All the big names of the Tanzanian safari are located in the north of the country, from the plains of the Serengeti to the lofty peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Due to it's stature we have written about the Serengeti on its own dedicated page (click here to read) but here we talk about the other Parks and Reserves which combine with the Serengeti to form part of the Northern Circuit.
The most visited of these is the Ngorongoro Crater, where wildlife graze and hunt in one of the largest volcanic craters in the world. Lake Manyara National Park and Tarangire National Park are also often incorporated as part of a longer safari.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area
The Ngorongoro Conservation area borders the Serengeti in northern Tanzania and includes the world's largest crater which acts as a natural enclosure for almost every species of wildlife found in East Africa ( including the rare black rhino). The Ngorongoro Crater is where you'll witness some of the densest population of wildlife in the world and it's a truly amazing place for photographers. The Maasai still live within the conservation area, and it's also home to Olduvai where some of man's earliest remains have been found.
Lake Manyara National Park
Lake Manyara is a relatively small national park but it's incredibly diverse. Boasting plenty of elephant, tree-climbing lion (getting rarer), leopard, giraffe and more than 400 species of birds including flocks of pink flamingos, most driven itineraries stop at Lake Manyara for a night en route to the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire, like Lake Manyara, is often combined with a visit to the larger, better known Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater but during the dry season (June to October) the river beds just teem with animals and it is well worth a trip. Herds of up to 300 elephants scratch the dry river bed for underground streams, while migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland crowd the shrinking lagoons. It's the greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem - a smorgasbord for predators – and the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the stately fringe-eared oryx and peculiar long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed. It is also a good place to enjoy a walking safari.
