Discover Tanzania

Every park.
Every wonder.

Tanzania is not one safari destination but four distinct circuits. Explore them below, or search any park, reserve or natural wonder to go straight to it.

Northern Circuit

The classic first-time route — the Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Kilimanjaro all within a few hours of Arusha. Highest wildlife density and the easiest logistics.

This is the Tanzania most people picture: the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire and Lake Manyara, all clustered within a half-day’s drive of Arusha and Kilimanjaro airport. It holds the country’s highest concentrations of wildlife and its most iconic scenery — including the Great Migration — which is why the vast majority of first-time safaris begin here.

SerengetiNgorongoro CraterTarangireLake ManyaraKilimanjaroArusha

What makes it different: It is the most accessible and the most developed circuit — the best lodges, the smoothest roads and the migration on tap — but also the busiest, with the highest number of vehicles around the central Serengeti and the Crater rim.

Serengeti National Park

Endless savanna in northern Tanzania and the stage for the Great Migration — the largest land-animal migration on Earth.

Spanning roughly 14,750 square kilometres, the Serengeti protects lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo and rhino alongside immense herds of wildebeest and zebra. Its name comes from the Maasai word siringet, "the place where the land runs on forever".

The Great Migration of wildebeest and zebra
Big cats — lion prides and elusive leopards
Year-round Big Five game viewing
Dawn hot-air balloon safaris

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

A UNESCO World Heritage landscape centred on the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest intact caldera on Earth.

The conservation area blends wildlife protection with Maasai pastoralism. The crater floor shelters around 25,000 large animals, including black rhino and the flamingo-filled soda lakes that ring its floor.

Ngorongoro Crater — a self-contained wildlife haven
Black rhinoceros
Maasai culture and communities
Empakaai and Olmoti craters

Tarangire National Park

Famous for its giant baobabs and the largest elephant herds in northern Tanzania.

The Tarangire River is the only permanent water source for miles, drawing elephants, zebra and wildebeest in the dry season. The park is also rich in dry-country birdlife, with more than 500 recorded species.

Large elephant herds
Ancient baobab trees
Tree-climbing pythons
Dense dry-season game concentrations

Lake Manyara National Park

A scenic alkaline lake framed by the Rift Valley escarpment and known for its tree-climbing lions.

Though compact, Lake Manyara is ecologically varied — groundwater forests, acacia woodlands and soda-flats alive with flamingos. It is also celebrated for lions that rest in the branches of acacia trees.

Tree-climbing lions
Pink flamingo flocks on the lake
Groundwater forest and hot springs
Exceptional birdlife

Kilimanjaro National Park

Home to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa at 5,895 metres.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the mountain rises from rainforest to arctic summit across five climate zones. Uhuru Peak on the Kibo cone is the rooftop of the continent.

Summit Uhuru Peak (5,895 m)
Five distinct ecological zones
Non-technical trekking routes
Equatorial glaciers

Arusha National Park

A compact northern park of craters, montane forest and the towering Mount Meru.

Often overlooked, Arusha National Park offers walking safaris, canoeing on the Momella Lakes and views of Kilimanjaro. Mount Meru (4,566 m) is a rewarding climb in its own right.

Mount Meru (4,566 m)
Ngurdoto Crater
Momella Lakes and flamingos
Walking and canoe safaris

Mkomazi National Park

A dry-country wilderness in northeastern Tanzania, vital for black rhino and wild dog recovery.

Bordering Kenya’s Tsavo, Mkomazi protects arid savanna and is a key sanctuary for the endangered African wild dog and black rhinoceros through dedicated breeding programmes.

Black rhinoceros sanctuary
African wild dogs
Tsavo-bordering wilderness
Rare fringe-eared oryx

The Great Migration

The world’s greatest wildlife spectacle — over a million wildebeest circling the Serengeti–Mara ecosystem.

Driven by the rains, the herds move continuously between Tanzania’s Serengeti and Kenya’s Maasai Mara, crossing crocodile-filled rivers. It is the largest overland migration of animals on Earth.

River crossings of the Grumeti and Mara
Over a million wildebeest and zebra
Predators in pursuit
A year-round, moving event

Olduvai Gorge

The "Cradle of Mankind" — a Rift Valley gorge rich in early human fossils.

Within the Ngorongoro–Serengeti region, Olduvai has yielded some of the most important hominin remains ever found, reshaping our understanding of human origins.

Early human fossil sites
On-site museum
Rift Valley geology
Guided palaeontology context

Southern Circuit

Vast, remote and uncrowded. Ruaha and Nyerere reward travellers chasing solitude, wild dogs and boat safaris.

The south is Tanzania’s wild, uncrowded interior: Ruaha, the country’s largest national park, and Nyerere (formerly the Selous), its largest reserve. Together they hold more wildlife than the north with a fraction of the visitors, plus species and experiences you simply won’t find up north — wild dogs, huge elephant herds and the Rufiji River.

RuahaNyerere (Selous)MikumiUdzungwaKatavi

What makes it different: It trades headline sightings for space and silence — you can drive for days and meet no other vehicles — with walking safaris, fly-camping and boat trips, reached mainly by light aircraft rather than long road transfers.

Nyerere National Park

Tanzania’s largest national park, encompassing the former Selous wilderness and the Rufiji River.

Nyerere protects a vast mosaic of river, lake and woodland teeming with elephants, hippos, crocodiles and the endangered African wild dog. Boat safaris on the Rufiji reveal wildlife from the water.

Rufiji River boat safaris
Large elephant and hippo populations
African wild dogs
Game walks and fly-camping

Ruaha National Park

The heart of the wild south and one of the largest lion populations in Africa.

