finger Words and/or phrases in BLUE are links to images or other webpages.

 

 

SELECTED LINKS:

 

Africa is an extremely old continent. Some say it is as old as 4,000 million years, older than Europe or North America. You can see the age from the air, the millions of years of weathering have torn down mountains and turned much of Africa into a series of endless, rolling plains and hills. One of the exceptions to this is the very geologically active East African Rift, with the Rift valley and volcanoes that it produced.

The East African Rift is the place where two plates are moving away from each other. The resulting cracks have produced both the very dramatic Rift Valley and the volcanoes on either side of it. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya, Mt. Meru and Ngorongoro are a few of the best-known examples of the Rift's volcanoes.

These volcanoes are relatively young, and one is still active today, as are hot springs and steam vents within Ngorongoro. As these volcanoes erupted, they covered the eastern parts of Serengeti with ash and larger particles. The soils of the Serengeti Plains are derived from this volcanic ash.

 

animated flag

 

TANZANIA (formerly TANGANYIKA):

"... Tanzania peacefully gained its independence from Britain in 1961. Its next door neighbor, Zanzibar, became independent in 1963, and a year later the two nations joined forces, becoming the United Republic of Tanzania. Today, it is often used by other nations as a neutral meeting ground, giving it the unofficial title, "Switzerland of Africa." On October 29, 1995, Tanzania held its first democratic elections..."


Absolute Tanzania
    Facts | History | Government
    Image Gallery: People | Wildlife | Scenery
Internet Archive Search: tanzania   |   Tanzania (2007) video
Arusha City
National Geographic: Heartbreak of the Serengeti
Kenya-Ethiopia Modern Music (audio files)
    Masai.mp3 - performed by Mr. Ebbo
Mwalimu Cultural Center
Tanzana interactive map | Northern Tanzania
Tanzania in 2&3 Deimensions
Tanzania Weather Forecast
Tanzania World Website Directory



flag
Meaning of the Tanzanian Flag: "The green stripe symbolizes agriculture and the fertility of the land. The black represents the citizens of Tanzania. The blue stripe stands for the Indian Ocean which is on Tanzania's eastern coastline, and the yellow stripe represents the country's mineral wealth." - World Flags 101


SWAHILI:

Kiswahili or Swahili is the official language of Tanzanai and is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources, including Arabic and English, and it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa... Kiunguju is the name for Swahili in Zanzibar. English is the official and primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education. Arabic is widely spoken in Zanzibar.

By making Swahili the national language, Nyerere helped create a sense of national unity within Tanzania which is reflected in the country's ethnic and religious tolerance. Although Tanzania remains one of the 25 poorest countries in the world, under the current government adult literacy and health care are improving.






INTERACTIVE MAPS:

LINKS:
• Tanzania | more
• Tarangire National Park map | map 2 | map 3
• Ngorongoro Conservation Area
• Ngorongoro Map
• Serengeti National Park Map
   Kuria of Mara Region: A hill village, some 15 km to the northwest of Mugumu town,
   the headquarters of Serengeti District.
• africatravelresource: Serengeti
• Serengeti PDF file
   Lemai Guard Post
• Serengeti Map
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RECOMMENDED READING:

• The White Nile by Alan Moorehead, 1960
   An extremely well written and a lively history of the Victorian search for
   the source of the Nile; an interesting history of early exploration in Africa
   focusing on the period of 1856-1899.
• Out of Africa 1937 memoir by Isak Dinesen
• Heartbreak on the Serengeti National Geographics, Feb. 2006
• Broken Spears by Elizabeth L. Gilbert, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003
• Tribes of the Great Rift Valley by Elizabeth L. Gilbert, Abrams, 2007 (amazon.com)
• Carnets de Tanzanie (Tanzanian Notebook} by Denis Claveul, Guillemette
   de Grissac, and Philippe de Grissac, Tanganyika Wildlife Safari, Tanzania 2001
• Dreaming of Africa by Denis Clavreul, Rizzoli, 2001
• Selected field-guides on wildlife & fauna of Tanzania & East Africa
  • Wildlife of East Africa by Withers & Hosking, Princeton Pocket Guide, 2000
  • Tanzania by Lizzie Williams, Footprint, 2005




