Southern Tanzania

The Dar es Salaam and South region is the lesser-known but deeply spectacular face of Tanzania. It revolves around three complementary poles: the economic capital Dar es Salaam (5.4 million inhabitants, the country's largest city and one of East Africa's most dynamic metropolises), the Nyerere National Park (formerly Selous Game Reserve, 30,893 km² — Africa's largest protected area and one of the continent's last wild sanctuaries), and Mafia Island (435 km², a listed marine park, one of the world's best diving sites and epicentre of the annual whale shark migration).

Dar es Salaam (often abbreviated 'Dar') bears an Arabic name meaning 'haven of peace' — a nickname given by Sultan Sayyid Majid bin Said of Zanzibar who founded the city in 1862. It's a dense, noisy tropical metropolis on the Indian Ocean, where Swahili, Arab, Indian, and German then British colonial heritages cross. Economic and financial capital of the country (political capital being Dodoma, inland), Dar is the main international flight arrival point, the central commercial port, and the ferry terminal for Zanzibar.

The Nyerere National Park (renamed in 2019 after founding president Julius Nyerere, formerly Selous Game Reserve) is one of African safari's greatest secrets. With its 30,893 km² — more than four times the size of the Serengeti — it's Africa's largest protected area and one of the continent's last great intact ecosystems. The park shelters the largest elephant population (estimated at 15,000 despite poaching cuts of the 2010s), buffalo, and one of the last sanctuaries of African wild dogs. Its particularity: the Rufiji River that crosses the park from west to east creates a system of inland lakes, deltas and marshes that make boat safaris possible — a unique experience in Tanzania, complementary to 4x4 game drives.

Mafia Island (435 km², 120 km south of Dar es Salaam, accessible by 30-min Coastal Aviation flight) is an underrated gem of the Tanzanian archipelago. The Mafia Marine Park (822 km², listed since 1995) protects an exceptional coral ecosystem: more than 380 fish species, 50 coral species, and above all the world's largest concentration of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) between October and March.