Top 10 destinations in Tanzania  Northern Circuit

Top 10 destinations in Tanzania  Northern Circuit, Tanzania is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Africa. it shares borders with Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  This country has many recognized attractions like the highest peak in Africa (Mount Kilimanjaro), vast gazetted savanna national parks, great lakes, rivers, and pleasant coastal areas

Tanzania is a large country with interesting sites in both the northern and southern sectors. In this article, our area of emphasis is the northern region often known as the Northern Circuit, 

The Northern Circuit is one of the most popular tourist routes that offers natural wonders most of them formed through the Great Rift Valley. These places provide the opportunity for viewing wildlife in the vast savanna grasslands and gently flowing rivers, and the best cultural experiences. Below is what the Northern Circuit has to offer.

Arusha city

It is the main gateway to the most gazetted areas of northern Tanzania. Arusha is the main starting point for travellers to  Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro, or any other place in the Rift Valley region.  Before traveling to other places, you should know that Arusha, though a smaller city as compared to Dar es Salaam, has key attractions that should not be missed out. A few kilometers (25km) from Arusha city is Arusha National Park where Mount Meru is found. Mount Meru is the second highest peak in Tanzania, offering some of the best hiking safaris that provide the best scenery for Mount Kilimanjaro. Arusha City is known as home to different cultural groups including the Maasai, and Meru among others. These tribes exhibit interesting cultural practices, craftwork, and marketing

Arusha City’s elevation provides a good climate that is conducive to tourism and daily human activities. this makes it a pleasant destination that allows travel all year round.

Arusha National Park.

This is a mysterious national park in northern Tanzania, northeast of Arusha city. In this park lies Mount Meru, Tanzania’s second-highest peak, standing at an elevation of 4,566 meters above sea level. This park is home to various wild species living in different vegetation types like the savannah, dense rain forests, and the alpine vegetation. The park is only 45 45-minute drive from Arusha city hence offering multiple safaris from the city. Mount Meru offers scenic views of the vegetation and when you submit, you can see Mount Kilimanjaro.

Despite being a small park, it houses an array of wildlife such as herds of elephants, buffalos, and zebras. Playful black and white colobus monkeys can be seen in many parts of the park’s Ngurdoto Crater, a section of this park is famous for its wallowing buffalos and warthogs. The Momella Lakes, found in Arusha National Park, are home to various bird species including flamingos, pelicans, and storks.  All the different wild creatures can be seen when carrying out game drives in the savanna grasslands and boat cruises on the lake.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro conservation area is another interesting tourism potential in Tanzania located 180 kilometers west of Arusha, in the Crater Highlands, this place was reserved several years ago and set aside and promoted for tourism potential. The conservation area is close to Serengeti National Park and has a coverage of over 8292 square kilometers.

Ngorongoro’s unique landscape, geology, and wildlife have rendered it truly deserving and ranked it as one of Africa’s seven wonders  The high concentration of animals in such a relatively small and celebrated location renders it a top-rated tourist destination, if not the most popular one in Tanzania.

In the Ngorongoro conservation area lies the Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest extinct volcanic caldera often known as “Africa’s Eden” due to the high concentration of wildlife. the crater covers approximately 265 kilometers with steep sides having a depth of  600 meters. The crater area is a sanctuary for several animal species and is the best spot to see the endangered black rhinos and other members of the big five animals, and is one of the few places where they continue to thrive in the wild alongside lions, buffalos, elephants and leopards.

In addition to the big five, there are more wild species like zebras, hyenas, and wildebeests and this place serves as one of the most spectacular places to watch the great migration.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is home to the Maasai people who are known for living a semi-nomadic life since the 17th century.  The Maasai have an impressive artistic, spiritual, and cultural legacy which they are willing to share with any visitor to their villages. The Maasai are too cooperative to the extent that they were allowed to graze their livestock in the conservation area

Also in the same conservation area is a prehistoric humanoid immersed in Olduvai Gorge.  This place is the most important paleontological site in the world. This is where the fossils of early humans were discovered, hence promoting critical observations into human evolution.

