentration of the giants’ elephants and the giants baobab trees. It covers an area of 2,850 square kilometers and variety of wild animals such as elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, warthogs just to mention a few as well as more than 400 bird species including the only endemic bird in Tanzania Ashy starling.
Presence of Tarangire River has been a refugee to the animals during dry seasons and during this period is when a lot of animals congregate in the river. The park is accessible by both land transport trough vehicles and air transport due to the presence of air strips.
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park covers an area of 14,762 square kilometers and its name originated from the Maasai tribe meaning an endless plain. This park has been the most leading National Park in Africa for three consecutive years from 2019 up to 2021 due to diversity of attractions and luxurious accommodations with unique services.
Wildebeest migration is the most famous attraction which befalls annually and it includes a millions of wildebeest, thousands of zebras and gazelles. The large herds of this mammals follow their same pattern every year in such of food and quality water. In the heart of Ndutu plains is where synchronized birth of more than four thousand calves occurs because of the presence of nutritious grasses (redoats) rich in calcium, phosphorous and other minerals for the newly born calves. Two to three weeks of January or February is when all this happens and the predators such as lions and hyenas are satiated with the afterbirth as well as some of the calves in this calving season, this is referred as ant predatory strategy for the wildebeest. The occupation at Ndutu plains ends at March and in April to early May the wildebeest move to the western corridor central Seronera and Moru Kopjes. In late May to June the great migration keep on stretching towards Northwest and this time large herds gather and prepare to cross Grumeti River, at this time rutting and mating activities are initiated. In July is when the Grumeti river crossing occurs but this river is not only the hardest obstacle since in August they have to cross another river full of hungry crocodiles called Mara River. The remarkable crossing in this rivers involves death and injuries but the determined brave wildebeest don’t give up but rather they make sure up to September they are already in Maasai Mara plain. When the short rains start in Eastern part of Serengeti In November is when the wildebeest start migrating back to South through the Eastern corridor which is Loliondo game reserve. Witnessing this great migration through game driving, game viewing and even using hot airballon is really incredible.
A beautiful place in Northern Serengeti called Gardenia is so spectacular with a good concentration of animals as well as bird species which makes the place look like a garden. Near the river band in the gardenia you won’t miss a pride of lions and on the kopjes you will get to see the solitary cats (leopards) while the other places are filled with herds of wildebeests, Elands, Zebras and Thomson gazelles. There are so wonders in this park and doing different activities such as photographing and filming, hot air balloon safari, game driving and game viewing will help you quench your thirsty.
Burigi Chato National Park
The newly established National Park in 2019 being the fourth largest National Park in Tanzania encompasses variety of wildlife such as elephants, lions, buffaloes, lions, zebras and antelopes including the largest antelope caped eland. Different physical features such as hills, valleys, lakes and a collection of different types of vegetation gives a good feeling and a great experience. Furthermore there are rare bird species found such as fish eagles and bizzare shoe bill storks.
The park is surrounded by lakes such as Burigi lake, Victoria lake and rivers such as Akagera therefore there are plenty of water bird species. Game viewing, hiking and fishing are the main activities that can help you enjoy the scenic beauty of this park.
Gombe National Park
Gombe National Park is the smallest National Park in Western Tanzania with 35km2 however it is blessed with a number of beautiful primates such as olive baboons, red tailed monkeys, red colobus as well as small antelopes, and bird species. This small National Park is the real meaning of don’t judge a book by its cover since its size is small but its beauty is unexplainable. The activities that are done here are Chimpanzee trekking, hiking Janes Peak and the Kakombe waterfall, visiting the nearby fishing villages and snorkeling in Lake Tanganyika to see the colorful cichlid fish.
YOUR BUDGET FOR TRAVELLING IN TANZANIA
Despite the attractions and exceptional services that are provided during different safaris in Tanzania, Tanzania is still an affordable destination where the costs incurred during the safari will be accommodation costs, transport costs, entry fees for Protected Areas, cost of activities and other miscellaneous expenses.
The costs varies according to the number of stays, type of activities preferred, standard of the accommodation and the type of transport preferred. The use of vehicles is the most preferred transport since it’s easy to see a lot of attractions closely and the good vehicles enhance experience especially when the infrastructures are of good standard.
Air transport is also available and it’s the fastest transport which is believed to be safe and easy for the areas that can be hardly accessible by land transport and even accessible destinations too. Presence of different air strips in Tanzania Protected areas support this kind of transport. Depending on the preference both scheduled and chartered service can be arranged in our destinations.
The accommodations costs varies according to their status or standards such as four star or five star standard in a term that high standard accommodations tend to be more luxurious with different amenities and high cost, locations, length of stay and seasonality where in high season the cost tend to be slightly higher compared to low season.
Different type of activities that are chosen by the visitors according to preference are also cost determinants. During the trip, activities and services are paid separately from other costs and the payment can be done during the pre-service encounter.
