Destination Tanzania

This vast plain is witness to one of nature's great spectacles: the Great Migration of millions of wildebeest, zebra and other grazing animals seeking fresh grass - followed closely by Africa's largest concentration of lion.

This shallow alkaline lake is best known for the millions of flamingo that call it home. The lake and its surrounding regions also shelter hippo, baboon, impala and a variety of other bird species.

This ancient crater is a sheltered haven for wildlife, harboring nearly all of East Africa's iconic species. In addition to first-rate game viewing, the crater offers close proximity to Olduvai Gorge, the "Cradle of Humanity," where many pre-human fossil remains were discovered.

Baobab-dotted Tarangire is one of the most amazing landscapes in all of Africa. With an equally impressive population of wildlife, including elephant, zebra, wildebeest and giraffe - along with lions, known to occasionally climb trees for relief from the day's heat.

This is one of Tanzania's most recently established wildlife sanctuaries and is the only one that borders the sea. The 1,100km2 area harbors marine, riverine and terrestrial flora and fauna. It is therefore offers visitor an extremely diverse natural environment.

Named after Sir Frederick Selous, this is among the largest protected areas in Africa and is relatively undisturbed by human impact. It therefore offers significant concentrations of elephants, black rhinoceros, cheetahs, giraffes, hippopotamus and crocodiles amongst many other species occur here. The reserve also has an exceptionally high variety of habitats including miombo woodland, open grasslands, riverine forests and swamps.

At Tanzania's largest park's heart is the Great Ruaha River, a massive watercourse that flows along its south-eastern margin. There are about 10,000 elephant and large buffalo herds. Other species include the rare and endangered African Wild Dog and the Sable Antelope.

One of the most remote parks in Tanzania is home to a population of chimpanzees, approximately 900, that have been habituated to human visitors by a Japanese research project founded in the 1960s. The striking mountains, covered in dense montane rainforest, rise sharply from the shores of Lake Tanganyika and provide a stunning backdrop to this exhilarating park.

One of Tanzania's smallest National Park is well-known, as it is the location where Jane Goodall conducted her behavioral research on chimpanzee populations in the 1960s. The Park is located in the Kigoma region and borders Lake Tanganyika, which makes it only accessible by boat. Gombe Stream National Park is popular for its variety of wildlife

Situated just 283km west of Dar es Salaam, this park is a wildlife treasure, known for lions, elephants, giraffes, buffaloes, zebras and antelopes. Several all-season water holes provide a safe haven for wallowing hippos, crocodiles and a myriad of stunning waders. Over 400 bird species have been recorded here, including the yellow-throated long claw, bateleur eagle and lilac-breasted roller.

This is Tanzania's youngest park (2008). It has a stunning scenery with amazing views of Mount Kilimanjaro. It is dominated by Acacia - Commiphora vegetation; and it is contiguous with Kenya's Tsavo East National Park. The best time to go for large game viewing and bird watching is between late June and early September.

The park boasts some of the most healthy and well-protected marine ecosystems in the world including estuaries, mangroves, coral reefs and sandy beaches. The coral reefs provide a spectacular habitat for over 400 species of fish and 48 genera of hard coral - a scuba divers paradise. What's more, large predatory fish and turtles are extremely common and surprisingly unaffected by approaching divers.