Saadani National Park 72
Saadani is a one of a kind paradise where beach life meets wilderness. This gives you not only the opportunity to plunge into the Indian Ocean straight after your safari, but also to be submerged in a unique display of both marine and mainland flora and fauna in a naturally fascinating setting. Saadani is the only wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania bordering the Indian Ocean. Gazetted in 2005, it encompasses a well-preserved ecosystem including the former Saadani game reserve, the former Mkwaja ranch area, the Wami River as well as the Zaraninge Forest. Many villages are dotted around the boundaries of the park. Saadani village itself once was an important harbour-town and slave-trading centre in East Africa. Nowadays it is a small Swahili village of about 800 inhabitants whose livelihood is mostly fishing.
Bird watchers will be treated to not-often-seen migratory birds that love the shore The coastal vegetation zones range from seashore full of palm trees, through the tidal mangrove forest that form a buffer between ocean and land, to the Wami River shore where the huge sycamore fig is found. Its semi open woodlands closely resemble Selous GR, while the vast grassy area close to the tourism office is named ‘Serengeti Ndogo’ (Small Serengeti) and lives up to the expectations.
Dar Life I MARCH 2021
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