Just hearing the name Serengeti sparks an imagination filled with beasts charging across vast open bushlands and sunsets melting over dusty savannahs. The reality doesn’t disappoint and this epic landscape grips any traveller who visits, whether they catch a glimpse of lions, cheetahs and hippos stalking the plains on safari or witnessing possibly the planet’s greatest wildlife spectacle, where over a million wildebeest storm towards the Masai Mara. In the Serengeti, it feels like this ancient rhythm of wildlife has been this way forever, a mystical power that you can’t fail but be entranced by. Pure animal magic.

Formed after a volcano the size of Mount Kilimanjaro erupted millennia ago, the UNESCO-listed Ngorongoro Crater is now the largest extinct caldera in the world. The view from above is majestic enough but slip down inside its slopes and you’re treated by a feast of wildlife. This natural emerald bowl cradles wildebeest, zebra, and the ‘Big Five’, while your ears are often pricked by the soundtrack of elephants trumpeting and lions roaring among the grassy swathes. It’s a place though, where even if there isn’t any wildlife in your eyeline, you’re captured by the utter beauty of the landscape.

While Tanzania’s northern safari circuit attracts the lion’s share of wildlife spotters, the southern end of the country arguably matches it. At just over 21,000 square miles, Selous Game Reserve is Africa’s largest and its size means a rich diversity of ecosystems, a place where hippos and crocodiles bathe in riverine marshland and wildebeests, impalas and wild dogs prowl the woodlands. Twin it with Ruaha National Park, a classic African vista where undulating plateaus are studded with baobab thickets and rock outcrops. Its striking scenes are filled with Tanzania’s biggest elephant population, along with ostriches, cheetahs and gazelles.

For a safari holiday that’s really off the beaten track, the western corner of Tanzania is where you’ll find it. Katavi National Park is a true wilderness, where thousands of elephants, buffalos and giraffes jostle for space in its floodplains, while hundreds of hippos soak up a watering hole like a giant public bath. Neighbouring Mahale Mountains National Park is a land of staggering beauty and well worth a visit. Here, lush forested peaks surge up from the vast Lake Tanganyika, a wild world where chimpanzees rule, along with giant pangolins, monkeys and a wide variety of birds. Best of all, you’ll likely have these pair of wildernesses all to yourself.

The palm-swayed beaches of the Zanzibar archipelago are the perfect place for respite after time spent watching wildlife on mainland Tanzania. While its sands, people and waters are dreamy, it’s also a cultural crossroads of African-Arabian influences, reflected in its charming villages and tasty cuisine.