Tanzania Lakes Safaris, Lake Tanganyika Tour, Lake Victoria Safaris, Lake Rukwa Tour, Rumbondo Island Wildlife Adventure Tours, Tanzania Bird Life Adventure Packages, Tanzania National Parks Game Reserve Bird Species Highlights , Water Sports, Fishing, Boat Riding, Luxury Adventure Holidays, Budget Camping Tours, Tanzania Adventure Holidays
Lake Tanganyika
The travel to Lake Tanganyika is mostly centred around visiting Gombe Stream and Mahale Mountains National Parks.
The lake’s dark waters form the word’s largest and second-deepest freshwater lake, and the area is a regional centre for building dhow fishing boats that sail through its rugged waters.Lake Tanganyika is outstanding for its extraordinary north-south extension (677 km) and depth (1,436 m). It is the second largest of African lakes, the second deepest (next to Lake Baikal in central Russia) and the longest lake of the world. Its very ancient origin, only competitor by such old lakes as Baikal, and a long period of isolation resulted in the evolution of a great number of indigenous organisms, including brilliantly colored cichlid fishes, well-known gastropods with the appearance of marine snails, and so on. Of the 214 species of native fishes in the lake, 176 are endemic; the number of endemic genera amounts to 30 in cichlids and 8 in non- cichlid fishes.
The surrounding areas are mostly mountainous with poorly developed coastal plains except on part of the east side. Especially on the western coast, steep side-walls of the Great Rift Valley reaching 2,000 m in relative height form the shoreline. The sole overflow river, the Lukuga, starts from the middle part of western coast and flows westward to join the Zaire River draining into the Atlantic.
Lake Victoria
By far the largest lake in Africa, Lake Victoria’s fishing industries and the agricultural land around its shores have made the area an economic centre of Tanzania. Although fishing is a traditional mainstay of the region, coffee and cotton production are increasing the economic importance of the area, especially in Mwanza. Telecommunications and transportation is also a growing industry and has encouraged growth in the region that has makde it one of the most populated in the country. Trade with neighbouring Uganda to the east and Kenya to the north means that the ports on Lake Victoria are bustling with growth and economic activity.
For visitors, attractions include trips to Rubondo Island National Park and participating in various cultural tourism programmes on offer around the area. The lake has some spectacular varieties of freshwater tropical fish, many of which are exported to aquariums all over the world. It’s shores are peaceful and pristine, and offer a quiet alternative to the constant movement and bustle of a safari itinerary.
Gently sloping hills lead to the soft blue waters of the lake, as fish eagles swoop at dawn and evening time eager for the small fish that swim in Victoria’s rich waters. Bird-watching and fishing trips make popular excursions, and boating trips and hikes can be arranged.
Lake Rukwa
The Lake Rukwa is the forth largest lake in Tanzania located on the south-western regions of Rukwa and Mbeya. It is within the Great Rift Valley system of which Lake Nyasa is a part. It covers an area of about 2650 square kilometers between Lake Tanganyika and Nyasa with average depth of 3 to 5 meters.
The shallow alkaline lake is cyclical in nature in terms of size which caused by the varying inflow of streams, for example, in some years in the past the lake shrank to a length of about 50 kilometers, years later it expanded to 135 kilometres long. However, Lake Rukwa has a large drainage basin in Tanzania with an area of 81,000 square kilometers. The lake does not have outflow. Rivers that are flowing in are Rungwa, Wuku, Lukwate, Kikambo, Luika, Luiche, Kavuu, Chambua, and Songwe.
The lake is rich in wildlife, largest concentration of crocodiles and hippopotamus, more than half of it lies within Newly Extended Katavi National Park. There are more than 350 species of birds listed in Lake Rukwa and its surroundings. The large numbers of water birds: including African skimmer, glossy ibis, lesser flamingo, spur-winged goose, and white pelican; The papyrus swamps are home to the rare shoebill stork and the Tanzania masked weaver.
Rubondo Island National Park
Visit the Rubondo Island National Park for nature walking, Relaxing, Fishing, Boat Excursions, Bird Watching, name it.
Tanzania's tenth National Park and the only one in Lake Victoria Rubondo Island is located in the southwest of Lake Victoria on a 240 square km island. It provides an unforgettable experience for visitors, including the main island and 11 smaller islets, combining the breathtaking panorama of a forest refuge with the relaxing sereneness of sandylake-shore beaches.
The Island is some 28-km in length along the north-south axis and between 3 and 10 km wide. Lake Victoria covers 68,000 square kilometres and is the largest lake in Africa and the second largest in the world - comparatively it is twice the size of The Netherlands.
Rubondo Island boasts a unique diversity of flora and fauna. Get assured of seeing Sitatunga and have the chance of observing small coteries of chimpanzees. Other mammals habitually seen include hippos, otters, bushbucks and vervet monkeys. Rarer sightings are marsh mongoose, genet, colobus, and suni antelope (dikdik).
The island has an abundance of storks, herons, egrets, ibises, flycatchers, bee-eaters, cormorants, kingfishers, hornbills and birds of prey, including the highest density of fish eagles anywhere in the world. Generally, Rubondo Game Park is a birder's nirvana with nearly 430 species documented on the island. The diversity of habitats, from open woodland to papyrus swamps and evergreen forest, together with its geographical location in the heart of Africa, attracts numerous resident and migrant species. The wide variety of invertebrates and diversity of plants species makes Rubondo a fascinating place for naturalists. Wonderful butterflies create a varicolored scenario in the forest together with the splendid seasonal displays of fireball lilies, orchids, and red coral trees. Visitors have the freedom to hunt the forest and lake shores by foot or boat allowing each person to discover his or her own enchantment of Rubondo and to leave with a uniquely personal encountering of the island.