Ruaha’s rugged hills and the Great Ruaha River sustain elephants, giraffe, sable antelope and exceptional predator numbers. Its remote scale delivers a true wilderness feel.

One of Africa’s largest lion populations
Wild dog packs
Great Ruaha River and sand rivers
Superb predator diversity

Mikumi National Park

The most accessible southern park, with plains reminiscent of the Serengeti.

Lying along the Dar es Salaam–Iringa corridor, Mikumi offers easy wildlife viewing of elephants, lions, zebras and giraffes across the Mkata Floodplain.

Mkata Floodplain game viewing
Lions and elephants
Close to Dar es Salaam
Seasonal birdlife

Udzungwa Mountains National Park

A biodiverse "African Galápagos" of rainforest-clad mountains for serious hikers.

Part of the Eastern Arc, Udzungwa shelters endemic primates, birds and amphibians found nowhere else. The Sanje Waterfalls trail drops through misty forest.

Sanje Waterfalls hike
Endemic primates (e.g. Iringa red colobus)
Eastern Arc biodiversity
Forest birding

Kitulo National Park

The "Serengeti of Flowers" — a highland plateau of rare orchids and wildflowers.

Tanzania’s first national park created to protect flora, Kitulo spreads across the Kipengere Range with seasonal wildflower displays and gentle hiking amid grasslands.

Seasonal wildflower carpets
Rare orchid species
Highland hiking
Endemic birds (e.g. Denham’s bustard)

Western Tanzania & Lake Victoria

The far west — chimpanzee forests above Lake Tanganyika and some of Africa’s last true wilderness.

The far west is true, hard-to-reach wilderness: the chimpanzee forests of Mahale and Gombe above Lake Tanganyika, and the remote floodplains of Katavi. Few travellers make it this far, and that is exactly the point.

MahaleGombeKataviLake Tanganyika

What makes it different: It is the only place in Tanzania where you can track wild chimpanzees on foot — but it is far, logistics-heavy and best kept for seasoned travellers with time to spare.

Katavi National Park

One of the most remote parks in Africa, famed for enormous hippo and crocodile gatherings.

In the western Rift Valley, Katavi’s seasonal floodplains draw immense pods of hippos and vast buffalo herds, with very few visitors. It ranks among the continent’s last true wildernesses.

Massive hippo pods
Large buffalo herds
Extreme remoteness
Classic predator action

Mahale Mountains National Park

A forested Rift Valley range on Lake Tanganyika, home to habituated chimpanzees.

Mahale protects one of the last large chimpanzee populations. Tracking them on foot, then cooling off in the clear waters of Lake Tanganyika, is a singular experience.

Habituated chimpanzee tracking
Lake Tanganyika beaches
Forest and primate walks
Remote fly-in access

Gombe Stream National Park

The small lakeshore park where Jane Goodall revolutionised our understanding of chimpanzees.

Gombe’s steep, forest-clad hillsides border Lake Tanganyika. It remains a base for chimpanzee research and offers intimate walking encounters with the habituated communities.

Chimpanzee research and tracking
Jane Goodall heritage
Lake Tanganyika shoreline
Forest birding and hiking

Lake Tanganyika

One of the oldest and deepest lakes on Earth, shared by four countries and fringed by mountains.

Lake Tanganyika holds around one-fifth of the planet’s fresh surface water and an extraordinary diversity of endemic cichlid fish. Its shores shelter the forests of Mahale and Gombe.

Ancient, deep freshwater lake
Endemic cichlid fish
Beaches below the Mahale Mountains
Kayaking and dhow sailing

Rubondo Island National Park

A forested island in Lake Victoria, combining wild chimps with birding and boating.

Rubondo protects a relocated population of chimpanzees alongside sitatunga, elephants and abundant birdlife. It is a tranquil, boat-and-foot safari destination.

Chimpanzee sanctuary
Lake Victoria island setting
Sitatunga and birdlife
Fishing and boat safaris

Coast & Islands

Where the bush meets the Indian Ocean: Zanzibar’s spice-and-history coast, Mafia’s reefs and Saadani’s beach wildlife.

Where the bush runs into the Indian Ocean — Saadani’s wildlife-filled beaches, the Swahili coast and the reefs of Zanzibar and Mafia. A different rhythm of safari altogether.

SaadaniZanzibarMafiaCoastal reserves

What makes it different: It swaps big-game drives for a slower bush-and-beach experience — the natural way to round off a savanna safari on the ocean.

Saadani National Park

Tanzania’s only coastal national park, where the bush meets the Indian Ocean.

Saadani uniquely pairs wildlife with beach. Elephants and giraffes graze near palm-fringed shores, and boat trips reveal hippos and dolphins offshore.

Wildlife on the beach
Indian Ocean scenery
Boat safaris (hippos, dolphins)
Relaxed coastal safari

Zanzibar (Unguja) & Stone Town

The "Spice Island" of the Indian Ocean, blending Swahili history, reefs and white-sand beaches.

Zanzibar’s UNESCO-listed Stone Town weaves Arab, Indian and African heritage through its alleys and carved doors. Beyond the town lie spice farms, mangrove forests and coral-reef diving.

Stone Town’s UNESCO heritage
Spice farm tours
Coral-reef diving and snorkelling
Mnemba Atoll and dolphin tours

Mafia Island Marine Park

A pristine marine reserve off the coast, celebrated for diving and seasonal whale sharks.

Part of the Mafia Island Marine Park, the surrounding reefs teem with turtles, rays and reef sharks. Between October and March, gentle whale sharks gather offshore.

Whale sharks (Oct–Mar)
Coral reef diving and snorkelling
Sea turtles and rays
Quiet, undeveloped islands

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