The Southern Circuit
covers the largest game reserve in the world and some of
the natures magnificent sceneries. It is also a hunters
paradise. The sites we are looking at are:
Í
Selous Game Reserve
Í
Udzungwa Mountains National Park
Í
Ruaha National Park
Í
Mikumi National Park
Selous Game Reserve
The Selous Game Reserve is the largest protected
wildlife area in Africa. A UN World Heritage site,
uninhabited area is larger than Switzerland.
Only in the Serengeti will visitors see a greater
concentration of wildlife. Yet Selous boasts Tanzania's
largest population of elephants as well as large
numbers of buffalo, hippo and wild dog. Other species
commonly seen are
-
lion
-
bushbuck
-
impala
-
giraffe
-
eland
-
baboon
-
zebra
-
greater kudu
The topography of the park varies from rolling
savannah woodland, grassland plains and
rocky outcrops cut by Rufiji River and its
tributaries, the Kilombero and Luwegu,
which together covers the greatest catchments area in
East Africa.
The Rufiji, which flows from the north to south,
provides the life blood of the Selous and sailing
or rafting down the river is a superb method of
seeing game, especially during the dry season
between June and October. Crocodiles,
hippo an array of grazing antelope can be seen.
Udzungwa Mountains National Park
...Is a recently established conservation area of about
2,000sqkm in the Iringa and Morogoro regions
of south-central Tanzania. The park is bordered by the
great Ruaha River to north and the Mikumi -Ifakara
road to the east.
The major attraction of the park is its bio-diversity
and unique rainforest, where many rare plants,
not found anywhere else in the world, have been
identified, from a tiny African violet to 30metre
high trees.
It is also being home to about six types of primates,
including two endemic species -the Iringa red colubus
monkey and the Sanje crested mangabey
The plateau supports population of elephant, buffalo,
lion, leopard and wild dog as well as rare
species of forest birds, four of which were only
discovered in the last few years. The park is about 10km
south west of Mikumi National Park.
Ruaha National Park
...Elephants galore.
If
it's elephants you are looking for, head for Ruaha.
Tanzania's second-largest National Park, Ruaha is
the centre of an ecosystem that covers 12,950 sq. km and
is home to the country's largest elephant population
(estimated at some 10,000).
It has a mood of its own- a rugged, remote,
almost spiritual of ancient baobabs that haunt
its semi-arid plains and rocky slopes.
This vast and magnificent plateau, at mainly 100m
-1,100m high, is also home to kudus, gazelles,
ostriches, cheetahs, roan and sable antelopes-while the
banks of the great Ruaha River to the east
provides a perfect habitat for crocodiles, hippos, and a
wide array of birdlife.
Mikumi National Park
Set between the Uluguru Mountains to the north
and the Lumango mountains to the south east and
within a short flight from Dar-es-Salaam, Mikumi offers
over 3,000 sq km of terrain teeming with wildlife and
300 species of birdlife many of which are Eurasia.
Here you can see buffaloes, giraffes, zebras, lions,
leopards, sable antelopes, hippos and crocodiles a
special treat.
The Mikumi is also an important centre for the study of
the primates such as yellow baboon.
The park is 330km from Dar-es-Salaam on the highway to
Zambia hence making it the nearest National park from
Dar-es-Salaam.
