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We visited three key parks in Tanzania -- Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, Serengeti National Park and Tarangire National Park.  Photos (by park) come first followed by a brief description of the setting. 

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Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area:  An incredible sight, the Ngorongoro Crater is 12 miles wide, and the largest unflooded caldera in the world.  The crater is believed to be young - dating back only 2.5 million years, when a huge eruption occurred.  After the flow of lava subsided, the cone collapsed, leaving the caldera.  Today, there are an estimated 30,000 animals living in this 100 square mile crater. 

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Serengeti National Park:   Serengeti National Park is Tanzania's largest and most famous park, and it has the largest concentration of migratory game animals in the world.  It is also famous for its huge lion population and is one of the best places on the continent to see them.

 Serengeti is derived from the Maasai language and appropriately means "endless plain."  The park's 5,700 square miles makes it larger than the state of Connecticut.  Altitude varies from 3,120 to 6,070 feet.  Nearly 500 species of birds and 35 species of large plains animals can be found in the Serengeti.  The park may contain as many as 1.3 million wildebeest, 250,000 Thomson's gazelle, 200,000 zebra, 70,000 topi, 30,000 Grant's gazelle, 20,000 buffalo, 9,000 eland, 8,000 giraffe, 1,500 lion and 800 elephant. Most of the Serengeti is a vast open plain broken by rocky outcrops.  There is also acacia savannah, savannah woodland, riverine forests, some swamps and small lakes.

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Tarangire National Park:  Tarangire was established in 1970 and covers over 1000 square miles.  Because the Tarangire River runs through the entire park, wildlife gather in large numbers at the river banks.  One of Tanzania's most beautiful parks, Tarangire is known for the landscape of distinctive baobab trees, as well as the large number of elephants - possibly more than anywhere else in Tanzania.  Tarangire wildlife population includes approximately 30,000 zebra, 25,000 wildebeest, 5000 buffalo, 5000 eland, 3000 elephant, 2500 Maasai giraffe and 1,000 oryx.  Other prominent species include Grant's and Thomson's gazelle, hartebeest, impala, lesser and greater kudu, reed-buck and gerenuk.  Lion and leopard are frequently seen.  Cheetah and spotted hyena are also present, as are the banded, black-tipped, dwarf and marsh mongoose.

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