Western Destinations

The Park Overview: Saanane is the first National Park ever located within a city and the smallest in both Tanzania and East Africa, probably even in the world. Here, surrounded by Africa’s largest lake, you will find a peaceful hideway away from the buzz of the City of Mwanza. The Park is the home of mammals like Impala, Rock Hyrax, Velvet Monkeys and Wild Cats. 

The presence of “De-brazas Monkey” underscores its potential as the only Park in the country inhabiting the species.  Reptiles are also dominant; they include crocodiles, Monitor Lizards, Agama Lizards, Pancake and Leopard Tortoises, Snakes particularly Python. The aquatic part of the Park inhabits a variety of fisheries.

How to Get there? 

While in Mwanza City, the Island is accessed by a regular short boat ride for about 5 minutes from Park Offices, on the mainland. Park Offices are easily accessed about 15 minutes short walk from the City Centre.

Attractions: 

The Saanane Island is an ideal place for game viewing, bird watching, rock hiking, boat cruise, walking, picnics, bush lunch, photographing/filming, meditation and sport fishing.  Special occasions like wedding, engagement, team building, family day and birthdays can also be organized.

You find this unsploit wilderness in the southwest corner of the large, shallow Lake Victoria, bordered by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The hilly island has some open areas – mostly papyrus swamps and long grass plain – but over 80% is dominated by forest.

Before the 1960’s one wouldn’t stand a chance of spotting picture perfect safari wildlife. It was Professor Bernard Grzimek – famous for putting the Serengeti under worlwide attention – who included Rubondo in a mammal rescue project as a reaction to poaching and shrinking environments. 

And so, in the 60’s and 70’s, the remote human and predator-free Rubondo became the perfect refuge for the introduction of large mammals such as rhinoceros, elephants, roan antelopes, chimpanzees and giraffes. Unfortunately poachers got wind of it and wiped out of  the rhino and roan antelope populations, but various other species became often-encountered residents.

While Gombe hosts chimps too, Mahale is undisputedly the best place for an encounter. The park is home to Africa’s eastern most population of wild chimpanzee, with about 600 individuals in 15 groups. They have been fully habituated to human visitors after a Japanese research project in the 1960’s.

Other primates whose shrieks echo from the slopes are the red and Angola colobus, red-tailed and blue monkeys and yellow baboon. But there’s more to a visit than just monkeys. 

Alongside the western shore tame warthogs and bush pigs wander around, with the occasional giraffe or even the rare roan and sable antelope to spice things up. With Katavi National Park less then 100 km away, several mammals are believed to roam between Mahale and its neighbour. Butterflies sprinkle the park with colour, while bird species such as the bamboo warbler and Stuhlman’s starling are seen nowhere else in Tanzania.

“……..Mahale is true eye-candy that is still a secret to a most people”

The foundation of the city economy is made up of export and transportation. However, land is primarily devoted to agricultural enterprise. Tea, cotton and coffee plantations throughout the area produce large volumes of cash crops that pass though Mwanza on their way to market. The town’s industrial harbour and busy streets make it a prosperous and busy place to explore.

Frankly speaking, the city of Mwanza makes a good base for visitors from which to explore the nearby Rubondo Island National Park and the western parts of the Serengeti. Rubondo Island National Park offers pleasant day-hikes and bird watching around the lake shore. 

Mwanza’s proximity to the western Serengeti makes it a necessary stop for visitors who want to experience a less bust part of the park and see the magic of the Serengeti without the parade of safari vehicles and seasonal crowds. Mwanza is also the centre of the Sukuma tribe, the largest tribe in Tanzania, who have inhabited and farmed the region for centuries.

Gombe is one of the smallest of tanzania’s National Parks and is easily made up by the sheer excitement of meeting its famous inhabitants. It was Jane Goodall the world reknown conservationist that gave the fully habituated chimpanzees their celebrity status. 

Her behavioural research program started over half a century ago and is the oldest of its kind in the world, running until this day. Gombe is a heaven for researchers, in part due to the large group sizes, with the Kasekela group of at least 40 chimps being the largest.