ONE HEART FOREST: TANZANIA

---

Tanzania boasts some of the best national parks in the world including the Serengeti National Park, which is home more than one million species of large mammals. It’s also a World Heritage Site and has had the honor of being named a 7th world wide wonder. 

Tanzania features the largest population of elephants; which can be found in the Selous Game Reserve.

Standing some 5,895 meters above sea level, Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa, and the highest freestanding mountain in the world. 

It’s also home to almost every kind of ecological system there is – cultivated land, rainforest, alpine desert, and arctic summit.

The Serengeti is the site of the Great Migration where over 1.5 million wildebeest, zebra, and gazelle, make their way through the grasslands of Tanzania and Kenya in search of pasture. It’s also home to great buffalo herds, elephants, giraffe, leopard, impala, and gazelle, as well as the endangered Eastern Black Rhinoceros.

The most exciting part of the journey is the Mara River crossing where massive herds brave crocodiles and danger at every turn.

This fertile valley is one the most beautiful natural wildlife safari destinations in the world and has even been named one of Africa’s Seven Natural Wonders. 

The enclosed nature of the crater has created an ecosystem all of its own, resulting in some of the best opportunities to spot game. It also has the densest known population of lions. Buffalo, elephants, leopards, and rhino can also be seen here, in addition to a host of other well-loved African classics like the ostrich, zebra, cheetah, wildebeest, gazelle, and hippos.

‍Lake Tanganyika is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world.  In fact, it is so large that it belongs to four different countries; Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, and Congo. The lake is fed by at least 50 streams and rivers and is regarded as one of the world’s most biologically rich and scientifically valuable habitats. It holds an astounding 8% of the world’s freshwater and is home 500 fish species.

Baobabs are a beautiful and fascinating tree that can be seen in Tanzania’s Tarangire National Park. Some species of the Baobab can live 1,000 years, or longer, although the oldest one, found in South Africa, is believed to be an astounding 6,000 years old.

Tarangire National Park is also home to tree-climbing lions.  Watching these lions gingerly move across the branches is a sight that’s worth seeing.

Zanzibar has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world featuring white sand, blue waters, and swaying palms.

Zanzibar also has its own leopard population, known as the Zanzibar Leopard, which are extremely rare.

Diving or snorkeling off of one of Zanzibar’s islands will provide you with rich up-close encounters with amazing and unique underwater sea creatures found among the coral reefs. You could spot Lionfish, Leaf Fish, Seahorse, Green Turtles, and even Frog Fish.