Tanzania

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.

Central Tanzania lies well off most tourist itineraries, and that's just the way we like it. Exceptional and enigmatic, the Unesco World Heritage–listed Kondoa Rock-Art Sites, scattered across remote hills along the Rift Valley Escarpment, are the region's premier attraction. Not far away, Mt Hanang soars to 3417m and is a worthy climb, both for its own sake and for the chance to summit all by yourself. Both attractions also serve as gateways to the world of the colourful Barabaig and other tribes whose traditional lifestyles remain little touched by the modern world.

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.

Lake Manyara National Park is one of Tanzania’s smaller and most underrated parks. While it may lack the size and variety of other northern-circuit destinations (there's pretty much one main north–south route through the park), its vegetation is diverse, ranging from savannah to marsh to evergreen forest (11 ecosystems in all) and it supports one of the highest biomass densities of large mammals in the world. The chance to see elephant families moving through the forest or Lake Manyara's famous population of tree-climbing lions (although sighting them is becoming increasingly rare) are alone reason enough to come.

Att ta med sina barn på safari är väldigt berikande och ett minne för livet, både för barn och föräldrar. Vagabonds Roger Borgelid åkte till Tanzania tillsammans med dottern. Här är hans åtta tips:

Det finns fler sätt att upptäcka Afrikas vilda djurliv som inte innefattar en varm och fullsatt jeep. Vi har listat tio udda sätt att åka på safari som gör resan ännu mer äventyrlig.

Northeastern Tanzania’s highlights are its coastline, its mountains and its cultures. These, combined with the area’s long history, easy access and lack of crowds, make it an appealing focal point for a Tanzanian sojourn.

Tanzania’s half of Africa’s largest lake sees few visitors, but the region holds many attractions for those with a bent for the offbeat and a desire to immerse themselves in the rhythms of local life beyond the tourist trail. The cities of Musoma and Bukoba have a quiet waterside charm, while most villagers on Ukerewe Island follow a subsistence lifestyle with little connection to the world beyond the shore.

Time seems to have stood still in Tanzania's sparsely populated southeast. It lacks the development and bustle of the north, and tourist numbers are a relative trickle. Yet, for safari enthusiasts and divers, and for adventurous travellers seeking to learn about traditional local life, the southeast makes an ideal destination.

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.