Why southern Tanzania is Africa’s next big destination for travellers

“I have personally dipped my feet in the hot springs for 45 minutes, and I got cured of athlete’s foot that had been disturbing me for years to no end,” said Shah Mjanja, a tour guide with Kiwira Cultural Tourism Enterprises (Everyday Mbeya), which specialises in Southern tourism and is based in Mbeya.

He recently took a group of Israeli tourists to Lake Ngozi, who went looking for medicinal plants deep in the forest. Within the rainforest, there are banana trees that produce cleaner water than the tap water that is supplied to communities across the country. Some of these wonders found in the southern highlands go unnoticed when discussing tourism in Tanzania, living up to the region’s mystique as the hidden gem of tourist attractions.

Mr Mjanja boldly claimed that the region is the only place a tourist can spend up to ten days visiting different tourist attractions each day and still not exhaust all that the South has to offer. The region is awash with diverse beauty and attractions that are incomparable.

A tourist can explore the whole Udzungwa Mountain National Park with its biodiversity and hundreds of animal and plant species, and get to witness the magnificent Sanje Waterfalls; from there, they can get to do a walking safari visiting Ruaha National Park tucked away in the Iringa region. This is Tanzania’s largest national park, with the great Ruaha River flowing through the southeastern part of the park. Ruaha National Park has the largest population of lions in Tanzania and Africa.

Tanzania holds the record of having more than 30% of all the wild lions in the world, making it the country with the largest population of lions globally. In the southwest of Iringa, you get to feel the ever-present presence of the celebrated Hehe Chief Mkwawa, with the Kalenga Historical Museum being built alongside the remains of his stone fort.

He stands as one of the chiefs and a colonial-era warrior to have won many wars against the colonial forces. The fierce leader has been immortalised in captivating folktales and the museum exhibits. Not far off, a tourist can grab lunch and still make it to the Isilimila Stone Age site, a relic of past life and evidence of how humans evolved in their usage of tools.

The archaeological and geological site has a collection of stone tools and has been the centre of numerous studies dating back a century.

Nations across the world would send their archaeologists for research. The towering sandstone pillars and canyon give the site a truly prehistoric feel. There is an abundant stretch of land where you get to see and touch human evolution.

From Iringa, the next step would be the Mbeya region, which is just next door. Here you will find Kitulo National Park, known as the ‘garden of God’ or the Serengeti of flowers.

The park is more than 400 kilometres away, the sea of various flowers stretches as far as one’s eyes can see, and it is famous for its species of more than 300 vascular plants and more than 40 orchid species. In 2005, it became the first national park established to protect its plant species, many of which are endemic.

While in Mbeya, a stroll along the sandy shores of Matema Beach is highly recommended. The tranquil lakeside spot is located in Lake Nyasa in Kyela, overlooking the gigantic Livingstone Mountains. Here you can go snorkelling, hike to the waterfalls, or kayak just like the locals do.

The wettest area in the whole country is here; no other place in Tanzania receives more rain than Rungwe. You get to hike Mountain Rungwe, with the summit at 2,981 meters.

The mountain is the second highest in Southern Tanzania, with its ecosystem harbouring the endangered kipunji monkeys. Mbeya is also home to the Mpanga-Kipengele Game Reserve, mainly referred to as the land of waterfalls, with more than 10 falls within its vicinity.

The popular Kimani waterfall plunges for more than 250 meters and is beloved by swimmers. The game reserve has more than 15 forest types and is rich in mountain flower species. For the bird watchers, it doesn’t get better than this, with more than 300 species of endemic birds like the Kipengere seed-eater, the Marsh widow bird, and the Njombe Cisticola.

The area is ideal for campers and cultural visits with friendly locals who would welcome you with open arms.

Southern Tanzania is exceptionally blessed, the various attractions are evident, and the tourists’ favourite lions are easily spotted. And each park offers a diversity of activities that are new in the eyes of a visitor and not repetitive.

Yet the Southern hospitality heavily suffers from obscurity; while Serengeti has been marketed across the world from New York to Dubai, the amazing features available within Southern Tanzania remain unsung. “For years, southern Tanzania has played second fiddle to the northern circuit,” said Shah. While tourism has become the country’s top earner, the Northern circuit that boasts of Ngorongoro National Park and Serengeti is on the brink of mass tourism. Several stakeholders have raised the alarm and asked for the authority to find a way to practice responsible tourism while welcoming more tourists to reach the country’s target of 8 million tourists.

The safari vehicles carrying tourists are a constant feature on the road from Karatu to Moshi; hundreds of those vehicles line up in Serengeti with tourists trying to catch a glimpse of the animals. The situation in Ruaha National Park is the exact opposite. While the park has plenty of lions and other big five, a few safari trucks can be seen driving around. Even in Katavi National Park, which has a huge population of elephants, the number of tourists it receives is a far cry from its northern counterparts.

The reasons for the unimpressive number of tourists could stem from a lack of invested marketing strategies and advertising to a lack of 5-star accommodation that would attract international tourists, nor have investors been privy to the potential of its tourism sector, but Mr. Shah, who started working in the tourism sector in 2018, has been actively promoting the southern region.

His catalogue of wildlife pictures has been featured at the Julius Nyerere International Airport. “If you go to the airport, there is a picture of Lake Ngozi, the second largest crater lake in Africa; I took that picture,” he said. “Gradually things are changing, with the help of the internet; that’s why I started the everydaymbeya.com website,” he added.

There have been deliberate efforts to urge residents of the region to organise group trips to these national parks and massively share on social media so that the world can see what they have to offer. Beyond that, they have also participated in the tourism festival and expo organised in the northern circuit, like the recent Kilifair in Arusha, where they marketed what they have to offer, and change is visible. “If I look back to three years ago, the number of visitors I receive has drastically improved,” he said.

The Songwe airport is being credited as a major factor, helping transport tourists to Ruaha National Park.

He hopes more investment will be injected into the tourism sector targeting the southern region and simultaneously help decongest the North.

For the region to be ready to receive a huge influx of tourists, accommodation facilities that meet the world standard should be in place so that it does not downgrade the 5-star experience tourists are accustomed to receiving in Serengeti and Ngorongoro.