Southern Circuit Safaris

The Selous Game Reserve, with an area of about 55,000 sq. km, is the largest well-watered wildlife sanctuary in Africa, and one of the largest protected areas in the world. Its size is simply stunning, bigger than Switzerland, uninhabited and little touched by human interference. It is perhaps the most pristine wilderness still remaining in Africa, with a wide variety of wildlife habitats, including open grasslands, Acacia and miombo woodlands, swamps and riverine forests in the many tributaries of the mighty Rufiji River which flows through the reserve. Due to its unique ecological importance, it was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1982. Its wildlife is spectacular, with some of its mammal and reptile populations the largest in Africa, namely buffaloes, elephants, hippos, wild dogs and crocodiles.
Other wildlife include the wildebeest, impala, waterbuck, zebra, eland, the greater kudu, sable antelopes, giraffe, baboon, the vervet and blue monkeys, and the black and white colobus monkey which can be seen in certain riverine forests moving from tree to tree in family groups. There is a large population of predators including lions, leopards, cheetah and the spotted hyena, and about 440 species of birds in the Selous, of both resident and migratory birds. Named after Captain Frederick Courtney Selous, a legendary 19th century naturalist, explorer and hunter, Selous Game Reserve was founded in 1905.
Selous is situated in the southern part of Tanzania, bordered by Mikumi National Park to the northwest and by Udzungwa Mountains National Park and Kibasira Swamp to the west. The greater part of northern Selous is reserved for photographic safaris, and it is one of the most beautiful and game rich areas in the whole ecosystem.
The Selous wilderness meets the kind of dream visitors have of Africa of the early European explorers like Dr. Livingstone and Henry Stanley. The Reserve offers a wider variety of game viewing opportunities to the visitor, including the thrilling experience of a foot waking safari through game inhabited bushes in the company of an armed ranger. The many waterways in the Reserve provide an excellent natural setting for boat safaris, both for game viewing and bird watching. This is in addition to the game drives in 4X4 motor vehicles which, combined with boat and walking safaris, offer an exciting and richer game viewing itinerary unique to the Selous Game Reserve. The best time to visit the Selous is from June to October. During the long rains, between March and May, some parts of the Selous become impossible and are temporarily closed for game drives.

Mikumi is Tanzania’s fourth-largest national park. It’s also the most accessible from Dar es Salaam. With almost guaranteed wildlife sightings, it makes an ideal safari destination for those without much time.

 

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Mikumi Park Map, Click to Expand

 

Since the completion of the paved road connecting the park gate with Dar es Salaam, Mikumi National Park has been slated to become a hotspot for tourism in Tanzania. Located between the Uluguru Mountains and the Lumango range, Mikumi is the fourth largest national park in Tanzania and only a few hours drive from Tanzania’s largest city. The park has a wide variety of wildlife that can be easy spotted and also well acclimatized to game viewing. Its proximity to Dar es Salaam and the amount of wildlife that live within its borders makes Mikumi National Park a popular option for weekend visitors from the city, or for business visitors who don’t have to spend a long time on an extended safari itinerary.

Most visitors come to Mikumi National Park aiming to spot the ‘Big Five’ (cheetah, lion, elephant, buffalo, and rhino), and they are always not disappointed. Hippo pools provide close access to the mud-loving beasts, and bird-watching along the waterways is particularly rewarding. Mikumi National Park borders the Selous Game Reserve and Udzungwa National Park, and the three locations make a varied and pleasant safari circuit.

Swirls of opaque mist hide the advancing dawn. The first shafts of sun decorate the fluffy grass heads rippling across the plain in a russet halo. A herd of zebras, confident in their camouflage at this predatory hour, pose like ballerinas, heads aligned and stripes merging in flowing motion.

Mikumi National Park abuts the northern border of Africa’s biggest game reserve – the Selous – and is transected by the surfaced road between Dar es Salaam and Iringa. It is thus the most accessible part of a 75,000 square kilometre (47,000 square mile) tract of wilderness that stretches east almost as far as the Indian Ocean.

The open horizons and abundant wildlife of the Mkata Floodplain, the popular centre piece of Mikumi, draws frequent comparisons to the more famous Serengeti Plains.

