Saadani National Park
This recently gazetted national park bills itself as ‘where the beach meets the bush’ and it is indeed the only viable African wildlife sanctuary to boast an Indian Ocean beachfront. As such, it shares many attributes with the rest of East Africa’s legendarily beautiful tropical coastline – but with the added frisson that an afternoon’s sunbathing might be interrupted by an elephant or baboon strolling past en route to a nearby waterhole!
Such hedonistic concerns aside, this under-publicised gem of a reserve protects a full 1,000 sq km of coastal bush inhabited by creatures as diverse as hippos, lions, dolphins, green turtles, vervet monkeys, pythons, seagulls, egrets and eagles – in short, it’s the ideal wildlife-lover’s alternative to the more crowded and developed beaches around Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam.
Vegetation and habitats
Wildlife
Activities
Getting there
Where to stay
Nearby places of interest
Vegetation and habitats
- Idyllic sandy beaches lined with swaying palm trees and dense coastal thicket.
- Saline riverine lagoons support a ribbon of riparian woodland and mangrove swamps.
- Inland, a park-like cover of open grassland is interspersed with scattered stands of acacia.
Wildlife
- Large mammal populations, depleted by poaching during the 1980/90s, are now recovering well – lion and elephant are sighted with increasing frequency.
- Among the more unusual antelope associated with this park are the magnificent greater kudu, the handsome Roosevelt’s sable, and the tiny red duiker.
- Saadani is one of East Africa’s most important breeding sites for marine turtles, and dolphins are occasionally seen off the shore.
Activities
- Game drives, available at all the lodges, come with a good chance of spotting elephant, giraffe, buffalo, warthog and various antelope.
- Boat trips up the Wami River offer excellent birdwatching (including the possibility of mangrove kingfisher and Pel’s fishing owl) and reliable hippo sightings.
- Popular with birdwatchers, guided walks are best undertaken in the early morning cool.
- Explore the Swahili ruins in Saadani village, a relic of its 19th century heyday as a trade port
- Catch the evening breeze on the palm-lined beach while traditional dhows sail past, billowing white sails silhouetted against a magnificent sunset.
Getting there
- The easiest way to get there is with one of the regular light aircraft connections between Saadani airstrip to Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam.
- Coming by road from the north, the coastal road between Pangani and Saadani via Mkwaja can normally be covered in two hours by 4x4, but it may become impassable after heavy rain.
- Coming by road from the south, some maps still show a coastal route to Saadani, but this has been impassable for years thanks to a non-bridged river north of Bagamoyo. The more circuitous drive inland from Dar es Salaam via Chalinze typically takes 4-5 hours.
- Road access may be problematic during April and May, while the best game-viewing is in Jan- Feb and June-Aug.
Where to stay
- There are three exclusive upmarket tented camps, all with a beachfront location.
- More affordable accommodation is available at a rundown government resthouse/campsite in Saadani village and an even more basic private guesthouse in Mkwaja.
Nearby places of interest
- Coming by road from Arusha, a visit to Saadani can be combined with the atmospheric Swahili port of Pangani and nearby beach resorts at idyllic Ushongo.
Checklist of conspicuous and noteworthy mammals: lion, black-backed jackal, spotted hyena, white-tailed mongoose, blue wildebeest, Coke’s hartebeest, common waterbuck, impala, greater kudu, common eland, sable antelope, bushbuck, common duiker, red duiker, African elephant, African buffalo, common zebra, hippo, warthog, Maasai giraffe, yellow baboon, vervet monkey.
