Tanzania

Home to the famous vast roaming herds of the Serengeti plains game and the snow-capped wonder of the legendary Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania is situated south of the Equator over an area half the size of Western Europe, and is East Africa's largest nation. From the shimmering lakes of the interior to the blue waters of the Indian Ocean, and from the northern mountains to the southern Ruvuma River, the country contains some of the largest and most beautiful wilderness areas in the world, such as the Selous, the Ruaha and Katavi National Parks and Reserves.

Northern Tanzania remains one of the last strongholds of nature, from the great wildebeest migrations of the Serengeti, to the amazing concentration of wildlife that live in the Ngorongoro Crater. A to visit the very remote Mahale Mountains to the west where you can still see wild living chimpanzees now habituated to human contact is recommended. Within Tanzania's borders lie 52,000 square kilometers (20,000 square miles) of water. Down the western side is Lake Tanganyika, Africa's longest and deepest freshwater lake and the second deepest in the world and to the north lies Lake Victoria.

Tanzania's people are as diverse as the country they inhabit, with more than 120 tribes existing, all differing in culture, social organization and language. Rising from the surrounding plains like a mirage are the snow capped peaks of Kilimanjaro, which continue to attract explorers, scientists, adventurers, climbers and tourists from around the world. Consisting of three volcanoes in one, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa at 5,896 metres (19,340ft) and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world.