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Rough Guide to Tanzania 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides)
Rough Guide to Tanzania 1 - Rough Guide Travel Guides Author:Jens Finke INTRODUCTION Lying just south of the equator, Tanzania is East Africas largest country, and an immensely rewarding place to visit. Filling the brochures are several world-famous attractions: the plains of the Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater, snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro (Africas highest mountain) and Zanzibar, with its idyllic palm-fr... more »inged beaches and historic Stone Town. Yet theres a whole lot more to Tanzania than these obvious highlights. Almost everywhere you go youll find interesting wildlife and inspiring landscapes (over forty percent of the country is protected in some form or other) ranging from forest-covered volcanic peaks to dusty savanna populated by elephants, antelopes, lions, leopards and cheetahs. Tanzania is one of the four most naturally diverse nations on earth: it contains Africas second-largest number of bird species (around 1500), the continents biggest mammal population and three-quarters of East Africas plant species (over ten thousand). Add to this the countrys rich ethnic diversity, some superb hiking and other activities like snorkelling and diving, and you have the makings of a holiday of a lifetime. For all its natural diversity, Tanzanias best asset is its people: friendly, welcoming, unassumingly proud and yet reserved youll be treated with uncommon warmth and courtesy wherever you go, and genuine friendships are easily made. The best known tribe are the Maasai, a pastoralist cattle-herding people who inhabit the region around the safari parks in the north, yet there are at least 127 other tribes in Tanzania, perhaps not as visually colourful as the red-robed, spear-carrying Maasai warriors, but with equally rich traditions, histories, customs, beliefs and music, much of which survive despite the ravages of colonialism, modernity and Christianity. For many years, only those with months on their hands had the privilege of really getting to know these people, but since 1995, an award-winning cultural tourism programme has broken new ground in enabling tourists, even those with little time or limited budgets, to experience for themselves local life in an intimate and inevitably fascinating way.« less