Tanzania & Zanzibar

The greatest wildlife sanctuary on earth, the Serengeti supports the largest terrestrial mammal migration in nature — 1.5 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, and 500,000 gazelle moving in a continuous circle through the ecosystem. Beyond the migration, the permanent wildlife — over 3,000 lions, the world's densest leopard population, and enormous elephant and buffalo herds — make this extraordinary at any time of year.

The world's largest intact volcanic caldera, Ngorongoro is a self-contained ecosystem of 260 square kilometres with an extraordinary permanent wildlife population that cannot leave the 600-metre-high walls. The crater floor holds around 30,000 large animals including the densest population of lions in Africa, black rhinos, elephants, hippos, and flamingoes on the crater lake — all visible in a single day's game drive.

The ancient capital of the Zanzibar Sultanate, Stone Town is a labyrinth of narrow alleyways, Arab townhouses with carved wooden doors, mosques, the old fort, and the former slave market — a living archive of the Indian Ocean's centuries of trade. The town's cuisine, a fusion of Swahili, Arab, Indian, and African flavours, is some of the best in East Africa.

Named for the Tarangire River that cuts through its heart and acts as a magnet for wildlife during the dry season, this park is famous for enormous concentrations of elephants — sometimes 300 in a single herd — and for its extraordinary ancient baobab trees, some over 1,000 years old. The park also has one of Tanzania's highest concentrations of lions and is exceptional for birding.

Africa's highest peak at 5,895 metres and the world's highest free-standing mountain, Kilimanjaro rises from equatorial savanna through rainforest, moorland, and alpine desert to its glaciated summit. The Lemosho and Rongai routes are the most rewarding approaches, taking seven to eight days and passing through every vegetation zone on earth in a single ascent.

Africa's largest protected ecosystem at 50,000 square kilometres — larger than Switzerland — the Selous supports the greatest concentration of elephants, hippos, crocodiles, and wild dogs on earth. Boat safaris on the Rufiji River, walking safaris through fever-tree forest, and fly-camping on flood plains offer a level of wilderness immersion impossible in the more-visited northern parks.