Most hotels serve local Tanzanian food that usually consists of meat stews or fried chicken, accompanied by staples including chips, boiled potatoes or ugali (maize meal porridge eaten all over Africa). Many Tanzanian towns have a significant population of second-generation immigrants from the Indian sub-continent, and restaurants serving Indian dishes like biryani, spicy curries and chapatti bread are not uncommon. There is much greater variety of cuisines in the cities and tourist spots, and the major hotels and safari lodges offer Western and other international food. The Swahili style of food is delicately flavoured by spices and coconut milk and features fragrant rice, grilled fish and prawn curries; it's best sampled on Zanzibar and the coast. The Indian Ocean provides a full range of seafood, and just about every type of fruit and vegetable that exists is grown in Tanzania. Coffee is grown on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and is served freshly ground in small porcelain cups; chai (tea) is served very sweet in small glasses.

Things to know: Table service is normal in restaurants, while bars generally have counter service. Larger hotels and lodges offer buffet meals. On the coast and on Zanzibar, the population is predominantly Muslim, so while alcohol is available in the tourist hotels and resorts, it is not available in local restaurants and should not be drunk in public.

National specialities:

• Seafood such as prawns and lobsters.
• Tropical fruit such as coconuts, pawpaws, mangoes, pineapples and bananas.

National drinks:

• A good lager, Safari, is produced locally.
• Konyagi is a popular, cheap, and frightfully strong gin.
• A chocolate and coconut liqueur called Afrikoko.
• A wine called Dodoma, which comes in red or rosé.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Nightlife is limited in Tanzania but in Dar es Salaam, there are several nightclubs, cabaret venues and cinemas. Generally, nightlife is centred on the top tourist hotels and restaurants. All along the coast, and particularly on Zanzibar, hotels and beach bars often feature bands at the weekends and dance floors right on the beach. Rowdy full moon parties have become popular on Zanzibar's backpacker-focused northern beaches.

Most popular tourist centres host markets and stalls packed with curios and trinkets like African drums, batiks, basket-ware, soapstone knick-knacks, handmade chess sets, paintings of Masai tribes and Serengeti landscapes in the popular Tingatinga style, and large wooden carvings of animals or salad bowls fashioned from a single piece of teak, mninga or ebony. Masai items such as beaded jewellery, decorated gourds and the distinctive red-checked blankets worn by all Masai men make good souvenirs. Kangas and kikois are sarongs worn by women and men respectively and are often in bright colours and patterns. You can pick up packets of Zanzibar's famous spices in Stone Town. Haggling is common, and often necessary, as optimistically inflated prices are the norm. A speciality of Tanzania is the semi-precious stone called tanzanite, which ranges from deep blue to light purple and is only found around Arusha. Tanzanite jewellery can be seen in up-market curio and jewellers shops in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar's Stone Town.

Shopping hours: Mon-Fri 0830-1200 and 1400-1800; Sat 0830-1230. Some shops open on Sunday. In the larger cities markets are open daily 0800-1800.