The Ultimate Travel Guide to Tanzania: History & Attractions

Home to Africa's greatest wildlife spectacle — the Serengeti Great Migration, the roof of Africa on Kilimanjaro and the paradise islands of Zanzibar.

A Glimpse into History

Tanzania's human story begins 3.6 million years ago — the fossilised footprints at Laetoli and the skull of Australopithecus boisei discovered at Olduvai Gorge by Louis and Mary Leakey have made Tanzania central to our understanding of human evolution. The East African coast was a crossroads of Indian Ocean trade for millennia — Arab, Persian, Indian, and Chinese merchants all sailed to Swahili city-states at Kilwa Kisiwani and Zanzibar, which became the Arab world's most important slaving port from the 9th century. The Portuguese arrived in 1498, followed by the Omani Arabs who seized control of Zanzibar in 1698. The 19th century brought European explorers — Burton, Speke, Livingstone, and Stanley — who mapped the interior while the Arab-Swahili slave trade reached catastrophic scale. German East Africa was established in 1885, replaced by British Tanganyika after WWI. Julius Nyerere led Tanganyika to independence in 1961 and united it with the Zanzibar sultanate (independent 1963) to form Tanzania in 1964, pursuing his socialist African philosophy of Ujamaa. The Swahili language, which developed as a lingua franca of Indian Ocean trade, became the national language — one of Africa's great cultural legacies. Tanzania today is one of Africa's most stable democracies and the continent's greatest safari destination, protecting 38% of its territory in national parks and game reserves.

Top Attractions in Tanzania

Serengeti National Park

The world's most famous wildlife sanctuary — 15,000 sq km of endless savannah — hosts the Great Migration: 1.5 million wildebeest, 200,000 zebra, and 500,000 Thomson's gazelles moving in a giant clockwise loop following rainfall and grass. The river crossings at the Mara River between July and October, where crocodiles explode from the water as wildebeest plunge across, rank among nature's most dramatic spectacles.

Mount Kilimanjaro

At 5,895 metres, Kilimanjaro is Africa's highest peak and the world's tallest freestanding mountain — a dormant volcano with permanent glaciers visible from the equatorial plains below. Non-technical summit routes (Marangu, Machame, Lemosho) make it accessible to determined non-climbers, though altitude sickness means success rates are only around 65%.

Zanzibar — Spice Island

The once-notorious slave trading hub is now East Africa's most romantic island — white coral-sand beaches with turquoise waters, the UNESCO Stone Town warren of Arab-Swahili alleys, clove and cinnamon spice farm tours, and the Red Colobus monkey forest. Stone Town's Freddie Mercury birthplace, the doors carved with Quranic verses, and the spice market are highlights of one of Africa's most layered cities.

Ngorongoro Crater

The world's largest intact volcanic caldera (19 km wide) contains the highest density of Big Five animals on earth within its 600-metre walls — 30,000 animals including black rhino, lion prides, elephant herds, and flamingo-pink lake shores are visible from the crater rim before descending. The floor is essentially a self-contained ecosystem from which most animals never leave.