Africa
Tanzania brings together the largest set of protected natural areas in East Africa and some of the most recognisable settings on the continent. The Serengeti, a plain of grass almost without trees, is the stage for the greatest land migration of mammals on the planet, with more than a million wildebeest accompanied by zebras and gazelles in an annual cycle that follows the rains. The Ngorongoro crater, the largest intact caldera in the world, encloses a complete ecosystem with thousands of resident animals. Kilimanjaro rises in isolation to almost six thousand metres and strings together rainforest, heath and high-altitude desert. In the south, Nyerere and Ruaha protect immense stretches of miombo and savannah, and on the coast Zanzibar and Mafia contribute reefs, mangroves and a colobus found only on the island.
National animal: The giraffe, Tanzania's national animal
Lake Natron is a soda lake whose waters reach a pH capable of damaging the skin of most animals. Precisely for that reason it is the only place where almost the entire East African population of lesser flamingo breeds regularly: the birds build cones of mud on the salt crust and raise their chicks in a setting almost no predator can approach.
At Gombe, Jane Goodall documented in 1960 that chimpanzees make and use tools, a finding that forced a redefinition of the boundary between humans and the rest of the animals. The Udzungwa mountains still keep yielding species new to science.
The Serengeti between January and March for wildebeest calving in the south and between July and September for the river crossings. Ngorongoro year-round. Mafia between October and March for whale sharks.
What is worth looking out for this month in Tanzania?
Least ConcernPlains Zebra
Equus quagga
Now is a good time: Great Migration: the Mara River crossing (July to October)
Least ConcernCommon Wildebeest
Connochaetes taurinus
Now is a good time: Great Migration: the Mara River crossing (July to October)
Near ThreatenedLesser Flamingo
Phoeniconaias minor
Now is a good time: Lesser flamingo breeding at Lake Natron (June to October (nesting Aug-Oct))
338 species found
Based on what we already know about Tanzania.