Tanzania

Tanzania is East Africa's most quintessential destination. Lying at the tail end of the legendary Rift Valley, it's one of the wildest corners of the globe. Where else can you stand on the glaciated tops of Africa's highest peak one day, search for zebra and leopards on the savannahs the next, and laze on white-sand beaches before the glistening Indian Ocean to finish off?

The Serengeti National Park is hallowed ground for safari goers. The park covers a vast 14,750 square kilometres of savannah, grassland, gallery woodlands and umbrella thorn forests and is hailed as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.

The reserve counts a whopping 70 large mammal species and over 500 bird species within its boundaries. Between January and March, it's also the site of the wondrous Great Migration, when you can witness 1.5 million wildebeest moving between the fertile plains on the hunt for new grazing areas.

Abutting the Serengeti on its southeastern side, you'll find the incredible UNESCO site of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There are luxury safari lodges there that cling to the sides of an ancient volcano. They look straight over the heart of a giant caldera filled with ultra-fertile fields where rhinos, cheetahs and lions are all in attendance.

From there, it's hard not to gaze east to the colossal silhouette of Mount Kilimanjaro. The national park there encircles the single highest peak on the African continent. It's got an ice cap on its summit and a great saddle that soars some 5,800 metres above sea level.

Then there's the Tanzanian coast. After long, hot game drives through the Serengeti, it offers a welcome blast of tropical R&R. Zanzibar is there, a nugget of an island that flaunts 50 miles of chalk-white sands along the Indian Ocean. Go to those parts to laze in the Trade Winds under lanky coconut palms. But also wander the moody lanes of Stone Town, an age-stained labyrinth of a place topped by a Portuguese castle.

Quieter beaches and pristine coral reef ecosystems await further south in the Spice Islands. They include Mafia Island, a scuba mecca with its own marine reserve filled with whale sharks – the largest fish in the oceans. They also include Thanda Island, a private bank of coral stone ringed by shimmering beaches home to a luxury private resort. Choose a private island to be completely secluded, surrounded by the washing waves of the Indian Ocean.

Our luxury villas in Tanzania can whisk you away to wild safari parks and gleaming beaches peppered with coconut husks. Some are located on the edge of famous game reserves, so you can spot zebra herds and giraffes from the comfort of your infinity pool. Others are right on the beachfront, with snorkelling spots and groves of coconut palms out front.