Tanzania Travel- Safari and Vacation Information

With an Area of 945,000 square kilometers, Tanzania is the largest of the three countries that form East Africa.

Tanzania’s Capital Dodoma.

With regard to population, Tanzania has a population of 40 million,with over 120 ethnic groups, mostly Bantu – speakers.
Nilotic speakers include maasai who are also found in Kenya, and is a tribe rich in culture and who have been able to retain most of their rich culture in spite of western influence.

Swahili is the National language with tribal languages also being spoken.
The country is 55 percent Christianity and about 35 percent Islamic.

The Climate is tropical along the coast and lake zones, highlands temperate; north semi – arid.
Best time to go – January – February and June – October
Currency – Tanzanian Shilling

Lying just south of the equator, Tanzania is largest of the three countries that form East Africa. Tanzania has a quartet of iconic attractions – Zanzibar, Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater – to fill the brochures. It’s an immensely rewarding place to visit, whether you’re turned on by culture, wildlife, beaches, or a physical challenge.
With terrain ranging from craggy volcanic peaks, forests and woodland to swamps, lakes and semi-desert scrub, Tanzania is one of the four most naturally diverse nations on earth. The country contains Africa’s largest mammal population, over 1500 and species and three quarters of East Africa’s plant species (over ten thousand). And with over one third of its territory set aside for nature conservation, much of it adapted for eco-tourism, safari-goers will be in paradise. Safaris tend to cover one of three geographical areas: the northern Safari circuit, which includes Ngorongoro and the Serengeti, the southern Safari Circuit where Selous is a favoured upmarket destination; and the remote west, which includes the chimpanzee refuges of Gombe Stream and Mahale mountains, and untamed Katavi for muddy buffalo herds and giant pods of hippos.
Add to this Tanzania’s rich ethnic – diversity, superb hiking, some consummately romantic wildlife lodges and camps, wonderful coral reefs for snorkeling and diving, and a genuinely warm welcome, and you have a holiday of a lifetime.

Places To visit And Major attractions

The Serengeti – Star of countless wildlife documentaries, the Serengeti’s plains are stage for the annual eight-hundred-kilometer migration of 2.5 million mammals – including vast herds of wildebeest – to and from Kenya’s Maasai Mara. Primeval it may be, but so is our fascination with it, whether the spectacle is that of lions picking off the weak or unwary, or the drama at river crossings, when crocodiles add to the carriage under the watchful gaze of vultures. While upmarket tourist lodges and luxury camps wax lyrical about the migration passing under your nose, in reality you’ll probably be driven out to see the herds, so camping serves just as well.
Ngorongoro and the Crater Highlands – Adjacent to the Serengeti the enormous caldera of a volcano that blew apart 2.5 million years ago provides the spectacular backdrop for a tapestry of game and predators. Close-up encounters with lions, buffaloes and black rhinos in Ngorongoro Crater are virtually guaranteed – as are sightings of fellow safari-goers. To escape the crowds, trek along the crater highlands to an active volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai (the maasai “mountain of God”) and then on the lake natron, an immense soda sump set amid unremittingly bleak terrain that appeals to flamingoes and desert fanatics alike.
Zanzibar – Forty kilometers off the mainland, Zanzibar has a dreamlike allure on par with Marrakesh and Timbuktu. Comprising the islands of Unguja and Pemba, it has beaches a plenty for indulging in toes-in-the-sand languor, plus multicolored coral reefs perfect for diving or snorkeling. The labyrinth of crooked alleyways, opulent nineteenth – century mansions, palaces and bazaars. Much of it was built on the back of slavery of which there are reminders at every turn, including harrowing underground cells. The spices for which Zanzibar is famous can be sampled on spice tours as well as on your plate. Other popular excursions include dolphin-spotting, and forest walks in search of red colobus monkeys.
Chimpanzees – The forest-dwelling chimpanzees of remote Gombe and Mahale Mountains national parks both on the eastern shore of lake Tanganyika, have been studied since the 1960s most famously by Jane Goodall. Some troops can be tracked on foot – every bit as exciting and romantic as it sounds.
Cultural Tourism – Tanzania’s pioneering community – run cultural tourism initiatives enable visitors to experience local life in intimate ways. Apart from offering the chance to rub shoulders with Maasai and other tribes, meet healers, elders and artisans, accompany honey collectors and farmers, and perhaps learn a few nifty dance moves, the programmes highlight natural attractions, and homestays are often possible, too. Profits fund local development projects.
Hiking in the Eastern Arc Mountains – Ancient rainforests filled with rare animals, plants and birds, and eyeballing monkeys are some of the things that make hiking in these isolated granite pleasures. The main ranges are the Pare, Ushambara, Uluguru and Udzungwa Mountains.
Kilimanjaro – The roof of Africa at 5891m, Kilimanjaro draws hikers from the world over, although fewer than a third of them get to snow – capped Uhuru Peak at the very top. The climb needs at least a week, taking you through thick rain forest to alpine meadows and barren, bitterly cold high-altitude tundra. But get there quick – 2014 is the date scientist have posted for the disappearance of the mountain’s ice cap, thanks to global warming.

