A Close-Up on Tanzania’s Natural Wonders

A Close-up of the Country ’ s Glorious Features

By Brittany Karima Cesarini

Tanzania is one of the unique destinations on the African continent with many tourist attractions but also it is home to 3 of Africa’s Seven Natural Wonders of Africa which include Mount Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, and Ngorongoro Crater. These three are given natural wonders of Tanzania due to it’s legacy.

of it’s attractions to be declared in the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa. These wonders of nature were determined by insights from experts from around the world with a key focus on conservationists such as members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Tanzania is home to a vast diversity of natural wonders, from remarkable natural parks and outstanding mountains, to the tropical sands of Zanzibar and other surrounding islands – plus everything else in-between. The country is a magical wonderland, one of the best places to see the roaming giants in real life. The natural wonders from Tanzania will have you daydreaming about a trip to Africa for an exciting safari.

If you’re looking to experience the awe-inspiring nature, you should visit and explore the natural wonders of Tanzania. Here they are:

Serengeti National Park stood out due to its legendary, spellbinding largest migration of large mammals. Ngorongoro Crater, found within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, and described as “The Bowl” in which variety of Wildlife live was also voted among the Seven Wonders of Nature while Mount Kilimanjaro which is Africa’s highest Mountain became the third entry from the country.

The Roof of Africa

Rising abruptly from the open plains, capped by snow and frequently fringed by clouds, it is one of Africa’s classic images. At an elevation of 5,895m (19,340 feet), it is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest summit in the world that can be reached by walking, without handover hand climbing. It’s also the highest free-standing mountain in the world.

Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano, but not an extinct one. Ominous rumbles can sometimes be heard as gases emerge from fume holes in the crater. Although just three degrees south of the Equator, the peaks of the mountain have caps of snow and ice year around.

Kilimanjaro climbers pass from a tropical to an arctic environment in just a few days. They pass through lush rainforest before reaching heather and open moorland where giant lobelia and huge, cactus-like plants grow. There is an almost lunar-like landscape on the saddle that stretches between the two peaks of Kibo and Mawenzi.

The highest point of Kibo, and indeed the whole of Africa, is Uhuru Peak, with spectacular glaciers and stupendous views on Kibo is the slightly lower peak of Gillman’s point. These are the goals for most climbers. The pinnacle shaped peaks of Mawenzi are for mountaineers only.

With the help of porters and a guide, it is possible to walk all the way to the summit of Kibowithout special mountaineering equipment – or experience –and can be conquered by stays in mountain huts or tents.

The Giant Bowl Under The Big Sky

Ngorongoro Crater, found within the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority, is often described as “the Set in Northern Tanzania, the crater shares part of the Serengeti plains to the northwest and borders the towns of Arusha, Moshi and Mount Kilimanjaro to the east. The crater has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It is the most popular of the African Natural Wonders in terms of annual visitors, attracting over 500,000 tourists every year.

Ngorongoro Crater is a dynamic and constantly changing ecosystem. The mixture of forest, canyons, grassland plains, lakes and marshes provide habitats for a wide range of bird and animal life, estimated at over 3000 different species. Highlights include the endangered black rhinoceros, an abundance of elephants, lions, wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, buffalo, eland, hartebeest, warthog, waterbucks, reedbucks, bushbucks, baboons, vervet monkeys, dikdiks, jackals, leopards, ostrich, white storks, the occasional cheetah.

Visitors come not only for the amazing bird-watching and safari experiences, but also for a look back at history. Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home of the world famous archaeological site of Olduvai George. The discoveries of fossil footprints on lava rock as well as ancestral humans remain, which are believed to be 3.8 million years old can be seen at the museum. The earliest sign of mankind in the Ngorongoro is at Laetoli, where hominid footprints are preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years ago. Further north on the tourism circuit, Olduvai Gorge has yielded a wealth of hominid and animal remains.

Ngorongoro is believed to have been taller than the Site of Legendary Migration famous Kilimanjaro before it’s inactive volcano collapsed and formed an unbroken caldera crater 610 meters deep and 13 miles (20 km) wide about two million years ago. The conservation area covers about 3185 sq miles (8250 sq km) and the crater covers about 100 sq miles (260 sq km). Two main geological rifts run through the Ngorongoro area, and nine volcanoes in the Ngorongoro highlands were formed during the past four million years. One of these volcanoes, Oldonyo Lengai (Mountain of God) is still active, and over millennia the ash and dust from each eruption has been carried by the winds to form the fertile soils of the Serengeti Plains.

For thousands of years, a succession of cattle-herding people moved into the Ngorongoro area, lived there for some time and then moved on, sometimes forced out by other tribes. About 200 years ago, the Maasai arrived and have since colonized the area in substantial numbers with their traditional way of life allowing them to live inharmony with the wildlife and the environment. Today there are some 42,000 Maasai pastoralists living in the areas around the Ngorongoro with their cattle, donkeys, goats and sheep. The Maasai are allowed to take their animals into the Ngorongoro Crater for water and grazing but not to live or cultivate there. Elsewhere in the Ngorongoro, they have the right to roam freely. Visitors often make a stop at a Masaai cultural homestead before leaving the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

wildebeest and zebra, moreover, form the star cast of a unique, spectacular annual Serengeti migration.

The park is comprised of four main areas: 1) In the heart of the national park, Seronera is a network of river valleys that ensure year-round water supplies and keep the region incredibly rich in wildlife throughout the year; 2) Stretching to the west, almost to Lake Victoria, the Serengeti narrows into what’s known as the Western Corridor. The key feature of this area is the two rivers, the Grumeti and the Mbalageti, which run almost parallel, each supporting a band of most, evergreen riparian forest; 3) The landscape in the Northern Serengeti is dominated by open woodlands and hills, ranging from Seronera in the South, to the Mara River in the limit with Kenya; 4) The endless, almost treeless Grassland Plains of the south is the most emblematic scenery of the park, as this is where the wildebeest breed.

In the open grass plains during the rainy months from November to May, hundreds of thousands of white-bearded feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary leopards haunt the acacia trees lining the Seronera River, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the south-eastern plains. Almost uniquely, all three African jackal species occur here, alongside the spotted hyena and a host of more elusive small predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf to the beautiful serval cat. The park also supports many further species, including cheetah, Thomson’s and Grant’s gazelle, topi, eland, waterbuck, hyena, baboon, impala, African wild dog and giraffe. The park also boasts about 500 bird species, including ostrich, secretary bird, Kori bustard, crowned crane and marabou stork.

In conclusion, Tanzania boasts an incredible display of natural power and majesty, and we are so proud to call this country home. Through the changing times, as the tides of economic and social development and governmental change roll, one thing is for certain: Tanzania’s wonders will always be a

wildebeest, Thompson’s Gazelles, and Burchell’s zebra congregate. Towards the end of May when the grass becomes dry and exhausted, the wildebeest start to mass in huge armies. Eventually, after several dummy runs, the animals begin their trek in a column several miles long to the permanent waters in the north of the park, moved by their own innate biological triggers. After moving westwards, the migration divides by some uncanny instinct, one group turning northeast and the other due north. Once started, little stops the stampede: hundreds often drown at a time in the broad Mara River in the north. This mass movement has a following of carnivores, always ready to dispose of the weaklings.

Yet even when the migration is quiet, the Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant’s gazelle. The spectacle of predator versus prey dominates Tanzania’s greatest park. Golden-maned lion prides man alone cannot create or even fully fathom.