Tanzania Northern Tourist Circuit:

1. The Serengeti: National Park - 14,763 sq km. Tanzania's largest ... Park. The best known wildlife sanctuary of the world. Over three million large game animals live in Serengeti.
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   Note: Serengeti = "Siringet" Maasai word for "endless plains".
3. Ngorongoro Crater - Once an active volcano. Collapsed leaving a caldera of 20 km in diameter. It is the largest intact crater in existence. It is inhabited by a human populatius, game animals and birds.
4. Oldurai Gorge - The Gorge lies between Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park. It is famous for the historican findings of Zinjathropus Boisei. Other gossils and stone artifacts have been excavated in the area, reading to the belief that this part of Tanzania could have been the home of the early man. It is an important area for archeologist.
5. Laetoli - This is another archeological site. Early animals and hominid footprints dating back 3.5 million years, were dicovered in this place.
6. Lake Manyara National Park - 330 sp km - 3/4 of the area is the lake itself. One of the most popular and attractive wildlife sanctuaries in East Africa beneath the ... of the Great Rift Valley. Home to baboons and blue monkeys, buffalo, giraffe, elephant, hippo etc. Over 350 species of birds are found there. Home to the tree climbing lions.
7. Tarangire National Park - 2,600 sq km at an altitude of 1.100 m. Home to thousands of animals. Home to a rich Kaleidoscope of creatures. Noted for its free climbing pythons and a rich bird life.
8. Arusha National Park - 137 sq km. Lies between the peaks of ... Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru, at an altitude of 1530 m. The Momella lakes, Mt. meru Crater and Ngurdoto Crater are within the park. Rich bird life, monkeys, buffalo, hippo, elephant, giraffes, antilopes and many more.
9. Mountain Kilimanjaro - "The Kili" - At 5896 meters the Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa and has earned itself the name: The Roof of Africa. Lies more or less between the Serengeti National Park and the coast. It has two peaks. Mawenzi which is 5,149 meters above sea level and Kibo which is 5,896 meters above sea level. The highest point on Kibo is known as Uhuru Peak. Before 1918 this peak was known as Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze. It is imprtant to note thet it was a German geologist, Hans Meyer and an Austrian alpinist, Ludwig Purtscheller who were the first to reach the Roof of Africa in 1889. Kilimanjaro is a dormant but not extinct volcano. Both the flat topped dome like Kibo and the Mawezi representing a group of jagged points and pinnacles have permanent caps of snow and ice. Uhuru peak, on Kibo has spectacular hanging glaciers. Kibo has a small almost circular crater known as Reusch Crater and emits sulphur vapours and hot water.

NOTE:

There are five routes to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The most popular of these is the Marangu route. The climb up and down the mountain takes five days. Three days up and two days down. Climbing the Kilimanjaro can be done by any health person and almost any time of the year. The best time to climb the mountain is considered to be from August to October and January to March. It is possible to go up the mountain in April, May, June and November. It is however, a wet season. Kibo is mostly for trekkers whereas Mawenzi offers challenges to mountaineers.

How does one come to the Northern Circuit.

• From overseas - by air to Kilimanjaro International Airport which lies between Arusha and Moshi.
• From overseas - by air to Dar es Salaam International Airport, in the capital and from there by Air Tanzania Precision Air to Kilimanjaro Interanational Airport. One may travel by road from Dar es Salaam to Moshi where one could see the Kilimanjaro, and further to Arusha, in order to reach the Arusha Naional Park, Tarangive National Park, Lake Manyaro Naional Park, the Ngorongoro Crater, the Olduvai Gorge and to the Serengeti Naional Park.