Tanzania lies on the east coast of Africa and is known for its vast wilderness areas. Tanzania has a pleasant, tropical climate and is bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. Tanzania is mountainous and densely forested in the northeast, where Mount Kilimanjaro is located. Three of Africa’s Great Lakes are partly within Tanzania. To the north and west lie Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, and Lake Tanganyika, the continent’s deepest lake, known for its unique species of fish.
- Arusha is closest to the most popular northern parks and has a comparably mild climate.
- The best time to visit Tanzania depends on what wildlife you’d like to spot. However, from July to October the country is at its driest, which coincides with the migration river crossings. All of the parks offer amazing wildlife sightings during this time as the grasses and bush are at their least dense.
- Nearly 30 Percent of Tanzania is National Parks.
- Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa.
- The Great Migration sees over 2 million animals travel across the plains.
- Ngorongoro Crater is one of the best places to see The Big Five.
- Lake Tanganyika is the Second Largest Lake in the World.
- Lake Victoria is the largest tropical lake and the second largest freshwater lake in the world.
- Tanzania has the largest lion population in the world.
- Tanzania is made up of at least 120 tribes.
- The Serengeti is the size of Connecticut!
- Official language: Swahili and Engish.
Tanzania contains around 20% of the species of Africa’s enormous warm-blooded animal populace, found over its twenty-one National parks, reserves, one conservation area, and three marine parks.
Spread over a zone of in excess of 42,000 square kilometers (16,000 sq. mi) and shaping around 38% of the nation’s area.
Tanzania has 21 national parks, plus a variety of game and forest reserves, including the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. In western Tanzania, Gombe Stream National Park is the site of Jane Goodall’s ongoing study of chimpanzee behavior, which started in 1960.
Tanzania is highly biodiverse and contains a wide variety of animal habitats. On Tanzania’s Serengeti plain, white-bearded wildebeest other bovids and zebra participate in a large-scale annual migration.
Tanzania is home to about 130 amphibian and over 275 reptile species, many of them strictly endemic and included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red Lists of countries.
Climate varies greatly within Tanzania. In the highlands, temperatures range between 10 and 20 °C (50 and 68 °F) during cold and hot seasons respectively. The rest of the country has temperatures rarely falling lower than 20 °C (68 °F). The hottest period is between November and February (25–31 °C or 77.0–87.8 °F) while the coldest period is between May and August (15–20 °C or 59–68 °F). Annual temperature is 20 °C (68.0 °F). The climate is cool in high mountainous regions.
Tanzania has two major rainfall periods: one is uni-modal (October–April) and the other is bi-modal (October–December and March–May). The former is experienced in southern, central, and western parts of the country, and the latter is found in the north from Lake Victoria extending east to the coast. The bi-modal rainfall is caused by the seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone.
I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up and I wasn't happy. ~ Ernest Hemingway
To skip to Serengeti & Tanzania: timestamp 15:49
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