THE PEOPLE OF TANZANIA:



There are approximately 31 million people in Tanzania today spread unevenly throughout rural areas, close to the ocean or great lakes. 98% of the population is made up of two indigenous groups: Bantu-speakers whose activities revolve around agriculture and food production and Nilotic-speakers who are pastoralists, originating from the Nile valley and who are primarily involved in cattle farming. The remaining 2% consists of Europeans, Asians and Arabs who dwell mainly in urban areas.

Tanzania has more than 120 ethnic groups, mostly of Bantu origin. About twelve of these groups make up half the population of Tanzania, and of these the Sukuma are the largest. A few of the more major tribes:

fan Sukuma:   Bantu-speaking tribe who live primarily in the southern communities of Lake Victoria.

Makonde:   Bantu-speaking tribe found in southern Tanzania near the eastern shores of Lake Nyasa.

Chagga:   Bantu-speaking tribe from the southern slopes of Kilimanjaro.

Haya:   Bantu-speaking people whose main tribal area is around the western shores of Lake Victoria.

Hehe:   Bantu-speaking people who are settled predominantly in the Iringa Highlands region in the south of the country.

Maasai:   Nilotic-speaking tribe in Northern Tanzania and Southern Kenya which consists of about 12 different groups defined by their geographical location. The largest group, the Ilkisongo, live in Tanzania and are found mostly in the northern plains and highland areas. They are a noticeably tall people, often seen wearing traditional clothing, with the young warriors - Ilmorani - carrying their traditional weapons. The Maasai are semi-nomadic pastoralists who consider both the land and the cattle to be sacred.

Image: Ol-lenywa fan used by old mem to brush away flies;
also known as sing'wanda (fly-whisk) in Swahili.

"... Like walking staffs, fly-whisks have become invested with political meaning. Traditionally, fly-whisks were usually used by courtiers and ritual and spiritual leaders, although some old folks utilize them to chase flies since they may sit at one spot for a long time. Thus, they are a part of dressing as well... Among the Maasai, fly-whisks have been used by leaders as devices for blessing. A fly-whisk, once dipped in traditional beer, is waved over the group giving everyone a taste. Some of the leaders have waved a fly-whisk to show their agreement with a certain decision. Zaramo waganga (traditional healers) use these items in cleansing rituals. (See: Mariam Sweya and Mbula) It becomes clear that walking staffs and fly-whisks have served as both dress codes and authority objects..."   Dress Codes and Prestige Staffs: constructing political authority with staffs in Tanzania

  • Massai Culture (2007) video
  • Mew Maasai School (2007) video
  • poly-motion.com: video
  • Last Journals of Bishop Hannington through Masai-Land, 1895 | map
  • Photo de Masai...
  • Masai Mp3 Downloads



masai

THE MASAI:
Their Language and Folklore
by A. C. Hollis
Clarendon Press, Oxford
1905
Plate II | IV | V | VII | IX

Iraqw:   Cushitic-speaking people who live in north-central Tanzania and are one of the most ancient tribes in Tanzania.


LINKS:

  • MP3 in Baamoyo - Tanzania Africa
  • YouTube: Masai Warriors Kill Lion

      film

  • Africa Speaks! (1930) a documentary film directed by Walter Futter
Explorer Paul Hoefler leads a safari into central Africa [MPEG | IMDb]

This film features a pair of white male documentary filmmakers making their way across Africa. Its portrayal of the African natives and the way animals are treated are excruciating to watch at times. Particularly upsetting are the way they portray the native tribes' treatment of women, but its hard to tell how accurate this is because the whole film is so skewed in its portrayal of natives. The film has action and many scenes of animal life. And its unenlightened perspective makes it a historically interesting snapshot of popular attitudes towards Africa during the 1930s,




