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Bradt Guide Tanzania
Ref: BRA074
For this fourth edition of Tanzania: The Bradt Travel Guide, Africa expert Philip Briggs has covered significant areas of the south and west that are only just opening up to travellers, as well as fully revising information on top attractions.
Book Reviews
"The best travel guide to Tanzania…concise, well-informed and entertaining."
-- Weekly Mail, South Africa
"Thoroughly researched, with wide appeal to upmarket and budget travellers, the text combines practical advice with extensive background information."
-- Travel Africa
"Best guidebook"
--The Sunday Times
"Philip Briggs' Tanzania: The Bradt Travel Guide belongs firmly in the 'don't leave home wihtout it' category."
--Africa Geographic
"An interesting and well-written book, providing a great deal of information on where to visit, places to stay and how to get around."
-- Geographical
About this Destination
Tanzania is home to some of Africa's most famous landmarks, from Mount Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. A haven for wildlife, including big cats and numerous species of antelope, the country also boasts a long coastline bordering the Indian Ocean and three unique islands.
Author's Note, by Philip Briggs
It would be easy to reduce an introduction to Tanzania to a list of facts and figures. This vast East African country really is a statistician's dream: within its borders lie Africa's highest and fifth-highest mountains, the world's largest intact volcanic caldera, Africa's most famous national park and the world's largest game reserve, as well as portions of the three most expensive lakes on the continent, one of which is the second-largest freshwater body in the world, another the second-deepest. When it comes to wildlife, Tanzania is practically without peer. An unprecedented 25% of the country is protected in national parks and other conservation areas. Together, these conservation areas support an estimated 20% of Africa's large mammal population, and one of them plays host to the singular spectacle of some two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle. Furthermore, Tanzania is poised to overtake Kenya as boasting Africa's second-longest bird checklist (after the Democratic Republic of Congo), with significantly more than 1,000 bird species recorded, and new endemics being discovered all the time. And as if that were not enough, the three great lakes that lie along Tanzania's borders vie with each other for the honour of harbouring the world's greatest diversity of fish species...
Travel isn't simply about ticking off the sights. When you spend a long time in a country, your feelings towards it are determined as much as anything by the people who live there. I have no hesitation in saying that, on this level, my affection for Tanzania is greater that for any other African country I have visited. It is an oasis of peace and egalitarian values in a continent stoked up with political and tribal tensions, and its social mood embodies all that I respect in African culture. As a generalisation, I've always found Tanzanians to be polite and courteous, yet also warm and sincere, both amongst themselves and in their dealings with foreigners. The one thing I can say with near certainty is that you will enjoy Tanzania. Whether you decide to stick to the conventional tourist circuit, opt to carry a dusty backpack around the southern highlands, or charter a plane to go chimp-tracking in the rainforests of Mahale, Tanzania is a wonderful country.
Philip Briggs is passionate about Africa and has visited Tanzania numerous times to keep each edition of his ground-breaking guide up to date. His many fans will find the usual Briggs hallmarks: a detailed and knowledgeable guide to safari operators and the wildlife to be seen, sensitive coverage of the history and culture, especially of the Maasai people, tips for travellers such as how to remove ticks or avoid being robbed during a bus journey, and down-to-earth descriptions of all places of interest (or of no interest so that travellers can avoid them!). Philip's knowledge of, and enthusiasm for Africa shines out of every page. Philip is the author of six other Bradt travel guides: East & Southern Africa: The Backpacker’s Manual, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda, and is co-author of the Bradt guide to Rwanda.
£13.95
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