Tanzania has some of the continent's best resorts, legendary African hospitality, fleeing the workaday world - none could possibly surpass the appeal of the Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater some of the planet's indisputable gems. The world famous Serengeti National Park Covering an area of 14,763 square kilometres, equal in size to Northern Ireland is Tanzania's oldest park, and one of the world's last great wildlife refuges. It is contiguous with Kenya's Masai Mara Game Reserve and stretches as far as Lake Victoria to the West. Its name comes from the Maasai word Siringet, meaning 'endless plains'. The park's vegetation ranges from the short and long grass plains in the south, to the acacia savannah in the centre and wooded grasslands concentrated around the tributaries of the Grumeti and the Mara rivers in the park. The western corridor is a region of wooded highland and extensive plains reaching the edge of Lake Victoria. In the early morning and evening light, the Serengeti landscape is stunningly beautiful. The Serengeti ecosystem supports the greatest remaining concentration of plains game in Africa, including more than three million large mammals. It is the sanctuary of an estimated four million different animals and birds. The animals roam the park freely and in the spectacular migrations, huge herds of wild animals move to other areas of the park in search of greener grazing grounds (requiring over 4,000 tons of grass each day) and water. The annual migration into Kenya (in a continuous search of water and pasture) of more than 1.5 million wildebeest and hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle is triggered by the rains and usually starts in May, at the end of the wet season. Called the Great Migration, this constitutes the most breathtaking event in the animal kingdom ever known to humans. As the dry season intensifies, the herds drift out towards the west, one group to the north (to Lake Victoria, where there is permanent water), the other northeast heading for the permanent waters of the northern rivers and the Mara. The immigration instinct is so strong that animals die in the rivers as they dive from the banks into the raging waters to be dispatched by crocodiles. The survivors concentrate in Kenya's Maasai Mara National Reserve until the grazing there is exhausted, when they turn south along the eastern and final stage of the migration route. Before the main exodus, the herds are a spectacular sight, massed in huge numbers with the week and crippled at the tail end of the procession, followed by the patient vigilant predators, including lions (the adult males of Serengeti have characteristic black manes), cheetahs, hunting dogs and spotted hyena. The migration coincides with the breeding season, which causes fights among the males. The best months for visiting are December to February, and May to July. Budget accommodation is at designated camp sites.

Ngorongoro Crater is a vast protected area stretching from Lake Natron (the breeding ground for East Africa's flamingos) in the northeast, to Lake Eyasi in the south, and Lake Manyara to the east. The area includes the still active Ol-Ndoinyo Lengai (meaning "Mountain of God" in Maa, the language of the Masaai) volcano (which last erupted in 1983), Olduvai Gorge and the Ngorongoro Crater, the largest unbroken caldera in the world. It has been described as one of the great natural wonders of the world. The crater is home to many species of wild game and birds. With the exception of impala and topi (due to fierce competition with the wildebeest) and the giraffe (because there is not much to eat at tree level), almost every species of African plains mammal lives in the crater, including the endangered black rhino, and the densest population of predators in Africa. A strange thing is that the crater elephants are mainly bulls. The birdlife, which includes the flamingo, is mainly seasonal, and is also affected by the ratio of soda to fresh water in Lake Magadi on the crater floor. In the northern, remote area of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are the Olmoti and Empaakai craters, Lake Natron and Oldoinyo Lengai. The mysterious Engakura Ruins, the remains of a terraced city and a complex irrigation system, lie on the Eastern side of Empakaai Crater. Their origins are a mystery as there is no tradition of stone building in this part of Africa. Views from the rim of the crater are sensational. On the crater floor, grassland blends into swamps, lakes, rivers, woodland and mountains. You can descend to the floor of the crater in a four-wheel drive vehicle. Only 4WD vehicles are allowed into the crater and game rangers are compulsory for all. The Maasai are permitted to water their cattle at the permanent lake and can be seen leading their animals in and out of the crater. Budget accommodation is at designated camp sites.

Tarangire National park has a particularly high concentration of wildlife during the dry season from June to October, mainly congregating along the Tarangire River.
The park is also an ornithologist’s paradise with more than 300 species of birds, including the largest bird in the world, the ostrich and the heaviest bird that can fly, the Kori Bustard. The best game viewing months are between September and December but for bird viewing is best to come between the months of October and May.
Accommodation is available in a luxury tented lodge and at camp sites.

Ruaha, the second largest (after the Serengeti) of Tanzania's varied National parks, with its dramatic geography is truly a vast unspoilt wilderness of some 13,000 sq km. It is part of an enormous expanse of protected land-the 30,000 sq km Rungwa-Kisigo-Ruaha ecosystem, most of which made up the Saba Game Reserve in former German Colonial times.
Ruaha is also interesting as it represents a transition zone where eastern and southern African species of fauna and flora overlap. The shining river after which the park is named, winds through the eastern section, fringed by tall trees: Acacia albida, Tamarind and Wild figs, as well as the majestic Baobab, almost a signature of Ruaha. The valley of the Great Ruaha River is thought to be an extension of the Great Rift Valley and the Ruaha flows along the Park's entire eastern boundary through rugged gorges and open plains. A rich diversity of animal and plant life is sheltered by the Park: Ruaha is a hauntingly beautiful and wild landscape of miombo forest, rolling woodlands, hills, rivers and plains and possesses a great variety of wildlife, including lion, leopard, cheetah, hunting dog, warthog, giraffe, zebra, huge herds of buffalo and large concentrations of elephant. It is the only East Africa Park where it is possible to see the greater and lesser kudu, as well as sable and roan antelopes. Whilst rhinos are rarely seen today, the elephant population has more than doubled in the last dozen years, not least due to steady eradication of poaching, but involving the village communities around the park in a largely successful joint effort that has become an example. The diversity of bird life in Ruaha, more than any other East African park, is extraordinary; its geographical location meaning that it is visited by both northern and southern migrants. These include the Red-billed Wood Hoopoe, Violet-crested Turaco, Racquet-tailed Roller, Red-billed Firefinch, Dickinson's Kestrel and Pel's Fishing Owl. Some 480 species of bird have been sighted within the Park and the first third of the year, during the wet months, is appreciated as the most interesting for birders.
Ruaha is interesting all year round and there are climatic variations, not least owing to global warning and the El Nino phenomenon.  However June to October is the 'Yellow season'; when game is most visible because the grass is shorter and the animals come to the Great Ruaha River to drink. November and December are hot, and the short rains make the climate more humid, though these certainly do not preclude a visit. January and February are predominantly hot and dry but again a good time to visit. March and April are wet and movement around the park can be a little more difficult and May is usually very wet and is the time when most camps will be closed. Budget accommodation is at designated camp sites.