Travel guide Tanzania

Tanzanians are friendly to foreigners. You will be greeted everywhere with ringing "Karibu! (welcome) and "Jambo!" (good morning). Sometimes you will be invited to eat. Precious moments of sharing. Tanzanians are curious, and engage their hosts in endless discussions about Tanzania, and about your country.

You've come on safari to experience the thrill of the game, discover the great wilderness and fall asleep to the sound of roaring wild beasts or screaming hyenas. There's no question of leaving your tent without the permission of an armed ranger at night! Days of 4x4 driving on chaotic tracks at the end of the world will open your eyes and senses.

For the Maasaïs, a Boma is a hamlet made up of several huts fashioned from earth and dried cow dung, usually housing several families. This semi-nomadic pastoral people are quick to change campsites. They also have enclosures made from large brambles and branches to protect their livestock.

Dodoma, the country's political and constitutional capital (with Parliament), is a sleepy provincial town in the bush in the center. Dar es Salaam on the coast is the real economic capital, a megalopolis housing embassies and the government. Stone Town is the capital of Zanzibar, which has semi-autonomous status.

The dala-dala is the cheapest collective minibus, following a route invisible to the untrained eye. More and more people are squeezed inside! In the cities, in addition to cabs, you can also take a bajaj, a motorized tricycle from India and China, or a boda-boda (or piki-piki), a motorcycle cab for short trips.

Comprising Tanzania, Uganda, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, this region is a geographical entity with a rugged topography embellished by large lakes. The continent's three largest lakes border Tanzania: Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyasa, but there are also lakes Manyara, Rukwa, Natron, Eyasi... and many others.

They are emblematic of Tanzania. Their uniqueness lies in their Nilotic origin (when 95% of Tanzanians are Bantu) and in their conservation of traditions: pastoral people, red shuka for men, beaded jewellery and scarification as a canon of beauty, etc. You will meet them at Kilimanjaro, Ngorongoro, Arusha...

Everywhere in the country, you'll find markets bursting with life and color. You'll find an abundance of fruit, vegetables, meat (on which flies tend to wander), spices, basketry, tools, fabrics... and plenty of wriggling fish on the coast. The Maasai hold large markets for livestock, fabrics and weapons.

There is more to Tanzania than Kilimanjaro! In addition to the roof of Africa at 5,895 m, the country has a number of impressive peaks and mountain ranges that are classified as national parks. At 4,566 m, Mount Meru is the^third highest mountain in Africa near Arusha. The Ushambara, Udzungwa, and Mahale mountains exceed 2,000 m.

Seven Tanzanian sites are classified as world heritage by UNESCO. Four are natural heritage (Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Serengeti Park, Kilimanjaro Park, and Selous Game Reserve) and three are cultural heritage: the old town of Stone Town, the Persian ruins near Kilwa, and the rock art site of Kondoa.

Tanzanians will tell you that they're all Swahili, because they speak Kiswahili, the national language that enables the 120 tribes to understand each other. In reality, the Swahilis themselves live on the coast and islands. They are Muslims, descended from a people of mixed Asian and Arab origins, while the mainlanders are 95% Bantu.

This precious stone of blue color with purple reflections, a thousand times rarer than the diamond, was discovered in 1967 by a Maasai shepherd. It is found only in this country, in the far north, near Kilimanjaro. The Maasai own 95% of the tanzanite trade, as the mines are located on their land.