Lions survey their grassy kingdom – and the zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo herds that migrate across it – from the flattened tops of termite mounds, or sometimes during the rains, from perches high in the trees. Giraffes forage in the isolated acacia stands that fringe the Mkata River, islets of shade favoured also by Mikumi’s elephants.

Criss-crossed by a good circuit of game-viewing roads, the Mkata Floodplain is perhaps the most reliable place in Tanzania for sightings of the powerful eland, the world’s largest antelope. The equally impressive greater kudu and sable antelope haunt the miombo-covered foothills of the mountains that rise from the park’s borders.

More than 400 bird species have been recorded, with such colourful common residents as the lilac-breasted roller, yellow-throated long claw and bateleur eagle joined by a host of European migrants during the rainy season. Hippos are the star attraction of the pair of pools situated 5km north of the main entrance gate, supported by an ever-changing cast of water-birds.

About Mikumi National Park
Size: 3,230 sq km (1,250 sq miles), the fourth-largest national park in Tanzania, and part of a much larger ecosystem centred on the uniquely vast Selous Game Reserve.
Location: 283 km (175 miles) west of Dar es Salaam, north of Selous, and en route to Ruaha, Udzungwa and (for the intrepid) Katavi. .

How to get there
A good surfaced road connects Mikumi to Dar es Salaam via Morogoro, a roughly 4 hour drive.
Also road connections to Udzungwa, Ruaha and (dry season only) Selous.
Charter flight from Dar es Salaam, Arusha or Selous. Local buses run from Dar to park HQ where game drives can be arranged.

What to do
Game drives and guided walks. Visit nearby Udzungwa or travel on to Selous or Ruaha.

Accommodation
Two lodges, three luxury tented camps, three campsites.
Guest houses in Mikumi town on the park border. One lodge is proposed at Mahondo and one permanent tented camp at Lumaaga

Ruaha national park is one of the few Tanzania’s famous wilderness area where one can have a rare experience of game viewing spiced up by the fascinating landscape. The park is rich of plants and animals such as Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) which can not be found in any other national park. The park boasts of her almost untouched and unexplored ecosystem, making visitors’ safari experience very unique.

The Great Ruaha River as other rivers like Mwagusi, Jongomero and Mzombe save as the life line of the park. During dry season, these rivers become mostly the main source of water for wildlife. There are few natural springs saving the same purpose.

In the pick of dry season, elephants obtain water from dry sand rivers using their front feet and trunks. The remaining water falls along the Great Ruaha River are also important habitat for hippopotamus, fish and crocodiles.

CLIMATE
Ruaha National Park has a bimodal pattern of rain forest; the short rainfall season begins November to February, while the long season is between March and April. The annual mean rainfall ranges between 500mm-800mm with the average annual temperature of about 280c. The park experiences its dry season between June and October when the temperature at Msembe headquarter reaches 350c.

PARK HISTORY
The park history dates back to 1910 when it was gazetted Saba Game Reserve by the Germany then the name was changed by British to Rungwa Game reseve in 1946. In 1964 the southern portion of the Game was gazetted as Ruaha national park and in 1974 a small section of South Eastern part of the Great Ruaha River was incorporated into the park. The name “Ruaha” originates from the Hehe word “Ruvaha”, which means “river”. Ruaha National Park is part of Rungwa-Kizigo –Muhesi ecosystem which covers more than 45000km2. In 2008 Usangu game Reserve and other important wetlands in Usangu basin have been annexed into the park, making it the largest park in Tanzania and East Africa with an area of about 20226km2.

PARKS SIGNIFICANCE
Ruaha National Park has a high diversity of plants and animals including elephants, buffalos, antelopes and some of rare and endangered species like wild dogs. The park serves as water shade both for wildlife and human being. This makes it to be economically significant as it supports agricultural activities down stream and contributes to hydro- electric power (HEP) for the country at Mtera and Kidatu dams.

TOURISM ATTRACTIONS
Birds
The park is one of the Tanzania birds’ paradise with more than 571species and some of them are known to be migrants from within and outside Africa. Migrating species from Europe, Asia, Australian rim and Madagascar have been recorded in the park. Species of interest in the park include Ruaha red-billed hornbill (Tokus ruahae) which is dominant in the area. The recently annexed wetland, the Usangu basin is one of the country’s important bird area (IBA) as recognized by Birdlife International. Though birds can be seen all the year around, the best time for bird watching is during the wet season.

