Zanzibar Town
An icon of Stone Town, the House of Wonders rises in impressive tiers of slender steel pillars and balconies overlooking the waterfront. Its enormous…
Must-see attractions in East Africa
Southern Highlands
This national park protects the flower-clad Kitulo Plateau, together with sections of the former Livingstone Forest Reserve, which runs south from the…
Southeastern Tanzania
Today, 'Kilwa on the Island' is a quiet fishing village, but in its heyday it was the centre of a vast trading network linking the old Shona kingdoms and…
Southern Rift Valley
Just two hours' drive from Nairobi, Lake Nakuru is among Kenya's finest national parks. Flanked by rocky escarpments, pockets of forest and at least one…
Zanzibar Island
ZALA (Zanzibar Land Animals) Park was founded as a project to help local people appreciate the value of wildlife, with funds raised by tourist visits. The…
Kakamega Forest National Reserve
Western Kenya
All that's now left in Kenya of the massive Guineo–Congolian rainforest that once covered much of western Kenya, the Kakamega Forest National Reserve,…
Uganda Wildlife Education Centre
Entebbe
While it functions primarily as a zoo, this centre is actually a world-class animal refuge that has benefited from international assistance in recent…
Laikipia Plateau
While this massive 222-sq-km conservancy, just south of Isiolo, could boast about its luxury lodges, stunning scenery and astounding wildlife activities,…
Western Kenya
North of Kitale, the small, rarely visited Saiwa Swamp National Park is a real treat – as long as you're not here for the Big Five, this is a chance to…
Southern Rift Valley
In a wild and remote corner of the country, between the Rift Valley lakes of Magadi (in Kenya) and Natron (Tanzania), Shompole is one of southern Kenya's…
Kenya
Marred by serious poaching in the 1980s and the subsequent murder of George Adamson in 1989, Meru National Park fell off the tourist map and has never…
Zanzibar Town
One of the best ways to ease into Zanzibar life is to stop by this waterfront public space. It's a social hub for tourists and locals alike; there's a…
Western Kenya
Kakamega Forest Reserve is the more degraded area of the forest, yet it's the more popular area with tourists. The five-hour return hike to Lirhanda Hill…
Zanzibar Town
With its peppermint-green latticework balconies and sculpted clock tower, this 19th-century charitable dispensary is one of the most attractive landmarks…
Southeastern Tanzania
The tiny island of Songo Mnara, about 8km south of Kilwa Kisiwani, contains ruins at its northern end – including of a palace, several mosques and…
Uganda
The Budongo Forest Reserve is a large (825-sq-km) tract of virgin tropical forest on the southern fringes of Murchison Falls National Park. Its main…
Amboseli National Park
This pyramid-shaped hill is one of the only places in the park where you can get out and walk. The summit provides an ideal lookout from which to…
Zanzibar Town
Carefully curated by the renowned historian Said al Gheithy, this delightful little museum tells the story of Princess Salme, a sultan's daughter who…
Northern Kenya
The most popular park in northern Kenya, Samburu's dominant feature is the Ewaso Ngiro River, which slices through the otherwise bone-dry country. The…
Kilifi
Bofa Beach is a wide slash of white sand, with swaying palms and rolling Indian Ocean surf. It's the stuff of which fantasies are made. A path to the left…
Southeastern Tanzania
At around 822 sq km, Mafia Island Marine Park is the largest marine protected area in the Indian Ocean, sheltering a unique complex of estuarine, mangrove…
Western Tanzania
This deep-maroon-coloured, flat-roofed Arabic-style home, built in 1857, is the main attraction in these parts. It was Livingstone’s residence for part of…
Amboseli National Park
The elephants of Amboseli are among the most studied in the world, thanks largely to the work of Dr Cynthia Moss, whose books include The Amboseli…
Lake Victoria
A stop on the Bukoba Tours circuit, this site preserves the oldest-known iron-smelting furnace in east, central and southern Africa (from 500 BC; long…
Northern Tanzania
The transition between unappealing urban chaos and pristine mountain hiking trails is rarely so abrupt as it is in Arusha National Park. One of Tanzania’s…
Northern Tanzania
Some places are so far off well-travelled routes that there are no tracks other than those left by wildlife and traditional herders. The remote and rarely…
Northeastern Tanzania
This reserve is located west of Tanga in the heart of the eastern Usambaras. Often overlooked, it’s a peaceful, lushly vegetated patch of montane forest…
Dar es Salaam
Aiming to be the leading contemporary art centre in Tanzania, Nafasi is a complex of studios housed in an old industrial warehouse in Mikocheni. Many…
Kenya
In 2009, Joan Hughes and Lindi Campbell Clause, two designers from Ireland and Kenya, set up this project which uses village workshops to employ and train…
Uganda
It's worth popping into this happening community arts centre to see what's on, whether it be an art exhibition, fireside chat or cultural performance…
Central Tanzania
One of the most impressive of the Kondoa Rock-Art Sites is the excellent Fenga complex, with its dense and lively images. The dominant feature is a…
Southeastern Tanzania
The imposing German boma, built in 1895 as a fort and administrative centre, has been beautifully renovated as a hotel. Even if you’re not staying here,…
Daraja la Mungu (Bridge of God)
Southern Highlands
South of Ngozi Peak and west of the main road, this natural bridge 22km west of Tukuyu is estimated to have been formed around 1800 million years ago by…
Kampala
This centre for Ugandan contemporary artists includes exhibit space, a library, workspace and resource centre. It is in the process of moving to a nearby…
Central Tanzania
The most varied, and thus the best, overall collection of rock paintings in the Kondoa area is at Thawi, about 15km northwest of Kolo and reachable only…
Zanzibar Town
The tall spire and grey-yellow walls of the Anglican cathedral dominate the surrounding streets in this part of Stone Town, while the dark-wood pews and…
Zanzibar Town
Occupying several large buildings along the waterfront, this was the palace of Sultan Seyyid Said from 1828 until it was largely destroyed by the British…
Zanzibar Island
Jozani Forest is the largest area of indigenous forest on Zanzibar Island. Situated south of Chwaka Bay on low-lying land, the area is prone to flooding,…
Lake Victoria
The Sukuma Museum in Bujora village is an open-air museum where, among other things, you’ll see traditional Sukuma dwellings, the grass house of a…
Bagamoyo
With its cobwebbed portals and crumbling German-era colonial buildings, central Bagamoyo, or Mji Mkongwe (Stone Town) as it’s known locally, is well worth…
