• Learn about Dar es Salaam's history and culture in the National Museum, which houses the 1.7-million-year-old skull of Nutcracker Man, and the Village Museum, with its exhibits of traditional housing and crafts.

• Head for the atmospheric fishing village of Msasani, only 8km (5 miles) from Dar es Salaam. It contains interesting tombs dating back to the 17th century.

• Explore the ancient town of Bagamoyo, 72km (45 miles) north of Dar es Salaam, a one-time slave port and terminus for the trade caravans. The town mosque and Arab tombs date from the 18th and 19th centuries.

• Get lost in Zanzibar's Stone Town, once the metropolis of East Africa, variously ruled by Shirazi Persians, the Portuguese, the Omani Arabs and British colonials. The labyrinth of narrow, winding streets are lined with exotic shops, bazaars, colonial mansions, mosques and squares (website: http://zanzibar.net). 

• Go for a walk on the lower slopes of Mount Meru in Arusha National Park, where visitors may spot buffalo, giraffe, black and white colobus monkey and warthog. It is one of the few parks where walking is permitted (website: www.tanzaniaparks.com).

• Look for lion, zebra, giraffe and forest elephant in the Mikumi National Park, which covers 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles) and straddles the Morogoro-Iringa highway. A popular spot to see hippo is the Kikaboga Hippo Pool (website: www.tanzaniaparks.com).

• Game drive in Tarangire National Park, only 130km (80 miles) from Arusha and 8km (5 miles) off the Great Cape to Cairo road. Far less visited, it compares favourably with the Serengeti in terms of wildlife density (website: www.tanzaniaparks.com).

• Enjoy the unparalleled scenery along the Ruaha River Gorge in the Ruaha National Park, Tanzania's second-largest and wildest park that is famous for its exceptionally large herds of elephant and buffalo and over 400 species of bird (website: www.tanzaniaparks.com).

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.