Things to do in Tanzania

From the epic expanse of the Serengeti to the self-contained basin of the Ngorongoro Crater, a Tanzanian safari is as close as you can get to playing a starring role in the Lion King. The Big Five can be found here – the crater being the most likely place to tick them all off – but it’s the Great Migration that draws so many to this part of the world.

Andrew Appleyard, from our supplier Exodus, explains why this is one of his favourite things to do in Tanzania: “For me, it is one of the top five wildlife sights in the world, it’s quite unbelievable. You can see the migration from miles away as there’s a huge spiral of vultures in the sky where the river crossings are. You’ve got the huge Nile crocodiles there which only actually eat twice a year – during the river crossings. They have one of the lowest metabolism rates of any animal. They’ll bury the wildebeest or zebra in log jams in the river so they nicely soften up, then just tear the meat off. You can actually smell it from quite a long way off – all the carcasses on the river.”

For wildlife fans who fancy something a little different, the southern parks have populations of African wild dog, a rare creature with strangely pretty “painted fur”. Or head to the shores of Lake Tanganyika to track chimpanzees.