Things I Love About Tanzania

To say I felt nervous on the Turkish Airlines flight to Dar es Salaam in February 2012, set to land at 3 a.m., would have been an understatement. Although I had done plenty of solo trips through Europe, South America, even North Africa, this seemed something utterly new... and here I was. Alone. Arriving in the middle of the night. The last time I had felt so apprehensive had been touching down for the first time in Colombia in 2008... and I had been traveling with a friend.

Travel in Tanzania, although sometimes hectic -- amplified in the market streets of haggling vendors and at the chaotic bus stations -- is certainly not something to be fearful of. Between affordable safaris to the legendary Serengeti ($150/night!), to the turquoise beaches of the Indian Ocean, to remote villages scattered among lush foliage, to lazy nights of drinking conyagi in Zanzibar... Tanzania is something the heart remembers.