Understand

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Geography

A large central plateau makes up most of the mainland (at between 900m and 1800m) and the mountain ranges of the Eastern Arc and the Southern and Northern Highlands cut across the country to form part of the Great Rift Valley.

A land of geographical extremes, Tanzania has the highest peak – Mount Kilimanjaro, the lowest point – the lake bed of Lake Tanganyika, and shares the largest lake – Lake Victoria - on the African continent.

Climate
Tanzania's weather varies from humid and hot in low lying areas such as Dar es Salaam, to hot during the day and cool at night in Arusha. There are no discernible seasons such as Winter and Summer, only the dry and wet seasons. Tanzania has two rainy seasons: the short rains from late-October to late-December, a.k.a. the Mango Rains, and the long rains from March to May.

Note: Many popular resorts and tourist attractions on Zanzibar and Mafia Island Marine Park close during the long rains, and many trails in the national parks are impassable during this period, so in most cases tours are restricted to the main roads in the parks. Travelers should plan their trip accordingly.

During the dry season temperatures can easily soar to above 35°C in Dar. You should seek shelter from the sun during the midday heat and use copious amounts of sunblock, SPF 30+.

Best times to visit are:

June to August: This is the tail-end of the long rainy season and the weather is at its best at this time of year. Bearable during the day and cool in the evening. However, this is not necessarily the best time of year for safaris as water is plentiful in the parks and animals aren't forced to congregate in a few locations to rehydrate, such as in the middle of the dry season right after Christmas.

January to February: This is the best time to visit the Serengeti as it is usually at this time that huge herds of Wildebeest, Zebra and Buffalo migrate to better grazing areas. At this period you could observe some of the 1.5 million Wildebeest that inhabit the Serengeti undertake there epic journey. Be advised this is probably the hottest time of year in Tanzania when even the locals complain about the heat. You've been warned!

Eat

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Produce is often of very high quality. Meat and milk can be difficult for Western systems, so be sure that all meat is cooked through. At hotels, you will not have any trouble, but if you venture into small villages, make sure that all water is filtered or boiled before drinking, and all fruits and vegetables are peeled before eating.

Local dishes include Mtori, cooked beef and bananas, and Mchicha, a vegetable stew which can also contain meat or fish.

If anything can be called Tanzania's national dish Ugali would most likely win out. A polenta-style dish made with corn flour, it accompanies a variety of stews, cooked meat and is eaten with your hands. Recipes vary from village to village and everyone has...