Thursday, May 21, 2009

On Safari in Southern Tanzania - Discover the Mnazi Bay Marine Park

By Andrew Muigai

The Southern coast of Tanzania is a favorite travel destination among Tanzania safari enthusiasts especially those looking to avoid the tourist crowds in the northern national parks and game reserves. Mtwara, a small Swahili town, and the surrounding beaches, together with the tranquil Mnazi Bay Marine Park make for quiet alternative to larger beach destinations to the country's north.

If you are an adventure travel enthusiast, you can have lots of fun in Southern Tanzania. The experience of traveling in the African country without the usual tourist crowds is in itself very rewarding. You get to explore such sites as unspoilt beaches on the Indian ocean coast, a number of swahili ruins, among other attractions.

Mtwara is the gateway into Southern Tanzania for tourism and business alike. Access to and from Dar es Salaam is easy with frequent and regular flights and sailings. Mtwara is a laid back town and is spread out over a large area. The town is close to the Mnazi Bay Marine Park where it is possible to experience some of the most isolated dive sites on the coast. The town makes an excellent stop-over for trips to the Marine Park.

Mnazi Bay was previously most renowned as a port for traveling to Mozambique by dhow. However, the coral reefs and the beautiful white sand beaches are the main attractions today. The coral reefs provide ideal conditions for snorkeling even during low tide.

There is a profuse bird life in the Mnazi Bay Marine park, with waders being the most abundant. Common bird species found here include the Zanzibar black-bellied glossy-starling, the brown-headed parrot, the mangrove kingfisher, the crab clover, and the greater sand-clover.

Mnazi bay marine park has earned an international recognition because of its biodiversity. There are many varieties of mangroves found here, plsu sea grass beds and coral reefs, all of which are an important source of livelihood for the communities residing nearby.

The Rawira peninsula lies on the seaward side of Mnazi bay at the south, while on the north are several small islands. The Tanzania government has plans to open up the area more for tourism, considering that it is ideally situated as a place for resting and unwinding after a Tanzania safari in the southern safari circuit. Since the neighboring communities actively participate in managing the park, they stand to benefit even more from tourism in the park.

For international travel to Southern Tanzania, Dar es Salaam is the main entry point. This city, also known as a Haven of Peace, is accessible by flights from Johannesburg, Nairobi, Addis Ababa. A number of airlines also operate flights to Dar es Salaam airport from other airports in Tanzania including Dodoma airport and Kilimanjaro international airport, which are also points of entry for several international flights to Tanzania. Dar es Salaam can also be reached by sea from Mombasa, Kenya through the daily ferry service between the two cities.

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