Tanzania

Western Tanzania is rough, remote frontier land, with vast trackless expanses, minimal infrastructure and few visitors. The west offers a sense of adventure now missing elsewhere in the country. This is precisely what attracts a trickle of travellers, many of whom plan their itineraries around the schedules of the MV Liemba, which sails down Lake Tanganyika, and the Central Line train, which crosses the country.

Pemba's terrain is hilly and lushly vegetated, while much of the coast is lined with mangroves and lagoons, interspersed with idyllic beaches and islets. Offshore, coral reefs offer some of East Africa's best diving.

Selous Game Reserve is a vast, 48,000-sq-km wilderness area lying at the heart of southern Tanzania. It is Africa’s largest wildlife reserve, and home to large herds of elephants, plus buffaloes, crocodiles, hippos, wild dogs, many bird species and some of Tanzania’s last remaining black rhinos. Bisecting it is the Rufiji River, which cuts a path past woodlands, grasslands and stands of borassus palm, and provides unparalleled water-based wildlife watching.

Welcome to one of Africa's most underrated parks. Thanks to its proximity to Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire National Park is usually assigned only a day visit as part of a larger northern-circuit itinerary. Yet it deserves much more, at least in the dry season (July to October). It's a place where elephants dot the plains like cattle, and where lion roars and zebra barks fill the night.

This large village at Zanzibar Island's northernmost tip was once best known as a dhow-building center. Today it's a major tourist destination, thanks in part to the beautiful beach and stunning sunsets. The result: a place where traditional and modern knock against each other with full force. Fishing boats still launch from the beach – a scene unchanged for centuries – but they're overlooked by a long line of hotels. Some travelers say Nungwi is a definite highlight; others are happy giving it a miss.

Step off the boat or plane onto the Zanzibar Archipelago and you’re transported through time and place. This is one of the world's great cultural crossroads, where Africa meets Arabia meets the Indian Ocean.

Arusha is Tanzania's gateway to the northern circuit of stellar national parks and the starting point of many a memorable safari. It's also a large, sprawling city with all the contradictions that brings.

Lejon, elefanter, fåglar och fauna. Genom barnets ögon blir savannens vilda djur och natur ännu mäktigare och även de små fynden blir storslagna. Vagabonds Roger Borgelid tog med sig sin dotter på safari i Tanzania.

The capital of the densely populated Kilimanjaro region sits at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro and makes a good introduction to the splendours of the north. It’s a low-key place with an appealing blend of African and Asian influences and a prosperous feel, due in large part to its being the centre of one of Tanzania’s major coffee-growing regions. Virtually all visitors are here to climb Mt Kilimanjaro or to recover after having done so. Yet there's much more to do, including cultural tours and hikes on the mountain's lower slopes.

Zanzibar Island is a jewel in the ocean, surrounded by beaches that rate among the finest in the world. Here you can swim, snorkel or just lounge the hours away, while shoals of luminous fish graze over nearby coral gardens and pods of dolphins frolic offshore.