Animals
Ruaha is believed to have high concentration of elephants than any national park in East Africa. It is also a place where, magnificent mammals like Kudu (both Greater and Lesser), Sable and Roan antelopes can easily be spotted in Miombo woodland. The male Kudu have beautiful spiraled horns while male Sable antelope have impressive curved horns. The park is also a habitat for endangered wild dogs. Other animals in the park include lions, leopards, cheetah, giraffes, zebras, elands, impala, bat eared foxes and Jackals.

Reptiles and Amphibians
Apart from large animals, the park also harbors a number of reptiles and amphibians such as crocodiles, poisonous and non-poisonous snakes, monitor lizards, agama lizards and frogs. The Great Ruaha and Mzombe rivers are presumably the most preferred habitat for crocodiles.

Vegetation
The park is characterized by semi-arid type of vegetation, baobab trees, Acacia and other species. There are over 1650 plant species that have been identified. The park is the transitional point of two vegetation zones, the Zambezian (characterized by Miombo vegetation) and Sudanian (characterized by Acacia vegetation).

Historical and cultural sites
There are several historical and cultural sites in the park which offer a visitor a chance to explore the Southern Tanzanian tribes. The early trade routes used by the Arab caravan crossed here. In 1830 these coastal traders expanded their routes northward, and in year 1857 to 1858 other European explorers such as Burton and Speke used these routes too. Chief Mkwawa used the same routes to visit his chiefdoms in Sangu and Gogo.

The park area often hailed as the land of the brave Chief Mkwawa, the Chief of the hehe people who resisted against the German attack in the late 19th century. The fierce and successful battle tactics against the German invasion made the Hehe tribe famous in the Southern highland of the then Tanganyika (Tanzania). The Hehe tribe under the leadership of chief Mkwawa was dominant around the Ruaha area. Some of the outcrops in the area are known as hiding places of chief Mkwawa who went into hiding after the fall of his empire (kalenga) to the German in 1894.
In brief, it is believed that, this ancient land (Ruaha National Park) holds many secrets of chief Mkwawa.

Some of the cultural sites that were used for rituals are “Ganga la Mafunyo”, Nyanywa and Chahe, Painting rock at Nyanywa, the “Gogo”  chief “Mapenza” grave at Mpululu and “Mkwawa” spring area believed to be used by Chief Mkwawa. Other historical sites near the park include Isimila pillars near Iringa town, Kalenga, Mlambalasi, Lugalo and God’s bridge just to mention a few.

Physical feature
Ruaha National Park has a wide range of physical features from the Great Rift Valley, river systems, natural springs, wetlands, hot water springs, and kopjes to the beautiful rolling hills and mountains.

Rivers
The river systems and watershed are of economical, social and ecological significance for the park itself and country at large. Main rivers include the Great Ruaha, Mzombe, Mdonya, Mwagusi and Jongomero.

Rift valley
The Great Rift Valley crosses the park. The escarpment wall along the western valley side is about 50-100m high in the north-eastern parts, increasing in height to the southwest. It is considered that, the valley of the Great Ruaha River is an extension of the Great Rift Valley. The Great Ruaha River flows for 160km long along the entire eastern boundary through rugged gorges and open plains.

Natural springs
They occur throughout the park and they are associated with the base of the Western Rift Valley escarpment, most notably Mkwawa, Mwayembe, Makinde and Majimoto springs. These are dry season refugees for wildlife and when most of the rivers get dry.

Undulating landscape
The park has undulating land and hills including kilimamatonge, Nyamasombe, Nyanywa, Chariwindwi, Igawira, Mwayiui, Kibiriti, Magangwe, Ndetamburwa and Isukanvyiola. These act as kopjes creating good habitat for animals such as klipspringer which normally can be seen in some of these hills.

TOURISM ACTIVITIES
Tourism activities in the park include Game viewing, long and short wilderness walking safari, bird watching, picnic, bush meals (break-fast, lunch, dinner) in the untouched bushes.

The wet season (January –April) is best for bird watching, lush scenery and wildflowers. The male Greater kudu is most visible in June which is their breeding season.

