A jest is made in Eastern Africa that getting into Tanzania is significantly easier than getting around it. For the good humoured traveller this is not at all a deterrent but rather, a challenge.

Straddling a magnificent 954,087 sq km  in area and boasting a colourful population of an estimated 37,187,939;Tanzania is a beautiful East African country.

The country is indeed a land of geographical extremes; it houses Africa’s highest peak (Mount Kilimanjaro), as well as its lowest point (the lake bed of Lake Tanganyika), and a portion of the largest lake (Lake Victoria) on the continent.

Tanzania boasts some of the best, unspoiled beaches in the world. They are spectacular, with their white sand, palm trees, and cool Indian Ocean water. Rarely in the world does one find so fine a setting for island fantasy: conveniently situated among the skyscrapers of commercial Dar es Salaam or the rather sleepy day to day of Zanzibar.

For the contemporary traveller, characteristically bored by lounging in excess, Tanzania’s beaches are packed with variety and gleaming sand in abundance.

Zanzibar has beautiful beaches and a historical Stone Town. It is great for scuba diving, snorkeling, and swimming with dolphins. Other attractions in Zanzibar include spice tours and the Jozani Forest, which shelters a minute population of red Colobus Monkey.

Mafia Island Marine Park, located south of Zanzibar, boasts some fantastic scuba diving and snorkeling. If you are brave you may also get to swim with whale sharks. Mafia Island Marine Park is one of the few areas in the world where sharks congregate yearly. You should not miss this experience so long as you can tolerate being the source of the indiscreet amusement of relaxed but world-weary fishermen as you interrupt their ‘nothing much happens around here’ island life.

Overland Tanzania safaris can be put into two basic categories and it’s well worth the while of any traveler to explore both options: The northern and the Southern circuits. The Northern Circuit includes the Serengeti National Park, which hosts a wide range of wildlife, including lions, cheetahs, leopards, hippopotamus, elephants, zebra, buffalo, water buck, crocodiles, gazelle, warthogs, and wildebeest. One major attraction is the wildebeest migration, which occurs between the Serengeti and Masai Mara in Kenya.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area (Ngorongoro Crater: Olduvai Gorge: Manyara and Tarangire National Parks), congregates an abundance of wildlife; particularly the Crater. Formed by the same volcanic activity that sprung the mighty Kilimanjaro and the Great Rift Valley, it consists of the highlands around the crater (rich in elephants) and the crater itself (similar to the Serengeti, but at higher densities of animals as well as rare black rhino).

The Southern Circuit, is significantly less explored and consists the Ruaha National Park and Selous Game Reserve, which are far less popular but very enjoyable. If you're looking for a destination with fewer tourists and a greater range of wildlife, these parks are for you. Additionally, Selous is the only other place besides Ngorongoro where you might see rhino. You should also plan to visit the Uduzungwa Mountains Park for a wilderness hike through well-preserved and spectacular scenery. This is certainly an oversimplification and does not take account of other out of the ordinary but harder to reach parks such as Katavi and Gombe.