Tanzania is in the process of introducing grand train tourism along the country’s Indian Ocean coastline with the whole setup being pivoted at Saadani National Park.
On the other hand, the park management is planning a large docking pier to attract cruise ships as well.
It will be the first National Park in East Africa to be served by all the three modes of transport: trains, ships and automobiles.
According to the management of Saadani, there are plans to roll out special tour wagons for scheduled train trips that will be taking visitors from Dar-es-salaam City into the National Park which strides the sea.
Senior Conservation Officer, Prisca Elisia who is also the Head of Tourism Department at Saadani said the National Park management has been consulting with the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) on the envisaged train tourism.
Apparently, they will be investing in the railway trips that connect Dar-es-salaam with Northern Zone regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Tanga.
The railway line passes adjacent to the Saadani National Park, making it possible for the management to hatch agreements with TRC for train tourism in the conservancy, famous for the ‘Bush-meets-the-ocean,’ tagline.
Boasting the terrestrial and Marine wildlife species, Saadani is a special National Park which offers the best of both worlds.
Recently, the Saadani also established boat tourism linking the National Park with the nearby Isles of Pemba and Zanzibar as well as other precincts located along the coastline.
“We are currently working to invest heavily on blue tourism, capitalizing on the Indian Ocean, the Coastline and Islands adjoining Saadani,” the Conservation Officer Elisia explained, adding there were ample marine resources around the National Park.
The Acting Chief Warden at Saadani, Senior Conservation Officer Gladys Ng’umbi added that there were plans to construct a large docking pier to enable even larger vessels to call port at the National Park for tourism, especially targeting cruise ships.
“The park management are in consultation with the Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) for the establishment of the wide berth to enable vessels to anchor at the Saadani National Park waters for tourists and other visitors to sample the attractions available,” said Gladys.
The Park management is currently promoting a new product, the Mafui Sandbank, a spellbinding picnic site which offers a panoramic sea view and wildlife filled bushes in a single setting.
Saadani National Park is also seeing a surge of visitors from July 2023 to June 2024 a total of 27,190 tourists landed there, while from July 2024 to January 2025, there were 19,740 visitors.
Saadani marks 20 years since it was established as a National Park in 2005 after being upgraded from the previous status of game reserve.
The Park is among the few breeding sites for endangered Green Sea Turtles and the only Tanzania Park with a special mangrove forest reserve.
Home to ample wildlife species including elephants and hippos, Saadani also harbors rare species of Black and white Colobus Monkeys.