Saanane National Park is located on an island in Lake Victoria covering an area of 2.18 Km2. It’s the only National Park within the city limits. The island was named after Mzee Saanane Chawandi, a local farmer and fisherman.

How to get there

The Park can be reached by rail, ship, air, or by road followed by a boat trip to Saanane.

Road and boat: One can drive to Mwanza from Dar-es-salaam, Kigoma, Kilimanjaro, Arusha, and Tabora or by ferry from Uganda, Kenya, Bukoba, and nearby islands. It takes a short boat ride of about 10minutes from Mwanza to Saanane

Air: A flight from Dar-es-salaam or Kilimanjaro International Airport to Mwanza

Park Attractions

The Island is home to free-roaming mammals such as zebra, impala, rock hyrax, velvet monkey, and wild cat. It’s the only place in Tanzania where you might encounter the De-brazza’s monkey.

Sun-Downing and Sun-Rising

Four sites exist for sunrise/set watching: two for sun-rising and the remaining for sun-downing. This phenomenon creates fascinating object silhouettes across the water to look at.

Activities

Saanane Island is an ideal place for game viewing, bird watching, rock hiking, boat cruise, walking, picnics, bush lunch, photographing/ filming, meditation and sport fishing, and special occasions like weddings, engagements, team building, family day and birthdays can also be organized.