ROCK ART OF TANZANIA:

painting
Ngwaginki (Kitaturu)
Singida Region / Iramba District / Kisiriri Division

"The majority of the Tanzanian rock paintings are found in Kondoa and the contiguous Lake Eyasi basin. Those at Kondoa are the most easily accessible and perhaps the most dramatic because they are frequently painted on impressive rock faces, situated on steep rocky slopes overlooking valleys below. These paintings were also the first to be reported, as long ago as 1908. Surprisingly they were given little attention, being described and recorded only in brief publications by various scholars until Mary Leakey published her beautifully illustrated book describing the art of Kondoa-Irangi. The renewed research efforts...extend this record, and illustrate how rich this heritage really is; in five field seasons, Dr. Fidelis Masao and his colleagues recorded 140 new sites in Singida and 35 in the Lake Eyasi basin..." from: Forward by Dr. Meave Leakey to The Prehistoric Rock Art of Singida & Lake Eyasi Basin, North Central Tanzania, 2003





MISCELLANIOUS LINKS:


OLDOINYO LENGAI
(in Maasa: Mountain of God)

Ol Doinyo Lengai is a strato volcano located in Northern Tanzania. It looms 9,524 feet (app. 2950 meters) above the East African Rift Valley. The slopes of the volcano are as steep as 50 degrees and in prehistorical times, enormous land slides occured maybe also triggert by explosive eruptions. In historical times, Lengai erupted fluid natron carbonatite in gentle eruptions with explosive intervals by the average of every 30 years. It is the only active volcano in Tanzania and one of a select few that are active in the East African Rift Valley. The volcano has erupted many times since it first began to be observed by geologists. Major eruptions have occurred in 1880, 1914-15, 1926, 1940-41, 1958, 1960-66, 1983-93, 1994-1998... The last eruption period was in March 2006. Satellite thermal monitoring since June 2007 indicates that another active eruption phase has been ramping up and in early September OL erupted again - this time more explosively than usual, sending ash high into the atmosphere.

The name Ol Doinyo Lengai means "The Mountain of God" in the Maasai language... many Masaii families live around the volcano and most of the younger generation may have forgotten that the holy mountain of the Masaii tribe can cause death and distruction. ... ...





BERNHARD and MICHAEL GRZIMEK:


Simple Stone Monument
on
Ngorogoro Crater's western ridge
to
PROFESSOR BERNANRD GRZZIMEK
and

MICHAEL GRZIMEK
12. 4. 1934 - 10. 1. 1959
HE GAVE ALL HE POSSESSED
INCLUDING HIS LIFE
FOR THE WILD ANIMALS OF AFRICA

close-up of the inscription

Michael Grzimek was killed in a plane accident in 1959. Like his father, Bernhard, he contributed greatly in promoting the nature of Northern Tanzania and was befriended by the Maasai tribemen.

"... high in the plateau above Ngorongoro Crater is a simple stone monument to Michael Grzimek. With his father, Bernard, he was among the first to recognise the precious jewel that the east African reserves represent and the mortal danger they were in; together father and son fought tirelessly to save them and to inform an unsuspecting and apathetic world of the impending crisis. But those whom the gods love die young; if you listen hard enough you can hear the angel's wings, and Michael Grzimek was killed tragically at the age of 28, when his small aircraft crashed on the Serengeti Plains, perhaps after a collision with a vulture. His portrait hangs in the lodge overlooking Ngorongoro Crater, 9000 feet high in the Rift Valley escarpment; a boyish smile, teeth gleaming, eyes bright, flying scarf streaming out in the wind, his youthfulness enshrined, captured forever, age never to wither him, a young Adonis in the fields of the Lord."





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NATIONAL PARKS & CONSERVATION AREAS:

One tenth of Tanzania's land is reserved for ecology and wildlife conservation, Tanzania has more National Parks than any country in Africa and is home to an unrivaled diversity of wildlife and cultures. Each of the parks has a different eco-system; the Serengeti National Park in Northern Tanzania is one of nature's wonder of the world.


