| | | | Size:
70,000 km2/27,000 sq mi. | | | | |
| Wildlife & attractions: Landscape scenery. Fishing.
Wildlife in some areas. | | | | |
| Getting there: The easiest way of getting to Lake Victoria
is by air to Mwanza from Arusha or Kilimanjaro. The road to the lake from Arusha
passes through Ngorongoro Conservation Area and
Serengeti National Park, and is 450 km/280, which
equals a long full day's drive. | | |
| | | Tanzania map
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| Tanzania: |
| Lake Victoria |
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| Lake Victoria is the second largest freshwater lake in the world, shared
by northern Tanzania, western Kenya
and south-eastern Uganda. After seeing it in 1858, John Hanning
Speke pointed it out as the source of the Nile River, but the discovery wasn't acknowledged
until 1875, after Henry Morton Stanley had also visited the lake.
Lake Victoria is close to 70,000 km2/27,000 sq mi large and up to 100 m/330 ft deep.
The lake area has a moist and rainy local climate.
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| The areas surrounding the Tanzanian part of Lake Victoria are mainly countryside,
where wildlife is rare. The lake is situated just west of Serengeti
National Park, though, and may be combined with a visit there. Another place to
go for seeing animals is Rubondo Island, an island
national park in the south-western part of the lake. Musoma, Mwanza and Bukoba are major
Tanzanian towns around the lake.
(The famous Victoria Falls are not found in this area, but in the Zambezi River on the
border between Zambia and Zimbabwe further south in Africa.)
Lodges and hotels
Lake Victoria is just west of Serengeti National Park, but offers activities focused on the lake rather
than safaris.
 Speke
Bay Lodge is a tourist class lodge situated on the south-eastern shore of the lake, 15 km/10
mi from western Serengeti. The lodge has rooms in eight spacious bungalows set along the lakeshore.
All rooms have ensuite bathroom and a veranda. There are also twelve permanently pitched furnished
tents, which don't have bathrooms; showers and toilets are outside. The lodge has restaurant, bar
and a gift shop, and offers activities such as excursions in land and on the lake, mountain biking
and fishing.
Web site: www.moivaro.com
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Serengeti Stop-Over Lodge is a basic lodge just outside Serengeti National Park. It has ten self-contained
bungalows, restaurant, bar and a gift shop. The activities offered include guided outings to the lake,
boat trips, bird watching and visits to Sukuma tribe healers practicing herbal healing and rituals.
Web site: www.serengetistopover.com
Musoma is one hour by road from Ndabaka Gate in western Serengeti National Park,
but few safari-goers visit this town.
 Peninsula
Hotel is a basic hotel in a residential area in the outskirts of Musoma,
within walking distance from the shore of Lake Victoria. The hotel is in
what looks like a re-built former colonial private home. The rooms have
ensuite bathrooms, and there is a basic restaurant and bar next door.
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Not very many safari-goers come to Mwanza on the southern shore of Lake Victoria,
as this is too far west from the good safari region of northern Tanzania. Mwanza
is one of the largest cities in the country, and has a large harbour and a domestic
airport (MWZ/HTMW).
 Hotel
Tilapia is set on the very shore of Lake Victoria in Mwanza, and offers
tourist class accommodation. There are four restaurants, bars and a swimming
pool. Tilapia has 40 rooms, of which most are modern and equipped with air
conditioning, safe, Internet and refrigerator. A handful of rooms are in
a huge boat, named The African Queen, offering stylish interiors,
sadly well past their prime. When staying on this boat, we found rat droppings
and a host of lake flies in the room.
Web site: www.hoteltilapia.com
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