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Tanzania
East Africa · Afrinkong

Tanzania

Serengeti, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar.

The Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater, the highest mountain in Africa, and a spice island with a thousand-year-old stone town on it.

Build a journey → What you can do here →

Where it is

Africa · East Africa · Tanzania

The land in brief

Spans
1,190 km E–W, 1,200 km N–S
Latitude
1°S to 12°S
Borders
8 countries
Sea
Has a coast
Best time
Calving on the southern Serengeti in February; the crossings run June to October.

Also in East Africa

BurundiThe southernmost source of the NileDjiboutiWhere three plates pull apartEritreaArt deco Asmara, and the Dahlak islandsEthiopiaThe roof of AfricaKenyaWhere the safari was invented
Compare Tanzania with another countryAll fifty-four, worked through the same twenty-seven categories.
Tanzania and the countries it borders, with its rivers and lakes and a scale in kilometres.Tanzania borders Uganda to the north, Kenya to the north-east, Malawi and Mozambique to the south, Zambia to the south-west, DR Congo to the west and Burundi and Rwanda to the north-west. It spans 1,190 km E–W, 1,200 km N–S. It lies 1°S to 12°S. It reaches the sea. Rivers and lakes are drawn where they cross the frame, with a scale bar in kilometres.BurundiCentral African RepublicComorosDR CongoKenyaMadagascarMalawiMozambiqueRwandaSomaliaSouth SudanZambiaZimbabweDR CONGOZAMBIAKENYAMOZAMBIQUEUGANDASOMALIA
Tanzania and the countries it borders

When to come

Calving on the southern Serengeti in February; the crossings run June to October.

01Highlights

What Tanzania is known for.

Six of the twenty-seven, and the ones most people come for. The rest are below — and none of them is filler.

Brown rabbit on green grass field during daytime, Tanzania Nature & Landscapes

The Ngorongoro Crater

A collapsed caldera twenty kilometres across with its own permanent population of thirty thousand animals.

Zebras standing on a green grass field, Tanzania Wildlife

The Big Five, and Then Some

Lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, plus the largest elephant herds left in East Africa.

A snow covered mountain from a building, Tanzania Mountains

Kilimanjaro, 5,895 m

The highest free-standing mountain on earth: rainforest, moorland, alpine desert and glacier in five days of walking.

A woman standing on a beach next to a house, Tanzania Beaches & Coast

Zanzibar, Nungwi to Paje

White sand, warm shallow water and dhows still built by hand on the beach at Nungwi.

A couple of monkeys sitting on top of a tree branch, Tanzania Forests & Rainforest

Udzungwa and Jozani

The Udzungwa scarp holds species found nowhere else; Jozani holds the red colobus, also found nowhere else.

Woman in red and white dress wearing black leather boots, Tanzania Culture

Maasai, Chagga, Swahili

Cattle-keepers on the northern plains, coffee farmers on the mountain, and a coast that has always faced east.

02Experiences

25 ways to spend the time.

Every country we cover works through the same twenty-seven categories, so you can hold two of them side by side and compare like with like rather than one brochure against another. Compare Tanzania with another → The two not listed here are the hero picture and the case for going, which has a section of its own below.

Landscapes
  • The Ngorongoro CraterA collapsed caldera twenty kilometres across with its own permanent population of thirty thousand animals.
  • Kilimanjaro, 5,895 mThe highest free-standing mountain on earth: rainforest, moorland, alpine desert and glacier in five days of walking.
  • Materuni, Under KilimanjaroEighty metres of cold water through Chagga coffee farms on the lower slopes, an easy walk from Moshi.
  • Manyara and the RufijiFlamingo and tree-climbing lions at Manyara; the Rufiji braiding through Nyerere, the largest park in Africa.
  • Zanzibar, Nungwi to PajeWhite sand, warm shallow water and dhows still built by hand on the beach at Nungwi.
  • Udzungwa and JozaniThe Udzungwa scarp holds species found nowhere else; Jozani holds the red colobus, also found nowhere else.
Wildlife
  • The Big Five, and Then SomeLion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhino, plus the largest elephant herds left in East Africa.
  • Following the MigrationCalving on the southern plains in February, the Grumeti in June, the Mara river in August — the circuit never stops.
  • Ngorongoro, Shared GroundThe conservation area is the rare model where Maasai pastoralists and wildlife legally use the same land.
  • Snorkelling MnembaThe atoll off the northeast tip of Zanzibar, plus kite surfing at Paje and diving at Pemba.
People and culture
  • Maasai, Chagga, SwahiliCattle-keepers on the northern plains, coffee farmers on the mountain, and a coast that has always faced east.
  • The Hadzabe of Lake EyasiOne of the last hunter-gatherer peoples in Africa, speaking a click language unrelated to anything nearby.
  • Sauti za BusaraFour days of live music from across the continent inside the old Arab fort in Stone Town, every February.
  • Tingatinga and MakondeEnamel-bright Tingatinga painting from Dar es Salaam, and Makonde ebony carving from the southern plateau.
  • Spice, Ugali, UrojoCloves and cardamom from the Zanzibar plantations, grilled seafood at Forodhani, and ugali everywhere else.
  • Boma and Coffee FarmMaasai boma visits on the crater rim road, and Chagga coffee walks on the lower slopes of Kilimanjaro.
  • Dala Dalas and DhowsMinibuses inland, dhows on the water, and a fish auction at Kivukoni that starts before it is light.
Places
  • Dar es SalaamHarbour of peace: the ferry terminal, the fish market at Kivukoni, and the dhows still working the channel.
  • The Doors of Stone TownBrass-studded Indian doors and carved Omani frames, on coral-rag houses in alleys too narrow to drive.
  • Stone Town and KilwaStone Town is UNESCO-listed; Kilwa Kisiwani was the richest port on the Swahili coast six centuries ago.
  • Olduvai and the CoastOlduvai Gorge holds the earliest human record; the coast holds a thousand years of Indian Ocean trade.
Ways to travel
  • Uhuru Peak by MachameSix days up the Machame route, one very long night to the summit, and a sunrise you have to earn.
  • Camps and Spice IslandsMobile camps that follow the migration, and beach houses on the Zanzibar east coast with nothing either side.
  • Acacia, Kopje, SunsetThe Serengeti kopjes at the end of the day, and the migration column stretching past the edge of the frame.
  • Ruaha and KataviThe south and west: huge elephant populations, hippo crowded into shrinking pools, and no other vehicles.
03Why go

The case for Tanzania.

Why Visit This Country

Mountain, Plain and Reef

Summit Africa's highest mountain, cross the Serengeti and sleep on the Indian Ocean, in the same fortnight.

Hidden Gems

Ruaha and Katavi

The south and west: huge elephant populations, hippo crowded into shrinking pools, and no other vehicles.

Eco Tourism

Ngorongoro, Shared Ground

The conservation area is the rare model where Maasai pastoralists and wildlife legally use the same land.

Heritage

Olduvai and the Coast

Olduvai Gorge holds the earliest human record; the coast holds a thousand years of Indian Ocean trade.

04Go deeper

All of Tanzania, four ways in.

Who would take youAfrinkong

The ground is ours right across Africa: your vehicle, your driver for the whole journey, and the days shaped around what you came for.

In Cameroon, Uganda and Namibia you travel with companies of our own as well.

Plan your journey →
Begin

Your Tanzania starts here.

Tell us the month, or simply the thing you want to see, and a guide who works there will answer.

Build a journey → See all 27 experiences →