Kilimanjaro National Park

 Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Mount Kilimanjaro, covers an area of 1,688 square kilometers and is located near the region of Moshi in northern Tanzania.

It was established and recognized as a national park in 1973 and declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987. The major popular feature of this park is Mount Kilimanjaro lying at an altitude of 5,895 meters above sea level making it the highest peak in Africa. The mountain is a stratovolcano with three 3 volcanic cones namely, Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira that were formed about 1 million years ago.

Kilimanjaro National Park is a favourite place for hiking safaris, often done along the trails on Mount Kilimanjaro. The mountain has seven routes used for hiking, all of which provide a different experience when trying to summit Africa’s highest peak.

Summiting Kilimanjaro provides a scenic experience through the different vegetation zones like cultivated fields, thick rain forests, heath, moorland, alpine and glacial summits.

Kilimanjaro National Park is so fantastic with wildlife viewing as over 40 animal species and birds can be seen during both day and night game drives. Some of the animals in this park include hippos, elephants, dik-diks, zebras, and giraffes. Leopards are also found in this park though rarely spotted.

In the same park is the primate trekking activity. During this activity, tourists can spot olive baboon baboons, black-faced monkeys, vervet monkeys, black and white colobus monkeys, Sykes monkeys, bush babies, and blue monkeys. During the trek, many bird species can be seen and these include, cuckoos, bee-eaters, hornbills, king fishers among others.

Kilimanjaro National Park is culturally recognized for being home to the historical Chagga people who usually interact with the tourists and work with them as porters as they give a detailed historical background of the mountain.

Tarangire National Park

 Tarangire National Park is another region in the northern circuit of Tanzania. The park is one of the largest, occupying an area of 2,850 square kilometers. Its topography is characterized by vast valleys, ridges, and swamps. The vegetation is made of acacia woodland, baobab trees,  Combretum woodland, and seasonally flooded grassland. The terrain of this park is rugged,  hence making it distinct from Tanzania’s national parks.

The park is reached after a 2-hour drive from Arusha, 1:30 hours from the Ngorongoro crater area, and 4 hours from Serengeti National Park. The park is also found close to Lake Manyara National Park and derives its name from the River Tarangire which crosses through it. During the dry season, different animals are always seen at the banks trying to quench their thirst as it is the primary source of water for the animals especially during the dry season.

Tarangire National Park is home to herds of African elephants. During peak migration from July to October, around 5,000 of these elephants will migrate to Tarangire together with large numbers of giraffes, elands, hartebeests,  Kudu,  reedbucks, buffaloes, Thompson’s gazelles, and zebras.

Other animals at the park include the rare gerenuk and fringe-eared oryx. a few black rhinos, leopards, lions, cheetahs and hyenas.  Over 545 bird species can be spotted along game drives and birding safaris in this park

Balloon safaris in Tarangire make this park worth the adventure. In this experience, tourists get to have a sight of the animals and the park at large from an exceptional perspective in the sky. It’s interesting.

Serengeti National Park

Serengeti National Park is Tanzania’s largest national park with the most popular safaris, the great wildebeest migration. Serengeti has a coverage of 14,763 sq. km located in Northern Tanzania extending to the south Kenya. The park setting and diversity are composed of endless plains with plenty of wild animals throughout the year leaving you with a high desire to visit the park repeatedly.

The most spectacular event that takes place in the Serengeti is the annual migration where extensive herds of herbivorous animals such as the zebras, wildebeests, and gazelles are followed by their predators across the Grumeti river. In addition, the park has several endangered animals such as the black rhinos and many others.

Lake Manyara National Park

This is another park in the Rift Valley region in northern Tanzania lying in the southwestern direction from Arusha. This park is popularly known for the tree-climbing lions like those in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda. this park provides clear views of the Rift Valley escarpment and was named after the shallow, saline Lake Manyara that attracts both wildlife and large flocks of water birds, especially flamingos.

