List of National Parks in Africa, By Size, Largest (Top 10)
List of National Parks in Africa, By Size, Largest (Top 10). Best National Parks in Africa for 2024 – 2025: Amboseli, Maasai Mara, Serengeti, Tarangire, Lake Nakuru, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Murchison Falls National Park.
Africa, the second biggest continent, is more complex and varied than many media portray it to be. The continent is home to a dazzling variety of ethnic and cultural communities. The ecological variety found on the African continent is legendary. Much of this stunning area has been set aside as national parks and game preserves during the past century or so. Here are the top ten most remarkable ones.
List of National Parks in Africa
Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Malawi are often considered to be among Africa’s finest safari locations. They are the most popular destinations for tourists on African safaris. Each of these countries’ premier national park is its most well-known and traditional wildlife safari site for spotting huge mammals in the wild.
Amboseli National Park Kenya
Amboseli National Park Kenya was formally known as Maasai Amboseli Game Reserve. The Amboseli National Park is located in the southern part of Kenya in Kajiado South Constituency in Kajiado County. Amboseli was set aside as the Southern Reserve for the Maasai in 1906 but returned to local control as a game reserve in 1948. Gazetted a national park in 1974 to protect the core of this unique ecosystem, it was declared a UNESCO site in 1991.
Amboseli National Park stretches on a total land area of 392 square kilometers and forms the unfenced core of an 8,000 km2 ecosystem that includes large tracts of Maasai community land both in Kenya and across the border in Tanzania. Amboseli lies at the northern base of Kilimanjaro and, clouds permitting, it offers a tremendous opportunity to photograph plains wildlife below the snow-capped peak of Africa’s tallest mountain
“Kilimanjaro Elephants” – Amazing Wildlife Safari in Amboseli National Park Kenya
Journey to the Heart of Kenya / Epic Safari in the Maasai Mara
Maasai Mara National Reserve Kenya
Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally best known as The Mara, is a large National Game Reserve in Narok, Kenya within the Rift Valley province that is contagious with Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The Reserve was named in honor of the Maasai People, the ancestral people who inhabited the area and are believed to have migrated to the area from the Nile Basin. The description of the area when looked at from afar by the local people Maasai; “Mara” means “spotted” in their local language. This is as a result of too many short bushy trees which dot the landscape. The Maasai Mara National Reserve comprises 1,510 square kilometers with the vast endless plains that encounter short sweet grasses, which is a source of ample feeding for the plentiful herbivores within the region.
Serengeti National Park
Serengeti National Park located in Tanzania is one of high-ranking Tanzania’s tourist destinations as it’s the only place in Africa where vast land animal migrations still take place. Serengeti is well famous for the largest annual 1.5 million wildlife Migration. The wildebeest migration is one of the most spectacular wildlife sightings with thousands of gnu (wildebeests) zebras, gazelles, and other animals. Serengeti National Park is located in the Mara and Simiyu regions and contains 1.5 million hectares of the savanna, and stretches on a total land area of over 14,763 square kilometers in Tanzania. The park was established in 1951. Serengeti Park is at the heart of the larger Serengeti ecosystem and is well defined by the area traversed by the annual animal migration.
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Tarangire National Park, Tanzania
Tarangire National Park
Tarangire National Park is a National Park in Tanzania situated within the Manyara region. Tarangire Park derives its name from the Tarangire River that crosses the National Park and it serves as the main source of water for wildlife in the Tarangire ecosystem mainly in the annual dry seasons.
Tarangire Park stretches on a total land area of about 2,850 square kilometers (1,100 square miles) and has a vast landscape that is composed of granitic ridges, rivers such as the Tarangire River, Valleys, and swamps. Tarangire Park was established in early 1970 and up to date is governed by the Tanzania National Park Authority.
Lake Nakuru National Park
Indulged deep in the cleft of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Nakuru National Park is one of the most popular ultimate safari destinations in Kenya. The famous National Park is located in the central region of the country, 140 kilometers northwest of the capital, Nairobi. The Lake Nakuru National Park Kenya encompasses an area of 73 square miles (188 sq. km). The protected area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that celebrates the large numbers of flamingos and abundant wildlife. Lake Nakuru National Park is best known for the large numbers of flamingos nesting along the shores of Lake Nakuru. The lake is world-famous as the location of the greatest bird spectacle on earth, the world-famous Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley lakes at an elevation of 1,754 m (5,755 ft.) above sea level. It lies to the south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya, and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park.
Kenya Safari – First time in Lake Nakuru National Park
Gorilla trekking ( Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park – Uganda)
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park at times referred to as Bwindi Forest National Park is one of the 10 national parks in Uganda. This is the largest gorilla habitat hosting almost half of the world’s remaining population of Mountain Gorillas. Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is situated in southwestern Uganda on the edge of the Albertine Rift. Bwindi Impenetrable forest is one of Uganda’s oldest and most biologically diverse forests dating back to 25,000 years and containing almost 400 plant species. Most famously within the forest are about 480 mountain gorillas, some of which are habituated for gorilla trekking in Uganda whereas some are not yet fully habituated and tourists can visit for a Gorilla habituation experience.
Murchison Falls National Park Uganda
Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda offers wildlife tours with about 76 mammal species in Murchison Falls National Park including Elephants, Buffaloes, Lions, and Leopards. Almost 450 bird species can be seen in the park. Aquatic species, butterflies, reptiles, and many more species in the park.
Murchison Falls safaris are the most popular short safaris in Uganda undertaken on 3 days and 2 days safaris. Murchison Falls National Park is Uganda’s oldest and largest safari park covering 3,840 sq. km and home to the worlds’ most powerful waterfalls-Murchison Falls. In case you are planning a safari in Murchison Falls National Park, here is a guide on how to get to the park, when to visit, how much it would cost, and where to stay while at the park
Murchison Falls National Park
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