|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tanzania Page
What Tanzania is all about...OK, one of the things. Tanzania is “the man” when it comes to African big game hunting. With 12 national parks, 31 game reserves, and 38 game controlled areas, over a quarter of Tanzania has been set aside for game conservation. Selous, Rungwa, Moyowosi, Serengeti, Burigi and Masailand are all names that strike fear, wonderment and desire into the hearts of all African hunters. Big buffalo, big lion, big ivory; whether you’re on your first safari or twentieth, this is East Africa of yore. Kenya, Tanganyika, Kilimanjaro, the places; Maydon, Taylor, Hunter, Ruark; the writers. The Selous just south of Dar es Salaam is the world's largest game reserve (55,000 sq km). With rolling savannah, and miombo woodlands, there are over 110,000 reasons to be here…BUFFALO! Massive as a boulder, 1500 to 1800 pounds of bovine gristle await you in the home to more Cape Buffalo than any other game reserve in Africa, not to mention the 40,000 hippos that reside along and within the Great Ruaha, the Luwego and Kilombero and their associated network of tributaries and back-water pools. Tanzanian southern species abound here: elephant (numbering around 50,000 in the year 2000), lion, leopard, buffalo, zebra (baumannii), Nyasa wildebeest, Roosevelt sable, Lichtenstein’s hartebeest, common waterbuck, common reedbuck, warthog, and East African bushbuck, eland and impala as well as the largest population of wild dogs in Tanzania. (See Orientation Map on MAPS page) The Maasai Steppe, the heartland of northern Tanzania and one of the worlds richest refuges of wildlife, rises up and away from the coastal lowlands to an elevation of around 1300 meters…the result being that the days are warm, the nights cool to cold with very low humidity (except during the rainy season). To the south and west away from Mt Meru and the 30 meter plus Podocarpus trees that inhabit it slopes, you enter the vast Simanjiro plains and grasslands interspersed with winding luggas and korongos. This is the land of giant baobab trees, flat top and scrub acacia, vast areas of Commifora woodlands, and wait-a-bit bush. Here the megafauna differs as some species not found in the south flourish…Gerenuk, Grants and Roberts Gazelle, East African Impala, Fringe Eared Oryx, White Bearded Wildebeest, Cokes Hartebeest and Lesser Kudu to name but a few. Excellent hunting within the Siminjaro, Lolkisale and Mto Wa Mbu Game Control Areas (GCAs) are but a couple of hours from Arusha. This area of Tanzania is also home to around 3000 elephant, the largest population in northern Tanzania. (See Orientation Map on MAPS page) Situated in western Tanzania is a vast wetland of limited access (even in the dry season) defined by the flood-plains of the Malagarasi, Moyowosi, Nikonga, Kigosi and Gombe rivers. Sitatunga, Topi and Roan define some of the unique megafauna for this corner of Tanzania. Permanent swamps are dominated by papyrus with the riverine margins primarily made up of Borassus and Phoenix palms with occasional stands of Acacia woodland. The higher ground between the rivers is dominated by Brachystegia (Miombo) Woodlands. The Moyowosi Game Reserve (GR) is in the Kibondo District in Kigoma Region and is probably the most famous of the western game reserves. Kigosi GR is just to the east and separated from the Moyowosi by the Nikonga River The Ugala GR to the south is separated from the Moyowosi by the Gombe River. To the north of Moyowosi lies the Burigi GR bordered on the west by Rwanda and dominated by valleys and rolling hills, rocky outcrops and cliffs. Swampy vegetation and riverine forests also exist within this reserve as well as half of Lake Burgi. Just to the east lies the Biharamulo GR. (See Orientation Map on MAPS page) Note: There are many other Game Reserves (GR), Game Control Area (GCA) and Open Areas(OA) in Tanzania not discussed here. These are but a few of the well known areas (and known to us). Please see LINKS page for additional information on Tanzania. "...the survival of our wildlife is a matter
of grave concern to all of us in Africa... these wild creatures amid wild
places they inhabit, are not only important as a source of wonder and inspiration,
but they are an integral part of our natural resources and of our future
livelihood and well-being..."
|
|
|
|
©
CHAA 2008
|