TARANGIRE NATIONAL PARK:

Size: 2,600 sq km (1,005 sq miles).
Location: 118 km (75 miles) southwest of Arusha.

Tarangire National Park, located in the Rift Valley, home to many wildlife species adjacent reliable waters of the Tarangire River.

The greatest concentration of wildlife outside the Serengeti ecosystem inclues herds of elephants, migratory wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, gazelle, hartebeest and eland - and the one place in Tanzania where dry-country antelope such as the fringe-eared oryx and long-necked gerenuk are regularly observed.

The swamps, tinged green year round, are the focus for 550 bird varieties, the most breeding species in one habitat anywhere in the world and on drier ground you find the Kori bustard, the heaviest flying bird; the stocking-thighed ostrich, the world's largest bird; and small parties of ground hornbills. Keep an eye open for flocks of the yellow-collared lovebird, and the rufous-tailed weaver and ashy starling ­ all endemic to the dry savannah of north-central Tanzania. Disused termite mounds are often frequented by colonies of dwarf mongoose, and pairs of red-and-yellow barbet.

• tanzaniaparks.com

NGORONGORO CONSERVATION AREA:

Called the eighth wonder of the world and stretching across some 8,300 sq km, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania boasts a blend of landscapes, wildlife, people and archaeology that is unsurpassed in Africa. The volcanoes, grasslands, waterfalls and mountain forests are home to an abundance of animals and to the Maasai.

Maasai pastoralists arrived in the Conservation Area a few hundred years ago. Their strong insistence on their traditional customs and way of life allowed them to live in harmony with the wildlife and the enviornment. Today there are approximately 52,000 Maasai living in the NCA with their livestock. Being herders of cattle, goats and sheep, their semi-nomadic life depends on accessible water supplies. Their seasonal homes, known as bomas, are scattered throughout the landscape and are rebuilt upon return from the dry or wet season quarters.

• Absolute Tanzania
• africatravelresource.com | crater 180

NGORONGORO CRATER:

Ngorongoro Crater is one of the world's greatest natural spectacles, its magical setting and abundant wildlife never fail to enthral visitors. It borders the Serengeti National Park to the north and west. A few hours drive to the east takes you to the town of Arusha which nestles at the foot of Mount Meru, within view of Mount Kilimanjaro. Arusha is known as the gateway to the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the Northern Parks.

  • Wikipedia | Ngorongoro Crater Panorama (9325x1878 pixels jpg)
  • Ngorongoro in 3D
  • photo of the Crater floor
  • Ngorongoro Crater

OLDVAI GORGE:

Visitors now see Olduvai Gorge (also known as Oldupai, the Maasai spelling of the name) as a dry, shallow canyon draining wet season run-off from Lakes Ndutu and Masek to the Olbalbal depression. However, several million years ago the entire area was a vast alkaline lake. The wildly fluctuating waters of this ancient lake formed the definitive sediment layers that have yielded a valuable paleoanthropological and archaeological record. In the seventy years since Louis and Mary Leakey first began searching the area for clues to our distant past, more than sixty hominid remains have been found, belonging to four different hominids, showing the gradual increase in brain size and in the complexity of their stone tools. One of the most famous of these discoveries was made by Mary Leakey and is the well known 'Zinjanthropus'. At Laetoli, hominid footprints are preserved in volcanic rock some 3.6 million years old and represent some of the earliest signs of the small brained, upright-walking Australopithecus afarensis, ever to be found. Imprints are among the facinating exhibits in the museum at Oldupai. Excavations are on-going and continue to produce splendid specimens of extinct hominids, animals and plants. The museum at Oldupai Gorge provides excellent exhibits, lectures and its location offers great views over the gorge. Walking tours of the area, which is also a birders' paradise, can be arranged.