How to get there
By air
There are both scheduled and chartered flights into the park mainly from Arusha, Dodoma, Kigoma and Dar-es-salaam. Park’s airstrips are located at Msembe and Jongomero

By road
It is about 130km drive from Iringa town and 625km from Dar-es-salaam city.
The road into the park is passable throughout the year.

Accommodation
There are park and privately owned facilities

Park facilities
– Self catering tourist bandas
– Special camping sites
– Public camping sites
– Rest house
– Hostel for school groups
– Park cottages
– Family cottage
– Single room with sitting room
– Single room without sitting room

Private facilities
Inside the park
There are several luxury tented camps operating in the park such as Jongomero, Kigelia, Mwagusi safari, Old Mdonya River, Kwihala and Flycatcher and one lodge namely Ruaha River lodge. These are privately owned.

Outside the park
There are several accommodation facilities just outside the park: these are hill top lodge, Sunset lodge, Tandala tented camp to mention a few.

General Park Rules and Regulations
Kindly abide to the following park rules and regulations

– Do not disturb or feed animals.
– Do not make noise or any sort of disturbance which offend other visitors
– Do not pick or destroy flowers and plants
– Littering, burning cigarettes or matches is strictly prohibited
– Pet are not allowed in the park
– Never go for a walking safari without park official armed guides/rangers
– Always stay on the authorized trails during walking safaris
– Hunting, collection of plant and animal samples is not allowed
– Tourism activities should be conducted between 6am and 7pm. For the rest of the time, visitors are expected to be in their accommodation places (i.e. lodges, camps and/or campsites)
– Off road driving is strictly prohibited

Kilwa Kisiwani, an authentic historical town in Real South, Located about 300km south of Dar es Salaam, Kilwa Kisiwani is the leading historical site in southern Tanzania.

A quick visit to Kilwa Kisiwani gives a thrilling memory when discussing the rich history of the Swahili coast that extends along the Eastern coast of the Indian Ocean in Tanzania.

Despite the beauty of this Island which is located in Kilwa District, Lindi Region, memories of the past civilization and early settlements could be a memoir of a lifetime for any tourist venturing this part of Tanzania.

With its twin island of Songo Mnara, Kilwa Kisiwani is the United Nations Scientific and Educational Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site, known by its rich history and Swahili cultural heritage blended with African and Arabic cultures.

Kiliwa Kisiwani is a tourist site, standing among the leading, earliest trading towns on the East African coast. Historical buildings in the island were constructed with coral stone mixed with limestone materials which had made the architecture beautiful and stable to survive weather conditions characterized by humid and hot temperatures for hundreds of years.

The Island had its prosperity achieved from the control of the Indian Ocean trade with Arabia, India and China between the 13th and 16th centuries, when gold and ivory from the mainland Tanzania and Congo were traded for silver, carnelians, perfumes, Persian faience and Chinese porcelain.

Most attractive, are mosques built in 13th century and a Portuguese Fort, which are presently give the island its historical fame. These mosques are dating between 13th and 18th centuries.

Between each mosque, there are cemeteries and worship places decorated with early Chinese porcelain and Persian artifacts including ceramics materials from the Middle East. Kilwa Kisiwani was occupied from the 9th to the 19th centuries by Oman Sultans and Persian merchants. Between 13th and 14th centuries, the island thrived as a leading business center on the Indian Ocean coast.

According to great Muslim traveler Ibn-Battuta who visited and stayed in Kilwa Kisiwani between 1331 and 1332, the island was ranked among the most beautiful cities of the world during that time.

The Great Mosque of Kilwa was the largest mosque of its kind in East Africa. The mosque accommodates two mosques, all constructed in 11th century.

Ibn-Battuta had explained this mosque to have been built by the ruler of Kilwa Kisiwani, Sultan al-Hasan ibn Sulaiman.

Makutani palace is the other building of the past where the sultan of Kilwa Kisiwani resided. The building was constructed in 1516 and fitted with minarets to encounter invaders.

There are spacious rooms for women and bathrooms; all decorated with earthen-wares and ceramics. Orchids and green trees were planted to provide shade and beautifying the palace.