Lake Manyara National Park offers a wilderness experience in diverse habitats, from its Rift Valley escarpment and soda lake, to dense woodlands and steep mountainsides. Apart from its spectacular setting, the park is famous for elephant herds that can be seen in the vast plains, and for the rare tree-climbing lions spotted in fig trees.   The park is also home to other wild animals including buffalos, impalas, cheetahs, Maasai giraffes, Sykes monkeys, Cape clawless otters, mongooses, hippos, and short-eared galagos.

A visit to Lake Manyara gives an experience of the groundwater forest, Vachellia tortilis woodland, and hot springs often called Maji Moto.

Bird-watching activities are carried out in this park where over 400 bird species have been recorded in this park. the most common birds include flamingos, pelicans, cormorants, and storks among others.

Olduvai Gorge

This is a famous archaeological site in the northern part of Tanzania.  This place is often referred to as the ‘Cradle of Humankind” as it has granted most of the ancient geological wonders and discoveries of the human species and the progression of humans.

Olduvai Gorge is geologically lined between the Ngorongoro crater and the Serengeti plains. It’s nearly 70 meters long and 90 meters deep with layered sedimentary rocks existing for v million years. These rock layers are used by Palaeontologists to obtain information about the environmental changes in early East Africa, as in comparison to the present situation.

This site provides more information on archaeological discoveries. It was in the early 20th century that Dr. Louis Leakey and Mary Leakey discovered the fossils of early man and stone-age tools that were used millions of years ago. Among his discoveries were the pre-historic human “Nutcracker Man” (Zinjanthropus boisei) and Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis).

The information they obtained from this site greatly contributed to the appearance of mankind and the technological advancements of early humans.

At Olduvai Gorge is a demonstrative museum with a collection of well-preserved fossils, historical items, and other discoveries by Dr Leakey which have revealed various aspects and are contributions to palaeoanthropology.

This site is a UNESCO World Heritage site with unique values preserved for future generations, scientifically and historically. Responsible tourism is made to this place and visitors are allowed to see the different layers of sedimentary rocks as they move along the trails, Dr Leakey family’s archaeological dig site, a display of footprints made by our ancestors in the volcanic ash, and other geographical features. All the hikes along the gorge are accompanied by guides who take you through all the archaeological areas and geological features.

Lake Eyasi

Lake Eyasi is a seasonal lake located in the northern part of Tanzania, lying southwest of the Ngorongoro crater and East of Serengeti National Park.  Areas surrounding the lake are characterised by dramatic landscapes with clear views of the escarpment, open savanna grasslands, and acacia woodlands.

The lake is like the other lakes in the Rift Valley. It is a soda lake with one principal spring, the Sibiti River, and is enclosed by walls consisting of purple lava. The main attraction of Lake Eyasi is the Hadzabe bushmen, as the Indigenous inhabitants have maintained an untouched cultural behavior as hunters and gatherers of fruits and honey. Lake Eyasi is their homeland and they have maintained their tradition for over 10,000 years.

The Hadzabe live in caves and do not wear clothes. they only wrap a simple piece of backcloth around their private parts. Presently they have been forced to adapt to civilization though most of their land has been grabbed from them for commercial production.

Another tribe around Lake Eyasi is the Datoga bushmen. They are mainly hunters and food gatherers. They don’t build permanent houses as they believe that iron sheets cause blindness. Visiting any of these tribes gives you a true picture of historical Africa.

Lake Eyasi favours bird watching experiences. though the lake dries up in some parts of the year, it attracts many migratory birds, especially during the wet season.  Bird species that can be seen during a visit to the lake include flamingos, pelicans, and storks.

A visit to Lake Eyasi can be combined with a trip to Serengeti, Ngorongoro or Tarangire national parks for more expeditions of wildlife, nature, and culture.