Saanane Island National Park
“The Magestic Isle”
Saanane island 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 after Mzee Saanane Chawandi, a local farmer and fisherman.
It is an honor to have you with us always and your presence is our motivation to do better. Enjoy your stay.
History
The park, at the time known as “Saa Nane Island Game Sanctuary”, was accidentally bombed during the air campaign of the Uganda–Tanzania War of 1978–1979. On 29 March 1979, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered one of his Tupolev Tu-22 bombers to attack Mwanza, hoping to thereby intimidate the Tanzanian government into calling off its invasion of Uganda. The Tu-22 completely missed the city, however, and its five anti-personnel rockets instead hit the game sanctuary, slightly injuring one worker and killing several animals. According to journalists Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey, six antelopes as well as many birds were killed. In contrast, intelligence analyst Kenneth M. Pollack stated that “a large number of antelope” was killed.
How to get there
You can reach the park 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 10m 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 different bird species, and also wild cats. It’s the only place in Tanzania where you might encounter the De-brazza’s monkey.
Tourism Activities
Saanane Island is an ideal place for game viewing, bird watching, rock hiking, boat cruise, walking, and also picnics. It is also ideal for bush lunch, photographing/ filming, meditation and sport fishing, and special occasions like weddings, and engagements. There is also team building, family day, and birthdays which take place.