Another attraction at Kilwa Kisiwani is the Portuguese Fort. This beautiful building was later used as a garrison by the Arabs and Germans to punish Africans who opposed their occupation over the east coast.

Kilwa Kisiwani remains the old trading town of the Indian Ocean and that had attracted trade with Arabia, India and China, particularly between the 13th and 16th centuries, when gold and ivory trade from the mainland Tanzania thrived.

Silver, carnelians, perfumes, Persian faience and Chinese porcelain were the leading trading goods between Kilwa Kisiwani, Oman, China and Persia (Iran).

Most interesting,  Kilwa Kisiwani minted its own currency in the 11th to 14th centuries.

The World Heritage Committee had approved the Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Ruins of Songo Mnara as the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Locals refer to the Kitulo Plateau as Bustani ya Mungu – The Garden of God – whereas botanists have dubbed it the Serengeti of Flowers, host to ‘one of the great floral spectacles of the world’.

Kitulo is indeed a rare botanical marvel, home to a full 350 species of vascular plants, including 45 varieties of terrestrial orchids, which erupt into a riotous wildflower display of breathtaking scale and diversity during the main rainy season of late November to April.

Perched at around 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) between the rugged peaks of the Kipengere, Poroto and Livingstone Mountains, the well-watered volcanic soils of Kitulo support the largest and the most important montane grassland community in Tanzania.

Having its unique flower species remained wild, with birds singing and migrating to the highland forests, Kitulo Plateau National Park is latest and a new comer to Tanzania’s tourist attractive sites.

Bustani ya Mungu (God’s Garden) is the visitors name given to this new park, the only of its kind in Africa where wild flowers, birds and harmonious grass eating mammals are dominating.

Kitulo Plateau is perched between the rugged peaks of the Kipengere, Livingstone and Poroto Mountains in Southern Highlands of Tanzania. It is the site of one of the world’s great floral spectacles.

The eminently hike-able park is carpeted in wildflowers for six months of the year, from November to April. There is a documented 350 species of wild flowers including lilies and fields of daisies.

Although sparse in big game, this natural botanical garden is highly alluring to bird watchers who thrill to sightings of rare Denham’s bustard, the endangered blue swallow, mountain marsh widow, Njombe cisticola and Kipengere seedeater.

Endemic species of butterfly, chameleon, lizard and frog further enhance the biological wealth of God’s Garden. Unique and the only of its kind in Africa for natural orchids and birds, this park has been gazetted last year set for tourists.

Kitulo National Park stands alone, boasting of being the only tourist attractive site in the continent offering floristic visits than the traditional wildlife photographic holidays which most tourists to Tanzania are used to experience. Tourists from all corners of the world are now exposed to this park, and are expected to book their itineraries to this new park.

There are about 400 plant species, most of them are wild flowers and other such attractive, natural plants, which no doubt at all, will attract visitors to go there. Recorded 45 endemic orchid species are found only in the park than any other part of the world.

The park covers 413 kilometers of forest-land, dominated with plants and few wild animals which together form a natural habitat that is tourist attractive by itself. The park’s scenery is as comparable to the Biblical Garden of Eden, as most visitors there say.

Added to its natural attractions and uniqueness, Kitulo Plateau is the natural resting site for intercontinental migrating birds during periods of the year on their way to Europe.
It is only in this park where migrating Storks rest while flying from Cape Town in South Africa to Northern Europe.

European White Storks and other species of Storks from Scandinavian countries via West Africa migrate to brood inside Kitulo Plateau on their way, flying across the European and African continents every year. These big, attractive birds stop in this park for some months and later continue with their long journey across the continent.

Kitulo National Park is the only natural habitat area in Africa perched on the sky at a higher altitude than any known park in the continent.

It is located 3,000 meters above sea level on the East African massif, much influenced by the eastern Rim of the Great Rift Valley which stretches from the Red Sea in Middle East across north and East Africa to Mozambique in Southern Africa.

To reach the park, one has to drive from Chimala town along the Dar es Salaam to Mbeya highway, then climb the scenic plateau through 57 pin-corners through the spectacular rough road known as “Hamsini na Saba” or Fifty-Seven by the number of its pin, sharp corners.

After few hours of slow driving on the 4 x 4 car, one reaches Matamba the temporary park headquarters, about 50 km south of Chimala.