Other Places and Attractions

Mount Meru – A dormant volcano west of Kilimanjaro, Meru (4566m) is part of Arusha National Park and takes four days to climb and descend. Expect good hiking and exceptional views, especially of kilimanjaro. On the lower slopes, crater lakes, meadows and forests provide a good sampler of northern Tanzania’s varied habitats and wildlife.
The MV Liemba – Over on Lake Tanganyika, this pre-world war 1 steamer inspired the Africa Queen movie and offers an unforgettable ferry ride down to Mpulungu in Zambia, calling at a string of fascinating villages along the way.
Southern Highlands – The towns of Mbeya and Tukuyu are good bases for nature tourism: there are several to choose from, plus forests, a bat cave, mount Rungwe volcano, waterfalls and kitulo National Park – a botanical paradise known to locals as God’s Garden.
Indian Ocean Slaving Ports – Several nineteenth century slaving ports retain atmospheric ruins ripe for haunting, and also have beaches nearby. Particularly good are Pangani, Bagamoyo and Mikindani.
Rock paintings – The natural rock shelters of central Tanzania’s Irangi Hills preserve some of the world’s most ancient paintings. The oldest – and most skillful – date back over eighteen thousand years, and depict hunter – gatherer lifestyles not so different from that lived by the area’s Sandawe and Hadzabe tribes until recently.
Lake Nyasa – Also called Lake Malawi, Nyasa is the Rift Valley’s southernmost lake, home to hundreds of species of colourful cichlid fish that well repay lugging snorkeling gear along. The overnight ferry to Mbamba Bay is also blissful, especially for its views of the Livingstone Mountains.
Kilwa Kisiwani – More historical colour in Tanzania’s wild south is provided by the ruins of the Swahili island – state of Kilwa Kiswani, centuries ago East Africa’s richest town thanks to its control of Mozambique’s gold exports.
Mafia Archipelago – South of Zanzibar, the Mafia Archipelago has its own share of historical ruins and stunning reefs. Nights in one of Mafia’s handful of upmarket beach hotels are often included in beach and bush holiday packages.
Selous Game Reserve – Africa’s largest nature reserve is mainly used by trophy hunters, but the scenic northern sector – around the Rufji River – is reserved for tourism. The luxurious lodges and camps along the river are a firm favourite with upmarket travelers.
Tarangire – A national park and conservation area that preserve a wonderfully wild and rough – around the edges feel. Big game is present year round, especially elephants, their size more than matched by giant baobab trees.
Lake Manyara National Park – At the foot of a particularly steep section of the Rift Valley, Manyara lacks the wildlife numbers of other northern safari parks but makes amends with tree-climbing lions and ample birdlife, including pelicans and pink flamingoes.

