Saadani National Park

“Where the Bush meets the Beach” Miles wide beach and untamed wild forming bond is an exceptional view that will bring your eyes out of your socket. Sadaani National Park does that literally. 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.

The only wildlife sanctuary in Tanzania bordering the sea, Saadani village itself once was an important harbor-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 resembles the Selous game reserve, while the vast grassy area close to the tourism office is named ‘Serengeti Ndogo’ (Small Serengeti) and lives up to the expectations.

Saadani has made a thriving place for waterbucks, wildebeests, hartebeests, reedbucks, buffaloes and giraffes. You will see warthogs, baboons and colobus monkeys often, whereas elephants, lions and leopards though roam freely, are difficult to spot. For bird watchers, this place may seem like Pandora box. Common birds like the woolly necked stork, common sand pipers, lilac-breasted rollers, palm nut vultures, fish eagles and ground hornbills flock the island but pods of hippos and huge crocodiles, malachite, pied and even giant kingfishers can also be seen. This display of both marine and mainland flora and fauna in a naturally fascinating setting is the main draw of Saadani. display of both marine and mainland flora and fauna in a naturally fascinating setting.