Experience

This is the way to experience a Tanzanian water channels with canoes. On Tanzania’s large freshwater lakes, boats are a popular means of transport and offer visitors the chance to see life in and around the waters — the fishermen bringing in their catch, the bustling colours of the lake shore towns and the sharp movements of small fish in shallow waters. On the Indian Ocean coast, boating takes visitors deep into the fish-filled waters of the Pemba Channel, and through the hundreds of islets strewn across the Zanzibar Archipelago and Mafia Island. Along the coast, boating offers visitors a chance to travel the way the Swahili people do — by wooden dhow sailboats, the wind slowly filling the boat’s sails, the smell of the surf and the swell of ocean waves drifting over the horizon.

Boating safaris are fast becoming a popular alternative for safari-goers adventurous enough to venture off the beaten track. Water-safaris are on offer as a break from longer game-viewing and give visitors the opportunity to get out in the open and see tremendous amounts of bird-life and water species up close. At present, boating safaris for game-viewing are only permitted in the Selous Game Reserve, where the Rufiji River, the Great Ruaha River, and numerous lakes give visitors a choice of many expeditions to choose from. Despite the proximity of crocodiles and hippos during water safaris, the expeditions are extremely safe and the animals react with puzzled curiosity to the sight of boats on water!

Canoeing excursions in Tanzania are an active option for visitors with a few days to spend exploring the northern lakes. Adventure excursions on the soda-coloured shores of Lake Manyara involve canoeing past thousands of pink flamingos in the shallow waters. In Arusha National Park, the freshwater crater lakes of the Momela Lakes make a spectacular canoeing trip, with the forests, highland games, and the imposing crater of Mt. Meru looming nearby. Canoeing excursions allow visitors to get out and explore their surroundings, getting exercised in some of the most beautiful locations in the country.

With over 120 resident different tribes, there is plenty of local history and colour to be found in all areas of Tanzania. Tanzania’s people are among the most welcoming and approachable on earth with diverse and unique cultures ready to be shared with visitors. It is a rewarding experience to leave your 4X4 vehicle behind and walk through scenic local resident villages with greatest Cultural landscapes in Africa. On the lash tropical slopes of Mt Meru, and Mt Kilimanjaro Waarusha, Wameru or Wachagga guides will proudly describe their carefully cultivated ‘shambas’ with coffee, bananas, fruits, vegetables and dairy cow farming while the World famous Maasai will share with you their age-old pastoralist heritage. Spend part of your time to meet friendly faces of Africa and learn about their ways of life

“Cultural Tourism is beneficial to everyone…. the tourists get unforgettable and unique experience while the local people generate income that improves their standard of living….”

Various local communities run their own cultural programs and welcomes visitors to their homes, bringing income directly to local community while giving local people an opportunity to showcase their way of life to the outside world. This creates mutual understanding and friendships between tourists and local people, offering tourists from all over the world the possibility to experience Tanzania’s cultural diversity and providing local people in various rural areas the opportunity to build sustainable livelihoods

With local guides born and raised in the area, you can discover how many steps it takes to grow, pick, dry, roast, pound and brew fresh aromatic coffee. Participate in the process personally before enjoying the taste and taking home a very personal pocket of Tanzanian coffee! In the pastoral areas of the North and Lake Zone, follow the Sukuma, Iraqw, Barbaiq, and Maasai tracks to explore almost unforgotten traditions and a way of life that is closely linked to nature and wildlife.

Follow the famous drumbeats and let the Ndali and Matengo dancers of Southern Tanzania interpret the music and performances they inherited from their ancestors. Taste the local cuisine, with all the culinary variations of Ugali, Mlenda,Machalari, Makande, Matoke, tasty Pilau, Nyamachoma, and sample some of the finest local wines and beers. Spend your precious time with local Mamas and learn how to cook a wide range of African cuisines and making authentic handcrafts

Cultural tours can be half day excursions or customized to longer stays for a couple of days among local people in their home villages and towns. Depending on how much time you have and interest, you can choose to embark on boat ride down a river or raw on one of the many lakes while listening to hair-raising legendary tales. Paddle between mangroves. And sail with the fishermen to pristine sandy islands of Indian Ocean, Lake Nyasa and Lake Victoria. Meet the “Hadza” hunter-gather remaining communities in Lake Eyasi and Yaeda valleys or spend part of your holiday with friendly inhabitants of Tanzania’s “Switzerland” while hiking through the Usambara Mountains. Admire ancient irrigation systems- or today’s craftsmanship. Listen to a traditional healer’s diagnostic methods and obtain the correct remedial prescriptions

The coast of Tanzania is perhaps most famous for the Zanzibar Archipelago, a cluster of islands that saw the growth and survival of Swahili civilization and trade until the mid-twentieth century. Zanzibar enchants and beguiles with its oriental mystique and forgotten exoticism — the very name evokes the Spice Islands and the dhow trade, sultans and palaces built of limestone and corals against the palm trees and the crashing surf. But there’s more to the islands of Tanzania than just Zanzibar. Throughout the archipelago, deserted islands and sandbars beckon and abound. Some have slave caves and colonial graves, others have the ruins of sultan’s palaces and stately plantations. 

In Pemba, villages steeped in culture and traditions that preserve the Swahili way of life, almost oblivious to the world around them. On the islands of Mafia, old trading towns line the walkway to abandoned ports and the gentle sea. Throughout the Swahili Coast, diving, swimming, and snorkeling offer superb vistas of thriving coral and marine life. Whether you’re content to stay on the mainland coast or want to venture off into the atolls and islands of the Indian Ocean, the Tanzanian coast is a place of untouched beauty and enchantment.