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Botswana Safari- Travel information

Area 600,370 square kilometers
Capital: Gaborone
Population: 1.5 million, majority are “Batswana” ( a term covering eight Tswana tribes plus Tswana-ized groups); others include Bakgalad, Bakalanga and former hunter-gatherers called Basanwa (Bushmen).
Language: English (official);
Setswana is more widely spoken.
Religion: Christianity 70 percent, traditional beliefs 25 percent.
Climate: semi and with desert extremes (hot days and cool or cold nights); summer rains Nov-March, dusty winds Aug.
Best time to go: June-Oct best for most wildlife parks; for the Okavango Delta; Dec-March for Nxai Pan
Currency: – Pula

If there is a country that owes much of its tourist charm to it’s wildlife it is Botswana. Although eighty percent of the country is Kalahari desert, the Okavango which is a labyrinth of lagoons, lakes and hidden channels is the largest inland delta in the world. Trapped in the parched Kalahari sands it is a magnet for the wildlife who depend on the permanent waters of this unique feature. A fifth of Botswana comprises of wildlife sanctuaries and safaris are a major thrill, whether you’re driving, walking, or riding a horse or an elephant.

Hunting and gathering is still practiced by tribesmen but is guided by very strict traditional conservation strategies. This cultural heritage has enabled Botswana to preserve vast and diverse species of wildlife and natural resources. At least 17% of Botswana is reserved as parks, which facilitates the protection of the fragile natural environment. Tourism accounts for about 40% of the employment opportunities in Botswana. Those tourists visiting botswana don’t usually meet “traditional” hunter-gatherers: most of the Basarwa you will see today will be those dressed up for the benefit of visitors.

Places To Visit And Major Tourist attractions

The Okavango Delta – On entering Botswana, the river Okavango slows down to spread across the Kalahari, creating the world’s largest inland delta – a hot, humid and pristine alluvial wetland that quadruples in size to over 100,000 square kilometers when the river’s floods peak in July and August.
The meandering streams and channels, swamps and oxbow lakes lend the delta a unique and primeval beauty and attract great numbers of animals, including elephants and cheetahs, hippos and crocs, and many antelopes and birds. Part of the delta is fenced in as morem Game Reserve, the place for African hunting dogs. There are tons of lodges to choose from, and all manner of safaris, even some from hot – air balloons.

Chobe National Park – The semi desert plains of northern Botswana are among Africa’s greatest wildlife areas, celebrate for vast numbers of elephants along the Chobe River and its waterholes. The summer rains turn Chobe’s glistering salt pans into grasslands and swamps, attracting enormous zebra herds and a retinue of gluttonous lions. Spend a few days here and you’re likely to see most of Africa’s emblematic species.

Tsodilo Hills – The Tsodilo Hills, in the western Kalahari have immense spiritual significance for the Ju/hoansi. The hills, they say, are the abode of their ancestral spirits and divinities and one hill contains the imprint of the first spirit’s knees as he prayed after creating the world. Taken together, the hills rank among Africa’s greatest rock art galleries. Many paintings depict elands, an antelope associated with rain. Also common are images of men with erect penises, related to shamanistic trance rituals.

Nixal Pan National Park – in the rainy season Nxai is the country’s best wildlife park, when its salt pans turn into lakes and grasslands, attracting a myriad of animals and birds, including raptors and plenty of terrestrial predators. Among the more unusual species are blue wildebeest, red hartebeest, the bateared fox and brown hyena.
Gamsbok National Park. Now part of Kigalagadi Transfrontier Park (shared with South Africa) this is a desert land of salt pans, denuded vegetation and classic red Kalahari sand dunes. Inspiring landscapes aside, one reason to visit is the desert’s ever-inventive inhabitants, black maned lions and a host of other predators prey on a good variety of antelopes, including calving blue wildebeests before the rains. Birdlife is best during the rains, when they’re attracted by temporary lakes left by thunderstorms.

Other Places to visit
Tuli and Mashatu Game Reserves – Close to the Limpopo River in the east these two private sanctuaries are best seen on horseback, though night game drives are possible. Elephants are abundant, together with antelopes and their predators.

Makgadikgadi Pans National Park – Makgadigadi’s total inaccessibility during the rains, when temporary lakes and grasslands attract incredible numbers of birds, means that the park is primarily promoted for its stark salt pan scenery in the dry season.

Mokolodi Nature Reserve – Ten kilometers from Gaborone, this small privately owned sanctuary is stocked with all the biggies, including white rhinos, elephants, cheetahs, leopards and many different antelopes. The inmates are used to humans, so walkers (or elephant riders) can enjoy close encounters in relative safety.

