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SAADANI NATIONAL-PARK

NATIONAL PARK

Along the coast of the Indian Ocean in Tanzania, lies one of the most beautiful parks, Saadani.

The park was officially a National Park in 2005 from the former Saadani game reserve.

Being the only National Park that harbors both marine and terrestrial habitats, Saadani has plenty of marine life and large numbers of wild animals.

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WELCOME TO SAADANI NATIONAL-PARK

Along the coast of the Indian Ocean in Tanzania, lies one of the most beautiful parks, Saadani. The park was officially a National Park in 2005 from the former Saadani game reserve. Being the only National Park that harbors both marine and terrestrial habitats, Saadani has plenty of marine life and large numbers of wild animals. It is not surprising to encounter wild animals on the beach in this coastal Park. Saadani is one of the fewer breeding sites for endangered Green Sea Turtles and the only Tanzania Park to protect the mangrove forest. The coastal forest in this unique park harbors rare species of Black and white Colobus Monkeys. Visitors to this place will have an opportunity to do a game drive in the savannah part of the park and enjoy the beautiful unspoiled beach that lies within the Park.

Palm trees sway in a cooling oceanic breeze. White sand and blue water sparkle alluringly beneath the tropical sun. Traditional dhows sail slowly past, propelled by billowing white sails, while Swahili fishermen cast their nets below a brilliant red sunrise. Saadani is where the beach meets the bush. The only wildlife sanctuary in East Africa to boast an Indian Ocean beachfront, it possesses all the attributes that make Tanzania’s tropical coastline and islands so popular with European sun-worshippers.

Yet it is also the one place where those idle hours of sunbathing might be interrupted by an elephant strolling past, or a lion coming to drink at the nearby waterhole!
Protected as a game reserve since the 1960s, in 2002 it was expanded to cover twice its former area. The reserve suffered greatly from poaching prior to the late 1990s, but recent years have seen a marked turnaround, due to a concerted clampdown on poachers, based on integrating adjacent villages into the conservation drive.


Today, a surprisingly wide range of grazers and primates is seen on game drives and walks, among them giraffe, buffalo, warthog, common waterbuck, reedbuck, hartebeest, wildebeest, red duiker, greater kudu, eland, sable antelope, yellow baboon, and vervet monkey. Herds of up to 30 elephants are encountered with increasing frequency, and several lion pride is resident, together with leopard, spotted hyena, and black-backed jackal. Boat trips on the mangrove-lined Wami River come with a high chance of sighting hippos, crocodiles, and a selection of marine and riverine birds, including the mangrove kingfisher and lesser flamingo, while the beaches form one of the last major green turtle breeding sites on mainland Tanzania.

About the Saadani National Park
Size: 1,100 sq km (430 sq miles). Location: On the north coast, roughly 100km (60 miles) northwest of Dar es Salaam as the crow flies, and a similar distance southwest of the port of Tanga.


How to get there
Charter flight from Zanzibar or Dar es Salaam with the possibility of scheduled flights in the future. Thrice-weekly road shuttle from Dar es Salaam, taking four hours in either direction. No road access from Dar es Salaam along the coast – follow the surfaced Moshi road for 160km (100 miles), then 60km (36 miles) on dirt. Road access from Tanga and Pangani except after heavy rain. 4×4 required.

What to do

Game drives and guided walks. Boat trips. Swimming. Visit Saadani fishing village, which lies within the reserve, where a collection of ruins pays testament to its 19th-century heyday as a major trading port.
When to go
Generally accessible all year round, but the access roads are sometimes impassable during April and May.
The best game-viewing is in January and February and from June to August.

Accommodation
One luxury tented camp. Campsites planned. One tented camp close to the park boundary. Several campsites inside the park.

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