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Tanzania’s Forgotten South

By Dave Henderson, Kilwa Safari

When Tanzania is mentioned, people think of the world famous game reserves, the snow-capped slopes of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, and the idyllic beaches of the island paradise of Zanzibar.

Traditionally the Northern Safari Circuit, comprising the national parks of Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, has been the first choice for tourists. These areas of outstanding natural beauty now attract the majority of the 500,000 tourists that visit Tanzania every year. However, visitors are starting to notice some disappointing changes. Now you often see more safari vehicles than animals on your game drives!

From a zoological perspective, animals’ habits are also changing due to the tourists. Cheetah that normally feed at dawn and dusk are starting to hunt at lunchtime, when the tourists are back at their hotels eating, to avoid safari vehicles scaring off prey. Hunting at lunchtime in the heat of the day, results in a lower rate of capture for the cheetah, leading ultimately to a decrease in survival rate.

Zanzibar, the one-time travelers’ haunt has now developed into a holiday destination for all budgets. The beautiful palm fringed beaches with local made huts are still there but are now interspersed with five-star hotels.

However, in recent years the undiscovered south of Tanzania is opening up to offer visitors the same animal attractions of the north, but without the crowds. The area is now being discovered predominately due to the improved infrastructure of the southern region, including major improvements to the road links between the capital at Dar-Es-Salaam down the Indian Ocean coastline, via Kilwa Masoko. to Lindi and Mtwara. Northern Mozambique has never had a physical link with Tanzania, due to the imposing border of the Rovuma River, even though a “friendship bridge” was proposed in the 1970’s. Recently, the first link between Tanzania and Mozambique was established with a motorized ferry capable of transporting overland trucks and 4x4 vehicles to and from Southern Tanzania.

Three vast preserves

The Southern Safari Circuit comprises Mikumi and Ruaha national parks and the Selous Game Reserve. Covering over 3,000 square kilometres (aout 1,160 square miles), Mikumi National Park is the third largest of Tanzanian parks and is a significant wildlife refuge in its own right. This area of Tanzania is sufficiently remote and under-populated allowing game the opportunity to migrate south into the Selous Game Reserve and west to Ruaha National Park.

At the heart of Mikumi is the Mkata River flood plain. The Uluguru Mountains to the east and the Rubeco Mountains to the west enclose the flood plain. The Mkata plain offers the chance to view a large variety of animals including four of the "big five:" elephant, buffalo, lion and leopard. In the "Miombo" woodland of the mountain ranges and foothills, there are opportunities to see hartebeest, sable antelope, greater kudu, colobus monkey and hunting dogs. More than 300 bird species have been recorded in Mikumi Park, including many Eurasian migrants and many of Tanzania’s endemic species.

Ruaha National Park is the country's second largest park covering 10,300 square kilometers (almost 4,000 square miles). Ruaha is one of Tanzania's least accessible parks and as a result is virtually untouched. This vast wilderness is rich in wildlife and contains a wide variety of species that includes greater and lesser kudu, roan and sable antelope, huge herds of elephant and buffalo, and an abundance of bird life. It is indeed a birdwatcher's paradise, containing over 465 different bird species, of which 350 are not found in the parks of Northern Tanzania. The Great Ruaha River, which offers viewing of large numbers of hippo and crocodile, and spectacular scenery, transects the park.

The Selous Game Reserve at 55,000 square kilometers (21,000 square miles) is the second biggest conservation area and the largest game reserve in the whole of Africa. To put it in perspective, the Selous is larger than Switzerland and half the size of the U.S. state of Ohio. Until recently, the reserve was only accessible by plane or by train. However, with an improvement to the road network, the area is now accessible to everyone. The concentrations of wildlife in the Selous are understandably huge. The Selous, named after a German explorer and author, boasts Tanzania's largest population of elephant – currently about 10,000 animals – as well as some of Africa’s largest numbers of buffalo, hippos, Nile crocodile and wild dogs.

Other species commonly seen are lion, bushbuck, impala, giraffe, eland, baboon, zebra and greater kudu. The Selous also contains one of the few viable populations of black rhinos in the world, with between 150 and 200 individual animals. The reserve also contains more than 350 different bird species and 2,000 different species of plants. The Selous was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983 due to its unique ecological importance.