Xai-Xai – Community based tourism among Bushmen and Herero herders and farmers, completely off the beaten track in the desert close to Namibia. Accompany them on hunting and gathering trips, take horseback safaris, visit caves, or shake your legs in the evening with a traditional dance.

Khama Rhino Sanctuary – A community run project in the Kalahari to preserve Botswana’s rhinos poached close to extinction in the 1980s. among other wildlife here are lynxes and leopards.

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Egypt Tours- Holidays and Vacation Packages

Egypt has long been an African vacation spot, ever since Thomas Cook escorted his first Egypt tour in 1969 thereby inventing long - haul Egypt vacation package tourism. No other country is more stuffed with monuments and antiquities, all the more astonishing when you realize that 96 percent of Egypt is desert, relieved only by the Nile valley and its delta.

Egypt as one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, is rich in history and presents an astonishing sweep through five millennia: Three thousand years of pharaoh rule prepared by Assyrian, Persia and Greek invasions, and followed by Roman, Byzantine and Arab conquests, and colonization by Turkey, France and Britain. The most famous pharaonic sights are the pyramids of Giza, the sphinx which are considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, valley of the kings and Kamak. But these are just a tiny fraction of what can be seen. Among the country’s later wonders are some of the world’s oldest churches, with the World’s ‘oldest university’ unearthed in Egypt CAIRO.

Egypt has a lot to offer and our list of attractions below only scratches the surface.

Antiquities aside, there are other treasures to lure travelers, too – luxurious Nile cruises, camelback desert adventures, oasis, Red Sea beaches and coral reefs, isolated monasteries. Egypt truly offers an unforgettable holiday experience.

Egypt’s Attractions And Places To Visit

The pyramids of Giza and Sphinx are just outside downtown Cairo. The Great Pyramid of khufu, the only survivor of the seven wonders of the world, flanked by two other pyramids and the sphinx. The sheer size and geometric precision of the monuments including their astronomical alignment, have long led to theories about their hidden meaning, powers and their architects with some even claiming that they must have been built by beings from outerspace.

Cairo is Africa’s biggest metropolis and even the pyramids and sphinx aside, Cairo is a place still worth spending time in. In spite of a population of over 14 million, the visitor to Cairo will find it surprisingly gentle. It can however look about chaotic at times for a foreigner but it has a great feel. Apart from Giza, the indisputable highlight is the Egyptian Antiquities Museum. Even if you’re not a fun of museum’s don’t miss this one – It has some of mankind’s most beautiful creations among its 130,000 exhibits. Most famous among these is the golden funerary mask of pharaoh Tutankhamen. Travelers are often surprised to find that the heart of the city itself is also a museum, especially of Islamic times- there are architectural masterpieces at every turn, including visitable mosques. Close at hand, too, are the ever – entertaining souks of khan el-khalili.

Dakhla oasis A custer of oasis, gardens and lakes, Dakhla is life for fourteen settlements. The oldest and most memorable, with well-preserved traditional architecture, is the village of Al-Qasr, deliciously positioned amid pink dune-draped mountains. Despite having been largely abandoned. Al-Qasr’s old town – dominate by a cylindrical twelfth – century minaret – remains intact, and conceals many a photogenic nook and cranny. Dakhla’s other attractions include romantic Qalamoun village and its improbable desert lakes, the Muzawaka Tombs dug out of a table-top mountain, and the diminutive Egyptian Roman temple or Deir el-hagar, which became a Coptic monastery.
Egypt’s Valley of the Kings Halfway down the Egyptian Nile, Luxor (meaning “the palaces:”) was ancient Thebes, capital of Egypt’s New Kingdom in the second millennium BC. An obscene profusion of pharaonic temples and tombs are found within a few kilometers of town, mostly famously at Kamak and in the valley of the kings. The latter was where generations of pharaohs excavated their tombs; the most famous is that of Tutankhamen, which was opened in 1922 after 3274 years in darkness. Most of its treasures are housed in Cairo’s national museum, though the pharaoh’s mummy and innermost gold coffin are still in situ. Dozens of other tombs can also be visited, many lavishly decorated with hieroglyphs and cosmological scenes.

