Tanzania

“Eternal, enchanting, stunning, endless…” These are some of the superlatives used to describe the natural beauty of Tanzania.

Situated on the east coast of Africa just south of the Equator, Tanzania is considered one of Africa’s showpieces of stability, displaying a unique climate of peace and tranquility. Over the past few years, we are witnessing a growing number of visitors to Tanzania as a tourist destination. This is probably a direct result of the increased awareness and concern over nature conservation in the world. This is a place where the game parks are pure, the people friendly and welcoming.

Naturalists have written volumes in praise of the pristine beauty of Tanzania and the need to preserve the game sanctuaries, and the historical (archaeological) sites some dating as far back as two million years ago.

With over a quarter of its total area of 937,000 sq km set aside for game parks and reserves, Tanzania boasts some of the finest wildlife sanctuaries in the world. Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Tarangire, Lake Manyara, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mikumi, Ruaha and the Selous are the ultimate sites commonly appearing in safari itineraries.

There are other areas of stunning beauty like the Mkomazi and Saadani Game Reserves, Amboni Caves, the National Parks of Udzungwa Mountains, Katavi, Mahale and Gombe Stream, which rarely feature in safari itineraries. This is simply because the infrastructure and facilities in those areas are not as developed. These are the safari sites of the future, and Tanzania has many such virgin nature reserves. Tanzania also boasts of some of the finest beaches on its 850 kilometers of mainland coastline, and around the beautiful islands of Zanzibar and Mafia.

Tanzania is a melange of different cultures, emanating from the interaction of the early visitors on the East African coast with the local population. These include the native Bushmen who inhabited the Great Rift Valley with their intriguing rock paintings in Kondoa Irangi, the Nilo Hamites, the Cushites and Bantu tribes, the early far east traders from China and India, the Arabs from the Persian Gulf, the Portuguese explorers, and more recently the Germans and the British. The Beit el Ajaib (House of Wonders), hand-carved doors, mosques and the narrow streets of the Old Stone Town in Zanzibar are a living history of the different races that settled along the East African coast over the centuries, leaving an imprint on the people and the architecture. Kiswahili, believed to have been born in Zanzibar and the East African coastal belt, is the national language spoken by all 120 tribes in Tanzania, and used widely in other eastern and central African countries.