Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Southeastern Tanzania Highlights
Take a boat safari and enjoy the wonderful wildlife watching and birding in
Selous Game Reserve
(
Click here
)
Dive or relax on white sands in the
Mafia Archipelago
(
Click here
)
Explore traces of bygone days at the old Swahili trading towns of
Mi-
kindani
(
Click here
)
and
Kilwa Kivinje
(
Click here
)
Visit the ruins of the famed medieval city-state of
Kilwa Kisiwani
(
Click
Relax on the beaches around
Mtwara
(
Click here
)
and the
Mnazi Bay-
Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park
(
Click here
)
Immerse yourself in local life in
Kilwa Masoko
(
Click here
),
Lindi
(
Click
Get to know the Makonde around
Newala
(
Click here
) and elsewhere on the
seldom-visited
Makonde Plateau
(
Click here
)
WILDLIFE IN THE SOUTHEAST
Selous Game Reserve
is the main destination for seeing wildlife. On the coast
are
Mafia Island Marine Park
, with fine snorkelling and diving, and the
struggling
Mnazi Bay-Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park
, also with snorkelling
and diving.
Mafia
Stroll along sandy lanes through the coconut palms. Explore a coastline alternating between
dense mangrove stands and white-sand beaches. Get to know traditional Swahili culture. If
these appeal, you're likely to love Mafia.
This green wedge of land surrounded by turquoise waters, pristine islets and glinting
white sandbanks remained off the beaten track for years, undiscovered by all except deep-
sea fishing aficionados and a trickle of visitors. Now, this is changing fast, with the island's
tourist accommodation growing from one to nearly a dozen hotels over the past decade.
Yet, Mafia remains refreshingly free of the mass tourism that is overwhelming Zanzibar. It
makes an amenable post-safari respite and is a rewarding destination in its own right.
Among Mafia's attractions are its tranquil pace, underwater life, upmarket lodges, strong
traditional culture and long history. Green and hawksbill turtles have breeding sites along
the island's eastern shores and on the nearby islands of Juani and Jibondo. To protect
these and other local ecosystems, the southeastern part of the island, together with off-
shore islets and waters, has been gazetted as a national marine park. Whale sharks (
potwe