Karmak While the valley of the kings is all about decoration, in kamak it was size that mattered-its temples, arranged into three precincts, were built to gargantuan scales to house the gods. The most impressive is the colossal temple of Amun, with its bulging columns and even more portly statues, but there are plenty more temples besides, less visited but no less imposing, including those of Khonsu and Ramses III, an impressive avenue or ram-headed sphinxes.

Gilf Kebir  For dedicated desert rats, a day to an oasis may not be enough. For those interested, desert  excursions and expeditions are possible, both in the Sinal and west of the Nile. Kebir plateau in the Uwaynat Desert, with its evocation World War II wrecks and prehistoric rock art. The most famous painting are in the cave of the swimmers, discovered by Laszlo Ede Almassy – who became the main character in the English Patient.

Red Sea holidays Hot and dry all year round, the Sinai Penisula has Egypt’s best beaches and superlative snorkeling and diving. Sharm El-Sheikh and adjacent Na’ama Bay are brashest and plushest. Dahab is gradually moving upscale, but for now remains the backpackers’ destination. Viable targets for day-trips include ancient Christian churches and Mount Sinai.

Other Places To visit

Alexandria This venerable Mediterranean port has long been crossroads of civilizations, and it was only natural that its library – long since destroyed – was the classical world’s greatest. Until the 1952 Revolution, Alexandria was a cosmopolitan town, with sizeable communities from all around the Mediterranean. While it has lots glitter and sparkle, its still charming in the way that dignified old ladies can be, and many ways it is easy – going nature makes it a mirror for Egyptian society in general. Attractions include an excellent Greco-Roman museum, the ruins of cleopatra’s palace, nice beaches, and an architecturally dazzling new library, which contains several more museums and a planetarium.

Awan and Abu Simbel Egypt’s “Gateway to Nubia”, Aswan has laid-back and distinctly African feeling, and its beautiful river islands, classic sailing excursions by felucca, attractive bazaars and good restaurants may entice you to stay longer than you intended. Though its monuments may pale in comparison to say, Luxor’s they’re still worth visiting – and it would be a shame to miss out on Ramses II’s spectacular Sun Temples at Abu Simbel, which were shifted to higher ground in the 1960s to avoid inundation after the construction of the Awan High Dam.

Dahshur pyramids Less famous than Giza’s but no less fascinating, and far less crowded, are the pyramids of Pharaoh Snefru. The Bent pyramid, in which the pharaoh lies, has a distinctive angled top, a last-minute change after the pyramids sides proved top steep to hold their weight.

Nile Cruises -Nile Cruise are a great way to see many of the Nile valley’s most famous sights.

Fayoum oasis Supporting over two million inhabitants, this impressively green expanse is Egypt’s largest oasis and would be recommended unreservedly were it not for the lack of desert to cross to get there, as access is via the Nile. In addition to fabulous oasis gardens and surreal lakes, attractions include pharaonic temples and monuments galore..

Siwa oasis A series of gardens, lakes and settlements, each with its individual charm, Siwa has a history dating back to palaeolithic times. Its oracle was consulted by Alexander the Great, and there are plenty of ruins from pharaonic times. More recent remains include the mud-brick town of Shali, destroyed by rain 1926. Also worth seeing soft rock is punctured by hundreds of tombs many richly painted.

Egyptian Festivals

Egypt’s has a rich Christian heritage and dozens of localized and Coptic Christian religious dates are celebrated in addition to the standard Islamic festivals. Many are moulid pilgrimages, associated with particular saints and places. They’re good times to hear traditional music, sample culinary delicacies, and simply blend in with the crowds. The Nile Delta town of Tanta is the scene for Egypt’s biggest pilgrimage, the festival of Sayid Ahmed al-Badawl in October. The event is an eight day affair around the tomb of a thirteen centuryfounder of the Sufi Bdadwiyya order, attracting a huge crowd each year.

Flights, And Ways in and out of Egypt

The main international airports are Cairo and Alexandria; there are also charter flights from Europe to the Sinai Penisula, Overland transport connects with Israel and Libya, Sudan is linked with Egypt by Nile steamer.

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