Open walking safaris through the grasslands watching birds and wild flowers, hill hiking on the neighboring ranges during the day, gives a visitor fantastic views of Lake Nyasa and its beautiful Matema Beach down the mountains.

Wild flowers blossom between December and April, and the summer months from September to November are best to visit the park. From June to August the entire park is foggy with no visibility during the daytime, and it is hardly possible to view its beauties.

Accommodation is available at Matamba and Chimala, but for more comfortable stay, Mbeya municipality, some 100 km away is an option.

Before its transformation into a tourist park, the area was a livestock ranch set for breeding Merino sheep from Australia and European cattle breeds. British officers mapped the area in 1920 for ranching purposes.

Because of its cool and moderate weather similar to Mediterranean or European conditions, the area has since then attracted a number of British and American settlers who reared livestock and practiced small scale tourist projects.

Beautiful scenery of the land below makes the park an ideal place to pay a visit. This unique scenery brings it closer to northern Tanzania nature parks of Ngorongoro, Serengeti and Kilimanjaro.

When full flocked, Kitulo National Park will be the leading nature conservation park in Africa, specializing on orchid holidays with less wildlife itineraries. It will add a new product to Tanzania’s wildlife-based tourism, which so far, has been competing with other destinations like Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

What to do
– Good hiking trails exist and soon will be developed into a formal trail system.
– Open walking across the grasslands to watch birds and wildflowers.
– Hill climbing on the neighboring ranges. A half-day hike from the park across the Livingstone Mountains leads to the sumptuous Matema Beach on Lake Nyasa.

Lake Ngosi, a thrilling crater lake in Southern Highlands of Tanzania

Standing as the second largest Crater Lake in Africa, Ngosi Lake is the leading tourist attraction in Rungwe district pulling hundreds of visitors each year.

The lake is located about 38 kilometers south of Mbeya city, near the sprawling Tukuyu Township. It is located on Ngosi peak on the Uporoto Mountains which makes part of Eastern Arc ranges.

It is located at an uplift of 2,600 meters above sea level in a thick, natural forest of the Uporoto nature reserve, covering some 9,332 hectares of land. It has a length of 2.5 kilometers and width of 1.5 kilometers and 75 meters deep.

To reach the lake, one has to drive and stop at the edge of the Uporoto Forest Reserve at the foothills of the Uporoto range. It takes up to two hours walking from the foothill to the ridge where the lake lies at 200 meters below.

It is an exciting adventure to trek or walk through the dense montane forest to the crater rim. Monkeys and many bird species can be seen in the forest which is also home to an endemic species of chameleon and montane, wild banana trees.

Walking and climbing the Uporoto range is organized by special guides familiar to the route which is made up of cascades, horrific gorges and valleys where someone could fall with no option of rescue. It is risky to fall into the gorges if one trek without care, and, if one falls into one of numerous gorges on the way to the lake, it will be the end of his or her life.

Despite those risks, it is automatically safe to trek the Uporotos and view magnificent Lake Ngosi which is a sight of outstanding natural beauty and a superb hiking hotspot.

It is a green shimmering lake walled by the collapsed caldera of the extinct Ngosi Volcano. The peak is the highest point of the Uporoto Ridge Forest Reserve. The forest has an endemic three horned chameleon (Chameleon fuelleborni).

This stunning caldera lake dates from some time in the Neocene period. The water is slightly brackish, contains some fish, and is up to 75 m deep. The lake has spiritual significance for the local inhabitants.

A caldera is a roughly circular depression formed by the collapse of a magma chamber roof onto its magma body beneath. It is a large rounded depression resulting from the destruction of a volcano in a violent eruption.

The mountain and the lake are counted to an age of one million years, and remains an old volcano that has now collapsed to form a wide caldera filled with a shining alkaline ‘soda’ waters.

The waters of the lake are said to have magical medicinal powers. Ngosi means ‘The Big One’; in vernacular Kinyakyusa dialect.

Climbers looking to view this scenic lake are well rewarded with excellent views from the top of the sharp crater rim, from where the lake gleams below with an overwhelming tranquil air, and beyond the land are pocked with the points of smaller volcanic peaks.

Walking to the rim leads through upland grasslands and tropical forests where families of Colobus monkeys chatter and play, and a miasma of birds take refuge.

