Tanzania

Tanzania’s second-largest city, and the lake region’s economic heart, Mwanza is set on Lake Victoria’s shore, surrounded by hills strewn with enormous boulders. It is notable for its strong Indian influences, as well as for being a major industrial centre and a busy port. Yet despite its rapidly rising skyline, Mwanza manages to retain a casual feel. In addition to being a stop on the way to Rubondo Island National Park, Mwanza is a great starting or finishing point for safaris through Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, ideally as a loop by adding in Lake Natron.

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.

Det finns ett överflöd av lyxiga safarilodger på den afrikanska kontinenten – här har vi listat några som skiljer sig ur mängden. De är inte direkt budgetvänliga – men att dagdrömma är gratis.

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:

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.

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.

Few travelers forget their first encounter with the Serengeti. Perhaps it's the view from Naabi Hill at the park's entrance, from where the grasslands appear to stretch to the ends of the earth. Or maybe it's a coalition of lions stalking across open plains, their manes catching the breeze. Or it could be wildebeest and zebra migrating in their millions, following the ancient rhythm of the seasons. Whatever it is, welcome to one of the greatest wildlife-watching destinations on earth.

Tanzania erbjuder besökaren safari i världsklass. Vagabonds skribent Roger Borgelid tog med sig sin dotter på resan till Tanzania. Här Ù�r en barnanpassad guide för den som planerar att resa på safari med barn.

To paraphrase that well-known quote about Africa, those of you who've never been to northern Tanzania are to be envied, because you still have so much to look forward to. Northern Tanzania is a land of superlatives, from Africa's highest mountain to one of the greatest wildlife spectacles on the planet. But Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti are mere starting points to so many journeys of a lifetime. Mt Meru is Kilimanjaro's rival in both beauty and the challenge of climbing it, while the Crater Highlands could be Africa's most haunting landscape. When it comes to wildlife, there's Tarangire's baobab-and-elephant kingdom, Lake Manyara's tree-climbing lions and the flamingos of Lake Natron. And venturing down into Ngorongoro's crater can feel like returning to earth's first morning.

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.