  •

SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK:

Size: 14,763 sq km (5,700 sq miles).
Location: 335km (208 miles) from Arusha, stretching north to Kenya
  and bordering Lake Victoria to the west.

Tanzania's oldest and most popular national park, the Serengeti is famed for its annual migration, when some six million hooves pound the open plains, as more than 200,000 zebra and 300,000 Thomson's gazelle join the wildebeest's trek for fresh grazing. The Serengeti offers arguably the most scintillating game-viewing in Africa: great herds of buffalo, smaller groups of elephant and giraffe, and thousands upon thousands of eland, topi, kongoni, impala and Grant's gazelle.

Golden-maned lion prides feast on the abundance of plain grazers. Solitary leopards haunt the acacia trees lining the Seronera River, while a high density of cheetahs prowls the southeastern plains. All three African jackal species occur here, alongside the spotted hyena and a host of more elusive small predators, ranging from the insectivorous aardwolf to the beautiful serval cat.

Gaudy agama lizards and rock hyraxes scuffle around the surfaces of the park's isolated granite koppies. A full 100 varieties of dung beetle have been recorded, as have 500-plus bird species, ranging from the outsized ostrich and bizarre secretary bird of the open grassland...

• official Serengeti Website
• africatravelresource.com
• www.tanapa.com
• Serengeti in 3D

OTHER PARKS & RESERVES:

  Kilimanjaro National Park:
    Size: 755 sq km (292 sq miles).
    Location: Northern Tanzania, near the town of Moshi.
      128 km (80 miles) from Arusha.
      About one houršs drive from Kilimanjaro airport.
    • Kilimanjaro National Park map   [ 2 ]
    • Kilmanjaro and East Africa

 Lake Manyara National Park:
    Size: 330 sq km (127 sq miles).
    Location: In northern Tanzania.
      Entrance gate lies 1.5 hours (126km/80 miles) west of Arusha
      close to the ethnically diverse market town of Mto wa Mbu.
    • Lake Manyara National Park ( map )

MISCELLANIOUS LINKS:

• Alsolute Tanzania: | National Parks | Game Reserves
• Tanzanian & Kenyan Attractions





TANZANIAN WILDLIFE

Unqulates ("hoofed" - animal with hooves):
    . Perissodactyla - odd-toed ungulates;
      large grazing mammals with simple stomachs
      Family: Hippomorpha:
      Family: Ceratomorpha:
    . Artiodactyla | 2 | 3 | 4 - even-toed ungulates,
      mostly with multi-chambered stomachs.
      Three suborders:
        1. Suina (pig group)
        2. Tylopoda (camel group)
        3. Ruminantia (goats and cattle group)

Carnivores

Primates

Birds

Reptiles

Picture & Audio Files:
The Big Five:
Cape "African" Buffalo ( Swahili Nyati ):
    Species: Syncerus caffer
    . audio file
Elephant:
    . audio files: 1 | 2 | 3
    . African elephants
    . Elephant Country
Leopard:
    . audio files: 1 | 2 | 3
Lion:
    . audio files: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
    . Honolulu Zoo: Lion
Rhinoceros ( Swahili: Faru ):
    Species: Diceros bicornis
    . audio files: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
    . Black Rhinoceros

Plus Four:
Cheetah:
    . audio files: 1 | 2 | 3
    . Thomson Newsletter
    . Honolullu Zoo: Cheetah
Masai aka Kilimanjaro Giraffe ( Swahili: Twiga ):
    Species: Giraffa camelopardalis
    . Honolulu Zoo: Giraffe
Hippopotamus ( Swahili: Kiboko ) :
    Species: Hippopotamus amphibius
    . audio files: 1 | 2
    . Honolulu Zoo
Zebra ( Swahili: Punda Milia ):
    Species: Equus quagga (?)
    . audio files: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
    . Grant's Zebra