The path leads into the forest for about 2.5km and then begins the climb to the crater top. Just before the top, the path branches in two; the right hand path leads swiftly to the peak, and the left leads down to the water’s edge.

Lake Nyasa, also called Lake Malawi, lake, southernmost and third largest of the East African Rift Valley lakes of East Africa, lying in a deep trough mainly within Malawi.

Lake Nyasa (Nyasa means “lake”) is located at the south-west of Tanzania,  The lake lies in three countries’ territory; Tanzania and Malawi. However, it is bordered by three countries, Tanzania , Malawi and Mozambique. It is the third largest in Africa (after Lake Victoria and lake Tanganyika)  with 550 kilometers length and 75 kilometers width,  covering an area of more than 11,400 square kilometers. In some parts,  the lake is as deep as 700 meters.

The Lake lies in the sided walls of mountain ranges: the forested Livingston Mountains and Nyika Plateau, which provide the magnificent view of the lake from far and the landscape for hikers and backpackers.
Lake Nyasa is also among the Great Rift Valley’s lakes, which shares some of the characteristics with lake Tanganyika.  The lake has a distinctive characteristic: 14 rivers pouring their waters into the lake, and only one river which flows out to the sea, River Shire.

The Lake also has a lot of names such as “Lake of stars” which is provided by the lovers who trip their and discover it one of the dreamy and romantic destination in Eastern Africa. It is situated between Malawi, Mozambique as well as Tanzania.  It has so many things to offer such as numerous opportunities for water sports as well as diving. The lake is enormously rich with diverse fish species and is one of the most appealing lakes that offer unforgettable underwater views!

Some parts of the lake offer nice beaches and places to swim. Matema, in the northern part of the lake is considered to be the best beach for people who like to relax swim along the lake shore. In contrast to other lakes the water of lake Nyasa is bilharzias free.  There are also caves and interesting waterfalls to see.

Other activities include local canoeing ride down the river, hiking on surrounding mountains.

Though Lake Nyasa does not receive many tourists, the lake is magnificently attractive and is rich in crocodiles and hippopotamus. For Fish lovers, Lake Nyasa is biologically the most diverse lake, containing approximately 30% of world’s cichlid species (colorful fish which are easily seen in the lake’s clear water)

Volume 7,775.00 km3,  Surface Area 29,500.00 km2, Depth Mean depth: 264.0m Maximum depth: 706.0m

Mbozi Meteorite: World’s eighth largest, located about 65km southwest of Mbeya is the Mbozi meteorite, weighing an estimated 25 metric tonnes, it’s around 3m long and 1m tall

Mbozi meteorite is the most popular tourist attraction found in Songwe region.

Weighing in at a cool 12 tons, the irregularly shaped Mbozi Meteorite – which lies on the southwestern slope of Marengi Hill, 70 kilometers west of Mbeya, off the road to Tunduma – is the world’s eighth largest known.

The meteorite is a fragment of interplanetary matter that was large enough to avoid being completely burned up when entering earth’s atmosphere.

But the fragment is small enough to avoid exploding; of the estimated five hundred meteorites that fall to earth each year, only thirty percent strike land, and less than ten are reported and recorded.

The Mbozi Meteorite has been known for centuries by locals, who call it Kimwondo, but the absence of legends recounting its sudden and undoubtedly fiery arrival indicate that it fell to earth long before the present inhabitants arrived, a thousand years ago. The meteorite was officially discovered in 1930 at the time when only the top was visible.

To reveal the whole meteorite, the hillside around it was dug away, leaving a pillar of soil under the meteorite, which was then reinforced with concrete to serve as a plinth. The irregular notches on the pointed end were caused by souvenir hunters hacking out chunks – no easy task given the strength of the nickel-iron of which it’s made.

Most meteorites consist of silicates or stony-irons, so Mbozi meteorite is uncommon in that it’s composed mainly of iron (90.45 percent) and nickel (8.69 percent), with negligible amounts of copper, sulphur and phosphorus.

A visit to the Meteorite Site is always fascinating especially if you are in a group and you travel using public transport as a means of getting a better taste of the countryside and face some adventures. This enables the group to also interact with the locals who are ever ready to share views with visitors.