A powerful medieval city

The other UNESCO world heritage site in Southern Tanzania is found on the East African coast on the Indian Ocean, and is known as Kilwa Kiswani. Kilwa Kiswani is a small island situated just off the coast from the town of Kilwa Masoko in Southeast Tanzania. Kilwa became important as a prosperous trading and commercial center that connected the Indian Ocean littoral to Africa’s interior. Kilwa traded in items as diverse as Arabian crockery, Persian earthenware and Chinese porcelain. Kilwa has been habited since the beginning of the 9th century A.D. and reached its commercial peak in the 13th and 14th century A.D.

Between 1331-1332, the great Arab traveler, Ibn Battouta, made a stop here and described Kilwa as one of the most beautiful cities of the known world. Kilwa Kiswani became an important town due to its control of the gold trade from Sofala in Mozambique. Sofala gained its independence from Kilwa in the early 15th century and the Portuguese explorer; Vasco de Gama destroyed Kilwa in 1502, hoping to gain commercial and maritime dominance in the Indian Ocean for the Portuguese. Kilwa Kiswani then grew rapidly, like Zanzibar did at the same time, due to the slave trade, and in the late 18th century both came under the control of the Sultan of Oman.

The Kilwa ruins found on the island now include the vestiges of the great mosque, constructed in the 12th century of coral clay, the remains of the palace built by Sultan Al Hasan in 1310 and numerous smaller mosques from the 12th and 14th centuries.  From the Portuguese era the ruins of a fortress and an entire urban complex with houses and public areas remain. The archaeological artifacts found at the site bear testimony to the commercial, and consequently cultural, exchanges for which Kilwa was the theater.

Kilwa Kiswani and the neighboring ruins of Songo Mnara are two archaeological sites of prime importance to the understanding of the Swahili culture and the Islamization of the east coast of Africa. It was for these reasons that the ruins were awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1981. They were since been virtually ignored until a joint French and Japanese government- funded restoration program was established. Restoration and exploratory digging work on the ruins began in 2003 and in the near future a museum and information center will be opened to exhibit the artifacts.

Although Kilwa Kiswani is now just a small fishing village, the town of Kilwa Masoko is developing to become perhaps the most important center for eco-tourism in Southern Tanzania. Kilwa Masoko offers tourists deserted palm-fringed beaches with safe swimming in a historical setting.

The coast's great mangrove swamps

The Kilwa coastline is predominately mangrove forest. From an ecological perspective, mangroves are a unique and significant ecosystem and among the most productive natural systems found anywhere in the world. They are used by a vast array of organisms as breeding, nursery and feeding areas, including 30 species of crabs and 26 species of mollusks. Other animals inhabiting the mangrove forest include more than 80 species of birds, 30 species of mammals and 25 reptile species. Most of the local tour operators offer educational visits to the mangroves and offer community participation involvement showing that eco-tourism has arrived in Southern Tanzania.

In the Indian Ocean near to the district of Lindi, where Kilwa Masoko lies, are more than 40 coral “patch reefs” and 80 kilometers (50 miles) of coral coastal reef. Recreational dive operators based in Kilwa are opening up in 2003 offering some unique educational diving experiences. Exploratory dives in the area have revealed a plethora of small fish and large schools of game fish, as well as pelagics, such as whale sharks, seen as they migrate up and down the East African coastline.

Most important to Tanzania, is the fact that these coral reefs, like others throughout the world, have an incredible diversity of animal life and are home to many endangered and threatened species of marine life. All recreational divers to the area are made aware of the problems associated with bad diving practice and are encouraged to help with the future protection of this area.

In the far south of Tanzania lie the towns of Lindi and Mtwara. Within the surrounding area there are a variety of attractions for tourists including dinosaur remains. These dinosaur sites from the late Jurassic period have already yielded a full brontosaurus and kentrosaurus skeleton, and it is thought they will contain many other finds of world-wide importance. The sites are situated on the Makonde Plateau.

The Makonde Plateau straddles the southern border of Tanzania and the northern border of Mozambique. The Makonde tribe, known throughout the world for its fine ebony wood carvings, inhabits this plateau, and here its traditional carving methods can still be seen.  

In summary, Southern Tanzania is at the crossroads of a new beginning where the historical past blends with the new, and where eco-tourism is being given the full support of the government.