Other Mammals:
Baboon audio files: 1 | 2
Dik Dik ( Swahili: Faru ) ( more)
    Species: Madoqua kirkii
Eland ( Swahili: Faru )
    Species: Madoqua kirki
Grants' Gazelle (Swahili: Swala Granti )
    Species: Gazella granti
Hartebeest ( Swahili: Kongoni )
Hyena
    . audio files: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Impalas - ( Swahili: Swala Pala )
    Species: Aepyceros melampus
Klipspringer
Monkey audio files: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4)
Reedbuck
    Species: Redunca redunca
Thomson's Gazelle - ( Swahili: Swala Tomi )
    Species: Gazella thomsonii
Topi - ( Swahili: Nyamera)
    Species: Damaliscus lunatus
Warthogs [ more ] - ( Swahili: Ngiri )
    Species: Phacochoerus aethiopicus
Waterbuck
Wildebeest - ( Swahili: Nyumbu Ya Montu )
    Species: Connochaetes taurinus

Reptiles:
Nile Crocodile
    . audio files: 1 | 2
Black Mamba (tree snake)

Birds:
Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu (common waxbill)
    Species: Uraeginthus bengalus
Grey Crowned Crane   ( 2 )
    Order: Gruiformes | Species: Balearica regulorum
Cattle Egrets
    Species: Bubulcus ibis
Flamingo: (photos | audio file)
    Genus: Phoenicopterus | Family: Phoenicopteridae
    picture files: 1
Egyptian Goose
    Order: Anseriformes | Species: Aloopochen aegyptiacus
Helmeted Guineafowl
    Order: Craciformes | S[ecies: Numido meleagris
Sacred Ibis [ 2 ]
Malachite Kingfisher   ( 2 )
    Order: Coraciiformes | Species: Alcedo cristata
Ostrich
Lilac-Breasted Roller
    Order: Coraciiformes | Species: Coracias caudata
Secretarybird
Superb Starling
    Images: 1
Yellow-Billed Stork
    Order: Ciconiiformes | Species: Mycteria ibis
Vulture (audio file)

Miscellanious:
    . Tanzania Bird Atlas
      The official site for the Tanzania Bird Atlas project
      The website for birds and birding in Tanzania
      G. A. Scattergood Webpage
      photos 2 | sounds | resources
    . 25 Tanzania bird photos
    . Birds of Tanzsnia
    . East African Birds

Insects:
Termite Mound
enlarge

Tsetse Fly
Dung Beetle: (stock photo)
Miscellanious:
    . Forest Insects of Tanzania
Miscellanious:
Find Sounds audio files
Wildlife Lands Image Arcive
Flamingo Tours: safari photos



skbk

AFRICAN ART, ILLUSTRATION, SKETCHBOOKS:

Denis Clavreul. illustrator
    . Dreaming of Africa (2001) | album cover
    . Tanzania Notebooks (1995)
Alison Nicholls' African Sketchbook
Roberta's Tanzanian Sketchbook [ filmstrip ]

Artists Sketchbooks Online


THOMSON SAFARIS WEBSITE

If you are planning on a safari to Tanzania, Thomson Safaris is definitely the way to go. A fun and first class experience! Their attention to detail in all aspects of the trip is extraordinary. Owners, Judi Wineland and Rick Thomson and their daughters, share a common love for the people and land of Tanzania and want you to participate in their enthusiasm.

logo     . Why Tanzania?  |  Map
    . Thomson Newsletter
    . Panraven Jorunaling
    . May 8th DHS Art Gallery reception.



MY SAFARI SLIDE SHOWS:


  • small slide show
  • Picasa Web: large   |   earlier slide show
  • PhotoBucket: slideshow





MY SAFARI PHOTOGRAPHS:

    . Panraven Journaling
    . Photobucket | all
    . Picasa Web Albums
    . PictureTrail


SELECTED SAFARI PHOTOGRAPHS:

Safari-photo.org
Tanzania Adventures: Safaris Photos

 

 

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AltaVista Babel Fish Translation

updated: 06-16-08

The Studio Calico Cat
"Der Panther"
cats & cats

red dot