Tanzania travel guide

If it weren't for the fact that Arusha is the hub for safari expeditions in Northern Tanzania, very few people would come here on their own. Relatively spread out, the town lacks any great attraction besides the pretty backdrop Mount Meru (4565 m) offers. Setting foot in town, you are sure to be accosted by fly-catchers, the men who try to sell you a safari package or take you to their "sister's" craft shop. But even though they are everywhere and sometimes insistent, a convincing "No thank you, we've already booked with another company" will have them move the conversation to a more casual, friendly topic.

Kendwa is famous for its long wide sandy beach (that doesn't disappear at high tide). There are a handful of resorts, some very popular with Italian tourists, to the extent that the locals greet any visitor in Italian and the Maasai beach boys speak fluent Italian. Though Kendwa is laid-back and more quiet than partying and bustling Nungwi, a couple of kilometres to the north, there are still parties to be found when the sun sets.

The Maasai people is just one of Tanzania's many tribes, but everywhere in northern Tanzania (and even in Dar es Salaam) you will see them swept in their bright red-checked blankets. The women wear big earrings and plate-like bead necklaces, while the men have pierced ears and might wear the warrior hairdo. They are such an integrated part of the Tanzanian population, that only tourists find them fascinating - and extremely photogenic. However, the chances of stumbling upon a Maasai village while travelling through Tanzania might not be big, so many tourists choose the easy option and add a "Maasai village visit" to their safari itinerary in Serengeti or Ngorongoro. Here you visit a real, though touristified, village. You pay a fee and for that you get a group dance (with the jumping), a short tour of the village, and chance to buy souvenirs, all the while you can take as many photos as you like. Some find the experience awfully awkward and disappointing, not unlike an ethnological zoo, while others see this as a mutual transaction, where the Maasai get an income from the flow of safari-tourists who travel through their land, and the tourist get a short glimpse into the harsh life of the Maasai – and some pictures.

The Ngorongoro crater is one of those magical places you can't forget. The collapsed volcano is the largest unbroken caldera in the world (300 sq km), home to a great variety of wild animals, and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Picture everything you can imagine about the East African plains: tall grass in hues ranging from green to golden, a soda lake whitening as dry season advances, grazing antelopes, hunting lions... All of this surrounded by a tall wall of mountains, with the rim of the crater often coated in a thick fog, much like whipped cream on a Bundt cake. The descent into the crater is breath taking: the view of the entire caldera is spectacular in itself, but as you go down, you start to make out the different animals that you will come to meet up close. The area is not a national park, and the Maasai people that inhabit the region have a special agreement with the government regarding the use of the land. Seeing these beautiful people tending the cattle just adds to the experience.

The Serengeti is one of the most famous national parks in the whole of Africa – and for good reasons. There are many big cats (particularly lions) and the plains get crowded during the annual migration of more than a million wildebeests and other grazers, when they march to Maasai Mara in Kenya for better grassland. The northward migration normally takes place in June, where the wildebeest congregate on the banks of Grumeti River before crossing, to the joy of the ravenous crocodiles. The southward migration normally takes place in October. But no matter the season, there will always be game (elephants, zebras, buffaloes, giraffes, warthogs, and various gazelles and antelopes) to see in Serengeti. Keep in mind that predators, like cheetahs, leopards, and jackals, are more difficult to see during the lush and green period (November-May) than the dry season (July-October).

Charming Stone Town has such an exotic reputation. It has been a trading post for centuries with shifting powers all putting their mark on this vibrant harbour town. First it was Arabic spice (and slave) traders, then came the Indian merchants, and later the British. Today every safari tourist in the country ends their holiday with a few day on Zanzibar with a mandatory tour of Stone Town. But Stone Town lives up to its reputation. The old town is still magnificent with its maze of narrow alleys and whitewashed traditional houses with finely decorated wooden doors. Some buildings have been done up and turned into boutique hotels or tourists shops, while others look like they haven't been maintained since Freddy Mercury was born.